Creeker's Weekend Accomplishments....

[Dennis Peacock]

Good Morning
12 Nov 2007

With the weather getting cooler and a bit more "damp" for some, I hope this finds each of you healthy and prosperous.

Nothing much for me except that the kitchen table project is finished and delivered (previously posted last week).

I'm working on 1 of 2 small wine cabinets for a friend of mine and gearing up for my neighbors kitchen table project that will be made of 42 year old, barn dried Black Walnut. This is going to be some nice stuff.!!!

Other than that? I go oncall for the day job as of this morning and will officially pick up the oncall duty at 5PM today. I'm hoping for a not so busy week for oncall.

Well, that's it for me.

So what did YOU do this weekend??

Best of weeks to you all.

[JayStPeter]

I've officially started the garden bench I'm building my mother for Christmas. Bought the lumber on Saturday and surfaced the leg and top parts on Sunday. I'm hoping to have all the blanks ready for joinery by next weekend.

[Nancy Laird]

A very mixed-bag weekend for me. Spent Friday morning in the doctor's office getting very bad news (at least to me): diagnosed with high blood pressure, high choleserol, and diabetes!:( Spent the rest of the day feeling sorry for myself, but recovered enough to have dinner with Tom Guertin of Steel City, who was in town for the big November Veterans' Day sale at WWS.

Saturday was up and at 'em with laser jobs - turned out four jobs on Saturday, then our son came in (in his 18-wheeler for a quick overnight). Spent some quality time with him and did a little shopping.

Sunday started finishing the laser jobs (assembly), and found that I had to rerun a laser job of 100 pieces because of a misspelled word in the copy. :( :( . Sonny left and had a quiet afternoon, before finishing up the weekend with a delightful dinner at fellow Creeker Jesse Cloud's home up in the hills of Placitas with him and his wife and mother.:)

Back to the rat race today,:( as law offices usually don't close on all of the court holidays--to give us a "quiet" day to catch up. But the traffic will be light and the phones won't ring quite so much.

Now I'm gonna be learning all about how to control my diet to accommodate two chronic conditions and looking for a stationary bike for exercise. I'm not looking forward to a life without chocolate and black walnut ice cream!!!!:mad:

Happy Veterans Day to all our vets, including my own wonderful hubby who gave 28 years to the Navy.

Nancy (39 days on the calendar--22 days in the office!!)

[Fred Voorhees]

A bit of an unusual weekend for me around the house. The better half had some surgery on Friday so I spent a lot of the time tending to her needs throughout the weekend. Other than that, I did manage to get a bunch of Autumn time tasks and put them behind me. I also managed to spend a little time in the shop working on some little keychain thingamabobs that were featured in Wood magazine a month or so ago. Sunday the gang was over to watch the NASCAR race in the bar room and we did another fish fry with salmon as well as deep fried onion rings, shrimp and french fries. Finished up the meal with a chocolate birthday cake for one of the boys who turned 44.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Finished priming the walls and ceiling in the shop.

Today start putting the finish coats on.

[Matt Meiser]

We had a long weekend out of town visiting family. Our outbound flight was a 6:25AM on Friday and returning didn't arrive until just before midnight last night so it was truely a LONG weekend. We had a good time though so it was worth it. Obviously no woodworking, but I did pick up the "SketchUp for Dummies" book because some of the later chapters looked interesting. I thought the first few would be boring since I've used it a fair amount, but on almost every page I learned something I didn't know before so it was well worth it.

[Jim Becker]

Odds and ends weekend for me. I had the Karate and Swimming run to the Y on Saturday after receiving my order of cherry from Michael Morgan. I did some work in the addition later in the afternoon, getting blocking up for future wall-hung cabinets, etc. Sunday morning, I had to listen to my girls sing in the Jr Choir for the first time and in the afternoon I was in the shop milling up some of the new cherry to pull out the rift/QS material I need for face frames and door rails/stiles for my current addition cabinetry projects. Oh, we watched another Bollywood flick (actually a Tamil film) featuring Ashwaria Rae (my girl's favorite) on Saturday night...I guess you could call that our anniversary celebration...

[Nancy Laird]

Finished priming the walls and ceiling in the shop.

Today start putting the finish coats on.


YEA, KEN!!!!!!


Now I need a smilie for gold stars or a thumbs uphttp://familywoodworking.org/forums/images/smilies/023.gifhttp://familywoodworking.org/forums/images/smilies/023.gif--Found one!!!

I'm proud of you. Is the mustard still in the crate???? If so, you have my encouragement to open one end of that crate and drool just a little bit.:D

Nancy (39 days)

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Mustard and b/s still in the crates......

[Greg Cole]

Ken.... I am not sure how you can just leave those crates around.... I couldn't make it through a day. Then again after uncrating, ya HAVE to dial'em in and fire'em up!
I got the new BS dialed in and fired up!!! Course shop layout changed after the first go'round Saturday. Version 2 of the layout (with some clean up etc) lends me more usable space than without the BS.:D This layout also keep the DC runs very short.
Also on a side note, if you have room and time to make a "closet" for your DC, I'd strongly recommend it. I have a 13" tv in my shop... and I had the boob tube on with the NASCAR race and later the Red Wings game & without touching the volume on the tv I could still hear every word with the DC running.

Greg

[Dan Barr]

I made "some" progress on the desk i am building. got the hutch progressing pretty well. most of the mortise and tenons done. just gotta finish the remaining few, dry fit, cut panels, sand the pieces and glue up. should have it done today. (hopefully)

The significant other currently has a wonderful way of preventing me from woodworking. i have discovered no method as of yet. just random hours and minutes dissappearing for random reasons that could have waited.

sigh.....

v/r

dan

[Rod Peterson]

Replacable Insert Throat Plate

I've been wanting one of these for a long time:

That's the insert with a replacable insert (what I call an oak insert insert) that Norm has had for some time. The guy that makes (made) them doesn't appear to be marketing them any longer and has the business up for sale.

I always thought they were a little pricey and longed to craft one of my own for some time. Can't be too hard, I thought, and it wasn't.

http://www.woodbutcher.net/images/normstools/oak-insert.jpg

The first thing you need is a source for ½" thick aluminum plate. I'm very fortunate to have an excellent scrap aluminum yard nearby and got some stock. I don't imagine I have to show you a plain old piece of aluminum plate, so I'll jump right to an interim shot.

After rough cutting the plate into the general shape of an insert (band saw, table saw), I spent some time filing and fitting, filing and fitting, filing and fitting. Eventually, I wound up with a blank plate (center, left). I also used my jig saw and drill press to size the finger hole, and finished it up with a roundover bit in my trim router.

http://www.woodbutcher.net/images/inserts1.jpg

A little layout time (to make sure they were located properly), and a trip to the drill press yielded the pilot holes for the adjusting set screws you can barely see here.

The insert at the top is the OEM insert which came with the saw. It still has its uses. At the bottom is one of the Baltic birch inserts I've made (I have probably a half dozen in inventory).

I'm sorry you're going to be disappointed that I don't have any live shots of the machining. Suffice to say there were several sessions at the router table.

http://www.woodbutcher.net/images/insert-1.jpg

The insert here is a piece of walnut. It just happened to be an already thicknessed piece at hand and I was in a hurry once I had the dovetail groove ready to get something in there. Eventually, I suspect I'll use a piece of maple, birch, or ash. To follow Norm, of course, I could make one of oak, but it doesn't really strike me as the appropriate zero clearance insert wood.

Incidentally, I agonized for some time over the angle to use for the dovetail. My first thought, naturally, was the traditional 14° used in the dovetailing jigs. Then I thought 45° would be better. Finally, not having a 45° bit, I opted for 14° and in retrospect, there shouldn't have been any question. It's just right.

Not quite so visible are the enlarged and tapped holes for the adjusting set screws. I'm so pleased. This thing sits in its place rock solid and with a satisfying heavy metallic "clunk" as it goes in.

Here is a view with the insert removed so you can see the machined substructure. With the exception of a plough cut with an 8" blade in the table saw to establish the initial groove, all of the machining was done on the router table.

http://www.woodbutcher.net/images/insert-4.jpg

The through openings in the plate are essentially the same as the OEM insert, so I may be able to fit inserts for miter cuts as well, although probably not for a full 45° angle. Still, I did make a BB insert for 45°, so I'm covered there.

The through openings will also accommodate the OEM splitter/guard and an aftermarket splitter, so long as I cut the insert at the back for clearance.

Incidentally, and completely off topic, I just HATE that I can't use HTML when posting here. What's up with that? This looked so much better with some layout as I applied it over at WoodCentral.

[Brian Weick]

this weekend. I am making a maple table for my girlfriend and the table was made last year- I just had to finish the legs for the table so yesterday , she went on the drafting table - I had her draw up some plans, gave her Keith Rowley's Wood turning, a foundation coarse so she could intellectually understand the design and implementation of turning architectual peices. She came up with a design and put in on paper- she did a nice job. from the paper to the product - off we went. Going to finish the fluting on the other 3 today, sand them and then make the cap blocks for the top hopefully. They came out very nice and she was Very Happy to see her table being worked on- finally! :eek: . I will post the pictures of the table after it's done- this was a fun weekend project to do together and hopefully it will be finished this week- .
Brian

[Brian Weick]

Replacable Insert Throat Plate

I've been wanting one of these for a long time:

That's the insert with a replacable insert (what I call an oak insert insert) that Norm has had for some time. The guy that makes (made) them doesn't appear to be marketing them any longer and has the business up for sale.

I always thought they were a little pricey and longed to craft one of my own for some time. Can't be too hard, I thought, and it wasn't.

http://www.woodbutcher.net/images/normstools/oak-insert.jpg

The first thing you need is a source for ½" thick aluminum plate. I'm very fortunate to have an excellent scrap aluminum yard nearby and got some stock. I don't imagine I have to show you a plain old piece of aluminum plate, so I'll jump right to an interim shot.

After rough cutting the plate into the general shape of an insert (band saw, table saw), I spent some time filing and fitting, filing and fitting, filing and fitting. Eventually, I wound up with a blank plate (center, left). I also used my jig saw and drill press to size the finger hole, and finished it up with a roundover bit in my trim router.

http://www.woodbutcher.net/images/inserts1.jpg

A little layout time (to make sure they were located properly), and a trip to the drill press yielded the pilot holes for the adjusting set screws you can barely see here.

The insert at the top is the OEM insert which came with the saw. It still has its uses. At the bottom is one of the Baltic birch inserts I've made (I have probably a half dozen in inventory).

I'm sorry you're going to be disappointed that I don't have any live shots of the machining. Suffice to say there were several sessions at the router table.

http://www.woodbutcher.net/images/insert-1.jpg

The insert here is a piece of walnut. It just happened to be an already thicknessed piece at hand and I was in a hurry once I had the dovetail groove ready to get something in there. Eventually, I suspect I'll use a piece of maple, birch, or ash. To follow Norm, of course, I could make one of oak, but it doesn't really strike me as the appropriate zero clearance insert wood.

Incidentally, I agonized for some time over the angle to use for the dovetail. My first thought, naturally, was the traditional 14° used in the dovetailing jigs. Then I thought 45° would be better. Finally, not having a 45° bit, I opted for 14° and in retrospect, there shouldn't have been any question. It's just right.

Not quite so visible are the enlarged and tapped holes for the adjusting set screws. I'm so pleased. This thing sits in its place rock solid and with a satisfying heavy metallic "clunk" as it goes in.

Here is a view with the insert removed so you can see the machined substructure. With the exception of a plough cut with an 8" blade in the table saw to establish the initial groove, all of the machining was done on the router table.

http://www.woodbutcher.net/images/insert-4.jpg

The through openings in the plate are essentially the same as the OEM insert, so I may be able to fit inserts for miter cuts as well, although probably not for a full 45° angle. Still, I did make a BB insert for 45°, so I'm covered there.

The through openings will also accommodate the OEM splitter/guard and an aftermarket splitter, so long as I cut the insert at the back for clearance.

Incidentally, and completely off topic, I just HATE that I can't use HTML when posting here. What's up with that? This looked so much better with some layout as I applied it over at WoodCentral.

I have to do that, I use the factory DC the way my PM is set up and the throat on my plate is exactly as yours is- I will definitely do that today if I get the time- Very nice! :)
Brian

[Al Killian]

Yesterday was spent cutting up a chestnut tree into decent size peices( pics to come). Today I have to get pics of that and of the aspen and pine that has been air drying for about a month. Then if my back is still feeling good start cleaning the basement.

[Earl Reid]

WE had a very productive weekend. my sisters in law had a surprise BD dinner for my wife' 70th Bd in Middlefield. Later I visited john Hart , Hes busy back on the lathe. I turned a lot of pens also over the past week and will soon have 200 to send in. I ordered more kits from Berea. I have to take a break to finish some hi priority projects:rolleyes: (Christmas).
Earl:)

[Scott Hubl]

Is that an aluminum plate you used? I like that , if you could make a "HOW TO" out of this that would be awsome! I wanted one also , but not at the cost of them, plus I have a Craftsman 3/4 Cabinet Hybrid TS Middle one of the 3 so called "zip code saws" Added the Biese from its bigger brother tho. ( And now have an Incra TS III sitting by the way side should I ever decide to try that.

Do you think these could be made using the Blank phenolic inserts bought at a Rockler or Woodcraft for making your own ZCI's? I have 2 of those rectangles from Rockler in Blue waiting to be made ?

Thanks, and again Nice work on that.
Replacable Insert Throat Plate

I've been wanting one of these for a long time:

That's the insert with a replacable insert (what I call an oak insert insert) that Norm has had for some time. The guy that makes (made) them doesn't appear to be marketing them any longer and has the business up for sale.

I always thought they were a little pricey and longed to craft one of my own for some time. Can't be too hard, I thought, and it wasn't.

http://www.woodbutcher.net/images/normstools/oak-insert.jpg

The first thing you need is a source for ½" thick aluminum plate. I'm very fortunate to have an excellent scrap aluminum yard nearby and got some stock. I don't imagine I have to show you a plain old piece of aluminum plate, so I'll jump right to an interim shot.

After rough cutting the plate into the general shape of an insert (band saw, table saw), I spent some time filing and fitting, filing and fitting, filing and fitting. Eventually, I wound up with a blank plate (center, left). I also used my jig saw and drill press to size the finger hole, and finished it up with a roundover bit in my trim router.

http://www.woodbutcher.net/images/inserts1.jpg

A little layout time (to make sure they were located properly), and a trip to the drill press yielded the pilot holes for the adjusting set screws you can barely see here.

The insert at the top is the OEM insert which came with the saw. It still has its uses. At the bottom is one of the Baltic birch inserts I've made (I have probably a half dozen in inventory).

I'm sorry you're going to be disappointed that I don't have any live shots of the machining. Suffice to say there were several sessions at the router table.

http://www.woodbutcher.net/images/insert-1.jpg

The insert here is a piece of walnut. It just happened to be an already thicknessed piece at hand and I was in a hurry once I had the dovetail groove ready to get something in there. Eventually, I suspect I'll use a piece of maple, birch, or ash. To follow Norm, of course, I could make one of oak, but it doesn't really strike me as the appropriate zero clearance insert wood.

Incidentally, I agonized for some time over the angle to use for the dovetail. My first thought, naturally, was the traditional 14° used in the dovetailing jigs. Then I thought 45° would be better. Finally, not having a 45° bit, I opted for 14° and in retrospect, there shouldn't have been any question. It's just right.

Not quite so visible are the enlarged and tapped holes for the adjusting set screws. I'm so pleased. This thing sits in its place rock solid and with a satisfying heavy metallic "clunk" as it goes in.

Here is a view with the insert removed so you can see the machined substructure. With the exception of a plough cut with an 8" blade in the table saw to establish the initial groove, all of the machining was done on the router table.

http://www.woodbutcher.net/images/insert-4.jpg

The through openings in the plate are essentially the same as the OEM insert, so I may be able to fit inserts for miter cuts as well, although probably not for a full 45° angle. Still, I did make a BB insert for 45°, so I'm covered there.

The through openings will also accommodate the OEM splitter/guard and an aftermarket splitter, so long as I cut the insert at the back for clearance.

Incidentally, and completely off topic, I just HATE that I can't use HTML when posting here. What's up with that? This looked so much better with some layout as I applied it over at WoodCentral.

[Rod Peterson]

Is that an aluminum plate you used?

Yes. ½" aluminum plate.


I like that , if you could make a "HOW TO" out of this that would be awsome! I wanted one also , but not at the cost of them

I've been asked to make it into an article over at WoodCentral (I convert all the articles over there to HTML with the WC look-and-feel). I probably will and will include some additional information which has come to light as a result of my post there.


Do you think these could be made using the Blank phenolic inserts bought at a Rockler or Woodcraft for making your own ZCI's?

I don't know, mainly because it depends on the dimensions, both of your throat and of the inserts. My feeling always has been, from the first time I saw one of these, hey, we're a woodshop--we can make these inserts.


Nice work on that

Thanks for your interest.

[Scott Hubl]

Hi Rod,
Thanks for the quick reply. Yes my inserts are 1/2" thick.

What did you use to do your milling on the aluminum, a TS and regular router??? Blades, Bits?

I look forward to a complete "HOW-TO"

Meanwhile could you post a link to the woodcentral post, I'm having problems navigating there, My first time seeing that forum format. A PM with it will be fine if for some reason posting it here is against some rule.
Thanks very much.

Edit to Add- I found it over there.

[Norman Pyles]

Saturday tore out drywall, and smacked my thumb real hard with a hammer.:eek: Now my thumbnail is all blue, and very sore. Sunday took the day off.

[Tom Hoffman]

Christmas Presents!!

Making 1/4 sawn white oak picture frames around Arts and Crafts tiles from Motawi Tile Works.

[glenn bradley]

What with a co-worker's wedding and running halfway to Arizona to pick up LOML's daughter from a visit with friends, I was lucky to get almost done sealing some wall cleats. In my twisted (but unfailingly optimistic) mind I had visions of having the cleats mounted and half the shop back to normal over the three day weekend. Ahh well, it is a hobby and that leaves just that much more fun for me to have ;-)

[Bob Smalser]

Creeker's Weekend Accomplishments....

Before:

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/3297171/283647111.jpg

After:

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/3297171/287940260.jpg

;)

[Leland Berry]

I mostly mulled. Whether to build or buy my first lathe. So I scrounged
through my " Better-save-it-in-case-you-need it-someday" stash for any
STUFF that might be of use. Thus far I found 3 electric motors 1/2 - 1 1/2
HP, assorted sheaves, 2 pieces 1" keyed shaftx 12", 2-1" pillow blocks,
OK, thats the drive. 1 crankshaft from a 2-stage air compressor-lobes
180 degrees out, OK thats the elipitical head. 2 pc. 3" DOM steel tube.
2- 9ft pc ext. aluminum 80/20 frame. 1 10ft piece 2" angle--Shoot, I
had a lathe, didn't know it

[Leland Berry]

:rolleyes: I mostly mulled. Whether to build or buy my first lathe. So I scrounged
through my " Better-save-it-in-case-you-need it-someday" stash for any
STUFF that might be of use. Thus far I found 3 electric motors 1/2 - 1 1/2
HP, assorted sheaves, 2 pieces 1" keyed shaft x 12", 2-1" pillow blocks,
OK, thats the drive. 1 crankshaft from a 2-stage air compressor-lobes
180 degrees out, OK thats the elipitical head. 2 pc. 3" DOM steel tube.
2- 9ft pc ext. aluminum 80/20 frame. 1 10ft piece 2" angle--Shoot, I
had a lathe, didn't know it.

[Matt Tiernan]

Woke up Monday morning to find that my dog had a sprained hind leg. Took him a good hour to take his first steps. He was able to get around okay the rest of the day, but couldn't hop onto the couch to do one of his favorite things, which is to look out into the street through the front window. My wife and I also enjoy his company on the couch.

So, I got the bright idea to make him a step stool. A few hours later I came up from the basement to present him with his very own step stool to find that he had jumped onto the couch on his own to look out the front window. :rolleyes:

He does enjoy trying to chew on the stool though.