Craftsman’s Corner


I Recycle.  Do you?

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Tips and Trivia

I sometimes get in a hurry.   Sometimes I get tired and lazy.  Sometimes I just seem to go stupid.  Did you ever encounter an obstacle you can’t quite seem to overcome?  Then someone offers a suggestion or mentions a technique, and you realize the solution was right in front of you.   I hope so, because I sure don’t want to have to admit I’m the only one who doesn’t always see the obvious.  Here are some tips I hope you can use, and some things I hope you remember better than I.

Rusty Faceplate

Rust.  Yes, the photo is a bit warm, but the faceplate is as rusty as it seems to be.  I was tired after a day of rough turning a lot of very wet bradford pear.  The faceplate was nearly new when I started, and I only left it on one piece overnight.  The naval jelly I used the following day did its job, but it sure would have been better not to leave it in the first place.  Some species are worse than others, but wet wood and iron tools don't mix in any way you will like.


Sixty Second Safety Break

Limerick for a Lame Brain

There once was lad from the outback
Who spun up a blank with a crack.
When it got to full speed
With warnings to heed
It blew up and gave him a whack.

Gouge and Nail

Nails.  Most of us have encountered a nail from time to time, and there are usually clues to alert us.  In this case I hadn't yet bought a metal detector (penny wise pound foolish), was cutting pretty aggressively and ignoring the ebonized wood (dumb) and didn't pay attention to the onset of the "tick, tick, tick" (dumber).   I lost a good bit of steel getting rid of the notch and putting an edge back on this gouge.

Sharpening Jig

Sharpening.  To get a consistent grind make sure the distance from the grinding wheel is the same every time.  I use the One Way Wolverine Fingernail Jig, and marking the shaft with a Sharpie was OK when I first marked it.  However, that distance changes as the wheel wears down.  Joe Ruminski demonstrated at my turning club and suggested using a jig as shown in the picture to set the jig the same way every time.  (His jigs were prettier than this one.)   I have one for each of the angles I like to use (medium shown in the picture).

 

Quotes of Note

“Try not to make the inside bigger than the outside.”
Ron Suter, Apple Ridge Woodturners, 2006

“Too much wood is just about right.”
Anonymous, Tri-State Woodturners, 2004

“I like taking the nastiest, cheapest piece of wood and making something beautiful from it…”
Gregory Moreton, Woodturning magazine #132, February 2004.

"Life's too short to turn crappy wood."
John Jordan, 2004 Tri-State Woodturners demo.

Saving Time, Money, & Frustration

When is thin too thin.  If you turn thin wall vessels for piercing you have probably cut through the wall at least once.  I found a couple of suggestions from the Wood Central Forum I thought would be worth repeating here. 

Juergen redrxturbo@gmail.com 17 October 2007  If you are going to pierce the piece anyway, put a few holes in it after you complete the external shaping. J Paul Fennnell suggested this technique during one of his demos.

john lucas johnclucas@charter.net 18 October 2007  I had forgotten that Binh Pho also suggested putting a tiny hole in the area to be pierced so you could measure the thickness.

Sheepskin Buffing Pads.  I use sheepskin buffing pads for rubbing out  lacquer finishes, and I found myself short one day.  Hmmm... What could I do?  Then it hit me.  I gathered one of my worn out hook and loop sanding disks and a piece of sheepskin material I had on hand.  (I don't throw much away until my wife puts a gun to my head.)  Then, according to the instructions on the bottle of sanding disk adhesive, mated the two.  It works as well as any I have purchased, and I get a great deal of satisfaction from being able to reuse something before it absolutely has to go to the trash.

Sizing Spindle Blanks. I once heard someone remark about always using the same size spindle blank for the project because of the tendency to make whatever it was as big as the blank would allow.  I've finally become a believer after making a lot of oddball pieces.  Here are a couple of thoughts on the topic I think are even more compelling reasons to cut blanks the same size, the same length, and to dress the ends.  Let's consider a candle stick for example.  If I want to drill a 7/8" hole in the end to receive a bezel for the candle it takes a few minutes to setup the drill press with the correct stops for centering the hole and drilling the desired depth.  After that, if they are the same length and width, it is a pretty efficient operation to do a batch.  If not, each one is a one-off operation.  Another example is that my magic wand blanks are 1" square and spurtle blanks are a maximum of  1 3/16" square.  Both are 12 1/2" long not because that is the perfect length and breadth for each but because both will fit in my 25mm chuck jaws and that is the maximum length I can fit on my mini lathe with the tail stock properly seated.  If the width varies too much they may not fit the jaws.  If they are too long, I can't properly seat the tail stock. If they are too short, my home made full length tool rest that keeps me from having to move it around will not fit between the chuck and the tail stock.

Tool handle set screws that never need cleaning.  If use tool handles with set screws you may have noticed the nuisance of having to clean out the  wood shavings before you can insert the hex wrench.  If you orient the screws on the bottom they never fill up.
Tool rest height jig. If you use a jig to sharpen your tools and a jig to adjust your sharpening jig for a consistent grind you will probably want to use a jig to set the height of your tool rest.  I like the tool rest about 3/8” below the centerline of the axis for most work with large gouges once a piece is round, so I cut a length of hose to act as a collar so it supports the rest at the height I want.  When I loosen the rest to adjust the angle the rest remains at the height I like.  I have several for the heights I commonly use, and I’ve cut the sides so I can change them without having to fully remove the tool rest from the banjo.

Pegs that don't come out.  I was looking through a catalog and saw someone’s solution to a common problem:  pegboard pegs that leap to the floor every time you grab the tool and touch the peg on the way back to work.  They seemed quite expensive, so I came up with an alternative.  Plastic drywall anchors for which you drill a 3/16” hole fit easily but snugly in ¼” pegboard holes, and the small pegboard hooks fit very snugly in the anchors.  Voila!  Pegs that stay put.  By the way... I save the ones I reclaim when my wife has me move pictures and reuse them first.


Curious Minds Want to Know.

When does a platter become a bowl?



Can you say "Reuse & Recycle?"

Oil Bottle Storage

Do you change your own oil?  Add oil to your lawnmower?  How about using the empties instead of filling up your land fill?  These, with the necks cut at an angle contain my H&L disks.


Sanding

Leave no grit before it’s time.  My finishing took a giant leap forward after I heard a demonstrator emphasize spending more time with coarser sand paper.  It makes sense if you take a moment to think about it.  Each successive level of sanding should replace the marks left by the previous one with new, finer marks proportional to the size of the abrasive aggregate.  If you move on to finer grit too soon, marks remaining from under sanding will be too deep relative to the new, smaller abrasive particles to be removed efficiently.  You will either be sanding way too long or giving up before the job is properly done.

If you’re a northerner you don’t have to eat grits when you travel down south, but don’t skip the grits when you’re sanding.  A good rule of thumb when you go to the next finer grit is to increase the grit number by no more than 50%.  This will make it a lot easier and more efficient to remove those sanding marks that detract from an otherwise great piece of work.


Save Sixty Seconds for Safety

Top Ten Things To Do After Something Goes Wrong.

10.  Test your telepathic skills to summon help while superglued to the lathe headstock.
9.  Sharpen the tool rest to get cleaner cuts when you move it while the wood is turning.
8.  Determine what speed to use so a piece reaches the opposite wall when it departs.
7.  Improve your reflexes by dodging flying bark.
6.  Inhale deeply as you sand the white oak because it smells just like Jack Daniels.
5.  Think of cute explanations for the knuckles that look like you've been in a fight.
4.  Explain to the ER technician that TUI (turning under the influence) is not illegal.
3.  Learn to ignore the pain through self hypnosis.
2.  Learn to point without your index finger.
1.  Learn to wink with the eye you have left.

Number One Safety Rules

If you remembered only one safety rule for each machine you use, which would they be?  Here are a couple of my candidates.  What are yours?

Lathe:  Stay out of the line of fire.
Band Saw:  Support the work under the blade.
Table Saw: 
Jointer:
Scroll Saw: