Woodworking

[HemiEd]

I don't recall seeing anything on here about the hobby. Do you do it? Have any interest? Tools? Have you made anything? Do you want to learn?

With the recent developments on the Planet, it got me thinking, what can I do to contribute and support the new effort?

I had no problem with any of the old guard and want to support the effort to make Chiefs Planet great again with the regime.


They aren't teaching vocational training in high school anymore, but maybe we can provide a venue here to learn woodworking?

There is a handyman mega thread, but this deserves it's own thread if we are going to accomplish something.

When I went to Junior high school we had woodworking class and I have always loved it. Finally, upon retirement, I have been able to set up a nice woodwork shop. I can go from station to station and perform the particular task, planing, jointer, sander, router table, radial arm, table and band saw.

I am currently on my fifth cedar chest this winter. Each one has gotten much easier as I have learned.

We have a cedar mill about ten miles away so it has been very instrumental in the effort as raw material is the main ingredient. It is dirt cheap at the mill and I have been buying 1.1 inch thick by 52 long by 4.25 wide boards and gluing them together.

What are you working on?

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by displacedinMN

Trying to decide if I want to build a bar or buy a bar for my basement.

Many years ago, dad cut out part of the hay mow from the barn. the boards are still there. May make a good rustic bar.

Bad part is, because the trusses are gone, he did not shore up the roof and the barn is starting to bow. We are going to have to go in and put in metal beam around some of the posts inside the barn.

I know dad is saying "see, its your problem now"

Look up 'live edge bar'. You can probably guess, but it's essentially a vertical slab cut from a big ol' hunk of trunk. If you finish them right, you keep the bark on the outside and get that cross-cut grain look on top; really nice looking when you're trying to do the rustic look.

We've made some benches from that kind of stuff before and they look pretty good. Woodcraft in KC may be able to sell you some or point you in the direction to acquire it.

[tooge]

Originally Posted by HemiEd

I bet if you had the time and space you would do well. It is not all that much different than fixing a car.

I built these for my daughters Christmas presents. The first one took forever, but each one gets easier and faster.

thats a damn good looking coffin man. I'm more of a pine box kind of guy, but those are beautiful

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by JASONSAUTO

Metal is much easier than wood. You can't go back with wood lol

We've taken some stabs at flux-core and MIG welding. I can make booger welds that will hold things together but I can't make an attractive weld for shit.

I'm pretty good at burning right through things, though. The problem is that an idiot is teaching an idiot and we're kinda guessing as we go. Idiot one was taught by a pretty good welder but he still pretty much sucks and is trying to teach me. So mostly we just **** up a bunch of tube steel and try again.

But yeah, it was fun realizing that we could add metal back if we shorted things. Again, we sucked at that as well, but we had some gaps of around a quarter inch that we could fill in and still create a bond that was sturdy enough to hit with a car. Pretty cool shit to fiddle with but I'm not sure I have the patience to get good at it.

[notorious]

Originally Posted by JASONSAUTO

naked?

Only if the mood is right.

[bevischief]

I know a few people that are good with hardwood floors and sheet rock.

[jspchief]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Kickback.

My guess is that your workpiece was just a little too wide for it's length. When that happens, the backside of the cut can 'grab' at the tooth and the front of the workpiece doesn't have the leverage to hold it down anymore. So it walks up the blade and the blade, because it's spinning towards you, rockets it at you.

The big BIG problem with kickback is your right hand and its tendency to follow the workpiece. When a piece kicks like that (as opposed to a bind that's easy to deal with), it goes up, left and then back...when your hand does that as well, it goes up, left and then into the ****ing blade. That's why you always use a push-stick; that way the piece runs off the push stick and your hand doesn't follow. A push block helps even more.

So, some easy fixes for it and the easiest is a simple splitter. Microjig makes universal ones that go on older saws and work great. Newer saws have what are called riving knives that do the same thing. Kickback paws also exist but I hate them; they grab when you don't want them to.

But you're right, man. Kickback is terrifying. I was building some drawer bottoms with 1/2 ply. Since it was completely square, it was a kickback waiting to happen (like I said, wide and short is a recipe for disaster). I got through about 6 and at about 1 AM one of those things fired back at me. I tried to save it with my left hand around the back of the blade (because I saw it hop first) and all it did was fire into the top of my left hand and sheer some skin off before hitting me in the hip. Took me about 10 minutes to get my heart rate back under control but by God, I was finishing those ****ing drawers....

So a couple of my shot drawers may or may not have blood on the underside of the bottoms.

My saw is a deathtrap. No board buddies, no splitter, no nothing. My buddy is a no-shit craftsman and has built some amazing stuff and he's terrified to work with it. But it's got a great blade and it's a 3 HP, 220 saw so it cuts like butter. With my Vega Pro fence, that saw is a miracle worker and I just don't want to mess with that. I have some of those micro jig splitters, I just haven't gotten around to installing them yet. It's probably gonna be a lot harder to do once I lose a couple of fingers but I suspect that will be the catalyst.

The right safety devices and a willingness to use them makes a huge difference. I have the former....just not the latter.

Yeah a well tuned saw with a good blade makes a big difference.

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by Rooster

Is that purple heart wood? It looks great.

How you do get such a good finish?

It is cedar from the nasty cedar trees that grow around here. We have a mill about 10 miles away.

I sand it with 40 and 80 (belt sander),100,150,220 (orbital sander) then put on sanding sealer and sand it with 220 again prior to applying polyurethane. Thanks for the compliment, like jspchief, it is my least favorite part.

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

We've taken some stabs at flux-core and MIG welding. I can make booger welds that will hold things together but I can't make an attractive weld for shit.

I'm pretty good at burning right through things, though. The problem is that an idiot is teaching an idiot and we're kinda guessing as we go. Idiot one was taught by a pretty good welder but he still pretty much sucks and is trying to teach me. So mostly we just **** up a bunch of tube steel and try again.

But yeah, it was fun realizing that we could add metal back if we shorted things. Again, we sucked at that as well, but we had some gaps of around a quarter inch that we could fill in and still create a bond that was sturdy enough to hit with a car. Pretty cool shit to fiddle with but I'm not sure I have the patience to get good at it.

You need to talk to my dad. He taught the dumbest **** that ever lived to weld (me). He can teach anyone.

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Looks great; nice use of that ice cream wood.

My buddy's dad has probably set 1,000 board ft of that stuff on fire because he doesn't like the look but it's great for rustic projects and things like those chests (please don't get me started on the amount of walnut 'scrap' he's burned up....ugh)

Here's a wood that I don't think anyone would have ever thought to use that we stumbled into - osage orange; common hedge. You'd need a hell of a bandsaw to re-saw anything of significant heft, but if you're able to get any 2 inch thick stock, a good table saw can do the work.

It's damn near bright yellow when you cut it but after it ages for several months to a year, it takes on this honey amber color that's really quite attractive. Better still is that it's DENSE. It's the only thing I've ever worked with that approaches ipe and it's a shitload cheaper. Makes for a tight, pretty grain pattern and fantastic durability for outdoor furniture.

I had never heard it called "ice cream wood" before, interesting.

I am not sure if there is any of that hedge growing around here but we had plenty of it in Kansas. Doesn't it have this kind of screwy twisty grain that makes it hard to work with? My brother likes burning hedge because it burns so hot.

The mill a "couple hollars over" only does cedar and oak. I bought 40 1x8x8fts in white oak from them. Holy crap, that stuff is like titanium compared to the cedar.

There is a few more mills around here and I will have to check them out one of these days.

Thanks for your input.

[Molitoth]

My wife is a big fan of Pottery Barn and Magnolia Farms. While I will still drop some big $$ on some of those brand pieces, a lot of times I get my buddy to mock up the same thing for half the cost.

https://www.facebook.com/AnalogWoodworks/

He does some nice stuff to your custom order, I just had him make me a Farmhouse style dining table.

[Mike in SW-MO]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Looks great; nice use of that ice cream wood.

My buddy's dad has probably set 1,000 board ft of that stuff on fire because he doesn't like the look but it's great for rustic projects and things like those chests (please don't get me started on the amount of walnut 'scrap' he's burned up....ugh)

Here's a wood that I don't think anyone would have ever thought to use that we stumbled into - osage orange; common hedge. You'd need a hell of a bandsaw to re-saw anything of significant heft, but if you're able to get any 2 inch thick stock, a good table saw can do the work.

It's damn near bright yellow when you cut it but after it ages for several months to a year, it takes on this honey amber color that's really quite attractive. Better still is that it's DENSE. It's the only thing I've ever worked with that approaches ipe and it's a shitload cheaper. Makes for a tight, pretty grain pattern and fantastic durability for outdoor furniture.

I used to hand carved Selfbows out of the stuff. (Damn kids eat ALL your spare time). It would sand down like glass because it is so dense.

If you like that aged color, wipe it down with bleach. The chlorine instantly oxidizes it giving you that burnt orange color. Pretty cool running a cloth with clear liquid down the wood and having bright yellow on one side & burnt orange on the other.

[Bugeater]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Kickback.

My guess is that your workpiece was just a little too wide for it's length. When that happens, the backside of the cut can 'grab' at the tooth and the front of the workpiece doesn't have the leverage to hold it down anymore. So it walks up the blade and the blade, because it's spinning towards you, rockets it at you.

The big BIG problem with kickback is your right hand and its tendency to follow the workpiece. When a piece kicks like that (as opposed to a bind that's easy to deal with), it goes up, left and then back...when your hand does that as well, it goes up, left and then into the ****ing blade. That's why you always use a push-stick; that way the piece runs off the push stick and your hand doesn't follow. A push block helps even more.

So, some easy fixes for it and the easiest is a simple splitter. Microjig makes universal ones that go on older saws and work great. Newer saws have what are called riving knives that do the same thing. Kickback paws also exist but I hate them; they grab when you don't want them to.

But you're right, man. Kickback is terrifying. I was building some drawer bottoms with 1/2 ply. Since it was completely square, it was a kickback waiting to happen (like I said, wide and short is a recipe for disaster). I got through about 6 and at about 1 AM one of those things fired back at me. I tried to save it with my left hand around the back of the blade (because I saw it hop first) and all it did was fire into the top of my left hand and sheer some skin off before hitting me in the hip. Took me about 10 minutes to get my heart rate back under control but by God, I was finishing those ****ing drawers....

So a couple of my shot drawers may or may not have blood on the underside of the bottoms.

My saw is a deathtrap. No board buddies, no splitter, no nothing. My buddy is a no-shit craftsman and has built some amazing stuff and he's terrified to work with it. But it's got a great blade and it's a 3 HP, 220 saw so it cuts like butter. With my Vega Pro fence, that saw is a miracle worker and I just don't want to mess with that. I have some of those micro jig splitters, I just haven't gotten around to installing them yet. It's probably gonna be a lot harder to do once I lose a couple of fingers but I suspect that will be the catalyst.

The right safety devices and a willingness to use them makes a huge difference. I have the former....just not the latter.

It didn't come straight back at me. It somehow lifted the board and shot it off almost 90 degrees to the left of me. It had a curved gash from the blade in the bottom afterwards. It was a nearly square piece of wood though so it maybe it did kickback and then the blade caught it again somehow. It was weird.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Bugeater

It didn't come straight back at me. It somehow lifted the board and shot it off almost 90 degrees to the left of me. It had a curved gash from the blade in the bottom afterwards. It was a nearly square piece of wood though so it maybe it did kickback and then the blade caught it again somehow. It was weird.

So it grabbed more of the board or released it differently.

Pretty much any kickback is going to leave a curved gash because the piece is walking up a round blade (and still getting cut as it's being flung off.



Here's what the piece I'm talking about did. Unlike yours, mine hopped and that's why it's two cuts, but you can see that hard curve released into a second curve when it came back down.

Did you have a firm fence on the outside? Without the fence holding the right edge in place, I could see that propeller effect being extreme enough to shoot it off to the left. Or maybe if it did it just as it cleared the top of the fence. Kickback does some weird shit.

[jspchief]

There's a video out there of a guy that intentionally causes kickback for a demonstration. Slow mo replay shows how close he comes to losing a finger. He thought he could "anticipate" it and nearly made a gore film.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by jspchief

There's a video out there of a guy that intentionally causes kickback for a demonstration. Slow mo replay shows how close he comes to losing a finger. He thought he could "anticipate" it and nearly made a gore film.

I've seen something similar with foam board. Yeah, kickback don't play. It's so sudden that you can get yourself in a lot of trouble in a hurry.

The sawstop system is incredible. I thought about splurging on one and maybe I should have, but it's a very neat, very effective idea. There's a low-voltage current running through the blade and if a finger hits it, that current is interrupted and a metal brake fires into the blade to stop it.

It'll wreck the shit out of our blade but I've seen demonstrations of people running hot dogs into one and it stops almost immediately; it barely breaks the skin.

The problem is that it's another thousand bucks for the feature. Small price to pay for a finger, but like I said, splitters and board buddies are going to be good enough 99.99% of the time.