Another Compass Rose Tutorial

[Mike Henderson]

Some time back, I did a tutorial on how to make a veneer compass rose. After that tutorial, some people contacted me and pointed out that the rose required a special 22.5 degree template, which many people might not have.

To remedy that, I just completed another tutorial (http://www.mikes-woodwork.com/CompassRose.htm) for a compass rose that only requires a 45 degree triangle.

I hope it will be of value to you.

Mike

[Johnny Kleso]

Thanks Mike...

[Guy Germaine]

Excellent Mike!
How are you at inlaying other "shapes"? Such as Dogs?

[Mike Henderson]

Excellent Mike!
How are you at inlaying other "shapes"? Such as Dogs?
I have zero artistic talent, Guy, so I stick to geometric shapes. And while you could inlay this rose, I mostly do veneer work, which means veneer completely over the surface. I've only done a small amount of inlay work and don't consider myself very good at it.

Thanks for your comments.

Mike

[Guy Germaine]

"I have zero artistic talent"
Welcome to the crowd!! :D

In looking at the tutorial, I noticed the one example that had the fan in it. Do you happen to have a tutorial on making the sand-shaded fan?

[Mike Henderson]

"I have zero artistic talent"
Welcome to the crowd!! :D

In looking at the tutorial, I noticed the one example that had the fan in it. Do you happen to have a tutorial on making the sand-shaded fan?
Not yet but I do plan to do one. I'll post here when I do.

There's actually a bunch of possibilities for decorative fans and I want to demonstrate several of them.

Mike

[Mike Henderson]

"I have zero artistic talent"
Welcome to the crowd!! :D

In looking at the tutorial, I noticed the one example that had the fan in it. Do you happen to have a tutorial on making the sand-shaded fan?
I'm getting old and my mind is going. I forgot I did a tutorial on the sand shaded fan a while back - it's in PDF format. I put it on my web site today. You can access it here (http://www.mikes-woodwork.com/Papers/Making%20a%20Veneer%20Sand%20Shaded%20Fan.pdf).

Mike

[Guy Germaine]

Thanks Mike.
They always say that the memory is the second thing to go. I don't remember what the first one was! :rolleyes:

[Mike Henderson]

Some people had asked me how to inset the compass rose into the field veneer. I added that to my tutorial (separate web page), which you can see here (http://www.mikes-woodwork.com/CompassRose-3.htm).

I hope it makes sense. If you have any questions or suggestions, please post or send me a note.

Mike

[Jim W. White]

Mike,

Your tutorials are awesome!! I built a vacum press last winter but have yet to really dive into the veneering yet. Maybe I should take a class like you did?

Your tutorials are inspiring and your claim to "no artistic talent" is absurd.

Thanks again for taking the time to share you learnings,

Jim in Idaho

[Michael Hammers]

Mike, your work is always so inspiring. Beautiful work!

[Mark Stutz]

Great tutorial, Mike. Definitely on my "to do" list. A couple of "idiot" questions. Is the cutting board any particluar material, or just a piece of plywood? Is there a functional difference between the perforated veneer tape and the solid? or just what you had on hand? Have you ever tried a #11 blade in place of the marking knife?

Mark

[Dewey Torres]

Thanks Mike...
Up to par w/ you work as usual.:)

[Mike Henderson]

Great tutorial, Mike. Definitely on my "to do" list. A couple of "idiot" questions. Is the cutting board any particluar material, or just a piece of plywood? Is there a functional difference between the perforated veneer tape and the solid? or just what you had on hand? Have you ever tried a #11 blade in place of the marking knife?

Mark
Thanks, Mark, for your note. The cutting board is just any board that works for you. The one in the picture is some 3/4" baltic birch. MDF does not work well because it cuts up too much - too quickly. Tempered hardboard works a bit better than MDF.

There's no "functional" difference between perforated tape and solid tape. But the tape you see in that tutorial is different. The solid tape is very thin - the perforated tape is a bit thicker (I think the solid tape is 30 or maybe 34 gram tape - the perforated tape is 40 gram tape). The reason for the very thin tape is so you can overlap it more times without the layered tape getting too thick (mainly used for marquetry). If you get it too thick, when you press the veneer, the press is held "up" but the mass of veneer tape and places where there's no veneer tape doesn't get pressed - and therefore might not glue down properly. I started using sheet cork when I press to help overcome that. On my torsion boxes, I've glued the sheet cork on each pressing face.

Between the two, I prefer the thicker tape. It's just easier to handle and I think it does a better job. The rule on the thicker tape is to not go over four layers thick. My guess is that you could do six layers of the thinner tape. Also, the thin tape is so thin that the glue comes through the paper so when I press it to dry, I often get the tape stuck to the MDF I'm using to hold it flat while it's drying - that doesn't happen with the thicker tape.

BTW, veneer tape is designed to shrink when it dries so it will pull the seams together. This can cause problems when putting a whole lot of tape on the veneer - like I did to glue the rose in - so it's best to put the veneer between two pieces of MDF and clamp it as it dries. I've used veneer tape and not done that and had seams where one side rode up over the other after the tape dried and shrunk. Then you have to press it (I mist it before pressing) to flatten it again, then use a veneer roller to get the two pieces side by side again.

When you mention a #11 blade are you referring to a scalpel blade? I've tried using a scalpel but the blade is not as secure in the handle as I'd like. With the marking knife I can push as hard as I want and I know everything will stay in place. I've had scalpel blades break on me when I pushed too hard, especially if I let the scalpel handle go "sidewards" on me. I suppose if I used them all the time, I'd learn what the limits are and they would be okay but I'm happy with the marking knives.

I have a friend who uses a scalpel all the time to cut veneer. He prefers a #10 (curved) blade to a #11 (pointed) blade but does use a #11 for certain things. It's easy to "touch up" a #10 blade on a stone during use.

The advantage of a scalpel is you can get a fresh, sharp blade any time and they're fairly cheap on eBay.

I realize you didn't ask for this epistle, so I apologize for its length. It's fairly easy to get me going.

Mike

[Mark Stutz]

Thanks, Mike. Don't worry about getting"long winded":D...your enthusiam and excitement about teaching this craft shows. Keep up the good work.

Mark

[Brett Baldwin]

Excellent tutorial Mike. Thanks for the effort of putting it together. Also, your gallery of work on your site is very impressive. I like your modifications to the craftsman style.