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Showing results for tags 'shop made'.
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The weather turned out to be much nicer today than the weather man said it would be. A balmy 73. I decided to get this build done today instead of tomorrow. Box with shelving and rear baffle removed. Removed and discarded OEM low voltage fan. Installed 110v 210 CFM axial fan. Air flows to the rear of the box into a plenum. Air is diffused through the vent at the top. Baffle reinstalled. Hygrometer / Thermostat power distribution control. Fan is wired to the hygrometer, light bulb is wired to the thermostat. Set controls to run the fan until it drops below 10% RH. The light bulb runs until the temperature reaches 110. These are initial settings and will need to be adjusted based on actual performance. Sensor I used a 4 1/2" hole saw to make two ventilation holes. I installed a 4" louvered vent with bug screen on the outside and a dust collection blast gate on the inside of each hole. The blast gate provides air flow adjustment. Added some rough turned bowls. Using a moisture meter, each was marked with today's reading.
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I got my steady rest done. Just waiting on the wheels.
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I got my chuck made today. Don't thinki could have picked a hotter day. 93 feels like 100.
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Hard to believe but only two more days left in April! Really looking forward to summer weather. Our Patriot Turners- @Gerald gave us a peek at his shop made parting tool. Unlike a lot of parting tools, this one cuts cleanly. Gerald explains how he created this tool, in his post- @RustyFN posted his almost completed combination bowl. This one is a beauty and combines multiple disciplines. Rusty got lots of positive comments on his work. You can read them in this update to his original thread- Rusty also provide a bit of sage advice. It is self explanatory- @AndrewB is finishing up a pepper mill in which he combined 2 species. They really look nice together- Andrew explains more about this turning in this posting- Andrew also mentioned his wishes to improve his dust collection. Maybe you have some ideas that he could incorporate. What’s Coming Up- Click on the above image for the link to registration For The Newbies- Sanding is one way to remove tool marks. However, a better way is to avoid them as much as possible. Here's a video explaining the possible causes of the marks and what you can so to help reduce them during the turning process- This is another video in the beginners series, from Mike Waldt. This one on scrapers, negative rake grinds and parting tools. It's rather long as it is from his live presentation.- Although aimed at the Record Power Midi Lathe, most of the maintenance tips in this video can be applied to just about any lathe- Craft Supplies USA has been publishing a beginners series of woodturning videos by Dale Nish. This one is turning a bowl from a dried blank- Expand Your Horizons- Lyle Jamieson shows us the thought process for designing and turning a natural edge hollow vessel. The other week we posted some information on purchasing already made wooden threads for lidded projects. With a little practice and a couple of tools, you can create them yourself, as Mike Peace explains- Within Mike's video, he references this from Allan Batty New Turning Items- Couldn't find anything interesting this week, so hang on to that stimulus check! Everything Else- Tim Yoder is having fun with this project to be gifted to a friend Rick Turns' list of woodturning YouTube videos from last week- I finished up the little natural edge bowl I had been messing with. I like the shape but I think I can do better by using less of the logs diameter and making the piece a little longer. I think that will give the piece a flatter more pleasing look. Anyway, used wipe on gloss poly for this one. I'm getting better at making the walls thinner, too. Safe turning and stay well
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The one thing I didn't like about my circular steady rest was it required moving the tail stock to put it on the lathe. When turning with a drive center, I had to be extremely careful to get the piece remounted in the exact orientation to reduce the chances of it being slightly off from its original position. Searching around, I found a post by Alan Stratton. Mr. Stratton's version permitted adding/removing the steady rest without having to move the tail stock. Here's a link to Mr. Stratton's website- https://www.aswoodturns.com/ I pretty much followed Mr. Stratton's design, making only a couple of changes along the way. Mr. Stratton's build- Mine is built from scraps. I did purchase wheels and hardware. I started with a piece of red oak for the base. Cut dado's along the bottom with accompanying slots to facilitate mounting locking blocks for the wheel holders. Added an alignment block so the base would be perpendicular to the ways. Then drilled for the mounting hardware. For my design, I used a cam lever to lock the base onto the ways Next was to size a couple of locking blocks that would hold the wheel mounts onto the base. Some hard maple drilled and morticed for nuts. I used nylon insert, locking nuts on the entire project. These nuts were epoxied in place. Next was to make the base of the wheel mount. White oak here. The wheel mount base consists of three sections- bottom, locking wheel and top. Two of these are bases are required. The bottom requires holes for assembly hardware and the locking wheel- Each bolt has a small maple spacer to create the cavity for the locking wheel. One corner was removed to provide clearance to turn the locking wheel The wheel is made from some old birch plywood left over from another project. Laid out the wheel. Divided the circle into 6 parts, cut the indentations with a forstner bit then rounded everything with a router. The bolt is epoxied into a recess. the bolt will thread into the locking blocks. Wheel in place in the wheel holder base At this point, I forgot to take some pictures of the next couple of individual parts. Another piece of oak is drilled and mounted on to this assembly. That piece holds the uprights for the skate wheel assembly. The uprights were assembled from plywood and a chunk of walnut. The 3 pieces were glued together- The hole in the walnut is for a T-nut that will hold an adjustment screw The notch at the lower left corner is a relief opening for tightening the nuts during assembly. The hole in the plywood is for mounting the skate wheel upright. Visible T-nut. Assembly is screwed to the base top- Completed assembly- Next were the skate wheel holder- I miscalculated the size slightly and needed to remove a little material to allow the skate wheel assembly to have enough range of movement Bolts, washers and skate wheels. Up to this point, no dimensions were especially critical. However the next piece of the assembly needed to be 100% accurate. The upright that holds the skate wheel assembly has to be drilled so the the wheels are centered on the lathes vertical drive center point. This piece was mounted, without the wheels, in the wheel uprights, everything fastened securely on the ways and then positioned against the drive spur point to accurately mark the exact vertical position for the wheel mounting location. The wheel assembly ,is remounted in the uprights The entire assembly fasten to the base- The completed steady mounted on the lathe. The adjustment bolt can be seen protruding from the walnut upright piece. This was replaced with a bolt/wingnut. The bolt is used to adjust the skate wheel pressure against the turning. And of course, the obligatory test run- IMG_0977.mp4 There are no dimensions listed here. There are so many variables between lathes that one size would not fit all. I do have a complete Sketchup drawing, if anyone wants it. Let me know if you have questions! Not sure why I can't get rid of this last picture!
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I found a nice piece of Black Walnut to use on the scratch awl hardware I made. I was going to nickle plate them but decided to just polish the parts and let them go to a natural patina from there. I have a small collection of awls and like the patina the older ones have. I had to buy the acorn nuts so I bought stainless steel nuts and washers. I turned a small shoulder on the acorn nuts to center the washer as the holes were a bit larger than the bolt. Take a look. These are a bolt through design and therefore would not benefit from a ferrule. Here is another look at the hardware I made on the metal lathe and a link to that thread. When I went to turn the handles I realized it would be a chore to recess the heads. I did cut the heads all the same size but didn't think to size them to a drill size, duh. I ended up using my boring head I purchased from Craft supplies. @lew posted this video in his January 15, 2020 Wednesday's Wisdom thread and I was inspired to purchase one. Got it dialed in and everyone was a great fit.
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I just purchased a "set" of 5 wood turning bowl chisels, made from files. I'm curious about how these will work for turning bowls. Any advice on the maintenance of these?
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This is my latest attempt at an off-center turning to produce an oval shaped tool handle. This was done out of ash. Be kind, I am still learning, as can plainly be seen.
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I researched the chatter tool and its use. I found this video and I'm going to make one. Thought you like to see it in action. Remember it only works on end grain.
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They are not done yet, but I went to Good Will and hand picked each one from a box that around 50 in it.. Tested for flexability and chose these. At 10 cents each, I'd say a real bargain
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Better add some sort of dust collection to this thing before I do anymore testing! This is what the finished “hood” looks like- (in place,top view, underside) Had the ½” plywood from another project. This is just a simple box. I wanted some way to hold it in place and be able to remove it without tools. Made two brackets from 1” aluminum angle “iron” to catch one side and some button magnets for the other side. Dust collection is a 2 ½” angled port that connects into the collection system. (catches, catch close up, magnets) The box sits on the frame and slides into place. The hold down is a large head screw. (catch open, catch in place, catch hold down) Had to buy a few more magnets and the dust collection port. Here is a list of most of the references I investigated during the planning and build of the sander. Not sure how many of the places are still available. http://www.rockslide.org/drum sander.html http://lumberjocks.com/projects/7063 http://lumberjocks.com/wildbill001/blog/26415 http://lumberjocks.com/projects/41979 http://home.mchsi.com/~woodywrkng/DrumSander.html http://lumberjocks.com/wildbill001/blog/26415":http://lumberjocks.com/wildbill001/blog/26415 When I posted this before, there were request to see it in operation. Here's a very short video with natural sound. I learned that it isn't too difficult to get ripple free surfaces. The trick is to maintain a constant feed rate (not like in the video) and I made some push sticks to allow the pieces to be fed completely past the drum head. Well, that’s pretty much it! Thanks for wading through my ramblings. If you have any questions, suggestion, criticisms, or need information, just let me know. Also, if you know of some other neat sites for building these, please add them to the comments to help anyone else get some ideas. Lew
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Everyone here knows my project pictures suck. A couple of weeks back, in the Wednesday's Wisdom For Woodturners post, we added an entry from Mike Peace about his shop made light booth (https://youtu.be/waJ00FWTzHk). Also, @Gerald has a great 2 part blog on photography- https://thepatriotwoodworker.com/blogs/entry/24-lets-talk-photography/ . Using both of these resources, this is my interpretation. For me, one of the most important requirement was the thing had to be able to be broken down and easily stored. There just isn't any space left to put stuff. And just as important, because I'm cheap, it had to be inexpensive. Mike Peace's video mentioned the Dollar Store as a source for materials- Great Tip!! So, foam board and strapping tape in hand (shop light was already here)- I made the bottom and back double layers- white and black- and hinged them to be reversible- One extra piece of foam board to shield the light- A piece of white and a piece of black heavy construction paper taped together as a backdrop- A test setup- Mike Peace mentioned a cheap reflective element to help illuminate shadows. Of course, I'll need a better display stand. Broken down and folded. Should fit nicely into a large trash bag to protect it from dust. Some test pictures from my phone; no tripod All together- less than $10. My kind of project!!
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The final major part of the assembly is the table. The piece of ¾” Melamine is from the scrap box at the local Vocational School and the piano hinges are pieces left from a project made for my brother in law. The top is reinforced with a frame of ¾” plywood on three sides and a 1” piece of oak on the hinge side. (top and bottom w hinge) The hinge is then screwed to a mounting/adjusting bracket that fits between the two sides of the frame. A slotted hole in each side of the bracket allows for vertical adjustments to assure the table is parallel to the drum. Although not shown, the backs of the slotted piece are covered with PSA sand paper to help prevent slipping during adjustment. The bolts are tightened securely once the table/drum alignment is achieved. (table mount, bracket top, mounting bolt) The opposite end of the table (front of the sander) in screwed to the top of the lift mechanism with countersunk screws Had to buy 2 carriage bolts and nuts.
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Now that the drum runs true and the table lift works, it was time to start building the frame. My intention was to use mortise and tenon joinery but my choice of material was 2 x 6 for the top and bottom of the sides. This was larger than my mortiser could handle. I know, I could have chopped them out by hand. I opted for half lap joints. The overall width of the frame is 23” and the table height is about 31”. The length, at the bottom, is about 36”. The table is 16” x 24”. The frame is made of pine 2 x 4 and 2 x 6. All the joints are glued and screwed. The table is a piece of ¾” Melamine with ¾” plywood support and a 1” oak piece for the pivot hinge. These photos are from the dry fit. I’m gonna need to get some more clamps! (View 1,2,3,4) To increase the structural integrity, I added two 2 x 4 cross members at the bottom of the front and back of the frame. You will be able to see them in a later section.
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Most of the photos used for this part of the blog were taken “along the way.” As with everything made in my shop, there are always changes, modifications and “S**t! I should have….”. The first thing was when Mimi passed by and said, “it’s nice but where are you going to put it”? Anyone who has been in the shop knows you need a road map and a course in choreography to get around all of the stuff crammed in there. OK, we are gonna need some wheels to move this thing out of the way. (wheel axle, wheel mounted,complete wheel assembly, assembly front-rear) Only two wheels were needed, as the unit is not very heavy. Mounting them was simply a lag bolt and washer. A 16d nail through a hole in each one provides the locking mechanism to keep the wheels down when moving the unit. The wheels came from a salvaged skateboard. They were originally destined to become a lathe steady rest. (Note to self- find another skateboard for the steady rest.) (wheel up,down) Another change was the addition of a “handle” to the adjustment wheel. It is more of a visual indicator and lever than a handle. Turning the large knob, against the spring pressure, is a little difficult. The handle/lever adds a little more surface to grip and provides a better indication of how much the knob is turned. (hand wheel) The final modification is the paper end hold-downs. The original ones were small blocks of maple. A screw pulled the blocks into recesses cut in the wooden end caps of the drum. They work fine but the wood blocks seems to cut into the paper, almost tearing it. My thought is to replace the wood with another material. Something firm enough to hold the paper but yet soft enough to expand, from screw pressure, into the recess. Like one of those thermos stoppers with the lever. The material shown is a firm foam rubber block cut from a toy golf ball- still open for ideas here. (improved paper holder) Didn’t have to buy anything!! Love it!
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It was finally time to add the sand paper to the drum. Having decided on a Velcro (hook and loop) system, it was off to Super Grit http://www.supergrit.com/ . Their store is only a half an hour drive from here. The hook portion required 5 feet of material. This PSA stuff is 4” wide and is $2/foot. Also bought 3 different grits of the 3” wide loop paper. Their minimum purchase is 3 yards but at between $1.50 to $2.00 a yard it is reasonable. It took about 73” to wrap the drum but I think I can get it down to 72” and be able to get 2 applications from 4 yards. The first step was to clean the PVC drum; started with mineral spirits then denatured alcohol. Next, carefully wrap the hook material, press it down, and allow it to “rest” overnight to get maximum adhesion. (Velcro front, Velcro rear1) The above pictures also show the cross members added to the bottom of the frame for stability; also, another view of the table’s rear support/adjustment bracket as well as the screws holding the table front to the height adjustment. Next, wrap the paper- this is 40 grit. Anchor BOTH ends. We have dust! (dust) All day, I had been working from the rear of the sander. When it came time for the live fire test, I had anchored what I thought to be the leading edge of the paper- Wrong! As soon as the drum got some speed, the paper lifted and re-wrapped backwards around the drum. Fortunately, it did not tear but it did knock off some of the grit. Note to self- anchor both ends. (mistake) Had to buy the hook and loop system.
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When making my rolling pins, I use the thickness planer to bring the thin strips down to 1/8” thick. Unfortunately, if the grain in the wood is not uniform- or there are knots- the strips shatter. This wastes a lot of wood and doesn’t do the planer any good either. It seemed to me a thickness sander would be perfect for this process. Well, Craig’s List wasn’t producing any results and I couldn’t afford a new one. Time to take action! Starting with what seemed to me to be the most critical/difficult part; I began researching construction methods and gathering parts for the drum. The choices were narrowed down to three. One- buy the kit, two- solid wood cylinder or 3- PVC/wood combination. #1 was quickly eliminated- I’m cheap! #2- maybe, but then I found a hunk of 3” PVC in my stash of plumbing left overs. #3 it is- I’m cheap! Next, the pillow block bearings- had to buy these- $20 each. The 5/8” shaft was from the scrap bin at the local Vocational School. Glued up some oak scraps and began turning the end cap, pulley end and center supports. (EndBlock) The process is the same for the end block, pulley block and center supports. The center supports were sliced from a single turning. Turn a blank to a slightly larger diameter than the PVC. Turn a tenon on one end to permit the use of a chuck. (Turned round w/ tenon) Remount the blank with the tenon in a chuck. (Remount) Drill the blank to fit the center axle. (drill for shaft) Remove the drill bit/Jacobs chuck and remount the live center. Advance the live center into the axle hole. Check to make sure the blank spins true. The first end cap turned out to be slightly misaligned. I didn’t see it until testing the drum and motor combination. Fortunately, it wasn’t too difficult to disassemble the drum and make a new end cap. Place a piece of cut off PVC over the Live Center. This will be used to test for the correct diameter as the blank is turned. (Remount Live Center) Turn the blank to the inside diameter of the PVC, testing for a snug fit. I left about 1 ½ “ long shoulder- turned to the PVC’s outside diameter- on the End Cap piece. (test for fit) The center supports are snug fit piece that was sliced in half. The pulley end is turned in the same fashion as the end cap. The only real difference is that the “shoulder” is longer to accommodate the integral pulley. In addition, the tenon, used by the chuck, is left in place to allow a spring pin to capture the axle. (all pieces 1 and 2 and pulley) The PVC is cut to length and the wooden pieces fitted into place. Mark the locations of the center supports and the end pieces. These will have screws to capture the PVC to the wood, later. (PVC installed) Drill and countersink the PVC for screws. I wasn’t sure how these would affect the balance so I evenly spaced the screw lengthwise and at 90 degrees around the circumference. Also, not being a plumber, I did not realize that 3” PVC is not solid (at least what I had). Mine was a foam core type. It seems to be working OK, however. Just had to be careful not to press hard on the countersink! (PVC screws) Once the PVC is secured and everything is positioned, drill a hole in the pulley end tenon to accept a spring pin. This hole is drilled completely through the axle and tenon. I wanted to be certain that if something broke the spring pin could be driven back out. (Spring pin) So far, I had to buy the pillow block bearings and the spring pin.
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Maybe it is time to make your own. A lot cheaper than buying one and grinder and drill is all you need. Shop Built Texturing/Spiraling Tool
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Video from Capt. Eddie that includes shop turned glue blocks. Shows important points for well made glue blocks.
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My first one was really clumsy. it was mostly wood and nothing I did would hold up well. I used 3/8-16 threads and huge knobs and still I couldn't get a solid positional clamp; it kept flopping. Anyway this one is all aluminum and steel. I made it tool-less. There are knurled knobs for everything. I had an extrusion I mounted to the back of the lathe and hung it all from that. The threads in the aluminum are all helicoils.
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some gozillion years ago I was given a twin state Sgt Welsh rotary vein vacuum pump that fell of a truck. No really it fell off the truck & got damaged ( just the belt shroud) but there was an insurance claim and this one was unclaimed so the shipper gave it to me. And a decade or so later I'm finally trying to put it to use. I got a small air tank and welded bungs to it so I can run 1" piping to it. It is the vacuum reservoir in case of power failure. Then mounted it and the pump together around a corner on the other side of a wall and ran 1" copper to the lathe with a parker needle valve and a vacuum gauge and LOOKY MA I can hold a great vacuum and even lower the hold to what ever HG I want with the needle valve . AND When I shut it off it holds the vacuum for a good long time. The reason for the large piping is over a long run ya gotta have a big pipe a small one just doesn't work well
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I have never posted into this Wood Turners area, so I guess this is a first. A friend asked me to cut him a 16" Longworth chuck so today I tested my drawing that I did in Fusion 360 by cutting a 12" chuck. Looks like it came out just fine so I thought I would offer them in our Etsy shop. You can click on the link in my signature and see the offering but I didn't want to post a link like I was pushing it, just thought you lathe guys might want to see this - I used to turn a fair amount and still have my Oliver 8' bed lathe but it's not being used 'cause it's 3 phase and I don't have time to do any turning anyway. So if y'all see something in the Etsy listing that doesn't look right or that I have worded incorrectly I would appreciate a heads up. Thanks! David
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I had great hopes of getting to the basement shop today. We awoke to this- Perfect turning weather! But, as the saying goes- Best laid plans... Ended up shoveling ice and sleet, from neighborhood driveways, for several hours, balancing my Mom's checkbook and getting her taxes done. Anyway, lots happening with our turner since last week. @DAB posted a sweet looking pine bowl he turned. Pine isn't easy to get a nice finish but Doug nailed it perfectly. Read the comments on his work, here- @Gene Howe gave us a link to a site that sells some neat sanding devices for turners (and all woodworkers)- Check the website for more- @Steve Krumanaker won a contest from Robust turning. Congrats, Steve,! @Steve Krumanaker also posted a piece turned by a member of the turner's club to which he belongs. Talk about creativity! Here's a little more on the piece- @Jim from Easy Wood Tools is looking for help in the Chicago area. This would be an excellent opportunity to show off your skills with the fantastic Easy Wood Tools product line. @Cliff posted a picture of using a router bit for a turning tool. Check it out, here- The Woodturning OnLine newsletter is available. As always there is a lot of great information. One thing that caught my attention was an article discussing Carving and Turning by Richard Wright. The article is a PDF document with many examples/pictures. http://www.capecodturners.org/home/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Carving-and-Turning.pdf Tim Yoder has a video up where he turns a Votive Candle Holder. Pay particular attention to the Easy Wood Chuck! If you ever get a chance to test drive this chuck, you will fall in love with it! Over the weekend I made an inertia sander. I bought the sleeve and bearing from Capt. Eddie. If you decide to make your own, be sure to drill the hole for the sleeve/bearing close enough to the handle end so the sanding disc doesn't rub against the end of the handle- don't ask how I know this. From icey southern PA Safe turning
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