Free plans flat and spinney stuff

Darren Wright

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I came across this site tonight, thought it was worth a share. Saw several projects I'm going to consider making.
http://www.craftsmanspace.com/

I want to give these scoops a try...
http://www.craftsmanspace.com/free-projects/wooden-scoop-plans.html

Some easel and art equipment plans also...
http://www.craftsmanspace.com/free-projects/free-art-and-craft-equipment-plans.html

There's also some free patterns for the scroll saw and sign makers here...
http://www.craftsmanspace.com/free-patterns/sign-and-sign-end-patterns.html
 
Neat site, thanks for the link. They even have a spinning wheel plan (nice little castle wheel) :eek:

Go for it on the scoops, they aren't that hard and are pretty popular around the family. Most of mine look like something between 2 and 3, although I haven't over analyzed the shape and dimensions nearly as far as those folks have, mostly just turn something that looks about right and roll with it.

The way I do them is:

  • Turn a piece to round and put a chuck jaw sized tennon on the handle side.
  • Chuck it up the handle side and take a quick "cleanup" cut to make sure its still round relative to the lathe.
  • Come in and remove the bulk of the wood inside the scoop part with a forstner bit. I usually aim for a wall thickness of a bit over 1/8" so if you're blank is turned to a bit over 1/4" wider than the size of your drill bit its just that easy. If you're doing a big one you may have to step up through the bits or even take a few finish passes to take the last of the wall off (drilling is the way to go if you can though!)
  • Clean up the bottom of the hole and give it a little rounded sweep with your weapon of choice, a half round scraper is relatively safe choice - a flat top box rest makes it a lot easier to get all the way to the bottom without it going to bouncy bounce cause you can stick the whole thing right up inside there.
  • Now shape the back side and handle of the piece, I don't bother unchucking it but you could I suppose. If you can pull up the tailstock for a little extra support that's nice as well (you might need to pre-turn a cone to shove in there for the tail center to get ahold of if you're making a real big scoop). I don't cut off the top yet because I like the tailstock support here.
  • Don't part off the handle yet!! Leave enough support and the back end of it to do the next part.
  • Sand everything real good now while its still round! This is a lot easier than later once you've cut the scoop top off. Sanding the inside can be challenging, but imho its still generally better to get it as good as you can there now as well.
  • You can apply the first pass at finish here if you're doing a friction polish or a simple wax on/wax off finish (I usually wet sand with walnut oil, turn up the speed and rub with some shavings to get some heat which partially cures the oil and then apply 2-3 coats of wax for simple ware like this - others do different finishes which is fine to).
  • Cut the top of the scoop with a coping saw - there isn't much wood and if you pre-mark the lines its easy enough to get pretty close.
  • Clean up the cut top with rasps, files, sandpaper (I use the iwasaki carving files in sort of a half "draw file" mode - fast and clean).
  • Part the piece of at the handle end
  • clean up the nub and apply finish to the newly cut parts or all of it if you didn't before.

I'd post a pic but its been a while since I made any and my mom done took them all!! :wave:
 
Thanks for writing up the simple step-by-step on the scoops, Ryan. I've never made a scoop, but your method sounds like pretty much how I'd go about it, too. I saw the detailed plans (er...engineering drawings) and thought "Really? Someone is gonna turn something and actually measure radiuses? Really?" :rolleyes: :D
 
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