I was getting tired of reaching for my calipers and setting them to my chuck diameter every time I needed to turn a tenon. The alternative was trying to “guesstimate” the diameter needed and very often I would turn the tenon to small. So I made a spindle and tenon gauge.
I have a set of forstner bits and they go from 1/4″ to 2 1/8″ diameter, in 1/8″ increments. I figured that while I was busy making the gauge, I might as well go ahead and include all these diameters.
I used a piece of 1/4″ hardboard. It was thicker than my parting tool, so I ran it through my drum sander a couple of times until it was just slightly thinner than my parting tool. This is probably not necessary for most applications, but I thought it may be useful occasionally when I wanted to make a parting cut in the middle of a piece and not have to widen it in order to insert the gauge.
Then I drew two lines down each side of the hardboard, just over one inch from each edge. I set my drill fence so the center of the forstner bit was positioned over one of the lines. Then, using a scrap piece of wood as a backer board, I started drilling holes, from big to small, down one side and up the other side.
When all the holes were drilled, I set my table saw fence to the line I had previously drawn, and with two passes, cut all the circles in half.
The gauge now hangs within easy reach of my lathe and is perfect for sizing tenons and checking spindle diameters. A quick, easy and cheap solution that makes my work flow at the lathe easier
If you have a hint or tip feel free to share in the comments section.
A couple of months ago a demonstration at my woodturning club prompted me to start experimenting with dyes. Dyeing and coloring is one of those subjects that can be pretty intimidating. There are so many colors out there where do you start? Well, my first step was to buy myself a color wheel. I also spent some time researching what type of dyes to start with and eventually settle on TransTint Dyes. The next step was to decide which colors to buy. After looking at the number of colors available and the cost of the dyes, I decided that I would just buy the primary colors and black. I figured that with those colors I could mix any other color that I might want.
With that decision behind me I placed my order for a bottle of red, blue, green and black dyes. While waiting for the package to arrive I took a trip to Harbor Freight and got some 8oz squeeze bottles. I also went to Walgreens and got a small syringe for accurately measuring the dyes. If ever you want to feel like a crack addict, going to the drug store and asking for a small syringe will do that for you. Although they very kindly didn’t charge me for it, the kid at the pharmacy looked me over twice and also asked to see my drivers licensee before giving me the syringe!
The package of dyes arrived and, feeling like a mad chemist, I opened it up ready to start mixing. Well, who knew that green is not a primary color!!! I guess if I’d taken the time to really look at the color wheel I brought I might have know. Apparently the laws of physics/chemistry weren’t going to be changed just because I had brought the wrong color dye, so a trip to my local Woodcraft and I had a bottle of yellow dye to add to my collection. (“My local Woodcraft” is a relative term here involving a three hour return trip).
My plan was to mix up a “master” bottle of the three primary colors, red, yellow and blue, and then use those to mix up “master” bottles of the secondary colors, orange, green and violet. From these six colors, along with the black, I figured I could mix up any other color I wanted on a “as needed” basis.
TranTint dyes can be mixed with water or alcohol. They can also be added to common finishes including shellac, water based lacquer and polyurethane and most oil based finishes. I chose to mix the dye with a 50/50 solution of denatured alcohol and lacquer thinners. This would have the advantage of not raising the grain of the workpiece. The one disadvantage of doing this is that the solution dries very quickly after application. As you only get an idea of what the final color will look like when the dye is first applied and wet this does not allow for much time to see if the color is to your liking.
The dyes need to mixed in the following proportion, 1 oz of dye to 1 quart of water or alcohol. If you’re not interested in doing the math, this came to 7.5 ml of dye to be added to my 8 oz solution of alcohol and lacquer thinners.
There is something intoxicating about the process of turning — part by-the-book technical, part a fluid freestyle dance. Join Keith Cruickshank on one of his WoodTreks videos, where he visits The Irion Company Furniture Makers, and films Johnathan Sanbuichi, an accomplished cabinetmaker and turner. In this video, Johnathan demonstrates his approach to the turning of flats, beads and coves, the core design elements found on many styles of beds, chairs, tables, and cabinets —— especially 18th and 19th century furniture styles. In this video, Johnathan explains how to use a “story stick” to lay out and create “elevation” guides that mark key points in these types of designs, how to use calipers and a parting tool to rough-in depth cuts on the lathe, and how to work with a skew or spindle gouge. And along the way, we get a few thoughts on Johnathan’s life in woodworking. Now, how’s that for a deal?
I finally got a chance to play with the chatter tool I made. My initial experiments were pretty disappointing. The tool was “screeching” as it is supposed to, but I only seemed to be able to put spiral grooves on the test piece. My first thought was that the blade was not thick enough and I was getting too much “deflection” and not enough “chatter”. I had used on old jigsaw blade, so I took an old sawzall blade and cut and shaped that. Even though it was wider, and offer less give, I was still just getting spiral grooves.
So I took the two blades back to the grinder and ground a very slight bevel on the edges. More importantly I rounded over the point of the blade so that instead of coming to a sharp point it came to a blunt, slightly round point. Immediately I started to see improvements! Both the jig saw blade and the sawzall blade worked great, although they did produce different patterns.
There are no shortage of patterns you can get with the chatter tool. Whether any of them are repeatable is open to debate though! A number of variables affect the pattern.
The amount of the blade sticking out the tool.
The distance from the tool rest to the work piece.
The speed of the lathe.
How hard you push the tool into the work piece.
How quickly you move the cutting edge across the work piece.
How many times you move the cutting edge across the work piece.
The angle the cutting edge is presented.
The image below shows some examples. I colored the patterns with a black permanent marker so they would show better in the image.
A chatter tool is used primarily in end grain, so applications include embellishments on box lids, spinning tops etc. The chatter tool will work better on hardwoods than softwoods.
After spending an hour or so playing with the tool, I feel the most important variables are lathe speed and distance of the tool rest from the work piece. For the most part the tool is presented so that the blade is horizontal and the handle is closer to you than the blade. The tool rest is about 4 to 6″ from the workpiece and lathe speed is around 1000 rpm. The blade is pushed into the wood and then pulled from the center to the edge. Rotating the tool slightly counter clockwise will change the pattern achieved, but it will also cause the tool to move towards the edge of the work piece a lot faster!! I found lathe speeds between 750 and 1800 worked with an optimum range between 1000 and 1200.
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New
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Introducing a new style of rollerball pen, the Ariel. The Ariel is unique in that it features a magnetic pen cap! The magnet allows the user to mount the cap on either end of the pen without threading. Simply slip it onto either end of the pen and it will “snap” securely into place! Click on the image below to order yours!
Also introducing the Stars ‘n Stripes. These Stars and Stripes of these beautiful pens are laser cut into specially dyed maple wood. The upper barrel is blue with 50 tiny white stars and the lower barrell features alternating red and white wavy stripes. Click on the image below to choose yours!
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The skeleton of a cactus plant has been cast in resin
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Autism puzzle pens are assembled from laser cut North American wood pieces that have been dyed in vibrant traditional colors of the symbolic autism puzzle. A portion of the proceeds from this pen are donated to help solove the puzzle of autism. Click on the image below to order this truly unique pen!
I am now offering laser engraving on any pen purchased.
When purchasing a pen click on “Yes Please” for engraving and enter the text you would like engraved on your pen.
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These are exceptionally smooth-writing ball point refills are from
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These smooth-writing Schmidt roller ball refills are often regarded
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COMING
SOON
My adventures in wood working and wood turning continue and in the
months ahead I will be expanding my product line beyond pens. I will
soon be offering:
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