Woodshopfreak's Blog at LumberJocks.com

Wood Wisdom-Video Blog #5: Routers (Pt. 2)

Woodshopfreak — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 04:39:59 GMT

Here is the second video blog I made about the router!!!!

Making a Sign

Woodshopfreak — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:23:24 GMT

I decided to make a sign for my grampa’s shop since we are going down to there house this weekend for 4th of July. I had already made one for my shop but I decided to make another because the first one was really easy and fun. Here is how it goes.

You start out with your stock, whether it is edge joined or solid doesn’t really matter, and you want it to be of sufficient size, large enough to put the words that you want on it

After that it’s time to route a Roman Ogee on the edges. Remember to do the end grain first so that you reduce chip out.

Here’s what it will look like

Now you have to lay out the words that you want on your sign. I began with pencil and then used permanent marker to make it easier to see.

After that I used a small core box bit in the plunge router to carve out the letters. You have to be very careful and take this part slow or you will screw up the letters. Make sure you use dust collection in the router or you will have a heck of a time seeing the lines.

Now remove any fuzzy dusty kind of stuff form the routing and tape up every thing but the letters. I did it by overlapping layers and then using an exacto knife to cut around each letter.

After this I got ready to spray the paint into the letters. I used Flat Black. I just set up the board on top of a bucket with plastic on the floor.

Now you remove all the tape from the sign. Make sure you do this after the paint has set for a while, one good thing about flat black paint is that it dryies completely in like ten minuets.

Now I take a sanding block and remove the majority of the over spray off the top of the sign. Then I use a ROS to take care of the rest.

Here is what you get after you remove all the paint off of the top.

Now I get ready to spray the finish on. For this project I’m going to use one of my favorites, a spar urethane that has UV protectant and looks beautiful, made by MINWAX. It sprays on really easily, I start wit the back, then flip it over onto nail boards and then spray the front and edges.

And here is the final product. Looks great!

Wood Wisdom-Video Blog #4: Routers (Pt. 1)

Woodshopfreak — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 05:25:37 GMT

For those of you considering a router, getting a new one, or for people who just want to learn a little bit more about them here is part one of the Router episode.

A Simple Solution to Dust Collection

Woodshopfreak — Wed, 21 May 2008 21:35:36 GMT

Well this is a genuine air scrubber. I know that the dust in the air is really bad for your lungs and just isn’t fun to breath. I know once I get my dust collector, that dust will be down to a minimum but there will always be some dust in the air. Even when sanding or during any operation that won’t connect to the collector. So I was thinking about also getting a air scrubber that was cheap yet effective. I was looking at Shop Vac’s model, but it seemed kind of cheaply made and it didn’t really fit into my price range at the moment, even though it’s only around 100 bucks. I was then looking in my Wood Magazine and found the article on air scrubbers and found out that they were talking about making your own with a simple box fan. Well I have to say that I am very impressed with this homemade contraption. It may not work as well as a $300 Jet but it will still filter the air and get some dust out of the air that would have otherwise been in my lungs. And, best of all, it only set me back around $17.

Materials

One box fan- $12 at walmart :)
One furnace filter (mine are a pack of 4 and are just some short life ones)- $2 on clearance at walmart :)
Duct tape (white for prettiness)- $3

All you have to do is place the furnace filter on the back of the fan and tape it to the box fan so that air won’t leak around the seal. Then flip it on and your ready to go.

If you happen to have on hand a small remote plug thing than you can even rig it to go on with a cordless remote!!

Wood Wisdom-Video Blog #3: Shop Safety

Woodshopfreak — Mon, 05 May 2008 20:59:29 GMT

What a great idea on Marc’s part. A week full of safety. This is one very important thing to know when in the shop. This is the exact reason for making this video. I have put some of the safety features of each tool and some basic know how to create a great new show that I hope everyone will enjoy.

Here is the Shop Safety Special

Jewelry Box #3: The Top

Woodshopfreak — Sun, 04 May 2008 04:05:44 GMT

Well after about four months I finely get a chance to make use of my shop. I have begun to work on my jewelry box once again. I started in january and got distracted by the huge shop renovation. Well here it is. I believe that it turned out better than expected. This was my fist attempt at veneering and I think that I did very well. It turned out great. I fist took a peice of poplar and milled it flat and then used two peices of 1/4 ply to work as calls and put about ten diffrent types of clamps to hold it down really tight. After that I planned the edges and then jointed them perfectly flat. Then just riped and cutted them to size. I hade to make a dado in the edge peices to exept the maple veneer. I just used my regular blade and cut one side, then fliped it over to cut the other side. When that was all down I cut the Oak edge peices to size with a 45 degree miter. After a ton of messing around with it I actually got it to be 45 degrees. I had my miter gage set wrong on my tablesaw and it screwed up so I had to make a new cut on each one just a tiny bit shorter. The last step was to bevel the edges. I simply beveled my bandsaw table, and cut the peices that way because it was to dangerous of a cut to do on my tablesaw. Then I just planned those faces so they would be flat and did a dry fit. Here is the result.

Please note that the miters will go together once clamped and glued. Right now everything is kind of sloppy and needs a little work. The sides are just taped together so I can lift it up.

Wood Wisdom-Video Blog #2: Shop Tour- New and Improved

Woodshopfreak — Thu, 01 May 2008 22:27:00 GMT

Well here it is the fist video in a long time. This one is just the shop tour since you guys haven’t really seen a good look of what my shop looks like right now. I also want to point out my newly designed logo and music sequence in the beginning. I hope you enjoy. Please leave any questions comments, or concerns. Thanks, Tyler

Please tune in next time for the safety week special as well.

Shop Renevations #4: Drywall!!!!

Woodshopfreak — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 03:40:22 GMT

Well here it is with drywall!! I can’t believe how cool it will be to finally have a “real” shop. The drywall is SO heavy and a pain to work with. Like every three seconds a new chip or crack has formed and the so the finishing touches on the plaster and mud are going to be put on soon. Hopefully this weekend we can finish with paint and the trim. This took a lot longer than I thought it would take from he beginning. With the drywall up you can really start to see what it will look like. I can’t wait to get everything organized and get it up and running! Please leave your comments on any suggestions or questions you have for this project. Thanks so much. Here are some pictures of the progress.

The light switch

The door from the inside (we still have to put a piece of drywall on the top)

Other side of the wall (notice the phone jack that is put in just above the light switch)

Outside the shop with one outlet for what will be the dust collector’s spot (on it’s own circuit)

Shop Renevations #3: Down to the wire... Literaly!!

Woodshopfreak — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 04:30:58 GMT

We finaly finished what seemed like a never ending electrical horror show. we spent one whole day trying ot get a stinking wire through a pipe to the breaker box, well after going one way, the other way, takeing pipe peices apart, puting a fishtape in, nothing worked, so we decided to run our own pipe, we got a bender and put in the pipe pretty quickly. The wires went in really easily. The switch was put in to turn on the CFL lightbulb that is not only eco frendly :) but also is really, really, really, really bright. We also put a single 15 amp circuit on the outside for the dust collector, which will be probbobly the delta 50-760 because it runs off 15 amps. Or one that is in the same price range and power. the inside has a double 20 amp circuit for all the power tools. its looking great. Now the drywall, trim, and paint!!!

Here is the progress

The pipe we ran is on the right, with the little sticker on the end. Looks good :)

Firewood????

Woodshopfreak — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 03:26:46 GMT

Before you look at this picture just think of what you amagin firewood as. Some terrible wood that kmart is trying to get rid of . Well think again, after a little band sawing, jointing, and riping, I have a nicely milled peice of Red Oak. Thats right Red Oak. It is a shame we burn these things because underneath it is truly beautiful. This is my first time milling lumber from a log so to speak, so this has been a great experience. It is fun to see the end product compared to the begining thing. You should try it too. My dad got about 6 bundles each only $1.50. The amount of wood you could get out of it could actually be more than the firewood is worth. Check it out. Some may not find it to exiteing but for me it was pretty cool to find what the log really was!