Woodshop

[DougF]

While I was surfing the web I found this site and thought I would share it with you. Woodworking Tool Reviews - How-To's - Plans - NewWoodworker.com LLC

 

Read this, and have a safe day!

Kickback!

This time it wasn't someone else

Text' date=' photos and mistakes by Tom Hintz

 

The Mistakes

The cause of this kickback incident (my first on a table saw) is the painfully obvious result of two bad decisions on my part. The machine, my Jet contractors saw, did nothing wrong.

 

My first, and most grievous error, was not having the splitter installed. I know better, and have no good excuse. Like far too many woodworkers, I left the factory-supplied splitter off [/quote']

 

 

Kickback! - NewWoodworker.com LLC

 

 

 

More Java? :cup: :cup: :santa3: :applause:

[Turtle]

Read this, and have a safe day!

 

Kickback! - NewWoodworker.com LLC

 

More Java? :cup: :cup: :santa3: :applause:

 

In my personal experience, those splitters are as worthless as tits on a boar, and as likely to cause a kickback as to prevent one. There is no substitute for learning to use a table saw safely, accurately, and to full advantage, by learning hands-on directly from a professional.

 

The piece of wood shown in the accident article should have been on a crosscut sled.

 

The stool is largely done, having only a bit of oiling and rubbing left to do. I 'painted' the shell pattern with food color, then sanded it out a bit with 180 paper. Will post images when I get a round toit. :cup:

 

Ja, eine tasse kaffe, danke. :cup: :cup:

[Turtle]

...

The stool is largely done, having only a bit of oiling and rubbing left to do. I 'painted' the shell pattern with food color, then sanded it out a bit with 180 paper. Will post images when I get a round toit. :cup:

 

Ja, eine tasse kaffe, danke. :cup: :applause:

 

My pa used to keep a small wooden disk on his desk and on it was writ "TOIT". Whenever someone piped off and said "I'll do it when I get around to it", Pa gave 'em that disk and told 'em to get to work. :cup:

 

The carapice pattern is autentic to both the turtle, and the Mayan calendar. :santa3:

[Turtle]

Here's a little flyover of Myster Turtle. :hihi:

 

YouTube - Turtle stool complete http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiAQpWnBVuI

[DougF]

Nice job Turtle,

How many hours do you think you have in it?

 

I have never used food coloring instead of paint, did you have to let one color dry before applying the next?

 

When you are done with the coloring what type of oil do you use?

I use a Tung oil or a Finishing oil and some times Lemon oil depending on the wood.

 

And how did you get the cracks to close on your wood?

I have the worst time with this.

[Turtle]

Nice job Turtle,

How many hours do you think you have in it?

 

I didn't track the time as I do on some projects so I have no good idea off hand.

 

I have never used food coloring instead of paint, did you have to let one color dry before applying the next?

 

When you are done with the coloring what type of oil do you use?

I use a Tung oil or a Finishing oil and some times Lemon oil depending on the wood.

 

And how did you get the cracks to close on your wood?

I have the worst time with this.

 

I never used food coloring either, but as this is for a child I didn't want anything toxic. I used it undiluted straight from the bottle and applied it with a small paint brush. For the top & legs, I painted the orange-red markings first, let it dry, then painted in the green, and similarly on the bottom but filled in with yellow. Once it dried, I sanded it back with 180 open-coat paper to remove the fuzz of the raised grain, take off excess surface pigment, and push the pigment into the pores.

 

I chose mineral oil as the finish, again because the stool is for a child and the mineral oil is nontoxic. Find it not in the paint section, but in the digestive health aides section of a market. (Mineral oil is sold primarily as a stool softener and laxative.) ((Good grief and oh bother!:doh: Just saw that pun! :shrug:))

 

I put the oil on freely, let it set a bit, then rubbed it out hard with a clean terry-cloth rag. Quite a bit of color came off initially onto the rag, however with succesive buffings this is diminished to virtually nill. I watched a construction show this weekend and they were installing soapstone counters and used mineral oil exclusivelyy to finish them. Mineral oil is also good for cutting boards for its non-toxicity. What's more is all it takes to restore the finish is a new dab of oil and a good rubbing.

 

As to the cracks, some have glue in them, but all have at least one dowel crossing them. In fact, the cracks on the stool have not remained closed, and depending on the weather & temp, they open and close regularly. I have worked some oil in those open, and for the application of this little turtle, the cracking is no big concern. :phones:

[InfiniteNow]

What is a scarf joint?

 

How do you make one?

 

Why is it special?

 

 

 

You referenced this in another thread today, and I wanted to know more. A high level reply is fine, but details are always treasures.

 

 

More than just the above three, what is it to you? :hihi: :)

[freeztar]

Here's a little flyover of Myster Turtle. :D :hihi:

 

Awesome job Turtl!!

:)

[Turtle]

What is a scarf joint?

 

How do you make one?

 

Why is it special?

 

 

 

You referenced this in another thread today, and I wanted to know more. A high level reply is fine, but details are always treasures.

 

 

More than just the above three, what is it to you? :) :cup:

 

A scarf joint is a a general term for a method of joing short pieces of stock end-to-end to build a longer piece. While usage of the term is variable, a scarf joint is a type of splice joint that has some manner of overlap other than simple butting of the ends. There is an endless variety of ways to make them, that is to say endles forms & variations of scarf joints, and in terms of tools, most can be accomplished with a saw & chisel(s).

 

Scarfs are special because they result in a longer piece of stock of similar strength to a solid piece of the same material if it could be had. So whether a length is not to be had by virtue of market, or size of growth, etcetera, then when a long piece is required, so is a joint to produce it.

 

Scarfs also find use as decoritive elements of a piece if by some means the joint is relieved (cut away) on a bias or exposed on edge.

 

I supose it is a small matter of pride to me as a crafstman to know and have applied these things & pass them along. As an aside, I had an opportunity decades ago to examine one of the funery boxes from King Tuts' tomb; the sides were joined by finger joints, variously called box joints.

 

Awesome job Turtl!!

 

Thanks Freezman! All-in-all it appears to have taken on a life of its own. Shall I change my name this month to Mastro Geppetto? :D :cup: :hihi:

[Turtle]

Here's 3 woodworking books I have owned that I highly recommend. If you have to choose just one, make it the Woodworker's Bible.

 

 

The Woodworker's Bible by Alf Martensson

 

The Illustrated Handbook of Woodworking Joints by Percy W. Blandford

 

De Cristoforo's Complete Book of Power Tools by R. J. De Cristoforo

 

:)

[Turtle]

Waste not, want not. ;) Last night I sawed out a thin board, ~5/16", from the remaining Ash log I used for the stool and made a small ornament to gift for Christmas. After sawing out the stock, I lightly sanded it so as to leave some saw marks, drew on my pattern, and sawed it out with a coping saw.

 

Besides the coping saw's other advantages previously mentioned, its removeable blade means it is possible to make interior piercings. The ornament has 4 of these, each started with a pilot hole drilled large enough to pass the blade & its pins. The blade is removed from the saw, passed through the hole, reattached to the saw, and the cut is made. The blade is then removed from the saw, and then the hole left by the cut.

 

Paint is artist's acrylic latex. (warning!:eek: cadmium is in the brown so keep this out of mouths. :))

 

I can get a few more thin boards from the remaining log for some more projects. Most of this particular section of log is a bit 'punky', a softness due to microbial action and water, and the sawing is the easier for it. Keep those saw blades waxed. :cup: ;)

[freeztar]

Waste not, want not. ;) Last night I sawed out a thin board, ~5/16", from the remaining Ash log I used for the stool and made a small ornament to gift for Christmas. After sawing out the stock, I lightly sanded it so as to leave some saw marks, drew on my pattern, and sawed it out with a coping saw.

 

I'm continually impressed Turtle!! Great job! :cup:

 

Besides the coping saw's other advantages previously mentioned, its removeable blade means it is possible to make interior piercings. The ornament has 4 of these, each started with a pilot hole drilled large enough to pass the blade & its pins. The blade is removed from the saw, passed through the hole, reattached to the saw, and the cut is made. The blade is then removed from the saw, and then the hole left by the cut.

Very nice!

 

I can get a few more thin boards from the remaining log for some more projects. Most of this particular section of log is a bit 'punky', a softness due to microbial action and water, and the sawing is the easier for it. Keep those saw blades waxed. :eek: :)

 

I was wondering about the 'punkiness' when you started working with the log. I suppose it is not that old if you were able to get that much from it. Btw, save that punk for your retort! ;)

[Turtle]

The general term for this technique is 'fretwork', and there is a variation of the coping saw called a 'fret saw' that is identical in all regards save for having a deeper throat.

 

Always of concern in this delicate work is the direction of the grain, because of fragility while sawing, fragility of the finished article in use, and for aesthetic use in the design. For the ornament, I oriented the grain horizontally so the tree tips wouldn't be cracking off, and to use the grain as the horizon in the snow and to suggest branches in the trees. Every design presents it own unique set of circumstances.

 

Here is a clip showing the sawing of a board from the Ash log. Yule enjoy it! ;) :)

 

YouTube - Sawing out a board http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mtcFakmsro

[freeztar]

The general term for this technique is 'fretwork', and there is a variation of the coping saw called a 'fret saw' that is identical in all regards save for having a deeper throat.

 

What is the throat?

Always of concern in this delicate work is the direction of the grain, because of fragility while sawing, fragility of the finished article in use, and for aesthetic use in the design. For the ornament, I oriented the grain horizontally so the tree tips wouldn't be cracking off, and to use the grain as the horizon in the snow and to suggest branches in the trees. Every design presents it own unique set of circumstances.

Good points. Do you happen to have a pic of the wood piece before you painted it? I would love to see how the grain looked in the tree sections. :)

 

Here is a clip showing the sawing of a board from the Ash log. Yule enjoy it! ;) ;)

I watched the whole thing at 1x speed and though I didn't expect anything dramatic, I still watched. I had interesting revelations about this while watching, but I won't go into that right now.

 

The wood seems fresher than I envisioned it from your description. Great score!

 

I can't remember, was this one of the tree ring pieces?

[Turtle]

What is the throat?

 

The throat is the area between the blade and the frame. The deeper the throat, the larger the piece of stock that can be fret-cut. See drawing attached below.

 

Good points. Do you happen to have a pic of the wood piece before you painted it? I would love to see how the grain looked in the tree sections. :)

 

Alas no. But, I have attached below a scan of the adjacent piece that I cut out in the video.

 

I watched the whole thing at 1x speed and though I didn't expect anything dramatic, I still watched. I had interesting revelations about this while watching, but I won't go into that right now.

 

The metaphors you refer to I fully intended. While I called the piece a clip, it is a Tortuga Jorge film production. :hihi::(

 

The wood seems fresher than I envisioned it from your description. Great score!

 

I can't remember, was this one of the tree ring pieces?

 

The 'freshening' is the result of the tooling work. I do seem to recall posting the dendrochronological view in the Lechtenberg thread; ~78 years.

 

I was wondering about the 'punkiness' when you started working with the log. I suppose it is not that old if you were able to get that much from it. Btw, save that punk for your retort!

 

The type and stage of decay in wood is considerably sensitive to the specific conditions of water, air, and the bacteria at work. In many cases, decay rules out stock from use, but under some circumstances it is very favorable.

 

Anecdotal interlude:

 

I went to visit a German master cabinetmaker working in the US as I had recently moved in & set up shop. His best work he wanted me to see was the cabinetwork in the house, and more so than to have me see how well he cut dovetails etcetera, but to see the wood he used. All was constructed of spalted Red Alder, and spalting is a type of decay that results in black or dark lines running throughout the grain. Left to go too far, the wood won't stand up to tooling, but stopped at the right time, the spalting adds a contrast and patterning of the grain not available by other means.

 

He got pretty cagey when I pressed him for the particulars of the hows, and how longs of his technique, but he had mastered intentionally spalting green stock in a process he admitted took 5 years start to finish.

 

Here's those images. ;)

[Turtle]

Affected as I am by simian ancestory, monkey see monkey do, and I copied the Mad German's technique...of never telling my secrets. :naughty:

 

Nonetheless, there is well enough a supply of common knowledge in woodworking to share it around. :sawacon:

 

There is a quality of the grain of woods referred to as 'eveness', and this Oregon Ash I am using has a 'moderately uneven' grain. 'Eveness' is a relative measure of the difference in hardness between the Spring-wood and Summer-wood of a particular species and/or piece of stock. The practical concern of eveness is that in tooling the wood, the generally softer and more porous Spring-wood, tears out more than the harder less porous Summer-wood, leaving a ribbed effect by virtue of the differet heights.

 

Different tools produce this ribbed uneveness to different degrees on different woods. All things else being equal with a piece of stock, sawing produces a particular type of uneveness, planing another, and sanding another type of uneveness in the grain. (The ribbing effect of sandpaper also is variable by virtue of the grit.) In general, the sharper the tool, the less tearing, and the less pronounced the ribbing. The way the uneveness manifests in a piece is also related to the orientation and closeness of the of the grain. In a piece of old growth Doug Fir for example, the flat cut grain can get more uneven with sanding using fine grit, called oversanding, whereas the end grain of the same piece actually gets smoother with more sanding using that same fine grit. :naughty:

 

For TV/video instruction in basic old-time hand-tool techniques, there is no better IMHO than Roy Underhill and his Woodwright's Shop series. The Woodwright's Shop

[Turtle]

I simply couldn't leave that new sawed board be. ;) I made another ornament with it and left the uneven grain from sawing in order to add texture to the tissue découpage decoration. About 4" across, I decorated each side differently and have them scanned & attached below. :P :) :)