Kerry Burton
Member
- Messages
- 1,163
- Location
- Orem, Utah
I recently participated in the Family Woodworking 2019 Christmas Gift Exchange. To make the gift I had in mind, I needed to rip several thin strips from a regulation 2"x4"x12"-sized board that all participants were to start with. To keep the strips fairly consistent, I decided to make a hopefully-helpful jig ... something like others I had seen online:
The design is pretty straightforward, but I wanted to note a couple details. First, I did some grinding / sanding / polishing to remove the raised lettering from the end of the bolt at the "business end".
Second, I finally broke in the zero clearance insert that I bought for my table saw some time ago. This allowed me to set the extension of the jig's bolt by direct measurement against the edge of the cut in the insert.
NOTE: Because I made the bolt head "crowned" instead of flat, I have to remember to measure from the tip of the "crown". I wonder if there's a way to get the bolt head reliably flat instead? (Hmmm ... maybe mount an abrasive disc in the table saw?)
One more NOTE: After using the jig (and the workpiece) to position the fence, the jig should be removed before actually making the cut, to prevent binding of the workpiece between the jig and the fence.
After ripping the needed strips, I saw that they all had saw blade marks which needed to be removed. (So precision in this jig wasn't as important as I originally thought. Better to get the strips consistently "in the ballpark" and then take them down to final thickness afterwards...)
The wood I was milling had fairly figured grain, so I didn't want to risk smoothing the thin strips with my low-budget hand planes.This led me to (finally) make another tool that I'd had in mind for years: a Lathe-mounted Thickness Sander.
Here is an upside-down view of the table part, with an inset runner that registers between the ways of the lathe bed. I should have made the smaller piece of plywood an inch or so longer. (More on that later...)
Here is the table flipped upright and mounted/clamped to the lathe bed, with the to-be-assembled parts that adjust the angle of the table.
NOTE: I wish I had used two hinges instead of one. The previous photo gives some idea of the "play" that is allowed by the single hinge.
After screwing the adjustment rod through the threaded insert and placing the upper table support on the end of the rod...
... the upper board is pivoted into place, and the table is ready-to-go. The only "downer" is that the adjustment rod passes too close to the lathe motor housing. If I had made the lower piece of plywood an inch longer I could have had plenty of clearance.
Now for the drum!
Instead of trying to turn a piece of wood into a perfect cylinder on my lathe, I opted to start with a length of 1.5" plastic pipe and add wooden end caps. I wanted each drum to be self-contained (by not requiring a separate chuck to hold it in place) so I tapped the cap for the headstock end to fit the threads on the lathe spindle.
The blank that the opposite end cap was turned from wasn't thick enough to provide a "lip" to push against the plastic tube, so I ended up putting a screw through the duct tape / sandpaper / plastic tube and into the end cap.
I opted to insert a bearing in this end cap, which is held in place with a hand-turned dead center in the tailstock. In retrospect, it may have been better to just leave a hole for my usual live center to register in.
I considered a few different options for the sanding material, but my box of sanding strips from Woodcraft was the perfect choice. I don't plan to make drums with paper higher than 320 grit; I may even stop at 240 grit and call it good. For the gift I was making I used 150 grit paper in the thickness sander and then "hand" sanded up to 320 grit.
This unit is by no means "industrial" in nature, but it worked well enough to get me through my project. Whew!
The design is pretty straightforward, but I wanted to note a couple details. First, I did some grinding / sanding / polishing to remove the raised lettering from the end of the bolt at the "business end".
Second, I finally broke in the zero clearance insert that I bought for my table saw some time ago. This allowed me to set the extension of the jig's bolt by direct measurement against the edge of the cut in the insert.
NOTE: Because I made the bolt head "crowned" instead of flat, I have to remember to measure from the tip of the "crown". I wonder if there's a way to get the bolt head reliably flat instead? (Hmmm ... maybe mount an abrasive disc in the table saw?)
One more NOTE: After using the jig (and the workpiece) to position the fence, the jig should be removed before actually making the cut, to prevent binding of the workpiece between the jig and the fence.
After ripping the needed strips, I saw that they all had saw blade marks which needed to be removed. (So precision in this jig wasn't as important as I originally thought. Better to get the strips consistently "in the ballpark" and then take them down to final thickness afterwards...)
The wood I was milling had fairly figured grain, so I didn't want to risk smoothing the thin strips with my low-budget hand planes.This led me to (finally) make another tool that I'd had in mind for years: a Lathe-mounted Thickness Sander.
Here is an upside-down view of the table part, with an inset runner that registers between the ways of the lathe bed. I should have made the smaller piece of plywood an inch or so longer. (More on that later...)
Here is the table flipped upright and mounted/clamped to the lathe bed, with the to-be-assembled parts that adjust the angle of the table.
NOTE: I wish I had used two hinges instead of one. The previous photo gives some idea of the "play" that is allowed by the single hinge.
After screwing the adjustment rod through the threaded insert and placing the upper table support on the end of the rod...
... the upper board is pivoted into place, and the table is ready-to-go. The only "downer" is that the adjustment rod passes too close to the lathe motor housing. If I had made the lower piece of plywood an inch longer I could have had plenty of clearance.
Now for the drum!
Instead of trying to turn a piece of wood into a perfect cylinder on my lathe, I opted to start with a length of 1.5" plastic pipe and add wooden end caps. I wanted each drum to be self-contained (by not requiring a separate chuck to hold it in place) so I tapped the cap for the headstock end to fit the threads on the lathe spindle.
The blank that the opposite end cap was turned from wasn't thick enough to provide a "lip" to push against the plastic tube, so I ended up putting a screw through the duct tape / sandpaper / plastic tube and into the end cap.
I opted to insert a bearing in this end cap, which is held in place with a hand-turned dead center in the tailstock. In retrospect, it may have been better to just leave a hole for my usual live center to register in.
I considered a few different options for the sanding material, but my box of sanding strips from Woodcraft was the perfect choice. I don't plan to make drums with paper higher than 320 grit; I may even stop at 240 grit and call it good. For the gift I was making I used 150 grit paper in the thickness sander and then "hand" sanded up to 320 grit.
This unit is by no means "industrial" in nature, but it worked well enough to get me through my project. Whew!
