PDA

View Full Version : Eight Eared Donkey



Jim Koepke
01-14-2011, 1:24 AM
An idea came to mind for a project that involves octagons.

So it seemed a donkey ear for the shooting board might be in order. About halfway through it was realized this would not work with my present shooting board since I was going to shoot edge grain and not end grain. So a search through the scrap bin turned up an old piece of oak that came from a late 19th century pump organ my brother and I dismantled.

177803

Good thing I got to it before SWMBO. She saw it today and took an interest in it. I showed her that it was already cut for use.

177802

The "ear" was made by cutting some 22-1/2° angles on some scrap using an old Craftsman miter box. I tuned this up years ago and it is actually a nice little tool. The cut pieces were sized and then attached to the ramp. The fence was cut by hand and attached with screws. On things like this, gluing is saved for later if ever. It always seems to need adjustments at first or over time with humidity changes. The angle was off just a hair. So an old business card was cut up for shims and that was enough.

177805

The mounting slots were cut in the oak using a saw, chisels and a router plane. At first my thoughts were to mount this permanently to the base. Then it came to me that maybe similar pieces can be made to cut 45° and 30° angles for other projects. My hopes are this will become an on going and repeating project. That will be a different thread.

177804

The pieces have to be trimmed a touch to the same length. The edges meet up, the shadows from some pieces being a hair long make it look like their may be a miss at the edges. That is not the case.

jtk

Brander Roullett
01-14-2011, 2:02 AM
Thanks for posting that, I've been meaning to make one of these, but have been having problems wrapping my head around it. Your method looks pretty simple, and I've got a new (old) miter box to tune up that I just picked up. Maybe the first test project after tuning it up will be one of these.

Jim Koepke
01-14-2011, 2:42 AM
Your method looks pretty simple

It really is. The way the fence is attached it is easy to square up just by adjusting the screws. As time goes by it will likely need some shims to keep it tight.

The pieces being planed need to have the ends square to one of the sides.

If the ends are not square or the fence isn't square your sides will end up out of parallel.

When making the first octagon, it is easy to tell what way to go if an adjustment is needed. If the inside of the joint is open, then the shims need to go near the cutting end. If the outside of the joint is open, then the shims need to go away from the planing side.

For my first octagon, all the pieces were cut and put together. There was a very slight gap at the outside of the joint between the two halves, so the shims were placed away from the cut. Each piece was given about three more passes on each edge. It fit together just right after that.

My plan was to make it bigger than what my project needed. Now I am thinking I want to make a big one for Newell Posts or lamp posts. I am even thinking of making a mold for casting cement lamp posts and bird baths.

The mind will run wild if you let it.

jtk

Jim Koepke
01-14-2011, 7:31 PM
Since we are having a heat wave here (about 52° for the high) it seemed OK to do a glue up out in the shop.

178100

A clove hitch around the octagon just did not seem to hold it tight enough, so one end of the rope was secured in the tail vise. Then a clamp was used to erect a mast at the far end of the bench and a truck hitch was used to put tension on the rope and pull the assembly together. A little adjustment to the alignment and all looks to be going well.

jtk

Harlan Barnhart
01-15-2011, 2:25 PM
Hi Jim,
Nice work as usual. What is your octagon for? A bucket? A really short column? A display pedestal?

Jim Koepke
01-15-2011, 3:56 PM
Hi Jim,
Nice work as usual. What is your octagon for? A bucket? A really short column? A display pedestal?

Thanks for the kind words.

This is a prototype for bird houses and maybe make some with thinner wood to use as a toilet paper roll storage unit to sit on the top of a toilet tank.

My thoughts are to put a drawer in the base to hold potpourri or other items.

jtk

lowell holmes
01-26-2018, 2:49 PM
Showoff.:)