Some of my stuff

[Paul K. Johnson]

I was raised in an affluent family. Then we weren't any more. But we were doing ok. Then in about a month's time I was near destitute. Things stayed pretty bad for about four years. Now things are better.

During the time I was incredibly poor, I couldn't afford my hobbies. I also couldn't afford decent gifts for holidays. So I ended up making stuff. I was totally winging it having never done projects like these before. They're basically made from scraps of wood. Unfortunately I don't have photos of most of what I did and much of what I made was either destroyed or lost by the people I gave them to.

Anyway... the thing I think was the nicest was given to my sister as a tree ornament. She still has it. It's pretty obvious how it's made. The spokes are from toothpicks cut lengthwise into four pieces.
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This train was built the same year for my mother. It's gone. Nobody knows where it went.
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I built this train a few years later. My sister-in-law has it.
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The hardest part of the trains were miters of the coal car. I didn't know how to calculate them (still don't) so I just kept making test pieces until I got it right.

More to come...

[Paul K. Johnson]

Tractor Roof Post 1:

My friend Joe is building a couple of steam tractors. He asked me to make the roofs. He said he didn't care what I did as long as they were the correct measurement and allowed for mounting.

So I made one with and elliptical section and the other sloped.

Edit: Sorry about all the photos being out of order. I was reading this again and realized what a chronological mess it is. I didn't realize that when uploading photos the last ones were put first. I caught on eventually and fixed it for the next project (slingshot).

[Paul K. Johnson]

Tractor Roof Post 2:

More photos.

[Paul K. Johnson]

Tractor Roof Post 3:

I sealed the roofs using one or two coats of BLO. It's up to Joe to finish finishing them. :)

[Bruce Page]

I’m impressed with your magnetic assembly table and clamps. First time I have seen a setup like that. Did you make it?
Nice job on the roof. What scale is the tractor model?

[Paul K. Johnson]

When I was stationed in Germany, all my shop equipment was in storage. I had a place in Germany where I could build so I bought a magnetic system that had been available for years. It was pretty horrible but I could see the potential. I cut out the fixtures and made some presses. When I got out I posted it all on my website with free plans which are still there. People kept asking me to make them a set so I finally decided to do it commercially. It's how I pay for my shop now. The little rotating clamps are about the size of an acorn. The base is 1/2" square. The square piece that the bolt goes into is 3/8" square. Those are all made from cherry.

The formers for the tractor roofs are also cherry. The cover is either 1/16" or 1/32" birch ply.

I don't know the scale of the tractors but they're pretty big. I think they're about 75 lbs each. The roofs are about 10" x 20" or so.

[Paul K. Johnson]

Bill Hayes' Patriot Slingshot Post 1:

Bill Hayes is famous in slingshot circles. He's a prolific designer and builder. Also seems to be a pretty freakin' good shot too!

I live in Hurricane Alley. Hurricane Charlie went through my front yard whatever year that is - I think 2005 maybe? Anyway, up until last year I had done absolutely nothing to prepare for a hurricane - didn't even have any bottled water. So I got on this survivalist kick for a few months, built a bug-out bag and probably wasted a lot of money.

Thinking about worst case - stuck in the woods with no place to go I thought about hunting and weapons which led me to building a slingshot. It would be far from my first choice but anywhere you go you can find ammo at least.

Before I glued the head to the handle I put it together and stressed it a little. One of the maple skins in the head delaminated from the cherry core. I had used System III 30-minute epoxy (I never use anything faster) and it was my third batch in a row that didn't set up properly. I always save my mixing pots to check the cure and a couple days later the epoxy was still rubbery and sticky. I know how to meter and mix epoxy properly so having it happen three times in a row told me that it had gone bad. And I've had some epoxies for years that never went bad. This stuff was only a year old.

Edit: I slightly wedged the wood apart and wicked in some thin CA. It seemed to be good but then delaminated again. So it's now a paperweight.

Anyway, I started another one but it's in a box with "future projects". I either used Titebond or West epoxy to laminate the new one. Can't remember.

I had never built a scalloped grip before so I used a drafting curve to get the curve from my hands. It might not be right but it's at least an approach rather than blindly guessing. I don't like the handle though. It should be fatter at the top than at the bottom so my new one will have that change.

The grooves to capture the rubber and binding were cut on my home-made Dremel router table.

[Paul K. Johnson]

Bill Hayes' Patriot Slingshot Post 2:

These are my first set of Forstner bits. I didn't know if I even needed them so bought a cheap set. I think this set was $30 for 12 of them or so. They weren't sharp brand new and any attempt I made to sharpen them made no difference. I since purchased a set of Freuds and love them. HUGE!!! difference.


Edit: The first photo is an MDF template I made to align the part under the bit.

[Paul K. Johnson]

Bill Hayes' Patriot Slingshot Post 3:

This handle is highly modified from Bill's original design. But it's still the basic outline. Shaping it prompted me to buy a real rasp and an oscillating spindle sander. The sander is something I could have used for years so I didn't buy it just to make a couple slingshot handles. :)

The outlines were roughly cut on the bandsaw in one plane, taped back together and sawed in the other plane. Then lots of carving with knives and a Dremel using carbide bits. Then tons of sanding.

[Paul K. Johnson]

Bill Hayes' Patriot Slingshot Post 4:

Still more sanding to go at this point but getting closer...

[Paul K. Johnson]

Bill Hayes' Patriot Slingshot Post 5:

I used my small spray gun to apply thin coats of gloss Deft lacquer with retarder added. These shots are after spraying but before sanding and polishing. It looks a lot better now but it's still unserviceable due to the delaminated head. So it just looks pretty sitting on my desk.

Almost forgot. I used some red stain on it - don't recall which one and then managed to sand through the stain in a couple spots. I'm not a fan of stained woods and had never used it before so I learned a couple somethings new with this project.

[Lee Schierer]

Impressive assembly table and magnetic hold downs. Can you provide more detail on how they were made?

[Paul K. Johnson]

Hi Lee. It's all on my site.

This explains what and why. There are free plans to make my first system. It only took a vertical press in one location using egg crate attachment.

The new system has the series of holes in it. I didn't upload plans for it but anyone here could duplicate it easily enough.

http://www.airfieldmodels.com/information_source/how_to_articles_for_model_builders/tools/magnetic_building_board/index.htm

Here's how I make my current system:

http://www.airfieldmodels.com/store/magnetic_fixture_system_2/how_fixures_are_made.htm

http://www.airfieldmodels.com/store/magnetic_fixture_system_2/how_vertical_presses_are_made.htm

[John K Jordan]

Wow, what an interesting set of messages and photos. Now I want to make a slingshot!

I know exactly what you mean by being poor. We skipped the entire affluent stage and went directly to day-old bread, big garden, and hand-me-down clothes with repeated repairs. When we were kids our presents were often hand made, even clothes. I remember one year when my dad made a little wooden wagon for me - he was not a woodworker but I remember a visitor who came a time or two and the two of them hid in the basement and told us to stay out! I sure wish I had that wagon now.

These days buying presents is not an issue but many of those I give are hand-made, usually wood turnings. Anyone can shop, not everyone can create from scratch. I saw one wooden handbell ornament in a lady's glass display case years later!

Hey, to make a handle to fit my hand I lightly squeezed a big glob of modeling clay and used that shape as a starting point.

Keep up the photos and commentary! Thanks. (Unsolicited hint: you are allowed to mention a few dimensions! The caliper shots are nice.)

JKJ

[Frederick Skelly]

I like your work. Glad you posted it.

Like others, I like your clamping system. I'll send you a PM with an inquiry - we really shouldnt do it here. (Hint: If you contribute $6 per year, you can advertize them for sale in that forum. ;))

[Paul K. Johnson]

Thanks, Frederick. For years I would stop what I was doing to make a set for someone. It had honestly never occurred to me to sell them because the way I see it, it's just a triangle with holes in it. For guys who build model aircraft, they're easier to make than what they'll build with them. But it seems they just wanted to get on with building their planes and not mess with making tools. I still have a regular job though. The job pays the bills and the fixtures pay for my toys. Life is good. :D

[Paul K. Johnson]

By the way, for those interested in the slingshot, there are a ton of free patterns out there including the one I made mine from. I think it's slingshot forums or something but just google, "Bill Hayes slingshot" and you'll find it. Again, this one is called, "The Patriot". I think he made his from G10 (fiberglass plate).

[Paul K. Johnson]

This is an RC flying wing I designed with a buddy of mine. Basically he designed the outline and I designed the rest including the construction methods. Then I built it.

It's named, "Thwing!" (you have to say the name enthusiastically - it's a legal requirement :))

'http://www.airfieldmodels.com/gallery_of_models/rc/thwing!/index.htm'

Instead of cutting a bunch of ribs I made a bunch of spars that the skins lays over and creates the airfoil. Most of my designs are scratch-built and made up on the fly while I'm building. This one I had to draw enough of so I could draw the truss-work spars. It's not a complete set of plans and probably nobody else could build from my drawings unless they've done a lot of scratch-building themselves.

[Jim Becker]

Really great work...and I'm sure that working with what you had available was good for your skills as well as for the excellent results you obtained. Bravo!

[Paul K. Johnson]

Thanks, Jim. I really appreciate it!

[Bruce Page]

I like your work. Glad you posted it.

Like others, I like your clamping system. I'll send you a PM with an inquiry - we really shouldnt do it here. (Hint: If you contribute $6 per year, you can advertize them for sale in that forum. ;))
Not true Fred, members (or contributors) cannot use the forum to promote a commercial product.

From the TOS:

E. Commercial Advertising

1. Direct Commercial Affiliation

SawmillCreek maintains an active advertising and marketing program. As such, we seek to provide a non-competitive atmosphere for our advertisers by disallowing commercial posts from our members. Posts made by Members with direct commercial affiliation, and with the apparent intent of using SawMill Creek for the sole purpose of promoting a product or service will be subject to removal. Members with direct commercial affiliation are defined to be those Members who stand to benefit financially from such a promotion.

[Marvin Hasenak]

You also have some good homemade tool projects on your blog. I am already in the planning stage for a couple of them.

Thanks

[Paul K. Johnson]

Hi Marvin,

I'm glad you're finding some of it useful. Thank you!

[Frederick Skelly]

Not true Fred, members (or contributors) cannot use the forum to promote a commercial product.

My bad Bruce. My aplogies.
Fred

[Marvin Hasenak]

Since you like the miniature stuff and making gadgets and jigs, I will suggest doing a Google for "Tom Walden Miniatures". He has some amazing jigs for making doll house accessories. Another suggestion is Google "Paul Hamler tools". He makes from scratch miniature tools. Hamler's videos on You Tube are addictive, and are almost a full blown engineering education.

[Paul K. Johnson]

Thanks, Marvin. I will definitely look them up. I love watching good craftsman or even just seeing their work. It's nice if it's things I'm interested in but I'll watch anyone who knows what they're doing even if I don't have a real interest in ever doing it myself.