Month: April 2013

A great time in the shop…..

Published on by Mike  (Leave a comment)

2013-04-04 21.35.02  Woodworking is often an activity of solidarity.  However, that does not mean we as woodworkers want to be alone in our shops.  In fact, I love it when I have a guest in the shop, not just to show off what I am working, but perhaps to also have them try something new as well.  The best times are when one of the kids spend time in the shop with me.

Go back a few weeks ago, my step son happened to glance through a copy of the Penn State Industrial catalog.  Being the typical teenaged male, he has a fascination with guns, and he found a pen kit that is made from a bullet shell.  He asked me to make him one of those pens.  I turned it around on him and told him HE could make one himself.  With the help of a friend (Thank you Jerry!) I started procuring everything I needed to turn a pen.

After I got everything needed I made a few test pens on my own, as I have not yet turned one myself!  Finally during his spring break as he was feeling a bit board I called him out to the shop.  This isn’t the first time he has been in the shop as he has helped me in the past, including operating a few of the machines in the shop. This, however, would be the first time he turned something.

Once I got him out there, I had him pick out a blank, and stepped him through the process of prepping the blank.  During the process, he was indifferent to it (okay, down right bored, lol), as most of these operations he has done many times before until we finally we get the blanks on the lathe.  After a thorough safety discussion, I have him start slowly start turning.  He starts taking very light passes, and over the next few minutes the square blanks start becoming smooth cylinders.  This is when he starts getting very excited about his progress!  He progresses from turning to sanding, and finally to the finish.  What really made him excited was that the final assembly was fairly quick and easy, and in the same evening he would complete an entire pen!  His excitement that he made his own pen was uncontainable!

2013-04-03 20.15.48The next evening, after showing off his first pen to everyone he could, he had a few orders to make some more pens.  So we started out at Woodcraft where he picked out several more blanks and a couple more pen kits to match the orders for pens he received.  This evening, I set him a bit more free on the lathe, standing by if he had any questions, or if I need to show him a better way to accomplish something.  It really was an awesome feeling watching him take what I showed him the previous evening and build on it.  He started experimenting with the tool, getting a better feel for what it is capable of doing, even to the point where he could tell the tool was ready to be resharpened.  The result of this was he turned two more very well done pens, that he was very proud to deliver to their intended recipients that same evening.

I am really looking forward to getting to spend more time with him in the shop!  I know I will cherish every minute he is out there with me!

 

New Table Saw Fence – Part 4 – Installation

Published on by Mike  (Leave a comment)

fence_doneI didn’t take any further pictures during the install process, except for the final product (as shown) as from this point the installation was exactly as described in the manual and it went in fairly quickly. Much of the time spent was with tuning the fence. Which I did even further the next morning as well, until I was happy with the setup.

One unexpected benefit was the power switch placement. It no longer faces down, but instead faces up. I did move it out a little bit further I was fearful I would accidentally turn the saw off mid cut by leaning into it. However the bracket mounted right onto the angle iron by using one of the bolts that hold the tube rail to the saw.

For the cost of this fence (being less than half of many of the popular high-end fences) I was really impressed with the feel of it. It glides over the rails with very little force, despite it being fairly heavy. The measurement guide is very easy to line up, and leaves very little doubt to the accuracy of the cut. Finally, since it use a similar clamping mechanism to the Biesemeyer, it ALWAYS locks down square. Even though the saw itself is 25+ years old, this upgrade has made the saw feel like it is new.

 

New Table Saw Fence – Part 3 – This is only a drill!

Published on by Mike  (Leave a comment)

drill_jigBefore I started drilling holes, I did a bit of research on how others had done it, namely drilling holes in the angle iron or into the front and back sides of the saw’s cast iron top.  While many had drilled into the angle iron, I was concerned about revoking the 2 year warranty, and also realized my little bench top drill press was not up to the task of drilling.  I decided it would be much safer to attempt to drill into the cast iron.

While I did not come to the decision of drilling through a 1/4″ of cast iron lightly, I figured I could use a jig to more accurately and more safely get the holes I needed. The other benefit was I was able to use the specialized screws that came with the fence for a more solid fit. I made a drilling guide using a scrap piece of hardwood, the width being about 1.5″, which matched the width of front and back of the saw. I marked as best I could where the hole should be on the guide, and drilled the guide hole using the drill press. From there I used trial and error until I was able to drill a hole that I could stick a bolt through to a whole in the saw, and the tops would be flush. You can see in the picture where I marked the successful one. I then lined up the hole to the red mark on the table and clamped it down good and tight. You will also note in the picture the bottle of machine oil. I coated the drill bit with the oil before I started to drilling, and several times during drilling.

new_holeFinally, after taking a good deep breath, I started to drill. The first hole took about 5 minutes to cut through. Now, this is the first time I have drilled through cast iron. I was therefore taken by quite the surprise when the drill bit finally cut all the way through, and instead of sliding through like drilling into wood, the bit caught in the cast iron, yanking the drill out my hands. I was very fortunate that I did not get hit by anything, and nor did the drill or bit break in this process. The second hole I drilled took quite a bit longer to drill as I did not want this to happen again, with potentially more disastrous results. I did discover that just before the drill bit broke through there is a lot more vibration as a warning to slow way down and therefore was able to drill through this time without incident.

For the back rail, I decided it was best to use one existing hole and only have to drill one more hole. With the difference being only one inch I was not really losing anything by having both rails being lined up. The third and final hole I was able to drill the quickest, and was able to drill through without incident.