Starting Out

To begin, this is my first blog.  Ill be clumsily arranging my thoughts and projects as I move along.  

My intent with this blog is to share my opinions and work to give back to the woodworking community as it has given to me.  I am a woodworker by hobby. I began building guitars when in high school and have recently "completed" my shop.  Is a shop ever really done?  No, no it is not.  In addition to luthiery, I very much enjoy turning.  So much so that I built a large lathe, which will eventually be posted.  Ive also built some furniture along the way. 

I will mainly focus on turning with this blog, as it is my primary woodworking activity.  However, I will also post about shop improvements, guitar building and what ever else happens to take place in the shop.

Read more

A Few Saturdays Worth of Roughed out Bowls

This is really more of a "look what I did" post than my typical How To.  Anyways, I gotta just have fun sometimes too, right?  I also realized that I hadnt posted about the progress Ive made towards generating an inventory of bowls...  Shame on me.

When you are a woodworker, (especially a woodturner) people will start calling you every so often and ask if you want the tree that has been sitting on their property for the past month.  As luck would have it, I have a hard time telling someone no, especially if its free.  So, while visiting my in-laws a few weeks prior, I stopped by to visit one of their church friends and picked out a few chunks of wood.

I didnt want to go too crazy because I have a stack of birch logs in the yard that I think are on the brink of being useless.  *Tear*  I also have some exciting furniture projects coming up that will take me away from the lathe for a while and there is no sense in bringing home logs to just have them rot.

The first piece I started with was from a piece of butter beech.  It had great potential, but was laden with deep cracks.  Since there isnt much calling for toothpicks made from 18" logs, I made the difficult choice and tossed the piece.  Life is too short to turn bad lumber.

I was really itching to see what kind of grain patterns were lurking in the "oak doughnut", so I grabbed the chainsaw and cut out a section to turn a set of bowls.  I was very encouraged when I split the piece and could see figure even on the rough chainsawed surface.  

I rough turned the first half and put it in the denatured alcohol (DNA) bath and put the other half in a heavy plastic bag until I could get to it the next morning.

So morning comes and I decided to throw the other half of oak on the lathe and rough out another bowl.  Not being one to want to start working on a "dirty" lathe, I brushed the shavings from the previous days work off the bed.  Waiting for me was a little surprise... RUST!  I totally forgot how wet the wood was and had a nice little side project on my hands as punishment.  Oak has a large amount of tannins in it also, which didnt help the rust situation either.  Oh well, lesson learned.  Clean off the bed, especially when youre turning green wood, and even more so when its oak!

Maybe four pictures of this is a little much, but I dont run across much oak that has flame.  So Im trying to show it off!

With both bowls turned and in the DNA bath, I switch my focus to trying the butter beech again.  Before now, Ive never worked with this species.  Ive heard that it is a terribly hard wood, but everything seems to play nice before its dry.  I was definitely able to tell a difference between the heartwood and sapwood though.  I have another log about 2 feet long and 18" in diameter.  Im excited to finish turning my stash of this and see how the pieces fair while they dry and then are finish turned.  There is also just enough spalting in the log to add interest.

The other species I worked with recently is elm.  This was another first for me and I learned very quickly to not even think that the bark will stay on.  Im not certain that this is characteristic of the species, but the log I have appears to have been sitting for a while before I acquired it.  Luckily, the wood is not punky, so I shouldnt have to deal with turning rotted wood, which is never fun.  Also, Ive never turned wood that was so wet!  The pieces Ive turned have so much moisture in them that my face shield was being splattered with water while the piece was turning.  I really like the interesting colors that are present in pieces I worked with.  There is a lot of dark heart wood to contrast the lighter sap wood.  I think it should make for very interesting bowls.  Only time will tell how they dry and finish turn, but for now Im optimistic!

Here are the bowls in and out of the DNA soak.  The two on the left are butter beech, the other four are elm.

I hope you enjoyed the update!  Thanks for reading.  Check back soon, Ill tell you all about breathing life back into a Stihl 026 chainsaw!

Read more

Work Bench Storage Hack Keeping Sanding Blocks Out of Sight But Close at Hand

How many of you never seem to have enough storage space in your shop?  In this post, Ill describe how I utilized wasted space on my workbench.

Eventually, I plan to add cabinets and drawers under my workbench.  However, when I do, Ill lose about a 6" tall storage space because of the apron on my bench.  I hate wasting space, and would love nothing more than to have a home for every tool and gadget in my shop.

Sadly, it took me a while for this idea to hit me, but when it did, I felt like a load of bricks had just been dropped on my head!  At times I feel like I have as many sanding blocks as a teenage girl has shoes.  Storing them in a useful way has always been a quandary until now.  

For my biggest sanding blocks with handles, I drilled corresponding holes in the apron of my workbench.  I used a spade bit that is 1/8" larger than the size of my handles.  The sanding blocks are easily removed and stored.  The larger sized hole also allows for less than perfect positioning while drilling the holes into the work bench.  I put storage locations on three sides of the bench for my large sanding blocks. 

Thanks for reading yall.  If you have a question or comment, you know what to do!

Read more

Clamp Rack

Youve heard it before.  "You can never have too many clamps."  Maybe not, but it sure can feel that way unless they are under control and organized.  If your clamps arent organized you feel like this...

Even with my modest collection, there were times when it seemed that I had won the clamp lottery.

Since everyones shop needs are different, let me outline mine as they pertain to this clamp rack.  Many folks build wall systems to hold their clamps.  I like this approach.  In fact, the shop I apprenticed at in high school had clamps all over the place.  The luthier there had stored cam clamps at each work bench.  It really worked well, but I didnt see a good way to incorporate such a system in my shop.  I opted for a mobile storage unit that I could keep out of the way until I needed its bounty.  

As you can see, this is a pretty simple design.  Does this remind anyone of a ladder?  I used 2x4s, 2x2s, spare plywood, and casters for the construction. I like to buy kiln dried lumber since its much less likely to warp.  The small increase in price is well worth the assurance.  

I started by making the base.   I knew I only had so much floor space,  so the racks footprint was the driving design factor.  The base measures 32" x 25" and the 2x4 railing is as much for storage retention as anything else.Next, I determined the angle of the racks.  I decided on 95° and cut the top and bottom accordingly. Make sure to cut one end inversely of the other. Once all four of the vertical pieces were cut, I measured the spacing for the rungs.

I used my clamps to decide what the spacing would be, this may be different for your needs. From the bottom of each side my measurements were 9.5, 17.5, 24.5, 30.5, 44.5, and 59. These measurements are on center. This means you will cut away equal amounts on each side of the mark when cutting the notches for your rungs.

After all of the notches are cut, you are ready to assemble each side. I put all of the rungs in place and measured diagonally from end to end before driving any screws in. This produced two assemblies that are square. Once each half is done, youre ready to screw them to the base. At this step, it helps to have a helper. Be sure that the ends of the ladder are fully seated against the base. I used 2.5" screws through the base railing to tie the racks in place.Youre almost done! The last part of assembly is to cut a top shelf to the appropriate size. If you have copied my dimensions, your shelf should be 29" x 9.5". Now just attach the shelf, put on some casters, and youre ready to add clamps!

Be sure to send photos and let me know how it turns out if you make one! As always, feel free to send questions if you get stumped. Thanks for reading!

Read more

Denatured Alcohol Drying

Heres a "rip the band-aid off"quick write up of how I dry my green roughed out bowls using alcohol.
If you have any experience with turning green lumber, you probably also have experience with throwing away bowls that have split or cracked beyond the point of repair.  You may have also encountered a piece that has warped so much during the drying process that finish turning your bowl would be an exercise in futility.

To the rescue is a myriad of drying methods that are used by many turners so reach the same end result, dry bowl rough outs that arent cracked or overly warped.

Before I started using denatured alcohol (DNA) to dry bowls, I used paper bags with a handful of shavings in the bowl to slow down the drying process.  My success was about 50/50.  As Ive gotten busier and begun turning wood that is more green, Ive found that my bagging method was less and less effective.  This spurred a search to increase my success rate with turning green wood.  The two methods I was down to trying was boiling the wood or DNA soaking.

While I like fire as much as the next guy, I dont have a great area to set up a propane turkey fryer to boil a large container of water for drying my bowls.  In addition to that, I normally have to do my work in relatively short periods of time.  I seldom have a full day or afternoon to dedicate to roughing out bowls and then boiling them.

The appeal of DNA soaking for me is that I can drop rough outs in the solution as I finish them up and can forget about them for a while until I either need to add more rough outs to the tub or remember to pull the currently soaking bowls out.  For my larger tub of DNA, I wrap the top with plastic wrap to help seal the tub and prevent the alcohol from evaporating.  This probably isnt required, but its cheap insurance that doesnt take long to apply.

Soaking Method:

• Put roughed turned piece into DNA bath
• Leave it for at least 24 hours, longer for more green pieces (no real quantitative guidelines here...)
• Remove piece and pour excess back into tub
• Let dry for 15 - 30 minutes
• Wrap outside and rim of bowl only with paper
• Store bowls upside down allowing air to reach inside of bowl (sticker similarly to dimensional lumber)
• Piece can be finish turned as soon as two weeks after removal from Alcohol.

Who doesnt love pictures to go along with instructions?  Yeah, thats what I thought!

Supplies:

• 5 gallon bucket for pieces up to 10" diameter
• 13 gallon tub for pieces up to 18" diameter (Agri Supply)
• Denatured Alcohol (Agri Supply, chemical wholesaler)

Additional Information:

• David Smith has written a fair amount about DNA drying.
• AAW forum

Read more

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!!  

Read more

Roughing Out Bowls

For the past few days, Ive been rough turning some salad bowls.  Ill be finishing off my supply of hickory with these bowls.  Maybe now I can tackle the rest of my lumber pile before I acquire as much Box Elder as I can handle in March!!!  So, to the point of this post...  My process for roughing turning a bowl and what to do when you see splits in the wood.

Admittedly, this post is geared more towards those new to turning.  Ill go through my steps to rough out a salad bowl.  The best part is that I remembered to take pictures this time!

I started off with some bowl blanks that I had cut back in December.  I didnt think it would take me until now to get them on the lathe, but thats beside the point.  What you want to always be mindful of is splitting or cracks that have developed in your piece.  I noticed a few on the end grain of some pieces I roughed out, but they didnt look bad enough to keep me from using the blanks.

No, this post does not end with me reporting that I went to the ER or that anything blew apart on the lathe.  Lots of people will tell you to never ever put a piece of wood on the lathe that has any checking in it.  Well, if youre turning green wood and have the shop schedule that I do, you would be throwing away every other block of wood you came across.  Use your best judgement and if you have hesitancy then move on to the next block in your stash.

Ill be mounting this piece to the lathe with a faceplate for initial roughing.  I could use my beefy #3 MT spur drive, but I find that once the piece gets around 50 pounds I have trouble holding the blank still until I bring up the tailstock.  Maybe I need to hit the gym?  Anyways, back to the faceplate.  Be sure to use good screws for mounting the piece to a faceplate.  You really arent going to do yourself any favors by using drywall screws as these are very brittle and could shear apart from the forces present while turning.  I like to use #10 sheet metal screws which are heavier in cross section.  More important than a specific screw size is selecting a screw that will adequately fill the screw holes in a faceplate.  You dont want a screw has large amounts of slop in the screw hole.  Also, I dont usually bother predrilling my holes for attaching a faceplate.

Now the next step you probably guessed is to thread the faceplate onto the spindle.  I like to hold the piece on the lathe with my right hand/arm and turn the spindle with my left hand.  I would not advise having the lathe under power for this step because one could easily cross thread the faceplate and potentially ruin the spindle threads.  For a blank this size, about Ø 16" I run the lathe between 300 &  450 RPM.  The determining factor is vibration.  Basically if you think the machine is going to relocate itself, then slow it down.  A slight shaking is ok, but you dont want the thing bouncing up and down.

I begin roughing the blank by setting the tool rest at 45° to the work piece and work from the tailstock toward the headstock.  I cut away at the corner first and gradually cut more and more to create the desired shape.  While roughing, I use a 5/8 bowl gouge with the flute rolled 45° facing the direction of cut and the tool handle level.  By holding the handle against my body, I use less arm strength and do not fatigue quickly.  The first picture gives a good view of the flute position and the second shows the shavings flying off of the tool.

I continue to rough out the blank and occasionally stop to check my progress, take a sip of water/coffee, and sharpen my tool.

The bowl is coming along nicely.  The grain from this hickory log continues to captivate my interest.  Since these bowls are just being roughed out, I will not spend the extra time to clean up any torn grain until the bowls are seasoned and finished being turned.  Now Im ready to put this blank into the chuck and hollow out the inside.  One last thing to check before removing the bowl is to verify the spigot is the proper size and profile to allow the bowl to sit flat against the top of the jaws.  Done?

Sometimes removing the faceplate from the spindle can be tricky.  My faceplates have a hole drilled in the side of them to assist with removing them from the lathe with a tommy bar.  I lock the spindle and use a bar to break the faceplate free from the spindle.

I now put the chuck on the lathe and remove the faceplate from the blank.  Open the jaws so that the spigot on the bottom of the bowl will easily fit inside of the jaws and sit flat against the top of the jaws.  I tighten the chuck enough to hold the bowl and then bring the tailstock up close and lock it into place.  Then, I loosen the chuck slightly and advance and lock the quill to push the blank evenly against the jaws.  Dont forget to tighten the chuck!

This blank had a split starting from the pith of the tree.  I was a bit too greedy when splitting the log and did not remove enough of the pith to prevent checking in this blank.  As a result I had to reduce the height of the bowl until the crack was removed.  I hollow a bowl using two cutting movements.  One is more aggressive and a bit more likely to pull the bowl out of the chuck.  The other is good for refining the inside shape and directs the cutting force towards the headstock, which reduces the likelihood of forcing the bowl out of the chuck.  

With either cutting method, the tool should be held level on the tool rest and lined up on center of the bowl.  Adjust the tool rest if necessary.  The more aggressive cut starts from the middle of the bowl with the flute at 45° to the left (if standing facing the headstock) and the tool angled about 30° across the tool rest.  Begin by pushing into the center and slowly pulling the tool across the inside of the bowl.  I generally use this cut to begin hollowing a bowl with the tailstock engaged and do not use it much to shape the walls of the bowl until the tailstock is removed.  This cut can be grabby and self feed, so this cut can be a little thrilling if youre not paying attention.  

The other cut I use starts at the rim of the bowl.  This cut requires a greater range of motion and is much easier to do with the tailstock removed.  There are two variations of this cut.  One variant is to have the flute rolled 45° to the right and starting at the rim of the bowl with the tool about 30° to the top plane of the bowl (handle still level) begin cutting and swing the tool handle proportionately as the tip of the gouge cuts the wood.  This is a good cut for removing moderate amounts of material.  I find it easiest to perform while standing at the end of the lathe and shifting my weight from right to left.  

The second variant of cut starting at the rim I only use for light material removal and finish paces.  This is a bevel rubbing cut that produces a superior surface finish compared to the first two hollowing cuts I described.  This cut can skate upon initialization, which can leave a nice dig in on a cut rim bowl or blow out a natural edge piece.  If this proves to be a problem, then cut in about 1/4" using the previous cut described.  Now with a shoulder for the bevel to be supported on, present the tool at about 20° to the top plane of the bowl (handle still level).  With the bevel rubbing, you will begin to produce shavings as you advance the tool through the cut.  

In the photos below, you can see a great example of a split that must be removed before this bowl is finished with rough turning.  If this split was left in the piece, it would continue to propagate and could severely reduce the likelihood of having a bowl worth finish turning once the piece was dry.  On this particular bowl, I turned away all of the excess.  While that wouldnt be a big deal for softer woods, it can be time consuming on a timber like hickory.  

I had a similar split in another blank of hickory that I removed with the chainsaw in less than a minute!  I wish I had a picture of that, but I fear that when my wife saw me grinning with the chainsaw next to the lathe it would have been all over.  Hey, it sure beat the heck out of a pile of shavings.  AND...... I was able to get two blanks from the cut off for some small plates!  Win Win Win!

These bowls are tossed in a tub of denatured alcohol for 24 hours - until I remember to take them out.  They then drip dry and are wrapped with brown paper or news print on the outside.  The paper wraps around the rim and leaves the inside of the bowl open.

Read more