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View Full Version : A bevy of swifts.



Ryan Mooney
07-12-2012, 9:16 PM
I generally don't have many projects interesting enough to share, I figured this one might be sort of amusing (even if its not up to the standards of some of y'all, we're all learning). Lots of fiddly little pieces anyway (32 pieces of wood per swift plus a couple dozen pieces of metal).

All done in oak (why oak? Because its the perfect wood for this project... I have a big pile of of oak scraps I'm trying to use for something http://familywoodworking.org/forums/images/smilies/biggrin.gif). Finished with 6 coats of wiping varnish and 2-3 coats of paste wax (depending on the part).

The whole crew. Why make one when 4 only take twice as long.
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Close up showing how the yarn goes around it. Allows it to be unwound without tangling (in theory).
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The top part. The knobby bit is just compression fit to the top of the shaft. The shaft here is stepped down and the spinny bit is has a stepped hole inside to match. Both the shaft and the spinny bit have metal bearing surfaces (made from filed-to-fit washers) where they make contact with each other.

This also shows how the arms are held to the spinny bits. Electrical wire in a groove and a little solder. There are actually 20 solder joints per swift including all of the arm-arm and arm-cross piece rings (so 80 solder joints in all).

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The bottom of the spinning assembly. The collar slides up and down and is locked in place with the knob. The knob is just a block of wood epoxied around a bolt that was then ground to length (and smoothed on the end so it wouldn't chew up the shaft to fast). A threaded brass insert goes through the collar.

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The clampy-to-the-table bits. Nothing super complicated, same idea on the knob as the one on the collar. The clamping piece just floats between two nuts (ground smooth and round) that are epoxied to the bolt. The upper nut is inset into the clamping piece to avoid overly marring the furniture.
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Overhead view just to mess with your mind.

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Another view of one with some yarn on it.
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Aaron Berk
07-12-2012, 11:25 PM
Never heard of nor seen one of those, let alone 4 at once. :D

They look pretty cool, are you planning on gifting, selling, or keeping the extras?

Or in general, what was the purpose of this build?

What ever it is you do with them, they'll look neat while doing it.
Good job

Ryan Mooney
07-12-2012, 11:33 PM
Here is a youtube video that shows how they are used.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=CA&hl=en&client=mv-google&v=Il2Hw8NcYQM&nomobile=1

Loml wanted one (she would have been happy with a simpler design, but these looked more fun to make :D), I'm gifting one more to a friend and the other two are pending decision, I have another friend who might want one and I'll probably loan another to someone else I know for a while or my mom may claim it for decorative use.

lowell holmes
07-13-2012, 10:47 AM
I'm impressed! :)