Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Just Like It Never Happened (almost)


Cleaned up and Ready for the Next Project


     There's a company that advertises on TV, they're a disaster clean-up firm and their ad states: Just Like It Never Happened  It seemed appropriate to use their slogan for this blog.  Whenever I'm working on a project things get to be a little disorganized which I really don't like.  Hate wasting time trying to find a tool because I was too involved to put it away in the proper place.  You end up tripping over bits and pieces, vacuum hose, extension cord, etc. and it really ruins the work atmosphere.  That's why years ago I began the habit of cleaning up the shop after every project so things were organized and ready to go on the next one.  This picture is the results of that effort this morning.  I'm donating a bunch of usable pieces of Walnut to a school and gave my neighbor a good sized box of firewood to boot.  Now I can move around without tripping and find whatever I need -- good feeling!
     I've wrapped up the final boxes for the show and begun to catalog them.  Diane has used her computer savvy to help me format a page for the labels and price tags.  This morning, before the sun hit the west side of the house I applied shellac to the last three boxes:

Final Shellac

     The box on top is the last of the dovetailed ones and since it's made of Walnut and Canarywood I've decided to call it Canary Tails.  The lid for it is in the foreground and then there are two more gilded lids that go to the Curly Maple boxes behind them.  After the shellac has cured for a week or so I'll rub them out and they'll be set for the show on the 20th. of this month.  Seems like I've been working on these for quite a while and I guess that's true!  Really looking forward to the show, I'll post the announcement next week for all of the details.
     One thing I've been noticing while working on the tablesaw is that I get some burning  on occasion when ripping.  It could be the blade is somewhat dull after all of the work I've been doing with exotic woods but I'm inclined to think that after all these years, the top has moved a bit so the blade is no longer in line and square to the table.  It's entirely possible since I move the saw around and all of that is done by grabbing on to the top.  If my memory serves me correctly there are only four bolts securing it, the hard part is checking the alignment.  In the past I've been able to use feeler gauges and get the rip fence parallel to the blade but have never messed with the tabletop alignment.  There are several systems that you can buy that cost in the $100.00 plus range and my pockets just aren't that deep!  As with most research these days, the internet was consulted and I found lots of different methods and suggestions.  What I came up with is pictured here.

Harbor Freight, Pine, and a Bolt

     At first I purchased a dial indicator with an arm and magnetic base for about $45.00.  Just couldn't get it to adjust and hold its' position to check the arbor run out.  Besides, to check whether or not the blade is parallel to the table and also that the rip fence is parallel to the miter gauge slot you need to have a way for the dial indicator to travel in the slot.  I made this sled out of a piece of pine and then drilled/tapped a piece of UHMW Polyethylene to attach it to.  Here's a close up view:

Sled Close Up
        The carriage bolt is bedded in the pine so that's secure.  The purpose of the slant is to allow the indicator to tilt when the throat plate is removed and get as close to the center of the arbor as possible.  Have I used it yet?, nope; it's too hot in the shop right now and I know that making these fine adjustments can be trying so I'll wait until I'm well rested and the temperature is lower.  Hope it works but I'll keep you posted.

1 comment:

  1. That garage looks great, no more ducking for falling wood!

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