Another Quick Christmas Idea from Scraps

glenn bradley

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Remember that goofy swing-down storage doo-dad I made for long skinny pieces of scrap? Well I dug some of that stuff out and milled it to dimension:

trivet (1).jpg

Fingered a bunch of it:

trivet (2).jpg

Trivets:

trivet (3).jpg

Use similar species, mix species or laminate thinner stock for a real contrast if you like:

trivet (4).jpg

I plan to give them in sets of four for table use. If you made them smaller they could be time-consuming coasters :D.
 
Annnnd not quite as easy as Glenn makes it look. :(

I just popped down to my shop to try it out and ran into a problem... my woodgears box jig let me down! The woodgears jig has a gap between the sled and the sliding box, so it is not trivial to use it with a piece flat on the table. As well it is really set to clamp things to the back, not down on the table. I macgyvered something and I'm not proud of the results -- slipped a bit and got some crooked bits. I'll have to give this some thought and try again!!
 
Don't blame the jig. The I-Box is also designed for edge treatments so I McGuyver'd a hold down. After several pairs of sticks, I added the padding. I have prepared some stock that will lie flat but will only be about 2-1/2" wide. I will try this tomorrow with the intent of then ripping the strips off on the tablesaw. Maybe this will help others with their McGuyver-ing ;-)

Trivet (5).jpg . Trivet (6).jpg

I had originally considered fingering an edge as the jig is designed to do, rip off a strip, finger an edge, rip off a strip . . . then I remembered I only have one tablesaw and the swapping back and forth would send my sense of humor wandering ;-(
 
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Glenn, from what i saw in iBox specs was the widest wood one can cut is 1.5" . So doing 2+ inchs is not on unless you going to try without the guard.

I notice in one image that you seem to have changed the knobs on the front guard of your iBox. That looks like a good idea given getting purchase on the tiny thumb knobs supplied is well .......tough.
However...I want to alert you to an experience of mine and caution all about placing too much torque on a hold down like this.

On my first router table i used T track to hold down and secure my fence.
I used the rockler cam lever type device to secure the fence in position.
The way this works is a hex bolt is used that is sized to fit into the T track so as to prevent the head from rotating.

But...this bolt is steel. Its securing itself against anodized aluminum. So what happened over time was it bit in to the T track. This began to have the effect that loosening and then tightening the fence just a little away from the previous position became a pointless as the bolt would not hold.

On the IBox while assembling mine I noticed that they too are using bolts with hex heads in their custom extrusion for the front and rear rails.

I think its important we keep in mind their intention with regards to the purpose. The two blocks of machined mdf are intended as blade guards and in the case of the front one a positioner related to thickness of material being used.
If we begin to try use this guard as a material hold down and put too much torque on those front bolts, I am almost certain that this will damage the ability of this guard to stay in place and serve its purpose.

I think its important to stress as you have done with the "hold down block"
that material being cut needs to be clamped in an alternative manner, Incra shows the use of a wood clamp secured over the jig front to back clamping material against the fence. The fence being the reference edge.

Sorry for the hijack here, despite my diatribe above, i am going to upgrade my knobs but will treat them with caution and only lightly tighten.

I can easily see Incra coming out in future with further improved versions as they get customer feedback.

Thought i had upon seeing your Xmas idea was it would be handy to have a t track slot on the top, something that would allow anchoring of a clamp down that could dulfill the purpose of your block but that would be easily operable something like those toggle clamps you always using.
I guess we could pop rivet a T track to the top of the iBox. Just would have to ensure it does not interfere with contents where the fancy screw adjuster is.


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I made a bunch of trivets like this one year for Christmas gifts. I used quartersawn oak and thought that they looked great when I was done.

What I didn't foresee was that if they were used with metal pans particularly iron pans the wood would react and turn black and after a couple of years all of my trivets looked terrible. I tried sanding the stains off but the color was too deep.

I think using the walnut or other dark wood is a better idea. Nice job, Glenn!
 
For items like these prior to assembly if you ship me a piece I would be glad to engrave something for NO charge. Just include enough for return postage.

I can easily engrave text or images.
 
Generous offer Pete :thumb:

I can't see what Rob is seeing regarding the knobs. They look the same as mine I think ??????
I don't see a problem with the steel bolts and aluminum track. I only crank things down snug enough so they don't move. Not so tight that they dig into the track. Something to watch out for though.
 
i am going to upgrade my knobs but will treat them with caution and only lightly tighten.

Agree. That is why I changed the knobs; they allow me to tighten more specifically than the little ones ;-)

What I didn't foresee was that if they were used with metal pans particularly iron pans the wood would react and turn black and after a couple of years all of my trivets looked terrible.

Oak can be a fickle beast.

For items like these prior to assembly if you ship me a piece I would be glad to engrave something for NO charge. Just include enough for return postage.

I can easily engrave text or images.

What a generous offer Pete. Thanks so much!
 
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