Even though we took a short three day vacation, I still managed to get in a little shop time working on minor steps in my various projects.
First I finished the assembly on the pine doll cradle and it's now ready for delivery.
Then I moved on to cutting some wood and did glue-ups for the end panels on an oak doll cradle. This is where it got interesting. I viewed the conical disk video from last week's sawdust session, where Nick demonstrated how to edge sand a board with a side that was not straight by using carpet tape and a straight edge as a guide. So I wondered if this method could be used to saw a straight edge for glueing when the opposite edge was not straight. Well I tried it and it worked well enough that I got edges that were perfectly adequate for my purposes. Maybe if I were doing fine furniture I would have used a jointer, but for a doll cradle it worked just fine. Besides my little "crappyman" 4" benchtop jointer doesn't produce good results anyway. Now I'm not sure if this would have been a safe way to make full through cut, but I was just trimming the edge to get a good glue joint.
I also cut the rough form for a bread knife from my piece of jatoba, and resawed another piece to use when I make one using jatoba and maple. For the latter, excercise , I used my Kreg guide with a proper resaw blade and I was impressed with the result compared to my test run with 1/4" blade.
That's it for now, I hope you all had a good week too.
Have fun!
John
Weekly Blog - August 19th
Moderators: HopefulSSer, admin
Hi All - Time went real fast for us the past two weeks. First- self made problems with my engineering and assembly methods of my plantation shutter project. Second - the wonderful and eventful visit of our daughter, complete with tourist activities of the greater L.A./Hollywood area. Third - a surprise, beautiful and fun treat, by our kids for a late, but welcomed special dinner celebration of our recent wedding anniversary, beneath the retired Boeing Air Force One, at the Ronald Regan Library.
This was topped off by a fire that badly scorched and partly burned side of our storage shed. This was started by a cigarette, almost extinguished, in an unused flower pot that was sitting adjacent to the shed. Yes, our Daughter smokes. Neighbors and the Fire Department took quick action, while we were gone to hold the damage to only a relatively small part of the shed. Thank goodness for good neighbors!
This required a replacement of the lower half of the siding on that wall, but no serious damage was done. Only the siding and some water damage to some of the stuff stored. On the up side, I had a chance to renew building renovation skills, and gave a needed break from shutter frustration. Didn't really want to do this in the Sun, during triple digit temps, but that's the way this cookie crumbled.
Back in the shop after the busy visit, I found my problems with the shutters were due to not paying attention to my own assembly instructions. The lesson learned here is: If ever thing in a complex (multiple pieces) project is not exactly/precisely spaced - the markings of UP must be placed in the UP position. Likewise LOWER means LOWER and LEFT means LEFT and RIGHT means RIGHT. Also inside and outside must be maintained. With 19 vertical louvers, there is very little room for anomalies in their spacing. Once the proper parts were put in their prober places the first full sized prototype works just fine and is usable as an accepted window shutter.
Took time during the "shut down shop" situation to remove the headstock and completely clean it out. More about this in a Thread under Woodworking tool Review.
This was topped off by a fire that badly scorched and partly burned side of our storage shed. This was started by a cigarette, almost extinguished, in an unused flower pot that was sitting adjacent to the shed. Yes, our Daughter smokes. Neighbors and the Fire Department took quick action, while we were gone to hold the damage to only a relatively small part of the shed. Thank goodness for good neighbors!
This required a replacement of the lower half of the siding on that wall, but no serious damage was done. Only the siding and some water damage to some of the stuff stored. On the up side, I had a chance to renew building renovation skills, and gave a needed break from shutter frustration. Didn't really want to do this in the Sun, during triple digit temps, but that's the way this cookie crumbled.
Back in the shop after the busy visit, I found my problems with the shutters were due to not paying attention to my own assembly instructions. The lesson learned here is: If ever thing in a complex (multiple pieces) project is not exactly/precisely spaced - the markings of UP must be placed in the UP position. Likewise LOWER means LOWER and LEFT means LEFT and RIGHT means RIGHT. Also inside and outside must be maintained. With 19 vertical louvers, there is very little room for anomalies in their spacing. Once the proper parts were put in their prober places the first full sized prototype works just fine and is usable as an accepted window shutter.
Took time during the "shut down shop" situation to remove the headstock and completely clean it out. More about this in a Thread under Woodworking tool Review.
Octogenarian's have an earned right to be a curmudgeon.
Chuck in Lancaster, CA
Chuck in Lancaster, CA
Chuck:
Your opening paragraph got me all excited for you and the family but the second was a real dampener. I'm glad to hear no serious damge was done and especially that no one was hurt.
As to your mention of attention to detail, I'm with you all the way on that. Now if only I could do it!
So far this week I have encountered two "oops's" that are strictly lack of focus. In my blog I mention how pleased I was with my glue lines, well that was before I glued them. What I didn't take into consideration was that the clamping edges were not square so one of the glue-ups buckled a bit more than I could clean up with the planer so it isn't as good as it should be. The other was that in my haste, (again), when I laminated the pieces for my bread knife I did not use waterproof glue. This shoudn't really mater as they should not go into water, but I will not put in into my craft show for sale. I guess one of my kids will get it for Christmas.
I hope the rest of the week goes better for you.
John
Your opening paragraph got me all excited for you and the family but the second was a real dampener. I'm glad to hear no serious damge was done and especially that no one was hurt.
As to your mention of attention to detail, I'm with you all the way on that. Now if only I could do it!
So far this week I have encountered two "oops's" that are strictly lack of focus. In my blog I mention how pleased I was with my glue lines, well that was before I glued them. What I didn't take into consideration was that the clamping edges were not square so one of the glue-ups buckled a bit more than I could clean up with the planer so it isn't as good as it should be. The other was that in my haste, (again), when I laminated the pieces for my bread knife I did not use waterproof glue. This shoudn't really mater as they should not go into water, but I will not put in into my craft show for sale. I guess one of my kids will get it for Christmas.
I hope the rest of the week goes better for you.
John
If there is a way to put things together back-wards/ mirror image/ upside down - I will do it if not paying attention to markings. A long time ago, I learned to be careful and mark work pieces for assembly. Now if only I could remember to pay attention to these marks.
Wanted to say - "When given lemons - make lemon aid" Why not market the new knife with non-water proof glue? It's probably yellow glue which is water resistant. Just mark it as "water resistant" (Do not submerge in water) and mark it at a special lower price. It is probably a beautiful knife and will sell at a slight discount. Besides, this would give relatively more value to the waterproof ones. If that works, you can make more "water resistant" knives for future sales. Just think how good consumers will feel when they buy a knife made with water proof glue.
Wanted to say - "When given lemons - make lemon aid" Why not market the new knife with non-water proof glue? It's probably yellow glue which is water resistant. Just mark it as "water resistant" (Do not submerge in water) and mark it at a special lower price. It is probably a beautiful knife and will sell at a slight discount. Besides, this would give relatively more value to the waterproof ones. If that works, you can make more "water resistant" knives for future sales. Just think how good consumers will feel when they buy a knife made with water proof glue.
Octogenarian's have an earned right to be a curmudgeon.
Chuck in Lancaster, CA
Chuck in Lancaster, CA
Chuck:
I haven't finished that particular knife yet but I hope it will be the best so far. It will be made of a 3/16" piece of maple sandwiched between two 3/16" pieces of jatoba. I plan to give it a coat of tung oil followed by several coats of wipe-on poly. If that shows well I will do this with all future knives.
The instructions I will include with the knives will state that they should not be imersed in water or be put in the dishwasher. However, even I don't always follow instructions, or read them for that matter so I don't feel that would be sufficient.
The instructions aren't written yet and when they are they will have to be translated into French as it is the law in these parts. I am bilingual on a verbal level but I will need help from some friends or my son-in-law to come up with the correct wording.
Have fun.
John
I haven't finished that particular knife yet but I hope it will be the best so far. It will be made of a 3/16" piece of maple sandwiched between two 3/16" pieces of jatoba. I plan to give it a coat of tung oil followed by several coats of wipe-on poly. If that shows well I will do this with all future knives.
The instructions I will include with the knives will state that they should not be imersed in water or be put in the dishwasher. However, even I don't always follow instructions, or read them for that matter so I don't feel that would be sufficient.
The instructions aren't written yet and when they are they will have to be translated into French as it is the law in these parts. I am bilingual on a verbal level but I will need help from some friends or my son-in-law to come up with the correct wording.
Have fun.
John
Finished spraying the plaques I've been working on at midnight last night. Lacquer, air compressor, spray gun. Gotta love it. I'll inlay the coins tonight as well as put the etched plates on them. Took a delivery of smaller walnut logs and will eventually mill them into lumber. Bought a 1942 vintage British .303 Lee-Enfield rifle at a gun show this past weekend. Nice rifle. I'm probably going to completely refinish the stock. Continued to wage war on chiggers. Right now I think it's a draw.
Eric
Rock Creek Designs
Win if you can, lose if you must, but always cheat!
Rock Creek Designs
Win if you can, lose if you must, but always cheat!