Creeker's Weekend Accomplishments

[Dennis Peacock]

23 Nov 2015
Greetings Everyone,
I've chosen to get started a bit early this time to that you will have more time to post what you've gotten done so far and maybe even share what you plan to do for Thanksgiving.
I've been off work, using a bit of vacation time, went to visit my mom in another state. I moved her into the 21st century by putting her on a new iPhone 6 Plus and her first ever iPad. I've been working and spending a lot of time and money trying to keep her old 3 PC computers up and running and way too many of them have just gave and for the last time. I made the decision to move her to newer technology and today, she is happy on her new (and larger) iPhone 6 Plus and her full sized iPad Air. I went ahead and fixed the PC she likes to use most, it was my dad's computer when he was still alive and all I needed to do was put in a new hard drive and lay down a clean copy of Windows 7 Pro. Setup her apps that she likes to use and away she goes. I truly believe that once she gets used to the iPad and her new phone that the old PC will finally get shutdown and forgotten over time. No travel plans for us this Thanksgiving but we hope and pray that each of you have a Wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday.

That's it for me, so what did YOU do this past weekend....AND....what are your plans for Thanksgiving?

Best of weeks and Thanksgiving holidays to all of you.!!!

[Rod Sheridan]

Thanksgiving, that was last month:D

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends on the forum.

I sawed a few live edge slabs in spalted maple and a couple in pine for a friend.

I end sealed them and put them in the drying shed nick named "the goat house" by my daughter. ( For some reason she's always wanted a goat).

Now I just have to wait for them to dry.

I also put the Christmas lights up, beat the snow this year...............Regards, Rod.
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[Shawn Pixley]

I had a slow weekend as I am still suffering with my throat. We are working on getting the painkilling coctail in balance in order to be reasonable pain free and somewhat functional. Still a bit of hit and miss.

LOML and I refilled the acetaline tank in her shop and I tightened up some condiut connections as well. I was going to install the temperature controller for the kiln (ramp up, hold, ramp down, hold, and ramp down, hold, and off) for casting burn-out, but it didn't come in. Did all my shopping for Thanksgiving but ended up going non-traditional.

LOML and I experimented with ferric chloride etching on some pieces of projects. Both turned out well. I am now determining what patina technique I will use on the piece.

Bayern won on a sloppy pitch over a determined opponent. First game for some after the Paris attack and the Hanover cancellation. Seahawks won as well.

[Garth Almgren]

I made about 20 Yule log blanks for people to decorate at church for Advent, made from the maple trees that I felled at church the previous week. They couldn't have been much greener - they were literally dripping when I cut the ends to length, jointed one side flat so it wouldn't roll off the table, and drilled holes for the candles. I'm thankful for heavy coats of paste wax, and for blue shop towels. :)

[Bill Adamsen]

I went sailboat racing (frostbiting) in Mamaroneck both Saturday and Sunday and did a lot of rigging in advance (first time with a new boat).

Wanted to share an amazing product. There are new ropes (lines) made out of Dyneema that are super strong with virtually no stretch. Some (though not all) also have a remarkable property where they are super easy and fast to splice into efficient and very nice looking "connections" to whatever you want to attach the line to. A splice is a fancy, efficient, aesthetic and effective alternative to a knot. In the photo below I have used a line called Amsteel (I have no personal connection) to splice two brummel eye splices on one piece of hardware. One on the becket (left side) and one on the eye (right side). On boats I get to do this often, but I would think there might be opportunities with woodworking beyond boatbuilding where it would be appropriate. Just look for videos on youtube for "locked brummel eye splice dyneema" or similar.

I won the first race at which point my head swelled so large that I was assured to not win again. Life is like that sometimes. I did achieved my goal of not capsizing.

[Garth Almgren]

I went sailboat racing (frostbiting) in Mamaroneck both Saturday and Sunday and did a lot of rigging in advance (first time with a new boat).

Wanted to share an amazing product. There are new ropes (lines) made out of Dyneema that are super strong with virtually no stretch. Some (though not all) also have a remarkable property where they are super easy and fast to splice into efficient and very nice looking "connections" to whatever you want to attach the line to. A splice is a fancy, efficient, aesthetic and effective alternative to a knot. In the photo below I have used a line called Amsteel (I have no personal connection) to splice two brummel eye splices on one piece of hardware. One on the becket (left side) and one on the eye (right side). On boats I get to do this often, but I would think there might be opportunities with woodworking beyond boatbuilding where it would be appropriate. Just look for videos on youtube for "locked brummel eye splice dyneema" or similar.
Dyneema (and synthetic rope in general) has been used in the fishing industry for a long time, and it has also found a nice niche in replacement winch lines for offroading because pound-for-pound it's stronger and lighter than steel cable, is easier to splice as you said, and doesn't store energy making it safer if the line should break under tension - it just drops to the ground instead of whipping back towards the attachment points. If you're in the market, I'd recommend MasterPull - I've met the owner and some employees at local Jeep club events and they're really good guys with a great product. I also have a couple of their products on my Jeep. :)

[Phil Stone]

This weekend, I finally got good results shooting end grain. Either I got the shooting board dialed-in at last, or that one final sharpening of the low-angle jack did the trick:

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Note the little curlies just to the left of the fence of the shooting board. The leg blanks in the background have been squared and evened at the bottom. The tops are next. I would recommend learning this technique even to power tool enthusiasts. It's incredibly accurate and controllable, and very satisfying.

[John Sanford]

Friday, I went to the Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool event locally, enjoyed it. The devious toolmongers managed to separate me from a fair chunk of cash. Sadly, of the four things that I purchased, I have to wait for three of them to make the transit from The Far Countries. Fortunately the one item that I managed to walk out with, a LN Rabbet Block Plane, came in handy on Saturday when it was time to trim some tenons. While there, I determined that a #2 Bench Plane simply wasn't comfortable for me to use, so I ordered a #3, the Frog Screwdriver, and from Glen-Drake I got the Deluxe Tite-Mark. I played around with assorted planes and got a sense of how sharp tools behave, and determined that lo and behold, I have been able to get my tools sharp. I'm not disciplined enough yet to sharpen frequently enough, but I'm going to work on that.

Saturday and Sunday I spent a good bit of time working on my bench.

I got impatient, and as a result had a mildly exciting moment that likely signified the death of a $60+ router bit. I was routing the deadman slot in my bench build using a 1/2" upcut solid carbide bit with a 2" cutting length. Because I didn't have an edge guide for that router, I was using a guide bushing and the components of an 8' cutting guide to guide my cut. I had the first stretch routed to depth, but I decided to reposition the "starting" end stop in order to get closer to my desired slot length on that end. Clamping the guides in place was tricky, thus the need to reposition. I tried to hog out the inch or so of material rather than taking it incrementally. Bad idea. Strange sounds ensued, with the end result being some chewed up hard maple, small chunks taken out of my two aluminum cutting guide components, a spun and melted plastic guide bushing, and one flute tip of the carbide cutter broken off. I'm not sure that the bit is dead, but I suspect that a 2 flute cutter with flutes of unequal lengths is probably a safety disaster waiting to happen. If anybody knows otherwise, or has other insight into the likely status of the bit, please let me know.

Because my guide bushing was utterly destroyed, I wasn't able to use my Bosch 1617 to finish up the slot, having only gotten about 2/3 of it done. So, I switched to using my compact DeWalt router, for which I DO have an edge guide, and a 1/4" spiral bit. I was able to finish the slot by patiently taking 1/8" passes. That's a LOT of passes, when the slot is a bit over 3/4" wide and an 1.75" or so deep. I actually couldn't get the full depth with the spiral bit, so I switched after an 1" and used a 3/4" top bearing bit to complete things. This was actually the first time I've used an edge guide, and let's just say that the hassle of using the guide bushing combined with the pure ease and simplicity of the edge guide has moved an edge guide for the Bosch right up near the top of my wishlist.

Before all that fun, I cut and installed the ledger strips for the base. After the routing fun, I spent a bit of time moving things around in the shop, which included moving the base to the close vicinity of it's final location and getting the top components spun 180. Called in the strapping lad, dropped the top slabs onto the base, had dinner, watched a movie, then moseyed back into the garage to mount the leg vise.

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I still need to finish flattening the top, drill for dog and holdfast holes, cut the ends to length, and put some finish on it before it's "done enough". I hope that I'll be able to get all of that taken care of the first weekend in December, and then I can decide whether to put planks down for a shelf, or simply cut a piece of ply/OSB for now, since I plan on putting some chests/cubbies in there down the road. I'd get to "done enough" over the Thanksgiving holiday, but I'll be loading up my truck with some of #1 Son's stuff (not "the strapping lad", a different, taller strapping lad) and heading 500 miles south where the stuff will be reunited with #1 Son. Partaking of copious amounts of Thanksgiving vittles, family and friends will also be part of the trip.

[Robert Payne]

Do NOT use the damaged router bit as it will be out of balance and may lose more of the damaged cutter. Likewise, you can easily damage the router bearings and yourself... It's toast!

[Jim Becker]

This weekend I finally made the four shelves for in the cabinetry over my office credenza...the cabinet went up in 2008 when our addition was completed. LOL Better late than never, I guess. In fairness, the plan was always to use glass shelves, but I never got around to ordering them. So they are cherry to match the rest. :)

Thanksgiving will be spent at a close friend's home as we generally do each year. Everyone brings a contribution to the meal (coordinated by the host) and it's a good time and a much nicer variety of food than would be practical staying at home. We'll head over the late in the afternoon...my younger daughter is working 10-3 (restaurant host) and we'll pick her up on the way.