Jimthecarver's Blog at LumberJocks.com

Burr Cleaning Method

Jimthecarver — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 13:43:44 GMT

To begin, this is not my idea but I have adopted it as a very useful way to clean Dremel burs and similar type rotory bits.
I began by turning a piece of 1”X1” plastic material (just somthing I had) wood also works fine.
As the pictures show. I then drilled a 1/2” hole leaving about 1/2” from the end …. do not drill completely threw it.

Then I bought a Dremel brass brush and put a slight crimp at the end of the shaft about 1” from the brush.

I then drilled a hole that is slightly bigger than the bit shaft into the oppisite end of the plastic handle.

Push the brush bit into the plastic/wood handle. Run the tool on high speed and place brush against the bit. Instana cleaning.

I suggest always using eye protection and dust masks…..Happy cleaning LJ’s ;-)

Gun Stock Carving # 3 #2: The finish

Jimthecarver — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 04:46:38 GMT

Today started pretty much like most days do…. a couple of cups of coffee then its off to see what I can get into.
As I was drinking the first cup, the eyes started opening up and I began to think about the Gator stock. By the second cup I was wide awake and off I went.
The air compressor is fully charged and the Shofu rotary tool is serviced and ready as well. I began by stripping the rest of the finish off of the emblem so I could detail it.

After all the finish was removed I then detailed the teeth jaw line and top of the head.
Normally I am not a fan of colored/stained wood insome cases as in Trifern’s turnings…well he is an exception to the rule, the guy is fantastic at coloring wood. Anyway the emblem is normally orange,blue and green. I stained it and didnt like the look at all. so I decided to try my hand at coloring the wood….ugh!!
I decided to use a coloring method that is slightly unconventional but I think it turned out ok?
Anyway I put a couple of coats of finish on it and tomorrow after it completely dries I will recut the lettering and darken them then recoat the whole emblem with finish.

Go Gators…. lol
Thank you for viewing.
God bless
Jim

Gun Stock Carving # 3 #1: A daisy BB gun stock

Jimthecarver — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 06:35:24 GMT

My father-n-law sent me his BB gun stock for practice. Although the wood in these stocks are very soft it had its challenges nevertheless.
After scribing the design on the stock I began to carve inside the banner area to relieve it so the banner looks correct and raised.

After that i began on the banner itself, relieving the outter edge and making the folds more apparent

Then I started stippling the area that was relieved inside the banner.
Finally it was time to start on the gator and releave the area around the eye and remove the factory finish from the head.

It took about 5 hours for a beginner like myself to get this far but it really is satisfying to see it taking shape.
Tomorrow I hope to finish it up so it can go back home.
Thank you for viewing
Jim

A question for the carvers on LJ's

Jimthecarver — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 22:37:10 GMT

It has been quite some time since I have carved. Life gets in the way somtimes and I dropped all carving tools and let them collect dust. Now that life is playing its dirty little tricks elsewhere I am once again trying my hand at this fun hobby called carving.
While tuning up the knives I wondered about other carvers and what two knives they use the most.
Here is a picture of mine show me yours! (knives that is)..lol

I look forward to seeing your favorites.
Jim

Thanks Rob for the tour!

Jimthecarver — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 05:18:43 GMT

Today I accompanied a very good friend and carving buddy to So.CalWood.
I have to say as we drove up the driveway to meet Rob I saw all the wood and the heart palpatations started.
Rob showed Chris and I around his magnificent place. We feasted our eyes on some of the most beautiful stacks and stacks of wood. Rob is truely a lumberjock in every form of the word. Not only is he very talented but his ideas and creations are second to none.
I came home with some Black Walnut, a few burls, some Black Walnut stumps and for the life of me i cannot remember the name of this stunning piece of wood. It has so many flakes in it that I could not resist when Rob said ” you like that ?” like no….love …absolutely, he said take it with you.
If any local LJ’s can make the trip it will be worth while and you will be amazed at the supplies he holds.
Thank you Rob, you truely are a Great guy!
Jim

Drill Saw?

Jimthecarver — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 20:19:42 GMT

I recieved a present from a friend, he picked this up at a yard sale and thought of me. Although I was very grateful he thought of me when he saw it, being a wood worker and all.
He said he wasnt sure if it could be of any use to me and got it for a buck. Pete your are truely a great guy.

My question is what could I use this for and how safe does it look to you?

I thought I would post this and ask if any of you have seen it before or have used one in your past and how it worked out for you?

Please comment, I would appreciate any feed back from the LJ community

Adventures in Carving a Tompson Sub Machine Gun Stock #2: Roughing out the scroll pattern

Jimthecarver — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 03:29:34 GMT

This adventure in carving has been very enjoyable.
The scroll pattern seemed to be a bit more advanced than I had anticipated. Although I am never one to run from a challenge. I kind of get a grin and ….well as my mom always said “you can see the wheels turning in that boys head.” So I grabbed a very small home made gouge and the chips were flying….sort of.

This wood is so very dry for carving

After about 12 hours I ended up with this. I am attempting to simulate bullet holes/dents in metal. The carving on the other side will explain why I went with this design.

This has been a very enjoyable project.

I will finish sand and detail the scroll work next to flow with the stock.
Thanks for viewing.

Adventures in Carving a Tompson Sub Machine Gun Stock #1: The beginning

Jimthecarver — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 07:04:33 GMT

It was a thursday morning just another day carving at our local carving chapter meeting. In walks a nice elderly gent that had a box of Thompson sub maching gun stocks that never made it to use. They were stored for years, he knew of the carvers and decided to donate them to the club as test projects for us less talented carvers like myself. I inspire to become a great carver someday Dennis Z. in my opinion is truely a great carver.
So I decided to take two of them although I was urged to take more but was greatful for the two and wanted other carvers to also try their hand at carving. They sat on the shelf for another year until I saw some posted here and was inspired to go ahead and give it a try. I looked on the net for ideas and researched different patterns. I decided to try my hand at a little drawing. I mixed and matched patterns and came up with this design in free hand, for me I am not an artist but I try my best.

The stock feels quite brittle as I carve it but with a careful touch the wood does not splinter.

Not really knowing what I am doing and not sure of the direction I should take. I decided to make a few cuts in the tail of it and see how it cuts with gouges.
To my suprise its not to bad but it is hard wood. Walnut I believe.

I saw a basket weave pattern and decided to try that. I drew the pattern to fit the stock in pencil then traced it with a small sharpie to see it better on the dark wood.

I began to slowly cut and gouge out the squares in the basket weave first, making stop cuts and digging with home made tools.

After about 5 hours and a sore butt from sitting to long this is what I came up with.

Next step is to get going on the scroll work.
Thanks for taking the time to view my Adventure, This has been lots of fun and is not quite as difficult as I thought it would be. Step two may challenge my lack of skills even further so stay tuned.
Jim

Glue up problems...Any ideas?

Jimthecarver — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 18:35:00 GMT

Along the time of my attempts to create cutting boards I discovered Tite Bond III glue.
The longer work time and tan color after dried made it seem a better choice than the yellow elmers glue.
http://lumberjocks.com/projects/6218 That is a cutting board made almost two years ago, and this one being the most recent http://lumberjocks.com/projects/25561
My question is “How long do we wait for glue to completely dry before finishing?”
The second board glue up was allowed to dry for at least two weeks before finishing and now after finish is dry and left to cure for approx. two weeks. What I am finding is the glue is squeezing out between the joints even two weeks after it is suppose to be dry and cured. I am completely baffeled with this problem and am wondering if anyone else has had this happen to them?
The cutting boards are sanded to a 220 finish then several coats of wipe on General Finishes Salad Bowl finish. They are smooth as a babys bottom when done but then about two weeks later every glue joint is raised.
I keep scratching my head looking for answers and am getting no where so…..LJ’s Please help me out!
Thank you,

Repurposed desk to V-drum sander

Jimthecarver — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 02:01:33 GMT

At a past X-Mas party I had a request for a cutting board… after I had made a simple cheese/bread board for a white elephant gift. BTW it was a big hit.
So I decided to get with it and try to get the cutting board finished before x-mas, well thats a joke for sure. I cut some of the black walnut up and some hard maple got it all glued up then realized ” Hey! you dont have a way to sand and finish a board that large”....Ugh.
It ended up being 14 1/2” X 22 1/2” HHHHHmmmmmm what to do….thinking thinking. ;) Got it!
Well I logged onto LJ’s to find the answer. And did I ever get some ideas…lol. I started digging through old junk boxes stuffed with old things guys like me just cannot part with. I came up with some bearings from an old pump and a 1/2” all thread about 36” long.
I then found some finderwashers that fit the inside of the black 2” abs pipe and redrilled them to fit the all thread. I used an old evaperative cooler motor that turned 1725 rpm @ 1/2 hp… i think a 3/4 hp would be better.
So then I began to look for material to build the box for this to be housed into….thats when it took a turn for the worst. Yes I know PINK!
How could I do this to my shop? Add a pink tool to it….thinking thinking UGH! PINK…......
I repurposed a desk from my wife’s work to make the sander
So Pink it is for now anyway. I just needed it to work and work it does. I am so very happy my junk built 30” V-drum sander worked very nicely.
So I guess its safe to say even if it is PINK it maybe just what you need!
Thanks for taking the time to look over the Pink V-Drum thing-a-ma-jig.
Oh By the way thats the cutting board that was sanded by this.

A little thank you #1: Spoon carvings

Jimthecarver — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 02:30:09 GMT

Its been about 21 days since the ole heart about gave out on me and I thought it would be good to give a small thanks to the ICU nurses that helped in the healing process.
As some of you may know after open heart surgery its a booger to get around….but I been taking it easy and doing a little carving.
I need to make 4 spoons, I am working on the third spoon now…...I thought adding a single heart to signify my personal thank you for helping heal my heart.
I hope its not to cheesie,
Thanks for viewing.

Congrats Dennis Zongker's

Jimthecarver — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 01:46:47 GMT

Today I recieved the latest issue of Woodcarving Illustrated and low and behold I noticed an artical of a project posted by Dennis on LJ’s. Dennis I as a fellow LJ wanted to say in public forum Congradulations on such fine work. Here is a pic of the artical ..Originally published by Fox Chapel Publications for those of you that dont get this magazine.

Lumberjocks Is Awesome!

Jimthecarver — Wed, 14 May 2008 15:29:22 GMT

I love this web site….I have a question.
I as a hobbiest love woodworking among other hobbies. Restoring antique vehicles is also one of my passions.
I ask Martin if maybe in the future he would make a site for restorers of auto’s. He seemed to think it would also be a great site.
I just wanted to know how many others would like a site like that?
Thanks Martin, I hope it becomes a reality.
Jim

Shop move part 1 #1: "How to say good bye to my wood shop?" part 1

Jimthecarver — Tue, 13 May 2008 15:17:26 GMT

The time has come I have to move my shop to another building. It is met with happiness and sadness.
Soon I will begin to transform my shop building which is about 70’ X 30” into a home for us.
The building is in great shape a stick framed structure built back in the late 70’s. The building I will move to is a 30’ X 40’ steel masters type building i built about 5 years ago. I currently use it for restoring antique vehicles.
Here’s a pic of the building.

I have lots to do, run electrical dust collection, and for sure heating and air well that is after I insulate and finish the walls and ceiling.
The shop will remain where it is until I get the casework finished for the kitchen then the move begins.
Thanks for the read.
Jim

What could this be? And what was it used for?

Jimthecarver — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 02:30:37 GMT

A friend gave this tool to me, It is a wood working tool. But what was it used for?
Any ideas?

And he gave these to me as well….I love old tools!

My first chest of drawers (small)

Jimthecarver — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 04:37:25 GMT

I built this small chest of drawers from scrap wood that was just laying around the shop. It started with a phone call from my Dad. He had explained that he needed a small chest with 3 drawers to fit between the beds in his fifth wheel trailor. The measurements of 14.5” X 18” X 27” was a tight fit so I decided to use the space wisely and not have an overhang on the top.
I decided to use the Herring bone pattern on the top to use up a few small scrap pieces of Oak and Maple,(I didnt have a pieceof wood that was large enough for the top) So when all else fails go for it and get a little bit creative.
I used simple tongue and groove style guides for the drawers and box joints for the drawer construction.

I needed to think of a way to make a stop to keep the drawers from coming out to far but be able to take them out if needed, remember lol….this is my first and I’m kinda winging it w/o plans.
So I cut a small notch in the tongue about an inch from the end for the stop pin to drop into.
And made the stop on a pivit with a spring under it to keep just slight pressure on the tongue.

I stained it with Golden Oak to match other cabinets, I’m not a big fan of stain I would rather enjoy the ture color of the wood.
Next step is to get the finish applied then deliver it to Dad almost 6 hours away…but it will be worth it to see the smile. Thanks for looking
Jim

Grizzly 14" Band Saw

Jimthecarver — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 23:33:07 GMT

Today I met with a friend at his house and while in the garage i noticed a band saw covered up in the corner.
I ask what make it was and he uncovered it. Wow! It looked new, I thought to myself “I would love to have a saw like that. I have an old craftsman and it has seen better days.
About then he says if I would be willing to trade for a little work I could have it…Double WOW!
Of course I took him up on the offer, I know little about it except they bought it new used it a couple of times and it has sat in the corner collecting dust. And not saw dust!
I brought it home blew off the cob webs and I am pleased with it so far by looks alone, I need a blade the one that is there was use ito cut steel ….yes its a wood blade, need I say more

It is a 2003 but I think it will work out just fine.