Weekly Blog - October 27th

[john]

Another mixed bag week. The weather has been above normal to provide good leaf raking and compost sifting conditions, but the forecaster is using the "S" word for this coming Wednesday. That's way too early for my liking.

I completed the walnut plugs on my cutting boards. They add just a touch of colour but nothing too dramatic. I finished them with a couple of applications of mineral oil. I have attached a picture but for some reason it has taken on a yellow hue that does not really show the contrast between the light maple and the walnut.

I still have another to complete, and am still trying to decide whether to keep it large, 12 x 15 inches, or cut it down to the size of the larger one in the picture which is about 10 x 12 inches. So far, I'm leaning toward the smaller size.

The wine rack project went sour on me as I did not get the holes in the back and front panels to line up. This after making a template to ensure that the hole centers would be aligned. So much for that idea. As usual, they are not off by much, (3/16"), and maybe many people would not notice but I Know. The scrapped pieces will go to our friend for firewood, as with nine
3 1/2" holes in each, they aren't much good even as scrap.

I was pretty teed off yesterday about this but have calmed down a bit and went out and bought more wood today to try again. This time I will try to drill the holes through both pieces at the same time. The hole saw will just make it through 1 1/2" but I'm not sure what the backsides of the holes will look like. The saw has pretty aggresive cutting teeth.

Hopefully this week will be more rewarding.

Have a Safe and Fun week!

[dusty]

This time I will try to drill the holes through both pieces at the same time. The hole saw will just make it through 1 1/2" but I'm not sure what the backsides of the holes will look like. The saw has pretty aggresive cutting teeth.

Have a Safe and Fun week!

Will a backer board help with the tearout that occurs when the hole saw breaks through the back?

What kind of woods do you typically use for cutting boards?

We still use a "pig" cutting board that I made in first year of high school woodworking. Strange thing - it's made of pine.

[baysidebob]

John, good looking cutting boards. Now if I had my rathers I would go for the bigger one in this picture. I just prefer this size. The yellow hue does kind of distract from the quality of the picture, but they still look good.

BaysideBob, Ca.

[baysidebob]

Will a backer board help with the tearout that occurs when the hole saw breaks through the back?

What kind of woods do you typically use for cutting boards?

We still use a "pig" cutting board that I made in first year of high school woodworking. Strange thing - it's made of pine.

Dusty, I have a cutting board I made for my mother when I was in 8th grade. It is also made of pine and my mother used it for years. Let me see my 50th class reunion from high school and add 4 years to that, so it has been a long time ago..
BaysideBob, Ca

[john]

Dusty:

When I try my next set of front and back for the wine rack, I plan to use larger than required boards and screw them together so one will be the backer board for the other. I will probably need another for the bottom board but as mentioned, the saw is aggresive and I'm not sure all will work out since I am working with pine.

The cutting boards were my first attempt and what you see is really a rescue from the original plans that I manged to foul up. They are maple and the top face is actually the edge grain.

Bayside Bob:

As mentioned above this is a rescue project. The smaller board should have been about the same size as the larger one is now. Both should have had "breadboard" ends of walnut to form handles but that didn't work out.

John

[nuhobby]

John --
Rescue is good! These are nice jobs. I wouldn't hold anything against them for not being what you first planned. I have an inspirational quotation about that somewhere, if I ever find it....

[antiquesmith]

Hi,

I'm new to this, so forgive me if I am posting this in the wrong place. I live in Louisiana, along Bayou Lafourche between Thibodaux and Donaldsonville. I have a Mark V that I purchased about ten years ago for a caretaker to use, but it has lain inactive for most of that time.

I am looking for someone who could help me restore this machine to use and then perhaps give me a few lessons on how to use it.

Anyone out there?

E-mail: coreart@aol.com

Thanks!

[beeg]

DO NOT turn it on, until it's been lubed and cleaned up. Turn the spindle by hand to see even if it will turn over.

[charlese]

Wow! another week! Where did it go? Sorry for being late for this week's blog. Although I should have posted earlier, the cause is a good thing! What's the cause? I'll blame it on the great, good increase in forum postings. Couldn't keep up fast enough! It is a really good thing to see more than the usual number of postings. More folks have found the Forum and more are asking questions and expressing hints and opinions. That all means more interest in this part of the Shopsmith outreach (the forum) and probably more interest in obtaining Shopsmith services.

John - Hope your hocky league is going well! I feel for your frustrations in the shop, but I also see two nice cutting boards! Okay, one of them is smaller than intended, however it may be very handy for a small working place. Speaking of your wine rack - I don't really understand what would be wrong with the rear holes being off by 3/16 of an inch. If they were all of in the same direction, this would give a enhancing look to the storage. I have seen some racks that gave quite a slope to the bottles. Some bottles are racked with about a ten percent slope downward toward the rear. A slight sideways slope wouldn't hurt a bit!

I haven't hardly run the Mk.V at all this past week. Maybe 2 hours at the most. Have been cutting up wood scrap strips to throw away. On another project, - the phone bench - I drew up some sketches and they all were rejected by my sweetie. Turned out that it was not permissible to cover over even a couple of square inches of a kitchen window. We decided that a phone chair, with two drawers below would be the right thing for her need. Now the only thing left was to draw up the plans. Thinking it would be nice if I could use all scrap wood - finally got the plans. It would have been a lot easier to buy a sheet of ply and make a box, but what fun would that be? So using the left over shutter stiles, decided on a post and panel type of box, with a seat above. I'll have to end up buying some 5/4 wood for the seat, and maybe a couple of pieces for drawer fronts. It is all fun!! Hope it works out! If not, I'll go with plywood.

[john]

Chuck:

I really debated on whether the difference would make a difference (pun not intended). I even thought of test joining the front and back to a couple of pieces of scrap to eyball the set-up. I may revist that option before cutting into my $15.00 of new wood. Because the holes are the same size, bottles will lay in quite a downward slope, back to front, due to the large bottoms and narrow necks.

Trouble is, as usual, I'm anxious to move on to other things. I thought my patience would improve as I matured, (slang for "got older"), but no such luck.

Good luck with the phone bench. Nice to see someone can design projects.

John