Watcha Makin'?

[Ron Scott]

Good job on the replacement.

[Don P]

Looks like it might be a week long washout. We had a guy day in the shop.
As close as we get to spandex.


 

Michelle said the cardboard box she has carried her market scale around in had died. So, she needed a box with a top.
The infill panel on the ends was as thin as I've used ~1/4" thick, the "framing" on the ends was 3/4x~1". The sides and bottom were ~3/8" thick. I think the poplar on the top was around 5/16" thick. I never cranked the planer today, this was scraps floating around the shop. I was shooting for thin and light and not all the noisy tools at once..



I found that old piano hinge but need to pick up some tiny screws for it. When she unboxes at the market the scale can sit on the box.


 

[doc henderson]

maybe can throw cash in there while the sales are a flying.

[aigheadish]

Making progress, finally, without threat of injury, on this dang cutting board/ stove cover for my sister's little camper. I've made some noise over on the Did something dumb thread about not listening to you guys about hogging out material from above rather than below with this crazy table. So, I flipped everything over and messed with it, finding I didn't quite have the router bit throw to get deep enough into the trench, so I spent about 100 bucks on some stuff that I thought would help. It didn't. I re-evaluated my setup and hiked up my big boy britches and got into it last night. I'm now approximately to the depth I want, though I need some edge cleanup. I like it. I've got a few weeks to finish it up so my sister can take it on a trip in August. This setup worked really well with my slab flattening jig, everything slid on the 80/20 beautifully. Man, what a mess though.



 

[doc henderson]

Just think of all the things you learned, as well as knowledge and experience under your belt.  never would have happened otherwise.  If any of the old guys sound smart and know things you never thought of, it may be from projects like this that at the time seemed like a lot of frustration and waste of time.  It will be cherished I am sure.

[21incher]

Making progress, finally, without threat of injury, on this dang cutting board/ stove cover for my sister's little camper. I've made some noise over on the Did something dumb thread about not listening to you guys about hogging out material from above rather than below with this crazy table. So, I flipped everything over and messed with it, finding I didn't quite have the router bit throw to get deep enough into the trench, so I spent about 100 bucks on some stuff that I thought would help. It didn't. I re-evaluated my setup and hiked up my big boy britches and got into it last night. I'm now approximately to the depth I want, though I need some edge cleanup. I like it. I've got a few weeks to finish it up so my sister can take it on a trip in August. This setup worked really well with my slab flattening jig, everything slid on the 80/20 beautifully. Man, what a mess though.

Nice job. The next one will be easier now that you have mastered learning from your  mistakes and moving on.

[aigheadish]

Indeed! I'm hoping to have time to laser engrave a surprise on the inside of the cutting board. Not sure how that'll go or if I have time.

[firefighter ontheside]

I realized last week that my son's canoe paddle was too short for him.  I got it last year for him with a canoe I bought and it was the perfect length for him.  Well, then he decided to grow like 5" and now he needs a paddle about the lenght of mine or even longer, because he is actually taller than me now.  So, a few days ago I started making a paddle.  I made the shaft with cypress that I cut into 1/4" strips and glued up.  Our other paddles are Bending Branches brand and are made with much thinner layers.  I wasn't about to cut 1/16" strips.  Today I cleaned up all of the glue and squared the shaft up with the jointer and planer.  Then I glued a few pieces of walnut and maple onto the shaft for the blade and handle.  This will no doubt me a little heavier than our originals, but not by too much.  I'm thinking of beefing up the end of the blade with some kevlar fabric.  I can't wait for it to be done.

 

[firefighter ontheside]

This morning I shaped the handle.  I'm pretty happy with it.  Sorry the pic is out of focus.  Then I cut out the shape of the blade and began to sculpt it.  It started out about 13/16" thick.  Right now I've got it down to a little less than 1/2", but I need to get most of it a lot thinner than that.  I want it to be about 1/4" at the very end and then a little thicker as it goes back toward the shaft where it of course has to taper up.  It's still a little heavy due to the thickness.


 

 

[aigheadish]

Any of the dark wood on my cutting board, above, is, apparently, pretty brittle. I'm doing some chiseling and I've broken a glue bond once (which ran through a grain of the darker wood), which glued back up nicely. Then I was whacking away again on it last night and had a major, but very shallow blow-out from the inside to the outside of the piece. I don't think I can get glue in there, and while it's shallow I think it's too deep to sand out. 

I feel like this project will be started over. I have about a month to complete it, though I thought it would only take about a week to begin with.

If I have some nice wood sitting around I may glue up a new, thinner, top, then trim it with pieces that are longer, basically building the concave section instead of hogging it out with a router I'm afraid of. It should be much easier, faster, and if I do it right it'll look basically the same while probably being stronger. 

This project has been surprisingly frustrating and I'm certainly learning that I need to do more research (and listen to advice!) before starting projects I don't understand. While this isn't the best wood in the world it is some of the only good wood I have around. 

[Old Greenhorn]

Austin, What are you whacking away on? Given how close you are to completion I am wondering why there is any need for chisel work?
 When I do use chisels I rarely tap with a mallet, just slide the chisel by hand to shave off wood. If it is gross grain, then of course I need to use a mallet, but mostly it is tapping, not whacking. Just take it in layers. Your chisels need to be razor sharp or your cut surfaces will not be smooth and it won't cut well, leading to tearing, slipping, and injury.
 Blow outs can be filled with clear epoxy and sanded out flat. (Tape the far side well first.) In dark wood, all you see is the wood color behind the epoxy.
 Got any photos?

[aigheadish]

My fear, incompetence, and lack of correct jigs with the router caused me to give it up in the name of safety and sanity, so I was trying the chisel, to ill effects. It's leaving a rough but likely sandable finish. 

I don't have any photos of the cracks, I may be able to get one here in a little bit. My hope is to just oil the board, so I'm not sure epoxy would work for this application? 

All in all, I'm probably better to just remake the whole thing. I think I may have gone too thin for the top anyway. I thought I wanted to remove a bunch of material to make it lighter weight but then it felt a bit flimsy. 

I don't know. Yet another thing that really tests my patience with this stuff. 

[Ljohnsaw]

So, if you do go from scratch, making profiles like a tall, shallow C for the middle pieces is a great idea.

Not as elegant and maybe it was tried or mentioned, you can clamp some stops on your table saw for starting, stopping as well as left and right. You set your glue up over there retracted blade and start it up. Raise the blade and make your cuts like you're on a router table.

When done in one direction, rotate 90°, reset your stops and clean up the edges. The corners will be sloped and maybe ok? Or you could go about cleaning them up.

[doc henderson]

a hundred ways to do this.  I like the idea of testing your patients.  It is the true artist that continues.  Each rendition get better and better.  anything unsafe also tends to be un-reproducible and less attractive as well.  If you have to "hold your teeth just right".  It is amazing what can be fixed with wood.   After a hundred or so you will be able to mass produce and make them all perfect.  you will find a better way.

Karate Kid Lesson 4 (Paint the Fence) - YouTube

there is also the floor sanding and wax on wax off scenes if anyone likes. :D

[firefighter ontheside]

I needed to reduce the thickness of the paddle blade and I was considering how to do it.  I then thought about the mill-route I've had hanging on the wall and listed for sale last week.  It occurred to me that I might be able to use it route the paddle thinner.  It worked well once I figured out how to secure the paddle.  I decided not to sell it, but dismantled it so it doesnt take up much room.  Someday I might use the parts to make a router plane.  I might need to locate some more of the extrusions that the frame is made with.

 

 

 

[aigheadish]

I forgot a picture of the broken part, but here you can see what I was aiming for. After some utubing I found the smart people made a template that would sit on the edge of the piece and a bearing on the router would ride along that, with a router sled of sorts to make this all happen pretty easily. I think I can make the whole project work pretty well, starting fresh, and gluing the sides in place, rather than hogging out material. That gives me the option for more appropriate wood and maybe a better glue up job. It also gives me the opportunity to visit a lumber yard I've heard good things about and it's only about 10 minutes from the house. Also, I apparently need to invest in an aimable spotlight or two. Either my eyes are going or it's too dark in the shop.



 

[firefighter ontheside]

I used to make some trays with hogged out centers.  I would do it upside down on my router table.  I made a frame that the piece fit inside and you could move it all around until everything was hogged out.  It worked, but it was more difficult if the frame required was bigger than the top of my router table.

[aigheadish]

Yeah, that was my initial attempt but it got sketchy for me pretty quickly, though it's how the majority of this hole was created. 

[doc henderson]

looks like a bearing guided bit could follow your top lines and clean up the edges around the tray.  your end grain will match if you use full thickness stock.  you can get some plexiglass and make an oversized base you can see through.  the top bearing flush cut bit with a round bottom can follow a template and then follow the original cut on down to the depth you want and leave nice, rounded corners.

[doc henderson]

 

 

 

[firefighter ontheside]

I used one just like that.  1 1/4" diameter.  It's not great at plunging.  You have to do passes of about 1/4" at a time.

[aigheadish]

Thanks Doc, that's another thing I thought I had on hand but turned out I didn't. All my bearing bits were bearings on the bottom. Not of much use for this! I bought a new router base that has bearings you can screw into that'll ride a straight line like these roller bearings but I can't extend the bit deep enough to take advantage of it before the chuck starts hitting the screw on bearing. 

More to add to my frustrations! 

Thanks for the suggestions guys!

[doc henderson]

I think the ones that screw clamp into the base are referred to as bushings.  you can start with those then switch to the bearing flush cut bit.  measure the length of the collar on the bushing to know how thick a template to use.  I use Masonite and cut it on the laser for things like a circle.  if it must be precise the you over size or under size it a bit.  That is how I did the glass bell grove in the boards I made for My regional director to give to his wife to display candle in her store.



 

[aigheadish]

Yup, bushings is the name, it felt like I had that wrong but I didn't remember bushing!

[doc henderson]

I think they are used interchangeable (the name) on some larger equipment and depending on who wrote the Manuel.  no big deal.  It helps to find stuff on amazon if you know what the majority call them.  the tray does not look bad that i can see.  can you fix this one and give it to your least favorite sister in law?