Weekly Blog - September 14th

john · Post by **john** » Sun Sep 14, 2008 7:27 pm

I hope all forum members that were in the path of Ike heeded the evacuation orders and came out of the storm OK. My daughter and family spent three years in the Houston area, and while I enjoyed my late winter visits to warmer climes, when their three year stint was up they decided to come back to the cold of Calgary rather than continue with the threats of tornadoes and hurricanes. Especially after needing the help of neighbours to evacuate during Rita. My son-in-law was safely in Australia at the time. My thoughts are with all who suffered through Ike.

The stands for Mr & Mrs Frosty are all finished but the painting of the coloured detail is going a little slower as my dear wife treats the process as if it were fine art. I ain't complaining.

I also finished rescuing two of the cutting boards. They aren't as fancy as originally intended but I should be able to recoup some of my cost. The third is quite large, about 12 x 17 inches and I am not sure if this is too big for just a plain maple board. I may cut it down to 10 x 14 as is the medium sized one but I will decide on that later. Also trying to decide on a finish. My first inclination was to just use mineral oil but I read somewhere about a mixture of mineral oil and parrafin wax that sounds interesting. Lee Valley sells a commercial brand but at $7.5o for two ounces, I think I will pass.

Bread knives are also back on the agenda so I ordered and receieved six blades this week. One blank had already been made so now I have to decide on what woods to use for the others.

I am still looking at potential projects but most turn out too expensive to make for the "crap" shows available to me. People are ususally looking for low cost items.

Hockey starts soon so I must get on the bike and treadmill to lose those summer "wine" pounds.

Have a Safe and Fun week!

John

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 2:33 am

Boy! This has been a week to remember! Like John, I hope all of you in the path of Ike didn't get the brunt of it. Out here we just wouldn't be able to handle all that rain, not to mention winds of 100 MPH +.

There was another happening in So.Cal. (almost in kalynzoo's yard) when a freight train ran head on into a commuter train. Over 20 dead. This is one of the two commuter trains my son rides home from work. Luckily, he had taken the day off!

In the Shop, I got the magazine holders made. Interesting - making up the 1/4" pieces of them. required lots of re-sawing and planing. This is the very first time I have made finger joints. As it worked out the process is pretty simple. Since I don't have one of those add-ons (like an Incra set up) I just made the finger joints with my Mark V. A couple photos of my "poor man's" finger joint jig are included. No sense buying stuff if you don't really need it! The boxes are 11 1/2" high, so there are 46 fingers on the long sides. Withe that many fingers< there was no tolerance for errors in the set up as a thousandths of an inch off would be multiplied by 46 (or .046"). That would make it so the joints wouldn't fit. My wobble dado blade did an acceptable job, however the bottoms of the grooves are not perfectly flat. If I was to do this for someone else, I'd buy another dado blade. (This wobble blade does make pretty flat bottomed grooves between 3/8" and 3/4", but at 1/4" the bottom is a bit slanted.)

I penciled the outline of the miter gauge onto the simple jig when the set up was close, then a tap with a screwdriver handle on the sides of the jig was used to adjust it. After adjusting the jig, I had to make new sides and top to the cutout in the jig in order to avoid tear out. Did this by filling the edges with wood filler and re-cutting, You will notice the brown filler stains on the jig.

The plans for this project are available on-line at Wood Magazine down loadable plans. Included are plans for a micro adjustable jig (not the one I used) for making these fingers.

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dusty · Post by **dusty** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 7:05 am

Once again Charlese has done a phenomenal job of demonstrating the capabilities of the Shopsmith when in the hands of a true craftsman.

Cutting finger joints is a relatively simple task when you are building something like a pencil box or a box for receipe cards. But cutting a string of 46 joints on a hand made fixture and having them fit....truely a demonstration of patience and skill. Then he did four more to show that it was not a fluke.

Anyone who doubts this hasn't cut finger joints. They are extremely simple while being extremely difficult. A little slop here and a little slob there and you have another piece for the scrap box.

Congratulations Charlese. Great job.

judaspre1982 · Post by **judaspre1982** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 10:14 am

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drl · Post by **drl** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 12:30 pm

Dusty,
Very nice job on those magazine holders. The repeatability aspect is awesome in itself.
I tried box joints in a charging station box for a gift last Christmas. I used a stacked dado set but I was disapointed in the flatness at the bottom of the cut. Though the unevenness was slight it was still noticeable. Had to use some putty to fill in the voids.
I then came across the Freud box cutter set. http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?Offerings_ID=16380
Two blade set that will create 1/4" or 3/8" wide cuts with a flat bottom. I have used the set in making a "treasure chest" for my 3 year old grand-daughter. Really satisfied with the results. It also includes instructions on how to make the jig.
I made the same jig as Dusty's with good results. Pratice on some scrap pieces first to be sure the fingers come together properly. Makes a neat looking and strong joint as well.
Again--Nice work Dusty.
Regards,
Dwight

beeg · Post by **beeg** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 12:47 pm

GREAT looking magazine holders there Chuck. Just goes to show what can be made on a MK5.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 2:46 pm

drl wrote:Dusty,
Very nice job on those magazine holders. The repeatability aspect is awesome in itself.
I tried box joints in a charging station box for a gift last Christmas. I used a stacked dado set but I was disapointed in the flatness at the bottom of the cut. Though the unevenness was slight it was still noticeable. Had to use some putty to fill in the voids.
I then came across the Freud box cutter set. http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?Offerings_ID=16380
Two blade set that will create 1/4" or 3/8" wide cuts with a flat bottom. I have used the set in making a "treasure chest" for my 3 year old grand-daughter. Really satisfied with the results. It also includes instructions on how to make the jig.
I made the same jig as Dusty's with good results. Pratice on some scrap pieces first to be sure the fingers come together properly. Makes a neat looking and strong joint as well.
Again--Nice work Dusty.
Regards,
Dwight

Thank you very much, Dwight but I didn't do those. Those are the handy work of charlese.

drl · Post by **drl** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 3:35 pm

I'm bad.
Charlese--Sorry for not giving credit where the credit was due. Nice job!
Regards,
Dwight

john · Post by **john** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 4:26 pm

Chuck:

Nice job on those boxes!

I have seen instructions for finger jointing jigs in magazines and never paid much attention. Perhaps I should go back and take another look and then do something about it. Then maybe I could produce joints as attactive as yours.

John

greitz · Post by **greitz** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 5:55 pm

Chuck- Absolutely impressive accuracy, and nice-looking boxes as well!

Would you please reveal some of your techniques? For example, did you stack-cut the parts? Did you cut the fingers a bit long and then sand them off flush? What glue do you use, and how do you get glue into all those finger joints before it sets up?

(Just FYI- A guy at the local Rockler store says when he makes box joints, he just dry-fits the pieces together, dribbles thin CA glue on the outside of all the joints, and lightly sands it after the glue dries. He says after you apply the finish, you can't tell where the CA glue was applied. Haven't tried it myself, but his displayed boxes were sturdy and looked good.)

Gary