A Little Oak Bowl

This little guy started off over a year ago, long before the hair-brained idea of building a dedicated bowl lathe took over my sanity.  It had some cracks in it from the onset, but I wasnt scared.  

I thought it would be a great time to try out a new medium for filling in cracks just like these.  Now just what is this mystery material?  

Is it dust from a prized scrap of ebony that you sacrificed?  No.  

Is it some expensive grain filler you had to special order?  Not a chance.  

Ill give you a hint.  Its "The best part of wakin up, theres Folgers in your"... Wood bowl?  Yep thats right, coffee grounds mixed with epoxy make a great filler.  I think the end results look promising for future use of this idea.  Ill suggest that whenever you do this kind of filling, put as much of the stuff as you can in the void. Id also suggest using epoxy as the base material.  Epoxy isnt just a glue, its void filling.  Thank means that it will take up a lot of space and still have its structural integrity. Other glues cant perform like this.  

I had a bit of rework to do with this piece.  Did I mention it had been sitting for a year?  It was very wobbly after remounting it.  Look!  My spur drive made it!  All the way from Axminster in the UK. Here is the bowl to its final shape before sanding.

After sanding and burnishing with and old shirt, the coffee filler really pops off of the piece.  I wonder if dark roast would be any better?

Here is a quick and easy finish recipe.  Equal parts of Tung Oil, Mineral Spirits, and any poly or varnish.  I mixed this up in a small bottle so that I can hopefully use it all before the finish dries up.

HERES A TIP!

As you use your finish, remove as much dead volume (air) from the can as possible.  The great thing about this little squeeze bottle I that I can compress the sides until the finish almost squirts out the spout and the put the cap on.  AWESOME!

And here it is off the lathe.  Ill add a little coffee filler to the inside of the bowl where you can see the cracks coming all the way through.  Hopefully Ill be able to scrape down the filler easily and be home free after a few more coats of finish, followed by buffing.

Thanks for reading!  If you have any questions, comments, or project suggestions, please leave them below.  Have a great day!

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worst case scenario

i just received notice that an installation originally scheduled for november 

and then january, has been postponed to mid february .... 

just after, i passed this new yorker cartoon that is on my office bulletin board

and had a little chuckle.

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merry christmas !

merry christmas, happy holidays, and best wishes for the new year to you and all your families.

we had a rainbow briefly over the metal shop on tuesday afternoon .. we all took it as a good omen for 2016 ...

and a fine sunset to go with it  ....

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Computer Case Hack

If you read this post title and think Im going to discuss corrupting your friends hard drive or tell you how to steal their photos from that beach trip, your going to be disappointed.  In true Wood Shop Mike fashion, this post is about utilizing a commonly found item to serve a need in the shop.

Im using a CPU case here to house the electronics for Big Blue.  VFDs (variable frequency drives) dont like dust.  Bad things happen when lots of dust, debris, or metal chips get into electronics.  So, instead of buying an enclosure specifically intended for these items, I used an old computer case.  
Why did I use a computer case?  Well, a new enclosure for a VFD is going to cost you a couple hundred dollars.  A regular size computer case has plenty of room for a VFD and brake module.  Used cases are easy to come by and normally will still have fans or power supplies in them.  Check your local surplus warehouse if youre have trouble finding a candidate for surgery.  

I started out this project by removing all the existing components, minus the fans.  I took the fan off the CPU and kept the power supply around to use later.  Then, I started laying out the electronics and decided on an arrangement that made me happy.  I marked where I want a hole in the top of the case so I can still use the VFD on-board controller.  


Now, how to I mount these things in here in some meaningful way?

Enter the old power supply, which I use as a shelf.  I drilled some holes to correspond with existing anchor points in the mother board support panel.  I then drilled and tapped holes to connect the VFD to one side of the power supply box.  I also cut off the panel of the power supply box that the fan mounts to and remounted that piece to the case where it normally lives.

Cutoff From Power Supply

This is the fan off of the VFD.  It conveniently runs on 24V DC, as do the other fans from the computer case.  Here Im splicing a "supply cable" into the leads for this fan.  Ill then use wire nuts to tie the three fans together.

Stealing Power!

Before I cut the "window" for the on board controls, I verified that everything will line up once cut.  Everything looks good so lets get to it!  I used a cut off wheel on an angle grinder to make the opening.  I should pause here and reiterate that hand tools can bite you!  You technically arent suppose to use an angle grinder without a guard...  Decide for yourself.  I will say, the time it takes to put the guard on (if its off) sure beats the time it would take to stitch your hand back up!

Cut Here!

Back to cutting.  I make a series of plunge cuts and connect the four corners. Oops, I went a little far on one...  Lets say its got character now.

After checking the fit, everything seems to line up just fine.  Victory is mine!

Now I drilled and tapped holes for the brake module.  After that, just fasten the brake in place (bottom of case) with the appropriately sized screws and thats done.  

Id like to point out what seems to be a peg leg.  My "shelf" was just a bit flimsy and needed some extra support.  I just happened to have a scrap piece of wood lying around...
  

Almost there

I used cable glands for the comings in and goings out of the power and control cables.  These are awesome little guys that protect your cables from wearing around a sheet metal edge.  They also grab the cable and keep it from pulling out of the terminals on your electronics.  Aint no body got time for a fire!

At this point I realized I dont have a 3/4" hole saw. I had to stop and go get one...  Drat...

Well with all that said, I spent a few hours on this.  That even includes going to the store!  The VFD and brake module are both surplus Allen Bradley units, together they cost in the neighborhood of $300. The pendant, cables, and plug were close to $50.  My Dad wasnt using this case any longer so that was FREE!!  

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