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Kevin Wells

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Everything posted by Kevin Wells

  1. A few years back, I received a huge chunk of Gaboon Ebony. It originally weighed in around 60 pounds. Over the years I've cut small sections off for trim, pen blanks, etc (at the most, 3/4 inch thickness per cut). For my current project, I ripped two 6 in wide boards, using the band saw with a 3/4" blade. About a 1/2 inch into the cut, sparks began to fly. As the cut progressed I began to wonder if I was grinding metal versus cutting wood. Upon inspection, there is no metal in the wood, that can be seen. A friend suggested that its the density of the ebony that causes the sparks. Before I ripped the 2nd boards I took time to clean up all the sawdust, just in case. The second rip did the same thing only the sparks were immediate. Is this normal? There's no burn marks in the wood and no sign of any metal. The sparks lasted throughout both cuts, so it wasn't like hitting a nail or other object. I cant replicate it with any other type of wood. I later ripped oak, walnut, and poplar with no sparks. .
  2. Hi all, After a long hiatus, I finally got to fire up the lathe and try out the tools I won at Christmas. So I decided to jump in head first and polish those segmenting skills. The oak and walnut started as a bowl but morphed into a vasey basket thing when one of the rings exploded inside the planer. The walnut bowl was the second attempt with the same design. It has a flaw in that I had to remount it and it became off center resulting in an uneven wall. The tools made short work of blending the rings and the finishing tool is now my new favorite. I have a third bowl in the press, now. It is a bubinga bowl made of 24 pc. rings and stacked to 7 inches. The final ring is Gabon ebony and will become the bowl rim. Ebony has its own challenges but I am hopeful of the end result. Sorry it took so long to post, but the last few months were insane. My therapy / wood shop is about to get a long workout :-) Kevin
  3. I am finally looking to buy a bench top planer. I am looking real hard at the Dewalt 735 (with table attachments and blades). With coupons and military discount, the best price I have found is $580 at Lowes. However, other than my lathe, this will be the largest single purchase I have made for my shop (though if I figure in all the upgrades to my bandsaw over the years, it might drop to third place). This will also be the first purchase I make that is fully funded from the sale of various woodworking projects. To those that have a dewalt, what's your opinion of it? Do you recommend this to others? How is it with some of the tougher exotic woods? A few years ago I had a chance to buy rough cut, 6/4 Bubinga in 8" wide sections for about $3 /bf. Needless to say I have a hundred feet or so of this type and will be running it through the planer first thing (well maybe second after a dozen practice runs). Will the dewalt handle this? Do you feel its worth the price? If you have a different make: Do you recommend it over the dewalt 735? Other than price, why did you go with the one you have? I'v read A LOT of online reviews. But vast majority write a review an hour after they get the machine. I want to know about longevity, maintenance issues, customer support, etc. 20 years ago, my tool shed was black and yellow. Then about ten years ago, Dewalt started pushing out some inferior products and the color of my tools began to change (no real consistency). So I am a little hesitant when it comes to dewalt, though, if their quality has returned, I'd gladly buy again. Thanks Kevin
  4. Hi Folks, Turning a lot of pens the last several weeks, I got to looking for the various ink refills, to offer on my site, and I am running into brick walls trying to find a wholesale source. It seems one can get the knock off, no brand, made in china refills for about 25 cents each (parker style ballpoint) or in excess of $5 each for carded singles. I looked at my normal sources but they dont post bulk discounts on refills. Anyone have any suggestions?
  5. Kevin Wells

    Finished projects

    Finished projects
  6. From the album: Finished projects

    This started off as a segment bowl made from a Bradford Pear from my parents land. The base and rim came from some reclaimed oak. After I gave it to my wife, she asked that I turn it into a yarn bowl. Cringing, I reluctantly cut the swirl into it. Its a bit thicker walled than I normally do. Finish is 7 coats of shellac.
  7. When our preacher moved away, he gave me his scrollsaw. Its an older Delta model (not sure off hand of the model). When I first got it, I looked it up online and found the manual, though the model was out of production. Since I was planning a new workbench, I added a place for a scroll saw table that I could sit down at (it stows away when not being used). Now that that is completed its time to figure this thing out. I have never used a scroll saw, I'm not real sure where to begin. I am a self taught woodturner which led to many costly mistakes over the years and was hoping to find a better source for the basics before diving in. What is a good place to start? Who are the experts with the you tube channels and blogs. I really need the basics. Something that starts off with, "This is a scroll saw..." :-)
  8. I'm going to look at a used Delta Planer this weekend. Heres the one I am looking at: Planer This will be the first one I'v ever seriously considered. As I think about it, my track record for buying used power tools has not been that good. Aside from the obvious (does it run?) what should I look for? What should the deal breaker be (provided it turns on)? looking on amazon and rockler it appears new knives start around 20 bucks. I assume I should plan on replacing those. Can they be re-sharpened (I'v seen a mix of reviews on that theory)? Are there any other parts I should plan on replacing right away or soon after? My goal is two fold. One, I'v been cutting alot of my own lumber from fallen trees, so I'll run a couple of hundred board feet through it each year. Two, Planing segment rings prior to glue up. Ofc theres the thought of buying rough lumber too (I finally located a sawmill in my new location). Is the Delta planer up to these tasks? I looked for it in the Wood Magazine article on bench planers, but it was'nt listed in the list of units tested (which I thought was odd). As always, THANKS for your help! Kevin
  9. That looks great! Seeing this and the other pics makes me think I should set the ebony aside for another project and just choose one wood to compliment the bubinga. Its kind of funny, I've had the 80 pound block of grade "A" ebony for 8 years now and cant seem to come up with a project for it...
  10. Thanks for all the idea. I have used the "ebonizing" technique once before to create a faux aged look in some baltic birch plywood. I may try this on some of the various scraps I have to see what yeilds the best result. I have considered / not rule out cherry. Though the ebonizing of poplar intrigues me. I may do a couple of mock ups with some scrap cherry and some poplar and see what the results turn out. I'll post the results. Thanks for all your help! Kevin
  11. Hello All, I am planning a build of a narrow table for our foyer. I have some 5/4 waterfall bubinga that I planned to use for the top and a small amount of gaboon ebony for accents. However for the apron and legs I'm stuck. I thought about using walnut, but figured the ebony would get lost. I then looked at a curly maple but the contrast seemed extreme. What wood would be a good compliment to a bubinga top, that would showcase the bubinga and ebony but also compliment the peice as a whole? Kevin
  12. Well I finally got the parts in. Is there any tricks or secrets to replacing these? It appears that its a matter of removing the retaining clip at the end of the motor spindle and sliding everything off. Does that sound right? I think I may video the fun or replacing it since I cant find any reference videos out there. Of coaurse if I completely screw it up, it will be a, "What not to do" video...
  13. Hi Folks, Its been several months since I last posted. We got moved and started the new job, Now that the house is unpacked, I have started setting up the new shop. I decided to take it slow and do some much neglected maintenance on each of my tools as I go along. Last weekend it was time for Lathe Maintenance. I had decided to replace the belt as the other was the original and had developed a memory leading to two humps in the belt which in turn created a wobble / vibration during turning. I bought one of those vibration-less link belts. All was going good till I took off the old belt, then it all went to heck. The motor side pulley slammed closed as the belt came off. I failed to recognize that the pulley was two parts , one side fixed and one side under tension. As I attempted to pry apart the two parts, the fixed side shattered into several pieces (dozen or so). I assume that since the lathe is variable speed, the motor side pulley expands or contracts (in turn adjusting the diameter of the pulley from 1 to 3 inches) as the speed is adjusted? My lathe is the predecessor to the grizzly 462 (according to the techs, only the tail stock changed, so the headstock side parts should be the same). So here's my question(s) Should I only replace the broken pulley or should I go ahead and replace all the parts along the motor shaft? What would you do? When it comes to mechanical, I'm not the best guy to work on it, So before I make any purchases or commit, I like to get several opinions. Here's a link to the schematic for reference http://cdn0.grizzly.com/partslists/g0462_pl.pdf  The part that has to be replaced is number 9, But I am wondering if I should go ahead and replace 17 through 24? Thanks Kevin Kevin Wells Chuckin' Wood www.chuckinwood.com
  14. Hmm, where to start. Well I would consider myself an advanced wood turner who specializes mainly in segment turning but over the last couple of years has branched out into other areas of woodworking (I discovered the joys of my router less than a year ago). I am also a member of the national guard and as such have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan a total of 3 times. The last time I left in February 2012 and I was medevac'd out of country in June. Currently,I reside in a medical transition unit where doctor appointments and rehab fill my days and at night I dream about my workshop. I say all this because I have had the honor of receiving pens and other projects made by woodworkers across the world and seen first hand the joy I and my fellow soldiers got from them. When I left on this last tour I had another motive. I was going to photograph all of what I call "the Battlefield Woodworkers" and start a blog on it when I returned. I was actually searching for potential blog names when I stumbled on to this site and saw how much you all support my brothers and sister in arms, to which I say, "THANK YOU". It will be several months before I return to the workshop, though I am constantly designing new projects. So until then I may be more of a watcher, though that probably wont stop me from asking questions, and I have thought about posting some pre deployment project photos just to get some critiques. We'll see. See you around Kevin
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