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The old Dogwood tree, outside my window, should be in full bloom tomorrow. Hard to believe when I transplanted it, from my parents mountain property, it was a single, spindly stick. That was 56 years ago! Our Patriot Turners- @RustyFN showed us a beautiful new turned lidded box he made. He said this one is made from Maple. He certainly has perfected the flocking technique, too! Our turners gave him lots of compliments in his post- @Gerald has been creating amazing designs with his JaHo jig. His most recent refrigerator magnet is a beauty! Check out this addition to his post- More activity on our two continuing posts of "What's On/Off the Lathe" From ON: @Gerald provide a closeup look at his JaHo jig in action- You can see how this jig can create some fantastic designs. Check out Gerald's post for additional images. From OFF: @kreisdorph turned a gnarly piece of mulberry into a beautiful bowl- Kent also finished these beauties. This spalted piece caught my eye because of the shape. Years ago, an artist friend sent me a picture from a magazine. He fell in love with the shape. I think it was a hint for me to turn one. Alas, I have not done it. New projects start here- @lew was looking for some input on design and proportions for turnings. He used miniature hollow turnings to get an idea of what had pleasing shapes and asked our turners their opinions. As always, our members provided some excellent advice and suggestions. What’s Coming Up- Click on the images for links to more information and registration- This is a replay of the most resent Tool Talk from Cindy Drozda For The Newbies- Thinking of design and proportions, Lyly Jamieson's turning tip discusses the design for bowls, Pen turning is a great way to get into turning. Kits can be inexpensive and provide amazing results. Tim Yoder shows us how it's done!! Now for a little more of a challenge, Jim Rodgers turns a segmented pen- Expand Your Horizons- Last week we posted a shop tour hosted by Mike Peace. The craftspeople were making Beads Of Courage boxes. Mike takes a segmented glue up and turns his own version of a Beads of Courage box- Sometimes the most beautiful turning is not the most perfect piece. Alan Stratton explains- https://youtu.be/hx1qGGVvU-g?si=mSuL1RJNLd0YDMOu EDIT: Cannot get this video to show in published post. Link seems to work. A short video from Richard Raffan demonstrating how he utilizes as much of a turning blank as possible. Check out the unique parting tool! New Turning Items- Been really difficult to find anything new on the market. Maybe by the time the income tax return is ready there will be some new toys to spend it on. Everything Else- An excerpt from Ron Brown's newsletter on advice for the new turner My advice for a new turner or a student would include the following: Find a turning club in your area and attend some meetings. These people are a tremendous resource and are always eager to help. Start with pens. Start by watching some YouTube videos for instructions. Get setup for basic pen turning, a 7mm mandrel, some slimline pen kits, proper sanding grits, CA glue, friction finish, etc. Pens are quick to make, easy to turn, and provide an immediate sense of accomplishment. If someone wanted to sell a few pens to pay for more turning stuff, many folks earn turning money this way. Then make some spinning tops for fun and give them away. Turn a few bottle stoppers and give them as gifts to friends and relatives. As soon as you can afford it, buy an inexpensive 4 jaw scroll chuck. Add more jaws down the road or buy a chuck with a few jaws included. Quality chucks with multiple jaw sets can be very expensive. Save that for later. For now, just get a serviceable chuck for around $100. Turn small plates from a 3/4" thick piece of wood using a recessed tenon in expansion mode for practice. A family member might even wish to add decorations or paint your masterpiece. Now that you have a scroll chuck, practice making turned lidded boxes, goblets, and soup ladles for the kitchen. Try turning a few small bowls from green wood. Turn the walls to 1/4" and watch them go oval. Turn a few 1/2" thick to let them dry in a paper bag for a few months, then re-turn them to 1/4" wall thickness once they’ve dried if they didn’t crack or explode. Once you've done all that, evaluate your interest in turning and if you love it, like most of us do, prepare to spend some money (easily $500) on High-Speed Steel lathe tools, a specialty grinder, and a sharpening jig. Next, set about learning to cut with traditional turning tools and learn to keep them sharp. Note: You only need a few HSS tools. In the beginning, don't buy more than 10 total, and never buy turning tools in a set. Always purchase the tool you need for the job at hand. After that, plan to take some full-day turning classes and plan to attend some turning symposiums in your area. From there, the sky is the limit. Turning can be as much or as little as you want. You can learn to make shavings in a couple of hours. It takes a lifetime to become a “Turner”. Did play a little at the lathe this week. The largest usable piece of that wind shake cherry was dry so I put it on the lathe. The more I turned, the more defects were uncovered. Filled the cracks with CA and sanding dust. The colors are nice but I don't like the tiny splits throughout the piece. Sanded to 600 and beeswax/mineral oil finish. Safe turning
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Can you believe it, school is starting this week!!! I don't think I'll miss substituting. Our Patriot Turners- Our sponsors Laguna and Easy Wood Tools are awesome. Both sponsors are doing their part to help our veterans by supporting the "Vets Turn" program. This video, from Laguna Tools, gives us an idea just how much the Vets Turn program means to those participating. You may remember @PostalTom started a chess set for his grandson. Well he has finished all the chess pieces and they look marvelous! Tom tells us about this part of his adventure and what comes next- @RustyFN finished up the lidded box he made for his Mrs. and it is awesome! We showed the "before" picture of the Milliput bands and now we get to see the how it turned out- Lots of great comments from our turners- Rusty is this week's winner for the most turning related posts. He was lucky enough to score these turning accessories, and more, from his local Woodcraft store- Check out the complete list- What’s Coming Up- SWAT is happening this coming weekend. Several turners will be doing live remotes. I received this email from Lyle Jamieson explaining how to see the streaming videos from Cindy Drozda and Todd Raines For Tod's, use this link- https://www.youtube.com/c/WoodturningToolStore For Cindy's, use this link- https://www.youtube.com/user/cindydrozda/featured The Mid-Atlantic Woodturning Symposium has posted their list of demonstrators- The link for registration- http://www.mawts.com/registration/ For The Newbies- Looking for inspirations for creating new turnings? Mike Peace's video has some ideas Episode #6 from Cindy Drozda's bottle stopper series- Expand Your Horizons- From the AAW- Looking for something different to embellish your turnings? Maybe Carol Hall has something you'll find attractive- Alan Stratton makes an unusual jewelry tray for a wedding present. Check out the shop made jaws for his scroll chuck- More and more prominent turners are turning (no pun intended) to multiple social media platforms to share their knowledge. No longer is YouTube the only source of information for the isolated turner. Although platforms like Facebook and Instagram are the bane of most of us over the age of 50 (far over, for me), I am finding more and more information available from folks like Cindy Drozda, Lyle Jamieson, Jim Echter etc. If you have a Facebook account, maybe checkout some of your favorite turners. As an example- https://www.facebook.com/732440147/videos/799343681075338 New Turning Items- Maybe something new will show up at SWAT. Everything Else- Rick Turns list of YouTube woodturning videos from last week- Safe turning
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Congrats to all of the raffle winners. We really appreciate all of the participation. Our Patriot Turners- We've had a really great discussion started by @Gerald on hollowing tools. He gave us an insight into what he uses now and why. Gerald invited us to join in and share our experiences. Several members have already added to the discussion. Please hop over to Gerald's post and join in. We'd love to hear what you think and learn about the tools you use! @forty_caliber gave us a look at a bowl he turned from a log. He provided a bunch of progress shots from start to finish. You can see all of the images here- @Steve Krumanaker is back making magic at the lathe. He turned a fantastic flame box elder vase. Please see his post for more images and our turner's comments- What’s Coming Up- From Cindy Drozda. Click on the image for the link to registration For The Newbies- A video from Mike Waldt discussing design, esthetics and techniques. This is a replay from a live event. Expand Your Horizons- Mike Peace demonstrates multi-axis turning in this two part presentation. What I found interesting is that Mr. Peace didn't use a fancy jig for holding the offset pieces. New Turning Items- Every now and then the folks at Woodturners Wonders reminds us they that stock some unique woodturning items. Check out their site to see if there is something you might need. https://woodturnerswonders.com/collections/unique-tools OK, this isn't new. There are many, many examples of steady rests available from just about every woodturning store. And even more shop made versions on line. What is new, here, is a unique method of mounting the three wheels. Here's the link for more information- https://www.woodworkersjournal.com/magnetic-homemade-steady-rest/ Everything Else- Last week's list of YouTube woodturning videos from Rick Turns- I was able to start working on the bowls that a friend wanted made. Her husband and son have a small saw mill and they cut down a flame box elder tree. They provided a log that was long enough to make 4 bowls. They also gave me a piece of walnut from which I'll get a few bowls. Turned the logs into blanks - Was able to get 2 of the blanks roughed out- They are resting in the soap and water bath until tomorrow. Then into some shavings for a while. Starting the next two tomorrow. The walnut pieces intrigued me. The sap wood and heart wood were almost perfectly centered. I thought it would make an interesting piece if the outside was white and the inside was dark. That meant making an end gain bowl. Well it sorta worked. If I would have left the walls quite thick, it would have been better but very heavy. It's still kind of cool. Still need to finish the finish and part off the bottom. Not sure how much it will warp/crack as it is turned to finish will still green. The side walls are about 1/4" thick. Safe turning and stay well
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Lew I looked at the steady rest video and I liked the idea. I also designed mine for my mini lathe and can also insert my steady rest without removing my tailstock. I have two sizes of rollers on reversible arms. The white rollers are from shower stall windows and the black are for printers and have bearings. Both work well.
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I was digging through the wood storage looking for something to do. I found a "kit" of a hall table that I got at an auction many years ago. The maple top is rounded on the front edge and straight on the back, sort of "D" shaped. Also is a skirt that is similarly shaped, but only runs across the front. I opened the stretch-wrapped package of legs (cherry) to what I expected to be 4 legs and there are only 3. So the questions are: 1) Should I make another leg or do something like this, one on each end and one in the center? (there is no bottom shelf in the kit) 2) The leg stock is roughly 2x2 and I was thinking of just making a half-lap onto the skirt and tapering the legs. How much is a good taper for legs like this that are about 29" long? I don't want to do too much and make it very delicate looking nor so little taper that it's had to tell that it's even tapered.
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Lew wrote about redesigning his lathe vac system. I was already tossing it around in my mind and wrote about a header, etc. Then it hit me, why go thru all that. I used thick cardboard and sheets of plastic. The thicker plastic came from the Dollar 3 for a dollar and are about 11" by 14". It cuts easily and can be taped to make larger sheets. I made alterations as I went. I installed my shop vac 2 and half inch hose in the lower left and formed the bendable plastic to fit. This prototype has worked really good so far. I also have in mind a divider made of the same plastic that can be moved to shorten or lengthen the coverage area for more effective pick up. I like it so well, I may just go ahead and use it as is. If not, a permanent set up will be much easier using what I have for plans. I used hot melt glue and clear packing tape to make it and things went fast. I altered as I went.
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Another week in the books. We've had a beautiful stretch of nice weather here in South Central PA. Unfortunately it has been so dry that the forest service is predicting very muted colors on the trees as the the leaves change. Our Patriot Turners- @Masonsailor reminded us that Christmas isn't that far away! He has started in on his gifts already He received lots of positive comments on this ice cream scoop- Of course, @Ron Altier is always prepared for Christmas! He gave us a look at a couple of new ornaments he turned. As always, Ron's pieces brought lots of comments- See his post for the process and finish he used- @AndrewB has been busy with bowls. The first is a pair made of Bhilwara wood. Check out this post for his description of what he did and some of his techniques. He also posted a Canary wood bowl. With this one, Andrew wasn't sure about the shape. Please see his post and give him your thoughts on it Andrew also worked on a couple of birch glue-ups to turn into bowls- In his posts he shows us how he did the glue-ups and also included a video on the turning process- What’s Coming Up- I couldn't find any new events. I suspect the folks who organized the Virtual Craft Festival on YouTube will have another event but I cannot find any definitive information on this. For The Newbies- A several informative videos this week. First, Mike Peace helps us sort out the various parting tools and their uses- Gouges! What's the difference? Here's a video that explains the differences between spindle gouges and bowl gouges @AndrewB said he was having trouble using his new inertia sander. I found this video, from M. Saban Smith, explaining how to use these sanders. This starts at about the 5 minute mark- Expand Your Horizons- @HandyDan was kind enough to send me the link to this video. The author demonstrates how to turn a multi axis "square bowl". Really Cool and you get 2 bowls from one glue-up! As noted earlier, @Ron Altier and @Masonsailor have been working on Christmas ideas. Here's one from our generous sponsor, Woodcraft, on making a keepsake ornament- I found this interesting. I'm a jig junky and will spend days building jigs that I would probably would not even need. Here is an example of what can be done with knowledge from the right person- New Turning Items- Sorry, save up your lunch money. Maybe next week! Everything Else- Rick Turn's list of YouTube videos from last week- The rocking horse is nearing completion. Mimi has the mane finished and the tail is almost ready to install. Safe turning and stay well
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I have been busy designing and building a side chair to go with our new kitchen table. The plan was to build one prototype out of poplar, and a 2nd chair out of poplar. Both of these chairs will be either painted black or sprayed with black lacquer. Then, the plan is to build four chairs from cherry and maple. The prototype chair was completed this week. The 2nd poplar chair is moving along and the material for the cherry chairs has been purchased, acclimated to my shop environment, cut, jointed, and planned to rough dimensions. The seat blanks for the cherry chairs have a few additional steps complete. My wife wanted (6) new chairs (side chairs) for our kitchen. Designing/making chairs is a challenging task. The design needs to look pleasing to the eye, structural, and functional. There are a few chair “builds” on the internet, but they did not meet my needs. Many of the side chair designs today either have a cushion seat or have Maloof joinery. When a chair has a cushion, the seat does not have a cant, allowing the design/construction to be simplified (eliminates six compound joints). A chair with the Maloof joinery does incorporate a wooden seat, but I did not want to mimic someone else’s design. This chair design will attempt to pull design features from the kitchen cabinets, kitchen table, and from the bar stools. My wife would like the chairs to have a short back (36”), a wooden seat, and have a short seat depth, so that she will be able to sit in it comfortably. The chair construction will utilize mortise & tenon joinery, mortise & loose tenon joinery, and dowel joinery. While searching for information, I found a book written by Jeff Miller, (from Chicago). Jeff is a known chair craftsman/designer/builder. His book gives much insight into the “what, why, and how” different things are done and the jigs he uses for the needed joints. This book is a good read. I also reviewed Mike Dunbar’s (from New Hampshire) work. He is known for his Windsor chair. I did not what to mimic a Windsor chair. I was able to purchase the plan for a dining chair designed by Kevin Rodel. Mr. Rodel’s chair was published in a Fine Woodworking 2007 magazine and has a cushion seat. This plan did give me insight into his chair’s construction. I started the design/prototype build process by making hand sketches on paper, and then latter I made sketches using SketchUp. I determined the chairs overall dimension, including the seat cant, back support cant, and the chair’s line-of-sight. Then I started to sketch the seat blank. There were many sketch iterations using SketchUp. I wanted the seat to completely cover the chair front and side rails and I wanted stretchers between the front and rear legs to help make for a more robust design. This chair seat will not swivel (like the bar stools), so the tilt will have to be built into the structure. The tilt allows for a more comfortable sit. There is a need to have the seat and structure taper from the front to the back to allow the line-of-sight to be pleasing to the eye. Poplar wood was selected for the prototype material. After making detail sketches, I made a parts list and a plan for execution. The plan included a design selection for each joint and documenting what was need for templates and jigs. The side chair design/build utilized more than 16 different “shop made” tools. I can provide more information and pics as time allows. Thank you for looking. Danl
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Have you ever completed a project and admired it, only to find a flaw that ONLY you can ever know about? If so, did you forget it or fix it?
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Hi Guys, anyone really like fooling around on Sketch Up? I'd love to get some help coming up with a design for a scrap wood bin that would fit under my stairs but will have the most variety of cubbies and sizes of bins. Any takers?
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Nice Continuing Blog for Using Sketchup To Design Furniture
lew posted a topic in Plans and Software
A blog written by Jeff Branch to help the reader learn to use Sketchup for furniture design. https://jeffbranchww.com/2018/07/08/designing-furniture-in-sketchup/ -
Another busy week here for the Patriot turners! @Ron Altier asked a question concerning the angle on the skew chisel- curved or straight? Seems most of your turners prefer the straight cutting edge. Why not head over to Ron's post and provide him with your preference- @oldwoodie Asked for our input on assembling pen kits. He is concerned about installing the pen refill in an older pen kit- He was also unsure about whether pressed in parts need to be glued in place- I know some of you have turned pens and you may be able to help him out. I have always had trouble trying to make my turning look more elegant. They always seem out of proportion or clunky. I've read about the "Golden Mean" and how it can be used to create a visually appealing product. And then there is the "Rule of Thirds". Which to use??? Here is some reference material to help make that decision (or make it more confusing). I pulled these from the Internet and have left the authors details within each- http://www.westbaywoodturners.com/tutorial/pdf_files/Woodturning_Design.pdf This link show a plane for creating a "golden section gauge"- http://www.goldennumber.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/golden-section-gauge.gif Finally a detailed video explanation of the Golden Mean and why it may not be so important. Be warned, the video is quite lengthy- While answering an email from another site, I found this marvelous turning site- http://hampstevens.com/ Mr. Stevens will graciously provide instructions on how to turn these seemingly impossible spheres. If interested, he can be contacted at- hamp@hampstevens.com @Jim from Easy Wood Tools and our friend from Easy Wood Tools posted a video introducing the Easy Wood Tools with Tracey Malady. This is a great video for those interested in getting started with Easy Wood Tools. You may have recently read that the Easy Wood Tools are now available in the UK! Our fellow turners, across the pond, will finally get to use the best turning tools on the planet! Not only are the EWT tools available in the UK but also the absolutely awesome Easy Wood Easy Chuck! It's always nice to be able to make your own turning tools instead of buying them. Mike Peace shows us how to make a beading tool and a captive ring tool in a couple of his latest videos. Safe turning
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For those who followed my series, I totally forgot to post pictures of my stairs after it was completely done, sorry guys and gals. A close up of how flawlessly the treads and risers fit into the routed stringers, (see part 5 for pics of the stringers and how it's put together). Yes, there is a kink in the wall rail, due to a run change between the upper 7 treads and the lower 4 treads, (see part 6 as to why). The top of the balusters fit into a hole drilled in the underside of the rail, the bottoms sit in a hole drilled into the tread, epoxy is put into the holes on the treads to keep them from moving and rattling, small pin nails are shot along side of the balusters on the top to keep them from rattling, basically the nails wedge the balusters against the rail. I used small trim screws to secure the left side of the tread to the stinger and placed the screws so that the shoe on the balusters would cover them. Also got the sliding barn doors done that encloses the utility room, and am currently working on the curved bar. Looks like a small bar, but the bar top will overhang by 10-12" which will in effect make it bigger.
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For caringing/moving 3-4 layer cake. Cut a circle from 1/2'' ply 10&1/2'' across. Drill 1/4'' deep for 4 1/2'' dowels bout 2'' long, make sure they ALL SIT DOWN RITE. pull'm out glue'm in, let'm dry, check'm ,may need to sand 1 er 2 so they all do their job. ALRIGHTY THE TOP: bore 4 - 5 holes for 1/2 or 3/8 X couple inches to stand at attention AROUND THE PLATTER to keep that PRECIOUS CAKE FROM SLIDIN OFF, case the toater makes a MIS-STEP. LEGS UNDERNEATH CREATES A SPACE FOR HANDS/FINGERS TO GO FOR A GRIP TO PICK IT UP. MOST IMPORTANT !! Consult baker bout stain / painting. BE SURE TO PUT A NAME ON BOTTOM, VE'DONT, FIRST BIG GET TOGETHER IT GOES TO IT WONT COME BACK HOME WIT'U.
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First I must tell you that my shop is half of a garage and that all tools, benches have to be portable. I can't do large projects and really don't care to, so all is well with what I have. Over the years my space has changed to accommodate new things and to make the most used items handy. First, there are never enough sharp pencils and they always hide somewhere. Next was the tools I use to do small jobs and repairs. Then there are the measuring rules and tapes I know I usually can't find. I try to keep most things within reach and not have to go on a search mission. As I looked over my ever evolving workbench, design/layout table and wondered what others do. So I am asking you to post some pictures to show what you do for your bench/layout/design area. Here is mine
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