Glad It's Not a Production Job (yeach!!)

Interior Almost Done

     Since today is Sunday it was an easy day in the shop between church and working out.  You can see in the picture above that the interior is almost complete.  All that's left is to cut slots in the uprights about every inch to put dividers.  These will separate the various game cards required.  The center section is space for 6 petri dishes and there'll be two dividers there that they can use to contain them, that's an option but seems as if it'll be a good thing so they don't move around when the box is carried.
     Whenever I work on a project it's the thinking and planning part that is the most intriguing.  I'd hate to have a job where I'd have to perform the same task over and over and over .............. yeach!  I've talked to several custom woodworkers that feel the same, what we do is more about the process and figuring out how to accomplish it than the final product.  Years ago Diane and I were talking about her approach to completing a painting.  What she told me is that basically she works on a painting until she encounters a problem, then she solves that problem and continues on until the next one comes along. That's stuck with me and really makes a lot of sense.  Even though my work is pre-planned before starting there's always that part of the work where you have to stop and think it through.
     As you can tell, the box and miters are fitted and ready for glue up.  That's on hold because I'm finishing the top and bottom panels before glueing the box together.  In the mean time the dividers and interior partitions needed to be done.  I had thought of mitering them but decided against that for a couple of reasons.  This box is leaving the dry desert climate and headed east to a more humid one.  Everything needs to float and be able to move with the atmospheric changes.  I decided to use interlocking joinery instead.  The only piece that will be attached to the box itself will be the front and rear inserts.
     The first step was to notch the ends of each piece.  This was done with a dado blade on the table saw.  A stop block was attached to the fence to control the width of it on each end.

Initial Steps for Notches

     Notches were also cut on the ends of the center dividers.  Since the blade couldn't cut the entire required size, the pieces were clamped together and marked as needed.  In this instance I used a Japanese razor saw to complete the cuts, first in one direction:

Increasing the Depth

and then the other way.

And the Length 

     Even though this saw leaves a pretty fine cut a quick pass with a paring chisel brought it up to par.

Joint Details

   





     When you look inside of the box this joinery won't be evident, it'll just appear to be butted together.  Here is is mocked together, now you can tell that the front and rear pieces will lock down the side ones.  They also lock down the two dividers for the card sections.










     Tomorrow will be time to lay out the slots for the dividers.  Seems like a good thing to do first thing in the morning when I'm fresh.  It'll probably take some work with dividers to get them as close to evenly spaced as possible.  Glueing the box together is in the plans as well, don't think I'll have any problem meeting the November deadline.

Shooting Miters & Other Hand Work

Front & Bottom Panel for Box Freshly Oiled

     Up until about a week or so ago I'd never heard of the game called Pandemic but here I am, making a custom case to hold it and all of its component parts.  Of course I had to find out a bit about this game so consulted Wikipedia, here's a LINK from them explaining the game.  It sounds pretty interesting, especially since my daughter has a degree in microbiology and told me years ago that we don't need to worry about the big things (lions, tigers, bears oh my!) getting us it's the little bugs and viruses that'll do us in.  Having Valley Fever I can definitely relate and agree to that statement.  In any case, the game pits the players against 4 viruses that they need to stop before it turns into a pandemic and wipes out the world -- pretty cool!
     When I was first approached (via my Etsy store) about this project I just had to see if it was possible to carve the gas masked icon for the game that I found doing an image search.  It was printed out and since I had an 8" wide piece of Alder I decided that's what I'd use.  It came out well and the client liked it so work began.
     Alder is a nice hardwood that is sometimes considered to be a Cherry substitute although it's not nearly as hard.  There are a lot of cards used with this game that are the same size as a regulation playing card.  That was the basis for the over-all sizing of the box, really designed it from the inside out to make sure the cards, components, and game board would be custom fit inside of it.  The box will be an anniversary present so I have a deadline.
     The construction of the box will be mitered corners with Walnut splines for strength and decoration. You know how every time you do something you usually end up learning something as well?  You may recall that I recently re-adjusted the top of my tablesaw to the blade, it was off just a very slight amount but now it's cutting dead on.  Well, it didn't dawn on my that I'd need to also re-adjust my miter and crosscut sleds because they were dialed in to the miter slots being off a tad.  Of course, this had to be learned when cutting the miters not the 90 degree cuts; they would have been much easier to true up than the miters!  To make a long story short, I needed to do more work shooting the miters than just the few passes to true up the miters as I usually do.  Here's how I go about cutting them.  First, I'll use a scrap piece of wood to dial in the length of the piece:

Scrap, Test Piece to Be Exact

     Whenever possible I like to lock in the rip fence with a block clamped to it at the correct length.  Once the scrap piece of wood is correct, I'll then cut the actual box side.

Actual Side Piece

     No matter how accurately the miter is set up,  it's always good to shoot the miter to remove any saw marks and just clean it up a little.  To do that I have a small shooting board that uses a block plane; works well.

Shooting Miter

    I needed to do a little more than I really wanted to with this since I re-calibrated the tablesaw but it's well worth the effort.  Here's a close up of one of the boards that seemed to be out the most.  The sides of the box are 5+ inches and this piece has a very slight crown to it which compounded the problem in the miter.

Miter Close Up

     Now that's done I can concentrate on the panels for the top and bottom.  The bottom panel was glued up from two pieces but for the top it was necessary to laminate a piece to both edges to get the required width.  Then it was some careful hand planing to level it out without messing up the carving.  I like how the piece at the top of the gas mask guy has a grey streak, almost like there's some sort of virus or fungus up there!

Making the Top Panel

     Before oiling the piece I took the time to enhance the carving and deepen the cuts where needed.  Since the top will float in the box another thing was to soften the edges of the rabbet.
     Now that the first coat of the finish is drying it gives me at least three days to work on the box interior.  There will be partitions and slots to organize all of the cards.  The reason for waiting is to give me time to get the first couple of top coats, hand rubbed into them.  It's so much easier to finish them before the box is assembled.

Carving the Camellia

Final Effort for Now!

     If you've read my blog in the past you'll know that relief carving is something I continue to pursue.  It's definitely more of an artistic endeavor than designing and building furniture.  With carving, you need to show an object on a fairly level plane but manipulate the wood and the edges of the design to make it appear to have more dimension than it actually does.  There's a style of painting that has a French term which I can't recall exactly, something like Tromp leis which means; "fool the eye".  My carving skills are evolving, you know they say that practice makes perfect but after all my years working with wood I realize perfection is not a term that relates to woodworking very often.  I mean really, think about it; wood is a natural material and even though the tree a board you work may have been dead for a long, long, time it's still a living material.  It's subject to the effects of humidity and when you work it the grain structure will determine how it cuts and reacts to your tools.
     In any case, most of my carving is self taught from books, videos, and watching others.  I did take a week long class that taught me a lot but you need to do this continually to build up that muscle memory and skills needed.  I recently enrolled in a video carving class by Mary May.  If you're interested in what she has to offer, here's a LINK to her site.  She's been on the Woodwrights Shop, written up in some of the woodworking magazines,  and has videos on YouTube as well.  I like her style of teaching, very thorough in her explanation and gives you more than enough information.  Each project has a template and list of recommended tools to complete it.  A real plus is that you can ask her questions and she'll reply via email.  I had a question on tool selection and she responded within 24 hours or so.  Carving is what's happening in the shop right now.  I'm waiting to hear from a potential client on Etsy that I've sent a design to for a custom box she's interested in.
     I recently ordered a bunch of Sapele that I plan to use for a sofa table that is in the planing stages.  I really want to add some carved details to this project which was another incentive for enrolling in the school.  Oh, by the way, the fee for the carving school is only $10.00 monthly; I'd say it's well worth it.
     Step one was to transfer the template to your board, since this is practice and I have it in my shop I'm using Basswood.  It's a pretty straight grained wood which makes it easier to carve unlike the Sapele I plan to use for the table!

Transfer & Initial Cuts

     One of the things I really like about her template is that she tells you to put all of the markings on it to help your work.  Those short, straight lines by the outline of the Camellia help you while you work.  The initial work is done with a V-chisel.  Once the entire design is outlined with it, various sizes and sweeps of gouges are used to refine the shape.  This is where I had a question since I don't have the exact, recommended ones.  Her reply was to use what I have and modify the design if needed.  In her video's she shows how to substitute and use what you have.
     Next comes the initial steps of creating motion and layers in the work.

Enhancing the Outer Leaves

     The goal here is to give the leaf a sense of undulation, just as you'd see in nature.  I've begun some of that on the upper, left hand leaf.
     Now the rest of the work begins, trying to create that sense of life from a relatively flat piece of wood.

Adding Texture

     Layering of this flower was an interesting process but in Mary's video she really explains how it should be done.  Notice I said "should" because I didn't quite nail it.  Her technique here was using different colored pencils to indicate which petals are on top and which go underneath.  A good friend of mine (Dennis) who is an excellent carver has told me that he'll really study plants and flowers to get a sense for how the carving should look.  Since I'm a nature boy myself I'll just have to take a bit more time not only smelling the roses but also checking out their form.  Of course, you know that here in the Las Vegas desert I will have some limitations!
     Until the next commission my plan is to do another one of these Camellia's right next to the first one.  The goal being improvement in the layering and dimensioning of the carve.  Honestly can't think of a better way to spend my time then to stand at the bench and improving my skill level.  You know what I've said before, life is not a spectator sport!

Belt Sander Saga Continues

Sample, Un-Stropped Chisel Cuts

     Well, after fiddling around with the belt sander set up, experimenting on my carpenter work flat chisels, the picture above shows two sample cuts from a couple of gouges.  These cuts are right off of the belt sander and not too bad of quality.  Basswood is the wood and the cut is across the grain.
     I've seen some comments about this series of blogposts I'm doing and most of them are positive.  My goal in all of this is to change the cutting angle of my gouges so they suit my particular style of carving better -- everything is evolving!  Since reading through Leonard Lee's book on sharpening yet again it seemed to me that he really felt the belt sander is an underused tool for sharpening and rates it highly.  From Lee Valley I picked up their 120 grit Blue Zirconia sharpening belt and give that two thumbs up. I also got their 15 micro silicon carbide and have some mixed emotions about that but will get into that later in this blog.
     The first issue I addressed was the one about getting the rotation of the belt to go the other way.  Makes sense that you wouldn't want your edge slammed against the tool rest while you're trying to hone it.  Here's a LINK to that blog if you need it.  I came up with what I think is a pretty effective way to maintain the needed angles on the chisels.  For my carving work I'm using 20 degrees.  Just to clarify, for my bench chisels and planes I use hand held guides and stones only.  I'm not a fan of hollow grinding.  Saying that though, the first bunch of experiments I did with this set up was on the Stanley butt chisels I bought back in the early 70's and used during my carpenter years.
     Okay, let's get started.  The picture below shows how easy it is to swap out the belts on my set up.  There is plenty of clearance on the side to get your hands into, the only slight hassle is pulling up on the tension knob but really not bad of a chore.

Plenty of Clearance for Belt Changes

     I improved the tool rest, I think!  It's an aid which will allow you to sharpen a tool that's wider than the belt.  It's simply a fence that hooks over the tool rest.  To make things easier to move during cutting, the guide and the tool rest have been waxed.  By holding the tool against it you can now move it from side to side to grind the entire edge.  For tools less than an inch wide clamp the tool rest so it's stationary.

This View is looking from the back of the machine so it's easier to see. 

Detail of Rest --- Viewed from Back

     In practice there are a couple of things to consider.  First of all be prepared that the tool you're grinding will want to pull away from the rest so hold it securely.  The belt moves pretty quickly and things will heat up so just "kiss" the tool to it and then pull back.  The amount of sparks you get will be a good indication of how heavy or light your cut is -- you want to work slowly and make multiple, light passes cooling the tool in some water as needed.

Actual Cut in Progress

     Like I said, I'm using some carpentry chisels to get a feel for this process and they were in dire need of some reshaping.  Funny how nails and ceramic tile screw up their edges!  I'm one to use a sharpie on the edge to check the progress of my sharpening.  Here is one of them after a few passes:

1 1/2" Butt Chisel

     

     After carefully guiding each of these into the belt I checked them both for square and to see how the cutting angle was coming along.  For utility use bench chisels I use an angle of 25 degrees. 

25 Degrees and ........

......... Square

     Next up was using the 15 Micron belt to hone and remove the scratch pattern put in by the 120 grit.  The first use for this was on a small size chisel and boy, did it ever heat up fast!  I remembered seeing in Lee's book that he honed a knife blade near the top of the machine where the belt ran free.  I double checked the instructions that came with the machine and it said this piece of angle iron that's under the belt should always be touching unless you're polishing.  There's my aha moment, there are two allen screws that hold the angle iron in place.

Angle Iron NOT Touching Belt

 

     This made all of the difference, the heat didn't build up as before.  This is how the bench chisels looked after honing on the belt.  A bit of work with water stones and a guide and they'll cut like butter.

Carpentry Chisels Re-ground, Honed, & Ready for Final Hand Work

 

     So the practice work is now complete so it's time to experiment with some carving gouges.  I changed the tool rest supports to the 20 degree set.  The chisels I practiced with are some of the plastic, blue handled Marples that although they're good tools I just don't care for the feel of the plastic handle.  Matter of fact, now that they're sharp I've put them on ebay (See one here).  First up was to re-establish the 20 degree angle.  Same technique as with the bench chisel but rather than having to move the tool rest I clamped it down and used it as a guide while rotating the edge on the belt.  I re-adjusted the angle iron so it was close to the belt (1.5mm or so) and began with the 120 grit belt again.

Initial Re-grind with 120 Grit

     In the picture I've almost finished it, there's still some of the old edge on the corners.  Keep in mind that the goal of this operation is to grind to new metal, you can tell you've achieved it when there's a uniform burr on the inside.  The next phase was to switch over to the 15 micron belt, lower the piece of angle iron and hone them.  Here's how I guided them for this process.

Honing Stance

      The edge of the gouge is against the rest, my fingers are supporting it loosely, and my other hand is rotating the gouge against the belt.  If you go back to the picture at the top of this post, that's the cut after this.  The only thing I did was to remove the burr with a slipstone.

     Well, truthfully I'm pretty pleased with this  whole process.  My goal was to find a way to either re-configure the cutting angle of my carving tools and/or refresh the edge as needed.  I've discovered that honing will tend to round that edge which gradually changes the action of the cut.  I'm really a novice carver and have spent most of my years building furniture types of projects.  I'd be interested in getting feedback from any of you that may go ahead and give this a go.  If my blogging has helped you with your work so much the better --- John

Opened up an Etsy Store!

It's a Start

     Those of you who have been following my blog know that I recently had a showing of my original custom boxes.  The show had a very good turn-out and sales were good but now it's time to shamelessly attempt to market my work.  Something most of us artist/craftsman don't really care to do.   I had no problem doing that for Diane and rather enjoyed being the Artist Representative.  Big difference there was that it really wasn't personal.
     I've done some internet marketing with my website and taken a stab by using Custom Made but the results weren't the greatest.  It seems that unless you build furniture that is knock down and screwed together on site the shipping costs are prohibitive.  There is a very limited market for a small scale, one man custom furniture shop such as mine but I'll continue to work on finding ways to enter it during these trying economic.
   
 Here is the link to the Etsy store:

               http://www.etsy.com/shop/WoodworksbyJohn?ref=si_shop

     At this time I've only listed the boxes remaining from the show.  I plan to add some other items that are reasonably sized so that shipping isn't a huge concern.  If you enjoy your wine a project coming soon will be an apartment or condo sized wine and glasses cabinet.  I don't want this to sound like a commercial but if you get the time I'd appreciate it if you could check out the Etsy store.  I'm open for suggestions on lay-out, photography, pricing, or any other constructive comments you may have.  If you have anyone you think would be interested in the site it'd be great if you share the link with them.

................... jeez, I feel as if I should end this post by saying:

 "I'm John Eugster and I approve this message"

Tutorial: The Best Zero Clearance Plate Ever ?

Is This the One?

   

      I really don't want to fall into that "The Best -----" genre of story titles but couldn't resist.  You know what I mean at the check out counters i.e. Best Way to Lose Weight; Best 10K Time Training Program; Best $5.00 Wine on the Market; Best Dovetails Ever; and so it goes.  I always suspect those titles because really, how many Best Ways can there be to do the same thing?
     I can't take full credit for this method of making a zero clearance plate because it's something I saw years ago in a magazine and filed it away into the recesses of my mind hoping it would surface at just the right time.  Well, after using the dial indicator to set up my tablesaw that time has arrived.  Now that it's over I'm really glad I went through this process.  Making the adjustments to the saw changed the location of the blade in reference to the throat  plate so it was no longer a zero clearance set up.
     Like many of you, I've gone through the stage of using the factory plate on the saw, then making my own from plywood, and finally buying a specialized one made of phenolic and complete with adjusters and everything!  I'm Dutch and these things aren't inexpensive so I still was left with the factory plate for my rip blade and shop made plates for various sized dados.  The concept behind this plate was to use the same specialized plate for everything but make inserts customized to any blade configuration needed.  Here's where I started this process.
     The first step was to create a channel on top of the plate to accept the inserts.  I'm using 1/4" MDF so cut a bunch of strips about 1 3/4" wide.  These strips should be 8"-10" longer than the throat plate, that's not a critical measurement though; just use what you have.  To cut the channel I used a 1/2" straight bit in the router and made successive passes to achieve the needed depth.  At the same time, make a sample piece or two with the identical cuts in a piece of scrap material, I used MDF for that.  You'll need that to fine tune the width of the channel.

Router Table Set Up

     Here's my set up, it's a shop made router table set into the extension table on my tablesaw.  This way I can use the rip fence for my router table too.  Boy, this phenolic stuff is hard and smelly; actually chipped my carbide dovetail bit!  The piece sitting upright is one of the extra pieces made to set up the dovetail bit and make trial cuts before actually cutting into the throat plate. The other thing in the picture is my push stick -- use one so you don't cut a nice channel in your thumb as you finish the cuts.


     I gradually increased the depth of the channel until the MDF fit.  It's ever so slightly proud but that will be easy enough to fine tune with a piece of sandpaper.

Checking Depth

Once the channel is complete I changed over to a 14 degree dovetail bit.  Here's where that piece with the trial channel cut into it comes in play.  Use it to fine tune the depth needed.

Setting Depth

     Once that's dialed in you'll cut both sides of the channel to create a dovetailed slot for the insert to slide into.  The next step requires small adjustments with the fence to get a good fit.  Your strips should be longer than needed so you'll have plenty of pieces to experiment with.  The first step is to cut a 14 degree angle on one side of each strip.  Now comes the fine tuning.

Are We There Yet?

     The beveled edge on the strip will want to slide underneath your fence so it's best to clamp a piece of plywood to your fence, push it down tightly to the table.  I'm using a clamp close to the cutter to keep the strip down so the 14 degree bevel is consistent the entire length of the strip.  Now it's a matter of gradually cutting the piece down until it slides into the channel with just a bit of resistance.
     Each strip will need a hole drilled into it so you can remove the plate from the tablesaw.  Mine happened to be 3/4" so slide the strip into the channel, leave it proud and drill the hole completely through all of them.

Finger Holes

     By this time I was pretty tired of all the machine noise and dust so went traditional for the last couple of steps.  Insert the strip and line up the finger hole.  Clamp that into your vise and use a coping saw to make it fit.

Final Shaping

     Sure, you could use a guided bearing in your router but this works too.  I also cut a pass down the area in the back where the splitter goes then used a chisel to pop that piece out.

Not Pretty but Works!

It's a Beautiful Thing!

     Now I have about 8 of these strips ready to go for any blade I need to put on the tablesaw.  As they get sloppy I can just toss it and install a fresh one.  Make sure that when you're making your initial cut into the strip that you put your fence over it to hold it down.  For a dado blade I'd recommend that you clamp a piece of MDF over the entire insert when making that initial cut.









     Let me know if you decide to try this for your own saw, I'd be curious to hear your opinions!

Belt Sander Sharpening

Belt Sander Sharpener --- My Version

      Jamie once said "ask 10 woodworkers how to sharpen a tool and you'll get 12 answers"; boy, isn't that the truth!  When it comes to sharpening there's no shortage of methods we employ to achieve that keen edge that will slice right through the toughest of wood fibers, cleanly and effortlessly.  Kind of like Monty Python seeking the holy grail isn't it?
     For all of my flat blades I prefer using Japanese water stones and guides only, I'm not a fan of hollow grinding on a wheel.  Yes it's more time consuming but it suits me and my method of woodworking.  The only time I ever use power grinding on a chisel would have been for my carpentry chisels that gets into a fight with the occasional nail and loses!
     Carving chisels and gouges present a different set of problems.  When they're factory fresh, so to speak, the bevel is uniform and occasional honing  or stropping keeps them cutting well.  As time goes on though the edge will tend to roll over making it harder to slice through the wood.  Many times it's desirable to lengthen the bevel or change it slightly to suit your own angle of attack.  I've been working on that and for me, getting a uniform bevel by hand has proven difficult.  So, back to the web and books to do some research.
     In Leonard Lee's book on sharpening he talks about how the belt sander is an excellent but over-looked method you can use to sharpen tools.  I used this as a starting point and the more I checked it out, the more attractive it became to me.  Lee Valley sells a 1" x 42" belt sander without a motor but there are any number of places that sell a 1" x 30" belt sander starting at $30.00 or so from Harbor Freight to the $400.00 or more range.  I opted for one from Enco which looks similar to almost every other 1x30 sander on the market.  Before I get into the details of this sander, another thing that makes this concept attractive is Lee Valley's offerings of sharpening belts.  Here's a LINK to them, they're reasonably priced and since power sharpening is not an everyday process they will be less costly than buying quality grinding wheels.
     According to safe practices, when you're sharpening it's better to have the rotation of the belt going away from you.  The tool rest that comes with the sander can't be tilted to a steep enough angle anyway, even if the belt was rotating the correct way.  That's why I made this plywood enclosure and bolted the belt sander to the back of it.  This way the belt is rotating away from the blade and by coming up with this tool rest I can also achieve the required angles. I wanted to leave enough room on the side to make belt changing easy.  Making the tool rest had me doing my share of head scratching!  I had the piece of perforated piece of angle iron from some long ago project so decided it would be the base.  Knowing that the closer I could get it to the belt the safer it would be is why I notched it out as shown.  You can see it better in this picture:

Parts other than the Housing

     The other parts are a 3/8" all thread with fender washers and a wing nut.  Next to the tool rest is a guide that will help keep the chisel square to the belt.  It can be bolted through one of the elongated holes so that makes it adjustable.  The MDF pieces that are labeled with the angles on them is what I came up with to support the tool rest.  Trying to create a pivot point wasn't possible because the distance between the rest and the belt would increase/decrease.
     If I "deconstruct" the process of setting it up it may be easier to understand.  First of all, the rod is run through the holes:

Step One:  Insert Rod

          As the rod is threaded through, you also thread in the desired angled rest:

Step Two:  25 Degree Rest Installed

     Push the threaded rod all the way through both of the rests and sides of the box:

Step Three:  Insert Rod Completely Through Unit

          Lay the metal tool rest on top of the angled blocks:

Step Four:  Tool Rest in Place

     Now you can tighten the wing nut securely.  Since there is some flex at the ends of the plywood box it's easy to get a good, tight hold.  If needed you can also fine tune the angle of the rest to the sanding belt.

Final Tightening & Adjusting of Tool Rest

     So, how does this all work?  Well, so far I've been really pleased but can't give it a full test until I get the sharpening belts from Lee Valley.  Using an 80 grit belt I just had to see what would happen.  Even though I won't use this on flat edges the chisel on the right is a garage sale item that I use to scrape glue off of projects once it's set up.  You can see it has a nice scratch pattern.  The two carving chisels are part of a quality, 11 piece set from Harbor Freight which I think set me back about eight bucks!
    

Check it Out!

     You can see the middle chisel got burned a bit on the lower left edge, the other stuff is rust.  That occurred because the handle got hung up on the tool rest since these chisels are very short.  No problem with the one on the left, I was able to get a uniform bevel all the way around.  This was one pass only, a second pass will eliminate the low spot in the middle.  I'm positive that when I get the blue zirconium belts from Lee Valley they will work fine.  Then just a honing and removal of the burr on the inside of the edge and it should be good to go.
     The question though is: will it cut?  Check this out and tell me what you think:

It Works!!

     Keep in mind that this is one of China's finest tools, I'm pretty sure the final grind on it is done on the street from the back of a moving truck!