All posts by Tom

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The stripper

May 21, 2014 Tom 1 Comment

Here in the Tampa Bay area, we are known for a lot of stuff. The beautiful sandy beaches. The glorious sunshine. Water recreation like fishing, swimming and boating.

Oh, and we’re apparently also well known for our ‘adult dancing’ establishments. In fact, not too far from where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers play football (On Dale Mabry Highway), there are a number of – ahem – ‘reknowned’ businesses. Namely, Mons Venus and 2001. Yes, that’s the picture of 2001’s building, and I’m willing to bet they don’t screen the Kubrick classic there.

But, that’s not the kind of stripper I am referring to in this post. There are some times when you have to cut a number of narrow strips of wood to build a project. Maybe you want to build a curved lamination. Maybe you are creating strips of wood for stringing. If you turn to your table saw, your first inclination to cut these thin strips might be to push the rip fence close to the blade, turn the saw on and start pushing.

Not so fast. This can be a very dangerous act. First of all, that small strip of wood is pretty much assured get bound between the rising teeth of the table saw blade and the fence and be thrown back at you. And, just how narrow of a push block are you planning on using to maintain control over that thin strip?

It is a much safer option to rip the piece from the outside of the board – away from the rip fence – so the piece will fall free after the cut is complete. But, how do ensure that all of the strips are the same thickness?

That’s where I got some help from my friends over at Infinity Cutting Tools. I picked up one of their thin ripping guides, and it has helped make what could be a challenging job a piece of cake.

But,before you use it, it’s always best to switch to a zero clearance insert for your table saws. This jig allows you to rip some VERY narrow pieces, so you want to improve the odds that you will get a clean cut that won’t get sucked into the table saw cabinet.

With the jig set in the miter slot, you can use a spacer to measure the clearance between the end bearing and the teeth of the blade. By using a feeler gauge, I was able to set the gap exactly at 1/8″… a nice thickness for bending.

Once the gap was set, I slid the jig until the bearing was about one inch behind the front teeth of the blade. Using the rip fence, I captured the board between the roller bearing and the fence. With this done, it was a simple matter to fire up the dust collector and start cutting.

With the first pass done, you can see the strip lying to the outfeed part of the table, with the board under plenty of control pushed past the blade. To set for the next cut, I retrieved the board, reset the fence until the outside edge contacted the bearing, and repeated.

With this jig, I was able to make identical, repeatable cuts in the board, which will come in handy the next time I need to cut a series of strips.

After all, I’d much rather be working in the shop than cruising Dale Mabry. Besides…

The view is much better here!

Tools

Banish the knuckle banger

May 19, 2014 Tom 1 Comment

I love my drill press set up. Since I put that table on it and mounted it on the rolling tool stand, it has been a real solid performer. Sure, it could be more powerful or have a larger throw, but for the number of times I use it, it’s not that bad.

The only problem with it is this little bit of joy down behind the table. It’s the crank that raises or lowers the table. When the drill press had only the small metal table mounted on it, this was perfectly adequate. It would allow me to move the table up and down to adjust the piece in relation to the drill.

But, with the new table mounted to the press, it has become a real knuckle banger in the back. The crank handle barely clears the table, making this simple chore a real pain in the posterior. Which means that I am less likely to use the feature, which means I’m really not getting the most out of my tool. I needed another solution.

And, I found it at an automotive store. It is known as the Gator Grip, and it had really helped me solve this problem. Basically, it’s a ratchet socket that is filled with spring-loaded steel pins, allowing the socket to grip nearly any shape bolt or nut head and turn it.

The piece that the handle was mounted to is a steel dowel with one flattened side, and the handle has a set screw that fits onto the flat side of the dowel. So, the Gator Grip is able to fit onto the dowel and give me the control I need to raise or lower the table. With the ratcheting action, the table’s location is no longer a concern.

Now, I can adjust the table however I see fit, and it takes only a few seconds to outfit the ratchet properly. With the tool only costing about $10, it was a pretty cheap fix for a challenging problem.

Plans

The weekly plan

May 18, 2014 Tom Leave a comment

Build a Morris Chair!

This week’s plan comes to us from the Capo di Tutti Capi of woodworking… Marc Spagnuolo. For those who may not be aware, Marc has both a free site that offers extensive content, as well as a paid Guild site.

The current project the guild crew is working on is this classic Morris chair. With its Craftsman lines and gracefully curving arms, this chair is bound to become highly desirable territory in your living room, sought out by all seeking a comfortable spot to watch a movie, read a book or just take a load off.

In addition to the plans, Marc also offers extensive step-by-step videos that clearly show each phase of the process.

Safety

Woodworkers Safety Day 2014

May 17, 2014 Tom 1 Comment

Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! It’s Woodworkers Safety Day, and it’s like my birthday and a trip to the zoo all in one..

OK, I can’t whip up that much excitement when it comes to safety in the workshop. I mean, what is so exciting about safety? When you do woodworking well, you step out of your shop with a beautifully cut joint, a gently shaped curve or a finish that you will want to show off.

When you do safety well, you just walk out of the shop and do what you would normally do. Play with the kids. Make dinner. Watch TV. Go to the gym for a workout.

Hey, wait a second… those are fun things you can do, and, in many cases, you can’t do them if you are recovering from a nasty injury in the shop. I bet those stitches would burn if you went for a swim. I bet that eye injury might keep you from enjoying a movie with the ones you love.

Just as with my day job – preparing people for disasters – safety is about keeping things as normal as possible for you. By shuttering your windows when a hurricane comes, your home is more likely to survive the storm, which means you are more likely to sleep in your own bed while waiting for repairs, instead of trying to complete the paperwork to get a FEMA trailer to spend the next six months in while your home is rebuilt.

In the same way, keeping safety top of mind – and making sure that you think safety through all steps in your woodworking process – means your routine is much less likely to be disrupted.

Believe me, I have hurt myself in the shop, and that’s the kind of excitement I can do without. I can tell you from first hand experience that healing stinks. Staying healthy is where it’s at, because the very next day, you can be right out in the shop, spending your free time doing what you enjoy the most, whether it be woodworking or some other past time.

This year, we asked that some other bloggers submit their safety entries for the effort, and we got some great submissions. Here’s what came in…

Garth Schafer: Safety Lessons at Garth’s TW2 Shop
Chris Wong: Stay Focused and Be Safe
Brian Benham: It’s safest by the door
Stephen Parker: First Aid kit
Fr. Thomas Bailey: Are you ready for woodworkers safety day?
Highland Woodworking: Today is Woodworkers Safety Day
Lawrence Wroten: MWA Safety Day

Link of the week

May 16, 2014 Tom 2 Comments

Three essential tricks for recycling pallets

So, you want to try your hand at building a project from recycled pallet wood. That’s nice…

But, how do you go about ripping that pallet apart without breaking the boards, leaving buried nails in the pieces or losing your patience?

This page from a website called Cigar Box Guitar Parts (LOVE that name) gives the three most essential tricks on how to turn a shipping pallet into some prime lumber for projects in your shop.

Besides getting free (in many cases) lumber for your projects, upcycling pallets can help reduce the amount of stuff going into the refuse stream. Talk about going – and saving – some green!

Safety

‘Tis the season… to prepare

May 14, 2014 Tom 1 Comment

You’ll never guess where I am? Let me give you a few clues…

It’s mid May. My day job is as a public spokesperson for our county’s Emergency Management department. I live right on the Gulf of Mexico…

Yup.. hurricane season is coming up fast, and I am at the Governor’s Hurricane Conference helping to spread the word about preparedness and to take a few tips back home to help teach others.

That also means that the time has come again to talk about disaster preparedness and your shop. You would be surprised how vulnerable your shop can be to all kinds of disasters – hurricanes, fires, floods … the works.

Don’t think it can happen to you? That’s exactly what my friend Kyle Barton believed about his Galveston, Texas shop. That was until Hurricane Ike decided to pay a visit there, and do some tremendous damage to the shop. You can read Part One and Part Two here…

If a disaster did befall your shop, what would happen? After all, if you have a typical shop, you probably have a pretty significant investment of time and equipment out there. How can you replace that?

Here are a few quick tips:

Read your policy. Seriously. Get it out and take a look at it. What’s covered? You might be surprised with how much – or how little – coverage you have.
Do a shop inventory. Remember, you have to have a listing of what’s in your shop to provide an insurance adjuster after the incident is over. A list of your tools with model numbers is great.. and don’t forget to snap a few pictures. There are also tons of apps out there that can help you make this process a whole lot easier.
Identify the important stuff. Do you have a tool with great sentimental value? Maybe a plane that your grandfather used? How about a set of chisels you won in a contest? Small, meaningful items should be identified in advance so you won’t forget them, nor will you waste time hunting them down.
Can you ship some stuff out? If you have the ability to move some of your larger power tools to safer areas – such as a storage unit in a place that is less likely to flood – it might be a good idea to find out how much it would cost to move things there if you have advance warning – as with a hurricane. Some insurance companies may even pick up the cost of moving these items to a safer place – which costs them much less than replacing them.
It’s just stuff. Never – and I mean NEVER – fail to take appropriate life-saving action to protect your shop tools. Seriously. People have had entire shop losses and have been able to rebuild everything better after the fact … because they were safe when the incident happened.

Of course, should something happen in your shop, it will be a devastating blow. But, remember, you built your shop – in many cases – from nothing. Just take the steps to make the recovery a little easier. You may thank me one day.

Projects

Stars and Stripes … and a block?

May 12, 2014 Tom 1 Comment

It’s funny… the idea for the quick project I built this weekend came when I had my garage door opener installed. When the installer came in, he told me that the track that rail that opens the door shouldn’t be mounted directly to the concrete block in the wall, but instead to a wooden block that was mounted to the wall. He called it a shock block, and it supposedly prevented the concrete fasteners from rattling in the wall, expanding the size of the holes.

Well, I have this flagpole mount in front of the house that I mounted directly to the outside wall. And, over the years, the Florida breezes have moved the mount enough to loosen it. So, I wanted to put in a shock block… but I wanted it to look good.

I had this piece of pressure treated southern yellow pine that was pretty clear. I had been holding on to it for the past year or so, and I thought it would make for a good block. I clipped an 8 inch piece from the board and trimmed the bottom to roughly match the shape of the bottom of a shield. I thought it would look pretty good. It was nice, but way too blocky. That’s when I moved to the bevel.

Using my mallet and a chisel, I was able to trim out a bevel across all five edges of the shield shape. Once I got it close to shape, I turned to a block plane, spoke shave and a sander to put in a nice, elegant bevel.

Once I had the block shaped, I placed the bracket that held the flagpole onto the block to get an idea of how large it would be. I traced the outside of the bracket, and carefully marked where I was going to drill some countersunk holes for the Tapcon fasteners that would hold it to the wall.

On the drill press table, I used a 5/16 inch forstner bit to bore some recesses that would be filled with plugs and through holes for the shanks. Once I got to this part, I put on a coat of primer and a coat of exterior paint that matched my home’s trim. I knew I had to protect it from the elements…

Now, I painted both the front and back of the piece to protect it, and I ran a bead of silicone caulk around the top and side edges to ensure that no water could get behind the piece. I did leave the bottom uncaulked, just in case water did get behind it.

Once I got the block mounted to the wall, I filled the countersinks with some short dowels I cut to size, and trimmed off the ends with a flush cutting saw. Another coat of paint on the front of the block helped to ensure that the block would look its best and be protected.

Once the block was in place, I carefully mounted the flag holding bracket with stainless steel screws to prevent rust, then put our American flag into the mount to see how Old Glory looked. Not too shabby.

With Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day and Labor Day coming up, it feels good to have the flag properly mounted in front of the house. I hope my mounting system lasts for a few years.

Tom's Workbench