Showing posts with label for. Show all posts
Showing posts with label for. Show all posts
Saturday, February 22, 2014
Last project for the year
Whew! Im done!
I decided to change course and defer the tea box until next year--my joints are killing me, its freezing cold in the workshop, and after 5 months of wood work, Im just plum tuckered out so I did a brief project for a couple of young friends who wanted a lazy susan as a gift for their brother. Here is the top out of Phillipine mahogany with a bottom out of pine:

When Ive assembled it with the lazy susan bearing Ill send you one last photo.
Wow, Im tired.
More later,
VW
Read More..
I decided to change course and defer the tea box until next year--my joints are killing me, its freezing cold in the workshop, and after 5 months of wood work, Im just plum tuckered out so I did a brief project for a couple of young friends who wanted a lazy susan as a gift for their brother. Here is the top out of Phillipine mahogany with a bottom out of pine:

When Ive assembled it with the lazy susan bearing Ill send you one last photo.
Wow, Im tired.
More later,
VW
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Shop Made Texture Punches for Carving
Well, considering I jsut opened my rather sizable mouth writing about tools and the decision process when it comes to whether to skip it, buy it or make it, I figured I had better write a little about a couple of quick tools I made last week.
I was headed out to do a weekend living history demonstration and I decided to set up a woodworking set up for the first time. Instead of doing something big I decided to just focus on carving techniques I had been picking up recently from watching Peter Follansbees new instructional DVD. The demo worked out great and I had a lot of fun.
As I was getting myself put together, gathering tools and printing patterns, I came to the realization that I was short a couple of essential tools, Peter uses a waffle textured punch sometimes on his backgrounds and he also has a couple different shaped punches for detail touches, a heart, a cross, a circle. I thought to myself, really they wouldnt be all that hard to make. and you know what, I was right.
I dug through the tool chest for some used up punches I knew where in there. I didnt get rid of them because I was pretty sure the good steel would come in handy someday. Among the pile I found an old cold chisel, a center punch, and a small alignment bar. Perfect.

I attached my small machinist vise on the bench and went to work with the angle grinder shortening the center punch and the cold chisel.




I just love those pictures of the grinding and the sparks coming off the steel. Makes me think a little of fireworks. I can hear the shop fire safety patrol in the wings and I dont want you guys to worry, I am very aware of what a spark in sawdust can do and I am very careful about clean up and safety, before, during, and after.
I smoothed over some edges on the bench grinder and with a bastard file. Now I needed to make some grooves in the faces. I could have started them all with a hacksaw but I opted for the rotary tool with a heavy duty grinding/cutting disk on it.

I clamped the steel in the vise and made a series of lines going one direction. Then I turned the piece again and made perpendicular lines. The most difficult thing was trying to remember to keep the lines a little course and not too close together.With all the grooves roughed into place I deepened them with a triangular saw sharpening file.

I then jointed the face of the punch lightly with a bastard file and I had something good I could work with.
I decided that a cross shaped detail punch would be the best place to start, besides the pattern I chose to start with had cross shaped detail punch marks so it seemed to make the decision easy. I took the longer alignment bad. clamped it in the vise and used the rotary tool grinding wheel to make some longitudinal grooves. Turning the tool to cut four compass points. Then I again used the triangle shaped file to give a final shape to the pattern.

I wasnt perfectly careful, I was just making up how I was going to do this as I went along, so the cross didnt turn out symetrical, but in all honesty I kind of like the way some points are fatter than others, it adds a little bit of interest, and theres no reason for people to think that I didnt intend to make it that way, I mean its not like Im writing about the mistake and posting it up on the internet right? Oops.
So I made some test punches in a scrap of pine and I was pretty happy with the results.

I had some scrap oak and I did some punches on there too, I wasnt as happy with the impression but I figures it would just have to do. I used them on the carving I did during the demo and I was using red oak, not the green oak seasoned for a few weeks like Peter gets to use. I was in a hurry and I ended up buying a board from the home center. So the stuff was thoroughly dried and hard as hell which lead to some tough carving sometimes, but the punches also seemed, at the time, not so effective.
Looking back at some of the pictured from working away I realize that the punches worked very well. I dont know what I was expecting really but the punches did a good job of leveling out the background in the carving, sharpening some edges and evening out the tool marks from removing material. After I backed away a few feet I realized that these were working great.
All in all, not bad for a little over an hours work in the shop.
Cheers
Oldwolf

Read More..
I was headed out to do a weekend living history demonstration and I decided to set up a woodworking set up for the first time. Instead of doing something big I decided to just focus on carving techniques I had been picking up recently from watching Peter Follansbees new instructional DVD. The demo worked out great and I had a lot of fun.
As I was getting myself put together, gathering tools and printing patterns, I came to the realization that I was short a couple of essential tools, Peter uses a waffle textured punch sometimes on his backgrounds and he also has a couple different shaped punches for detail touches, a heart, a cross, a circle. I thought to myself, really they wouldnt be all that hard to make. and you know what, I was right.
I dug through the tool chest for some used up punches I knew where in there. I didnt get rid of them because I was pretty sure the good steel would come in handy someday. Among the pile I found an old cold chisel, a center punch, and a small alignment bar. Perfect.
I attached my small machinist vise on the bench and went to work with the angle grinder shortening the center punch and the cold chisel.
I just love those pictures of the grinding and the sparks coming off the steel. Makes me think a little of fireworks. I can hear the shop fire safety patrol in the wings and I dont want you guys to worry, I am very aware of what a spark in sawdust can do and I am very careful about clean up and safety, before, during, and after.
I smoothed over some edges on the bench grinder and with a bastard file. Now I needed to make some grooves in the faces. I could have started them all with a hacksaw but I opted for the rotary tool with a heavy duty grinding/cutting disk on it.
I clamped the steel in the vise and made a series of lines going one direction. Then I turned the piece again and made perpendicular lines. The most difficult thing was trying to remember to keep the lines a little course and not too close together.With all the grooves roughed into place I deepened them with a triangular saw sharpening file.
I then jointed the face of the punch lightly with a bastard file and I had something good I could work with.
I decided that a cross shaped detail punch would be the best place to start, besides the pattern I chose to start with had cross shaped detail punch marks so it seemed to make the decision easy. I took the longer alignment bad. clamped it in the vise and used the rotary tool grinding wheel to make some longitudinal grooves. Turning the tool to cut four compass points. Then I again used the triangle shaped file to give a final shape to the pattern.
I wasnt perfectly careful, I was just making up how I was going to do this as I went along, so the cross didnt turn out symetrical, but in all honesty I kind of like the way some points are fatter than others, it adds a little bit of interest, and theres no reason for people to think that I didnt intend to make it that way, I mean its not like Im writing about the mistake and posting it up on the internet right? Oops.
So I made some test punches in a scrap of pine and I was pretty happy with the results.
I had some scrap oak and I did some punches on there too, I wasnt as happy with the impression but I figures it would just have to do. I used them on the carving I did during the demo and I was using red oak, not the green oak seasoned for a few weeks like Peter gets to use. I was in a hurry and I ended up buying a board from the home center. So the stuff was thoroughly dried and hard as hell which lead to some tough carving sometimes, but the punches also seemed, at the time, not so effective.
| Up close I can see all the mistakes and the texture impressions just didnt seem vivid enough to me. I know that I will always see mistakes here that others wont, and I accept that, Its kind of the nature of the beast. |
| Back away a little and your eyes adjust and pull the whole pattern together, because our minds want to see patterns so it compensates. From a foot and a half away, I do like my work here. Again, the nature of the process. |
Cheers
Oldwolf
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Recycle Center for Garage
Just a quick note. Here is the recycle center I did for the garage last week. Today is the first chance I have had to install it since we went to a family reunion this weekend.
I used 3/4" pine for everything but the shelves, they are 1/8" hardboard. It is stained and varnished to match the rest of the garage. Some day it will cool off enough that I can finish the garage and Ill post more pictures.
Read More..
![]() |
| The early idea. |
![]() |
| A rendering of the idea |
| The finished center in use. |
| A closer look. |
| For aluminum cans (we dont use many). |
| You can see how the shelf is mounted. |
| Underneath the shelves. |
Monday, February 10, 2014
Abrasive paper and double side tape together for flattening
Posted by
linua
at
4:45 PM
Labels:
abrasive,
and,
double,
flattening,
for,
paper,
side,
tape,
together
0
comments
The abrasive paper attached to a plan surface is a good way to flatten soles of metal planes for significantly improving their performances. Usually I use spray glue that allows a valid bur reversible bonding so you can easily replace the abrasive when it is exhausted. The only drawback is the glue residue left on the glass plate that has to be cleaned with alcohol every time . An alternative way is to use double-sided adhesive tape which provides excellent grip and when removed leaves no residue on glass and results in faster replacement operations .


If you cant find a full sheet of sandpaper wide enough then you could join two narrow strips togheter.
. The tape thickness is minimal and does not affect the flatness degree useful to obtain a good levelled surface.
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Some things call for an apology
I received a response from D.S. Orr yesterday regarding his inclusion in my posts about "The Saw That Never Was". In it, he made some very good points regarding his belief the saws primary usage is a flooring saw. Whether or not he swayed me to his way of thinking is a topic for my next post as this one is dedicated to apologizing to him for my rather disrespectful wording in the previous posts.
In retrospect, the wording I used regarding Mr. Orr was very disrespectful and the fact that I got so wound up in my quest to find the use the saw was originally designed for is no excuse for doing so. I was focused on the statements Mr. Orr made regarding the saw as they related to the discussion at hand and did not consider at all the person who made them. Having reread what I wrote, I realized that I had committed a common error in judgement that I have often criticized others for.
As it turns out, Mr. Orr is both male, and someone whose opinions and thoughts about all things to do with vintage tools is highly regarding in collectors and dealer circles alike.
I would like to sincerely apologize to Mr. Orr and assure him that I meant no disrespect. Realizing now how quickly words can become ill-mannered, especially when written unintentionally, has raised my guard to try and not commit a similar infraction in the future.
I also need to apologize to Lee Valley Tools as, because Google did not come back with any hits under Mr. Orrs name, I thought their article could quite possibly be written by one of their employees using a pseudonym, a questionable practice, ethics wise, that I have seen other companies do with this sort of thing in the past. I should have known that if any company was held to the highest of business ethics, it would be Lee Valley Tools.
Again, my sincerest apologies to Mr. Orr and Lee Valley Tools.
Peace,
Mitchell
Read More..
In retrospect, the wording I used regarding Mr. Orr was very disrespectful and the fact that I got so wound up in my quest to find the use the saw was originally designed for is no excuse for doing so. I was focused on the statements Mr. Orr made regarding the saw as they related to the discussion at hand and did not consider at all the person who made them. Having reread what I wrote, I realized that I had committed a common error in judgement that I have often criticized others for.
As it turns out, Mr. Orr is both male, and someone whose opinions and thoughts about all things to do with vintage tools is highly regarding in collectors and dealer circles alike.
I would like to sincerely apologize to Mr. Orr and assure him that I meant no disrespect. Realizing now how quickly words can become ill-mannered, especially when written unintentionally, has raised my guard to try and not commit a similar infraction in the future.
I also need to apologize to Lee Valley Tools as, because Google did not come back with any hits under Mr. Orrs name, I thought their article could quite possibly be written by one of their employees using a pseudonym, a questionable practice, ethics wise, that I have seen other companies do with this sort of thing in the past. I should have known that if any company was held to the highest of business ethics, it would be Lee Valley Tools.
Again, my sincerest apologies to Mr. Orr and Lee Valley Tools.
Peace,
Mitchell
Friday, January 31, 2014
Project for woodshop
For you Project for woodshop one of the best
Woodworking projects and free woodworking plans for all, Wood projects that will be treasured for a lifetime. choose woodworking projects as simple as rectangular framed mirrors or as advanced as glass top wood tables.. Projects - popular woodworking magazine, Your source for the best woodworking projects! great plans, templates & wood shop projects for any level of woodworker. learn new techniques today!.

