A Boring Subject - Part 1

A Variety of Drill Bits

It has been two weeks since my last entry, a break which I attribute both to the Thanksgiving holiday and to the time I spent repairing my ancient Toyota. The cold weather here in Wisconsin has also made it very challenging to work in the unheated portion of my workshop, so I have no new woodworking projects to describe. In the meantime, I felt a discussion of the different types of woodworking drill bits might prove of some interest.

The tools in the photo above are, from left to right, a Forstner bit, a brad point bit, a twist drill, an adjustable bit for use in a hand brace, an auger bit also for use with a brace, and a spade bit. All the bits except the auger bits can be used with either a hand drill or an electric drill, the augers being designed for hand use only.

Hand Drills

Hand drills are so far out of fashion that I am including an illustration so readers will know what I am talking about. The crank-like tool at the top of the photo is an old hand brace made by Stanley. Its features include a two-jaw chuck designed to hold the squared ends of auger bits and a ratcheting mechanism that allows it to be used in close quarters. The crank provides considerable leverage so that large diameter holes can be drilled in wood with little effort when the brace is paired with a sharp auger bit. The brace is also useful for driving screws when equipped with a screwdriver bit.

The tool below the hand brace is commonly known as an eggbeater drill, so named for its resemblance to another bit of obsolete technology, the egg beater. This device is designed for use with twist drill bits and is suitable for use in either wood or metal. No batteries are required. In the past, such hand drills were manufactured in a range of sizes, some with two-speed gearing. The largest of these were called breast drills and featured a metal plate shaped to fit the operator's chest, allowing extra pressure to be applied while drilling.

I will go into greater detail regarding the different types of drill bits in future entries, but for now I would like to point out that the most common bit, the twist drill, was designed for use in metal not wood. While a sharp twist drill has its uses in woodworking, it requires a pilot hole for accuracy and is prone to splintering the work. What all the woodworking bits have in common are a sharp central point to accurately locate the hole and some form of spurs to score the circumference of the hole and prevent splintering. Auger bits in particular have a lineage going back centuries and are among the most efficient hand tools ever invented.


More to come...

Tearout Problem Soved

In previous posts, I described a tearout problem I experienced while shaping the sides of the Shaker Hanging Shelf. Cherry is not only hard but also somewhat brittle and I had ruined several side pieces by splitting out small chunks of wood when routing across the grain. The solution came in the form of a shear angle router bit from MLCS Woodworking.

The photo shows two flush trim router bits side by side. The bit on the left is a standard pattern bit with the carbide cutter running parallel to the axis of the bit. The one on the right is the shear angle bit with its diagonally oriented cutter. The bit has been equipped with guide bearings above and below the cutter so it can be used both as a pattern bit and a flush trim bit. In use, the angled cutter has a cross-grain slicing action compared with the chopping action of the conventional bit. I found it cut more smoothly than the conventional bit, with less tendency for tearout when dealing with irregular grain.

I am adding MLCS to my links section for those interested in trying the bit themselves. I have purchased a number of bits from this source over the years and can recommend them as a source for reasonably priced bits of decent quality.

A Week Spent on Details

It has been a week since my last entry and I haven't really been able to do much woodworking. I spent much of the time sorting out my Etsy store, figuring out the best way to ship, designing an ad for a local neighborhood newspaper, and working at my day job. I did make a sale to an out of town friend, which rallied my spirits a bit.

I have a second hanging shelf partially finished but am waiting for a new router bit to arrive so I can complete the side pieces. Meanwhile, I am beginning to plan my next project, a Shaker serving tray. None of the actual Shaker designs I have been able to find suits my purpose exactly, so I will be drawing elements from a number of existing pieces in the design process. I will be posting the design as it develops.

Shaker Hanging Shelf - Done!

Shaker Hanging Shelf - Complete

The first example of my Shaker Hanging Shelf is complete. After glue up, I applied two coats of de-waxed shellac. Once the second coat of shellac was dry, I applied a coat of paste wax using 0000 steel wool to help smooth out any remaining imperfections in the finish. You can judge the results yourself, but I am really pleased with the way the finish brought out the natural grain and color of the cherry. Over time, the wood will darken to a rich brown.

I made a trip to Kettle Moraine Hardwoods yesterday morning and purchased another 22 board feet of cherry, half 4/4 thickness and half 5/4. I milled up a small amount to use as the sides of another Hanging Shelf and am happy to report that it is beautiful material! I haven't decided which thickness will turn out more economical for me in the long run, so for now I am experimenting with both.

I had to order some larger shipping boxes to accommodate the shelf, so I will be planning my next project while I wait for my order to arrive. I am considering a serving tray based on a surviving Shaker piece, but need to adjust the proportions to better suit present day needs. I will post more information as the design evolves...

Shaker Hanging Shelf - Applying the Finish

No photos tonight, but I did apply the first coat of finish to the shelf. I used Zinsser Seal Coat, which is a high quality dewaxed shellac, straight out of the can. I usually thin commercial shellacs with denatured alcohol and apply them with a cloth, but this product seemed to be a good consistency for brush application right out of the can. The brush technique worked quite well. I will allow the shellac to dry overnight, sand lightly by hand, then apply a second coat.

Shellac is not as durable as varnish or lacquer, but does have many good qualities. Drying time is very short, a matter of minutes if the shellac is properly thinned with alcohol. Because subsequent coats partially dissolve the previous layer, brush marks and other errors are easily corrected. Brushes are easily cleaned with alcohol, though cleaning is not absolutely necessary, as re-immersion in shellac will soften a dirty brush in a matter of minutes. Also, I particularly like the way the shellac brings out the natural color and grain of cherry.

Shellac finishes do discolor after prolonged contact with water and will dissolve if placed in contact with alcoholic beverages. Heat resistance is not spectacular, either. The ease of application and clarity of the finish make up for many of its weaknesses in my opinion. With reasonable care, a shellac finish can last a long time and is easily renewed if damaged. I will post a final photo of the shelf after applying the second coat so readers may judge the results for themselves...

Shaker Hanging Shelf - Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Gluing Up the Shelf

The fact that setbacks are a natural part of the learning process doesn't necessarily make them any easier to accept when they do occur. My setback occurred while I was trying to figure out the best way to notch the sides of the Hanging Shelf to accept the horizontal batten used to attach the unit to the wall.

My first thought was to use the router table as I felt that would yield the smoothest cut. Unfortunately, the router bit grabbed the piece, splitting out a substantial chunk of wood along the grain line. My attempts to salvage the piece by trimming it down spoiled the proportions, so I ended up deciding to make a new side piece. Unfortunately, I was out of cherry by that point. I will be making a trip to Kettle Moraine Hardwoods soon to replenish my supply. I am putting their website in my Favorite Links area in case readers would like to check it out.

Luckily, I only damaged one of the two shelf units I was making. I ended up nibbling the notches in the remaining side pieces using the table saw. The small amount of roughness left by the saw was easily cleaned up and produced none of the splintering I had with the router, so I will be using this process from now on.

After sanding all the pieces, I glued them together using the setup shown in the photo above. I checked everything for square after tightening the clamps, then left them to dry overnight. I plan to use dewaxed shellac to finish the piece as it brings out the color of the wood. Cherry is prone to blotchiness with most other finishes and shellac will allow the wood to darken evenly over time as it naturally tends to do. While I wait for the glue to dry, I will begin the process of selecting my next project...

Shaker Hanging Shelf - Making the Sides and Shelves

Cutting the Sides to Length

This is the stage where I found out whether or not my jig designs would work as planned. The cherry stock had already been thicknessed and ripped to approximate width. Using my home made crosscut sled with a simple stop on the table saw, I cut four pieces of the 3/8" thick cherry to length to use as sides for two sets of shelves. In order to fit my jigs, it was critical that the side pieces be exactly 21" long. The photo shows the crosscut sled from the outfeed side of the saw.

Before cutting the dadoes in the side pieces, I examined each of the blanks carefully to determine the most advantageous grain orientation before tracing the desired outline on each one in pencil. Since I would be doing the final shaping on the router table, it was critical to be sure I would be working the grain in the right direction to avoid tearout just as when I jointed and planed the stock in the first place. I then marked the bottom of the surface I wanted to use as the inside face of each piece to ensure I oriented it correctly in the dado jig.

Dado Jig and Router

I began by clamping the dado jig to one of the side blanks using c-clamps. The router was equipped with a 5/16" diameter straight bit and a 1/2" outside diameter guide collar to fit the slots in my jig. I set the depth of cut to 3/16", or half the thickness of the side piece. I then fired up the router and cut the three dadoes in succession using the jig. I repeated the process for the remaining blanks.

Roughing Out

With the dadoes cut, I proceeded to rough out the countours using a 1/4" wide blade on the band saw. While I could have done the shaping entirely on the router table, it would have meant routing away much more material and producing a lot more dust. Roughing the pieces out to within 1/8" of the final shape was less trouble and took very little time.

Shaping the Sides

I did the final shaping of the sides on the router table using a 1/2" diameter bearing-guided pattern bit and the shaping jig I described in my 10/24 posting. The photo at left shows the setup. The only problem I experienced was some slight burning on the curved edges. I found this could be easily avoided by feeding the stock more quickly.

Copying the Angle

With the sides shaped I could move on to the shelves. Before cutting them to length, I needed to bevel the front edge of the shelves to match the taper of the side pieces. Rather than measuring the exact angle, I transferred it from the side piece to the jointer using my sliding T-bevel. The photo at left shows how this was done.

The Shelf Dry-Fitted

With the jointer fence set at the correct angle, I jointed a length of the 5/16" thick shelf stock and cut it into three 10" lengths on the table saw. I dry-fitted the shelf together to judge the overall effect, and found the end result quite pleasing. I still need to fashion the batten that will be used to hang the shelf unit and attach it to the sides. I will cover that and the finishing process in an upcoming post.

More to follow...

A Brief Post-Election Post

This will be a short post because I have had a pretty busy week, setting up my Etsy store and working on the Shaker Hanging Shelf. I spent about two hours making the banner you see above for my store. I figured Photoshop would be the best way to go since the banner has to have a certain number of pixels, but I forgot to take into account how unfamiliar I am with the program. The end result wasn't bad considering that I was working by trial and error.

I will do a more complete post on the Hanging Shelf in a couple of days, but progress has been encouraging so far. I dry fitted my first attempt tonight and I am very pleased with the result. All my jigs worked as planned and all the parts fit as they should. The proportions are perfect. Whew! Stay tuned for the full story...

OutOfWoods is Open for Business on Etsy!

It took me about two hours to get my store up and running on Etsy this afternoon. The site pretty well leads  you through the process step-by-step, so the frustrations were limited to the usual user errors. I listed the Shaker sconces I described making here, along with some small boxes I had made previously. I still need to refine my Etsy page to make it more attractive, more easily found etc., but at least I finally got it started up!

Shaker Hanging Shelf - Dado Jig

Given the poor quality of the dado set I have for my saw, I will be using a router to cut the dadoes that support the shelves. The router is safer, in any case, and will cut cleanly and accurately with the proper jig. I will be using a 1/2" outside diameter guide collar in the router with a 5/16" straight bit to make the cuts.

Jig Layout

I decided to use 1/2" MDF here again, as I did with the other jig for this project. The photo at right shows my layout. After marking the desired placement of the dadoes, I drilled a 1/2" hole at the end of each one to aid in setting up the router to cut the three slots. The remaining layout lines are for the placement of the 1/4" masonite strips that will position the work piece under the jig and for the placement of the horizontal batten that will be used to hang the shelf unit.

Setting the Guide

I used a clamp-on straightedge to guide the router, which was equipped with a 1/2" straight bit. I positioned the guide by dropping the router bit into the hole I had previously drilled in the MDF and moving the straightedge until it contacted the router base. After double checking the position of the guide with a try square, I locked it into position.

I made the cut in three passes of gradually increasing depth. The guide is positioned to the left of the router because routers move to the left as you push them away from you. Thus, I started the cut on the edge of the MDF nearest to me and continued cutting until I reached the hole I had drilled at the far end of the cut. Highland Woodworking has an excellent article on this subject at:
http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/routersgoleft.aspx.

The two jigs I made for the Hanging Shelf project represent my only experience so far with MDF. The material is quite dense, stable, and consistent, making it suitable for jigs, but it is unpleasant to work with. The high resin content means that it scorches easily when machined and smells bad when it does scorch. Working MDF with the router produces large volumes of fine dust and is probably harder on bits than is real wood. Still, it seems the most convenient and inexpensive material I can think of for this application.

Underside of Jig, w/Slots

The last photo shows the jig with the masonite strips ready for glue up. The guide slots came out clean, crisp, and square. I am anxious to try both jigs out on some actual wood! I haven't yet made up my mind about how I will make the notches in the side pieces for the hanging batten. I may add that feature to this jig or perhaps nibble them out with the table saw.

To be continued...

Shaker Hanging Shelf - Stock Preparation and Jig Construction

Beautiful Grain!

I decided to prepare the stock for this project first in order to give the wood time to settle down before I cut it to final size. Stock preparation is covered in my September 22 and 26 entries so I won't repeat the steps here. I had two lengths of 4/4 cherry approximately 5" wide. Resawing with the band saw gave me the 1/4" and 3/8" thick stock I need for this project. The grain this revealed is quite beautiful.

I felt it would be worthwhile to construct a jig for shaping the sides of the shelf unit rather than using templates as I did with the Shaker Sconce. These were useful but not especially convenient, so I also plan to create jigs for those pieces sometime soon. 

Layout

I chose 1/2" MDF for the base of the jig because it is inexpensive, durable and reasonably easy to work with. I began by transferring dimensions from my measured drawings (see 10/12 blog post) to a 7"X24" piece of MDF, allowing an extra 2" on three sides of the jig for the hold-downs. Not having french curve handy, I used a flat washer and my gooseneck cabinet scraper to lay out the curves.

Tapering

The tapering jig I described in my last three posts worked perfectly for cutting the diagonal line visible along the top of the MDF. I simply aligned the ends of the cut with the left side of the tapering jig, tightened the hold-downs, and ran the whole thing through the saw using the miter gauge slot to guide the jig. The resulting cut was smooth and accurate.

Sawing One of the Curves

With the taper cut, I moved to the band saw to cut the two curves in the jig, a small one at the bottom and and a more graceful, longer curve at the top. Using a 1/8" wide blade in the saw, I cut just outside the lines I had drawn being careful to stay on the waste side of the cut at all times.

Cleaning up a Curve

The band-sawn cut was too rough to use as it was to guide a pattern bit on the router table, so I smoothed out the irregularities using a sanding drum in my drill press. Experience has taught me that the slight ripples left by the saw are transmitted by the router to the piece being shaped with the jig, so they must be cleaned up.

Gluing Down the Guide Strips

My final task for the day was to glue down guide strips along three sides of the jig to provide positive positioning for the work piece. I make the strips from 1/4" masonite and glued them to the base taking care to align them with the layout lines I had made. Although I would eventually like to add toggle clamps to the jig for convenience, for the present I plan to drill the base for hold-downs like the ones on my tapering jig.

The next step will be to cut the side pieces of the hanging shelf to length. I will need to dado these to hold the shelves before using my new jig to trim them to shape. I may have to take some time off from this project to work on my Etsy store front as I hope to be open for business by November 1 and still have much to do...

Tapering Jig Part III - Complete

Tapering Jig Complete

Since my last entry, I spray painted the base of the jig flat black to improve the overall appearance, installed the aluminum t-tracks, and fabricated a pair of wooden hold-downs from some scrap maple I had in the shop. The only difficulty I encountered resulted from the fact that my newly purchased length of t-track was 1/8" thinner than the scraps I had on hand. I had cut the dadoes to fit the old track and needed to shim up the new track with strips of 1/8" masonite. It was a pretty minor setback, all things considered.

The photo at right shows how simple the jig is to use. The only layout required involves drawing the desired line of cut on the work piece. This is aligned with the left hand side of the jig, which rides along the saw blade. The work is then secured with the wooden hold-downs and the cut is made. I equipped the jig with multiple t-tracks to accommodate a wide range of work pieces.

Laying Out

Making the hold-downs began with sketching a suitable profile on small scraps of 1" hard maple. I used the band saw with a 1/8" blade to rough out the pieces, then refined the shapes a bit with a rasp. I left the surfaces mostly rough on the theory that they would grip better that way, and because I didn't have any desire to deal with sanding them at that point. With the shapes cut out, I used a marking gauge to strike a line down the center of each one, darkened the line with pencil, and marked the boundaries of the slot I planned to cut out.

Coping

Drilling

I used a 3/8" Forstner bit in my drill press to drill a hole at each end of the slot. The Forstner bit not only cuts an exceptionally clean hole, but starts without wandering on an angled surface. I used my drill press vise to safely secure the piece while drilling. With the holes drilled, I used a coping saw to remove the waste from the slot. The final image is a closeup of the hold-down in use.

Finished Hold-Down

The first application I have for the jig will be cutting out the template for the side pieces of the Shaker hanging shelf unit I plan to make next. I will be making the templates from 1/2" MDF, so I will not be risking damage to particularly valuable materials on the trial run. I'm anxious to give it a try...

Table Saw Tapering Jig - Part II

Stack Dado

Now that the guide strip has been fitted and the base trimmed to size, I can proceed to cut the dadoes that will house the aluminum T-tracks. Although I could use the router here, I elect to use my stack dado set. The resulting cut tends to be rougher but the setup is much faster.

In order to accommodate the dado set, I have installed a different throat plate (shown in red) on the saw. The wider opening offers more than enough clearance for the 1/2" dado set. In fact, it would have been better to make a zero-clearance throat plate here to avoid splintering the wood, but I was in too much of a hurry at this point to be done. As we will see, this created extra work later on.

Note that the riving knife has been removed for this operation as it cannot be used for dadoing. The small oval hole in the upper left corner of the throat plate provides finger access to the catch that holds the knife in place, so it is easily removed. Use of the stack dado set is inherently dangerous, susceptible to kickback because the blade is buried in the work, and it essential to keep track of where your hands are in relation to the blade at all times. It is especially important to keep in mind the exact spot where the blade will emerge from under the work as the cut is completed.

Making the Cut

The next image shows how the dado will be cut using the miter gauge for guidance. While it is possible to use the rip fence to guide dadoes that run the length of a piece, either the miter gauge or a specially made dado sled should be used for crosswise dadoes. I am planning such a sled for a future blog entry. Since I used both hands to shoot the photo, it does not show my hand position while making the cut. My left hand grasped the handle of the miter gauge and my right hand held the far side of the work, keeping it snug against the gauge as I cut. I made two passes with the 1/2" wide dado set to produce each of the four 3/4" wide cuts I need.

A Nasty Cut Indeed

As I mentioned earlier, this setup is prone to splintering or tearout along the edges of the cut. The lack of a zero-clearance throat plate, the fact that I am using an inexpensive 6" dado set purchased when I had a smaller and less powerful saw, and the fact that I am working in plywood all contributed to the spectacularly splintery cut I got. I will be adding a top quality stack dado set to my workshop wish list.

Although the poor quality of the cut offends my aesthetic sensibilities, it in no way affects the functionality of what is, after all, a jig. I will repair the damage with filler to prevent further splintering and to protect myself from splinters. I will then seal the base with a couple of coats of thinned shellac for protection and to make it slide smoothly across the saw table. In my next entry, I plan to show how to fabricate wooden hold-downs for the jig and install the T-track, hopefully concluding this project.

More to come...

A Tapering Jig for the Table Saw - Part I

The Shaker Hanging Shelf project will involve two tapered pieces, so I need to construct a tapering jig for my table saw before proceeding. The design I will be using is quite basic, employing the saw's miter gauge slot for guidance and simple hold-downs running in aluminum T-track to secure the work to the jig at the desired angle. The dimensions of the jig are 12" X 36", though it could easily be scaled up or down as needed.

Ripping With the Guard

I begin by ripping a piece of 3/4" plywood to width to form the base of the jig. Note that I am using the blade guard/splitter on the saw here rather than the usual riving knife. Because this is a rip cut, I can rely on the fence for guidance and so have no need to see the line of cut clearly. The anti-kickback pawls also add a degree of protection to the process. The guard turns out to be very convenient and makes a noticeable improvement in dust collection.

Planing the Strip

I am using a scrap of maple to make the strip that will ride in the miter gauge slot. I use the planer to trim the strip to the precise width and thickness required.

Measuring

Next, I need to make a dado in the underside of the jig to accommodate the strip that will ride in the miter gauge slot. I will be using the router table for this, but first I need to establish the exact distance between the slot and the saw blade. I do this using a steel rule and the maple strip I just prepared. The distance is exactly 4". The photo at right also shows the close fit between the maple strip and the miter slot in the saw table.

More Measuring

The Dado

I have installed a 3/4" diameter straight bit in the router table. I set the distance between the bit and the router table fence at 4 1/8" to allow me to trim the base of the jig to fit flush with the saw blade, as I will show later. Note that it makes no difference that the fence is not square to the router table, as the dado will still be parallel to the edge. I use a small machinist's square for the measurement, taking care to rotate the router but so its high point is directly opposite the fence. I use a brass gauge bar to set the depth of cut to 3/16". I also make a test cut on a piece of scrap before dadoing the actual base of the tapering jig. The dado turns out to be a perfect fit for the maple guide strip.

Trimming the Guide Strip

Trimming to Final Width

With the guide strip temporarily installed in the dado, I can do some final trimming. I first trim the maple strip to length using the crosscut sled, then rip the jig to its final width. Note that the maple strip runs in the saw's miter gauge slot to guide the cut, so the rip fence is not needed. The next step will be to cut three dados in the top of the jig to accommodate the aluminum T-tracks. I will show how that is done in my next posting.

More to come soon...

Name Change - Blog Will Stay the Same

I decided to change the title of this blog to OutOfWoods in order to match the name I registered for my store on Etsy. I hope to be open for business there soon. Several versions of Out of the Woods were already in use so I went for a combination that wasn't yet taken. This also matches my email exactly and is very close to my Twitter name. I hope the long term advantages of the change outweigh the short term inconvenience this may cause my readers.

Next: Back to the workshop!

Preventing Kickback II - Splitters vs Riving Knives

In my September 24 entry I discussed the importance of an accurate rip fence in preventing table saw kickback. Having an effective method of keeping the saw kerf open during rip cuts is equally critical if not more so. Stresses within the wood can cause the saw cut to either open up or pinch shut as it passes over the saw blade. If the kerf springs open so that it presses against the rip fence, the wood may be pushed against the trailing edge of the saw blade causing kickback. If the kerf pinches shut, it may grab the rear of the blade with the same result. The traditional solution has been to install a splitter behind the blade.

Traditional Splitter

The photo at right shows the type of splitter traditionally supplied with American table saws. These often come equipped with clear plastic guards. Both are generally removed and lost because they are so inconvenient to use.

The splitter does have some good features. The metal blade that makes up the body of the splitter is effective at keeping the saw kerf open. The toothed blade visible on the side of the unit, actually one of a pair that straddle the splitter, is a pawl that can grab the piece of wood if it starts to be thrown back at the operator, thus preventing kickback.

There are several drawbacks to this design. The gap between saw blade and splitter, clearly visible in the photo, is one of the most serious. This gap makes it possible for the wood to contact the rear of the blade before it even reaches the splitter, causing kickback. Many splitters of this type are also made of soft metal that is easily bent and difficult to realign.  The height of the splitter is also fixed, rather than raising or lowering along with the blade, so that it must be removed when making grooves or buried cuts, as in tenoning, etc. Once removed, the splitter is rarely replaced.

Riving Knife

The riving knife, long in use in Europe but only recently required here, addresses many of these issues. The riving knife is attached to the saw arbor so that it raises, lowers, and tilts along with the saw blade. As long as the correct size blade is installed, the gap between the riving knife and blade is constant and quite small. Finally, because the knife is slightly shorter than the saw blade, it can be left in place when making buried cuts. The riving knife must be removed when using a dado set or molding head but, at least in the case of the saw I own, this is easily done without tools.

Modern Splitter With Guard

The riving knife is especially useful for cuts where the operator needs to be able to see the blade clearly, as when cutting to a pencil mark. It lacks anti-kickback pawls and a plastic shield, both of which would make ripping long boards or cutting sheet goods much safer. On my saw, the riving knife is easily exchanged for a splitter of this type. Unlike the traditional design, this guard rides up and down with the blade, preserving many of the advantages of the riving knife. Presently, riving knives are only required on new saw designs, existing designs being grandfathered in under the new safety rules. I am convinced the new designs are worth the added cost.

The other anti-kickback device that has been receiving a lot of press is an electronically activated brake that instantly stops the blade if it contacts flesh. The action is so fast that no injury to the operator results. While this is an extremely important development, it is currently available only on one brand of saw. I suspect it will become more widely available in future, but for now most woodworkers will have to rely on accurate rip fences, splitters or riving knives, and their own vigilance to avoid kickback injuries.

New Project - Shaker Hanging Shelf

The Shakers produced several variations of this set of hanging shelves, some more elegant than others. My version takes its inspiration from the measured drawing in Ejner Handberg's Shop Drawings of Shaker Furniture and Woodenware. I decided to make my shelf unit roughly half the size of Ejner's original, appropriate for use as a spice rack or for the display of small objects. The original was designed to be screwed to a pegboard strip attached to the wall. I have incorporated a small length of pegboard into my design to allow the hanging of measuring spoons, keys, etc.

I produced a set of half-size drawings to allow me to tweak the details before committing them to wood. The front view shows the spacing of the shelves and the placement of the batten used for hanging the unit. I will have to check my stock of hardwood, but I anticipate making the first set of shelves from cherry, 1/2" thick. I think figured maple would also make be excellent choice here. I will wait until the design is finalized, however, before committing it to the more difficult to obtain maple. I will begin by preparing the templates and the hardwood stock for the project.

More to follow...

Setting up Shop on Etsy

Now that I've completed the sconces, I figure it's time I set up shop on Etsy. There is certainly an overabundance of advice for newcomers to the online craft world, and it would be easy to get stuck in an endless loop of reading the available information. Taking my usual approach, I just plunged in and registered on Etsy as OutOfWoods, which matches my email address and Twitter account and is close enough to the name of this blog. I also set up a matching PayPal business account to accept payments and have been perusing Etsy to get some ideas about how my page should look.

I am also looking into shipping options. I ordered a Flat Rate shipping kit from the Postal Service to see if that will work for me. The Postal Service provides free shipping boxes for this method and each box size has a fixed postage charge. The fixed charge would allow me to charge the same postage to all customers, but the free boxes only come in a few sizes that may not be appropriate for the items I will be shipping. My other option would be to get a postal scale, some packing materials, and charge according to weight and shipping zone.

None of this is as enjoyable as actually creating the items I want to sell, but I can't see any way to avoid the details. I think things will be easier to handle if I concentrate on one consideration at a time, so I will be settling on a shipping method first. Once that is done, I can tackle shop design, etc.

Obituary for a Fine Old Elm

I am saddened to announce the passing of one of the last remaining elm trees in my area. The tree, which has been a neighborhood landmark for nearly a century, finally succumbed to some combination of age, drought, disease, and the stresses of urban life. It is certainly one of the last remnants of the scores of elms that shaded the neighborhood before they were felled by the Dutch Elm blight in the sixties. We will miss its incredible crown of branches, its shade, and the character it leant to the block on which it grew.

We had an opportunity to speak with the homeowners this evening as we stood contemplating the remains of the tree, and it was evident that they were deeply affected by its loss. Because it grew between the sidewalk and the curb, the city will be planting a replacement tree. The crew that came to fell the dead tree allowed the owners to keep much of the wood and offered to cut them a slab from the base so they could count the rings and perhaps have a table made some day.

Elm has a reputation for being cantankerous, its grain tightly interlocked so as to resist easy splitting. It was, for this reason, the wood of choice for the hubs of wooden wagon wheels. I took away two small logs with the thought that I might make something from the wood in a few years. I can, at least, preserve its memory in that way. Ars longa, vita brevis...

Shaker Sconces Complete

I completed final assembly of the two Shaker sconces last night, too late to post at the time. After glue up, I did a final hand sanding with 220 grit paper to remove the remaining machine marks. The finish consists of two coats of Watco Danish Oil, allowed to dry for 24 hours then hand buffed with a soft cloth. The oil does a nice job of bringing out the grain, but is slow drying and smelly. I may experiment with other finishes if I decide to make these in quantity.

My next step is to set up my store on Etsy to see if this is a salable design. I personally find the proportions and gentle curves pleasing, but I have no way of gauging the general appeal of the design without putting it out in public. I expect to devote my next few posts to actually getting these items to market, etc. If they do sell, I will want to revisit the construction process to see if I can reduce the amount of time involved without sacrificing quality.

Shaker Sconce - Cutting Out the Pieces

Cutting the Curves

Using the templates I make last week, I traced the outlines of the back and sides of the sconce onto the 1/4" and 5/16" walnut stock I had prepared previously. With a 1/8" wide blade installed on the band saw, I used the machine to rough out the curves on these pieces, taking care to cut on the waste side of the line. I tried to stay about 1/8" outside the line to allow some material for trimming while minimizing the amount of wood wasted.

Trimming the Back

I used the templates again to trim the pieces to final size. Clamping them to the roughly shaped sides and back, I used my trim router fitted with a ball-bearing guided pattern bit for the final shaping. If I decide to make these sconces in quantity, I think it will be worth my while to make permanent jigs to shape these pieces. It would be more efficient if I could clamp the parts onto a more thicker and more durable pattern which I could shape by means of a router mounted in the router table. I would also make the pieces a little wider than necessary as I had some trouble with splintering at the edges, and could have used more material to allow me to trim off the defects.

Cutting a Rabbet on the Router Table

The original sconce appears to have used simple butt joints held together by brads and/or glue. I decided to rabbet the back and sides for added strength and to refine the appearance of the piece. I made the rabbets using the router table with a fence. Those on the sides of the back piece go only part way and I used a stop block, shown in the photo, to ensure that the length was consistent. It was also necessary to square up the top end of these stopped rabbets with a chisel to mate precisely with the sides.

The Finished Pieces

I sized the bottom piece by fitting it to the back and sides rather than trying to fit it by measuring. I softened the front edge of the bottom piece using a 1/8" round over bit in the router table in imitation of the original. In the end, I had parts for two complete sconces, ready for final sanding, glue up, and finishing.

Clearly, there are economies of scale to be realized if I make the sconces in larger batches. By doing multiples of each piece while I have my machines set up for a particular operation, I can save myself from having to do the time-consuming set ups as often. I can also save wood by laying the pieces out more efficiently for cutting. If this design proves popular, I will need to address all of these issues. For the present, I need to move on to the final assembly and finishing process. To be continued...

The Band Saw is Up and Running Again

Back Together and Fully Set Up

As of 7:30 tonight, the band saw is back up and running well. The repaired saw is shown fully reassembled at right. The new trunnions fit perfectly, though final adjustments turned out to be more finicky than I expected. As long as I had the table off, I decided to clean, lubricate, and adjust the upper and lower blade guide assemblies. These were heavily gunked up with pitch, sawdust, and the overall residue of the past seven years of use. Some of the guide adjustments were almost too stiff to move while others had enough play as to make accurate setting impossible. A minor overhaul seemed to be in order.

Blade Guides (Front) and Trunnions (Rear)

The next photo shows the new trunnions along with both blade guide assemblies. The guide assemblies incorporate both aluminum and steel components, so I decided it would be best to strip them down completely for cleaning. Formula 409 and a toothbrush were quite effective at de-gumming the aluminum parts while mineral spirits were used on the steel parts.

Each guide assembly contains a ball bearing, visible in the photo, which sits behind the blade to absorb its rearward thrust during cutting. Both of these were stiff due to lack of lubricant. I would like to have replaced them, but at a cost of $21.00 apiece from Delta, I decided to salvage them. I was able to pop the grease seals off with the tip of my utility knife, flush them out with solvent, and repack them with lithium grease. After all this work, I located a bearing distributer online who offers them for $0.99 apiece, plus shipping. Although I have not yet placed an order with these people, I think their site at http://www.vxb.com is worth checking out.

The two black shafts in the middle of the photo are the adjustment screws for the lower guide assembly. These steel screws turning in the aluminum guide assembly are prone to galling and similar issues, so I was meticulous in cleaning these up and lubricating them. One moves the thrust bearing forward and back behind the blade. Properly adjusted, the bearing sits a few thousandths of an inch behind the blade, only contacting it and actually spinning when the blade flexes under the pressure of a cut. The other adjusts the guide blocks which keep the blade from flexing side to side. These have to be adjusted so they sit just behind the saw teeth so the blocks do not get chewed up in the process. I have replaced the original steel guide blocks with graphite impregnated phenolic "cool blocks" which can be set more closely than steel blocks without risk of damaging the blade, thus providing a more accurate cut.

Checking the Position of the Broken Trunnion
 Prior to Removal

As I said previously, final adjustment of the new trunnions turned out to be problematic. Before removing the old trunnions, I made measurements with a steel square hoping that would make the final adjustment easier.

The photo at right shows me carefully measuring the position of the broken rear trunnion prior to removing it. In practice, these measurements only provided a starting point. I did the final adjustment by making an endless number of test crosscuts on the saw using the miter gauge and moving the table to compensate for deviations from square.

It took about thirty minutes to get the table accurately adjusted, which also turned out to be the limit of my patience. Since the new trunnions seem to be better made than the original parts, I have hopes of never having to go through this process again. Only time will tell. In any case, I am now able to resume woodworking rather than machine maintenance, so I should be able to get back to the Shaker Sconce project for my next post.

The Band Saw Parts Arrive Sooner Than I Expected

I ordered the replacement parts for my band saw from DeWalt's ServiceNet Monday evening and they were waiting for me when I got home from work this afternoon. The two trunnions came to around $30.00 including shipping, so the damage could certainly have been much more costly. I was was pleased to see that the replacements look a bit sturdier than the originals. I measured the thinnest point of the original casting to be 0.050" where the replacements are closer to 0.075", a 50% increase. While not exactly massive, the new parts should have a better chance of surviving the strains of day to day use.

Much as I would like to install the parts this evening so I can get back to work, I will have to wait until the weekend to complete the repairs. As long as I have the table off, I will be cleaning and lubricating both the upper and lower blade guide assemblies. I will also need to clean and lubricate the thrust bearings, which feel a bit rough. I will be posting at least an initial description of the repairs with photos by Saturday.

Shaker Sconce - Templates/Band Saw Troubles

The Templates

I intended to devote this entire entry to a description of the masonite templates I made for the pieces of my sconce. At least I was able to accomplish that much before my equipment broke down. My thought in making templates was that they would allow me to more easily make multiples of the sconce should the design prove satisfactory.

Using the scale drawing John Shea's Making Authentic Shaker Furniture as my model, I first made full size drawings of the back and side pieces of the project on paper. After refining the curves a bit, I transferred the outlines to 1/4" masonite and cut them out using a narrow blade on the band saw. It was while I was cutting out the templates that I first noticed an ominous wobble in the band saw table.

The Trunnions

Looking under the saw table I could see that there was a problem with the rear trunnion, that is, the part that allows the table to be tilted for bevel cuts. After unscrewing the two locking knobs, I removed the table from the saw and placed it upside down on my bench for inspection. The damage can be seen in the photo at right.

The intact front trunnion can be seen just to the left of the hole in the center of the table. It is semicircular in shape and has a central slot that retains the hold-down bolt, while allowing the table to pivot. The rear trunnion is on the right and has more or less shattered, probably while I was doing the resawing operation I described in my earlier post.

Reading comments about my saw online leads me to believe that I may be one of the last ones on the block to find out that this is a well-known weakness in my machine. I confess that I am disappointed that the manufacturer would employ such a flimsy casting in one of their signature designs. Surely cast iron or steel would have been a better choice than thin cast aluminum in this application. Fortunately, replacement parts are inexpensive and readily available from the manufacturer. I have ordered replacements for both trunnions on the theory that the front one may also be on the verge of breaking and in hopes that the manufacturer will have improved the design of these critical parts.

Before the breakdown, I had entertained thoughts of upgrading the saw to increase its resawing capacity. A riser block is available that would enable me to handle 12" boards rather than the 6" maximum I can now resaw. I also had considered installing a more powerful motor on the saw, but now question whether this machine is really sturdy enough to withstand the strain of either modification. I will defer final judgement on these points until I have installed the replacement parts. In any case, I will be returning to my discussion of safety matters until the new parts arrive.