raft of stupid questions!

Bill Lantry

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Inside the Beltway
Hey, folks,

HELP! I'm adrift, and being swallowed into the whirlpool! ;) If I make one more bowl, I'm going to end up 20,000 leagues under the sea, Doorlink will make sure of that! ;)

To charm her into acquiescence, I need to make cathedral cabinet doors for her kitchen. I tried making a template for one, but it wasn't good enough, so it looks like I'll be ordering some. Do you have a preferred vendor for this kind of thing? I know woodcraft and rocklersell them for around 60 bucks, but I'd rather throw money to a small vendor, if they have good stuff. Any ideas?

Also, I clearly need a drill chuck for the tailstock of the lathe. It takes an MT2. Someone said to get a jacobs chuck, but it turns out that's a company, not a standard. Any thoughts on where to get one? CHEAP? ;)

Last... my son's graduating from college with a degree in music. I ordered a guitar kit. It's arrived. I can figure out how to assemble it, no prob. But the first step is finishing the body. Now, I usually use a mix of 1/3 each BLO, poly, and Naptha. Lately, I've been using shellac on spinny things, with an overlay of bowling alley wax. Not sure either would work very well on a guitar base. Please, please send advice on a good (and fast... he graduates next week) finish which will preserve the incredible beauty of the quilted maple!

Thanks,

Bill
 
First question, I don't have any suggestions.

Second question, I like The Little Machine Shop. Good prices. They've got drill chucks like you want on this page.

Third question, I'm guessing it's a solid body electric guitar. Shellac would not be a good finish at all for a guitar. The poly/BLO mix might be OK, but personally, I'd use lacquer. Lots of layers and lots of hand rubbing. More importantly, I wouldn't try to do a rush job on it. This guitar will have a lot of meaning to your son for a lot of years, so it'd be a shame to do a quickie job on it. Gift wrap a guitar pick and tell your son the guitar that goes with it will be done soon. ;)
 
Jacobs chuck

Bill, you should be able to walk into Woodcraft or any place that sells lathes and accessories and get a Jacobs chuck. It's a chuck that is similar to a drill chuck - uses a chuck key to tighten the bit or mandrel in it. They'll be available through Craft Supplies - http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/ and I know they are available at Woodworker's Supply, as that's where LOML got mine.

Nancy
 
Always made my own doors. Never bought any from a vendor, so can't recommend. [ I have 71 oak doors I'm trying to get done now]

But------------Jim Hagar, a member here, builds doors on the weekends after teaching school. Maybe pm him.

I bought my lathe chuck from Pennstate.

No help on the guitar finish :huh:
 
Vaughn,

Thanks for the link. Sadly, not finishing on time is NOT an option. What you say makes perfect sense, but I just need to find the best available means given that limitation. The wood is gorgeous, if I can preserve the chatoyance...

Nancy, in a rational world, I *could* walk into any woodcraft and find one. But this is not a rational world, this is DC, and they ain't got one in the local woodcraft. ;) I'll try your vendor.

Steve, I don't want the doors, just the templates. I'm wondering, though, if any bought template will match the existing doors, Maybe I'll have to do a lot of trial and error in sycamore before breaking out the wormy red maple... :(

Clark, I would dearly love to knock my trashy drill press apart, but I just know that as soon as I did that, I'd need to drill *one* durned hole in something! ;)

I was under the perhaps mistaken impression we had some woodworking supply vendors here. I'd be nice to keep my business inside the family... ;)

Thanks,

Bill
 
Ok. I thought you were talking doors :eek:

I have four different styles of arched templates.
Send me a sketch, and your door width.
If I have what you need, I can trace one on paper and send it to you.
Steve
 
I purchased (and successfully used:D ) a set of arched templates from MLCS -- not exactly a mom and pop type store, but if I recall correctly, competively priced. The first thing I did though was to make a duplicate set of templates out out 1/4 masonite.
 
Bill,

Have you already bought/ordered your Jacobs chuck with the #2 Morse Taper? If not, are you looking for a regular "keyed" chuck or a "keyless" one?

About a year ago I replaced the 3/8" keyed chuck (that happened to come with my used Shopsmith) with a 1/2" keyless chuck. It made quite a difference in convenience and capacity as well as "heft" on my Delta midi lathe. :thumb:

JacobsChucks_KeyedVsKeyless.gif


If you're interested in that kind of chuck, here are a few links I scrounged up:

  1. Ebay: 3/4" chuck, choose your shank taper, "Buy It Now" price of $24.90 + shipping + $2
  2. Duplicate of item 1 from the same seller, for $.05 more
  3. Ebay: 1/2" keyless chuck with MT2 drawbar (hollow, threaded) arbor : Buy It Now price of $32 + $8.95 shipping
  4. Duplicate of item 3 from the same seller

You asked for a cheap source ... those are about the cheapest I could find. Compare with the Craft Supplies USA offering at $54.99 + shipping. :(

BTW ... my chuck came with a hollow, threaded arbor already attached. I don't have any experience with a "choose your own arbor" setup like in those first 2 auctions.

PS: If it's a no-no to mention Ebay auctions on the forum, please forgive me; I'm new here!

[LATER] Correction: They're BOTH 1/2" chucks ... I just checked. Here's a different comparison picture I took at the same time:

A520_0020_JacobsChucks_KeyedVsKeyless.jpg
 
Last edited:
...PS: If it's a no-no to mention Ebay auctions on the forum, please forgive me; I'm new here!
Since you're not the only new one here, it bears repeating...eBay and other auction links are allowed here. It's the open sharing of information, helping someone else out. If we see someone posting links only to pump up their own sales, then we'll have a talk with 'em, but other than that, no problem. ;) Everybody should know that links like that can go dead eventually, but dead links are part of life on the Internet.

BTW, I like the animated before and after pics of your chuck. I'll have to keep that trick in mind. It'd be fun to do with a woodworking project. Log...roughout...bowl. Or something similar. :)
 
Bill you didn't say but reading your post I thought it must be an acoustic guitar. Vaughn thought otherwise but... If it is an acoustic guitar I would be careful what you finish it with as I would think certain finishes can affect the tonal quality of the wood.
 
"I have four different styles of arched templates.
Send me a sketch, and your door width.
If I have what you need, I can trace one on paper and send it to you."

Steve,

Wow! That would be very cool... thanks for the offer. I've taken pictures of the doors I need to match, and the cabinets they're going onto:

http://faculty.cua.edu/lantry/templatepics/index.htm

Don't laugh at the cabinets, they were the first ones I made... ;) Don't know many people whose first cabinet is 8' tall and 3' wide, made to hold a double oven! Guess that just confirms I'm crazy... ;)

Looks like one is 36" wide, and the other 34"... I need to make double doors on each one... any template help would be *greatly* appreciated...

Thanks,

Bill
 
"I have four different styles of arched templates.
Send me a sketch, and your door width.
If I have what you need, I can trace one on paper and send it to you."

Steve,

Wow! That would be very cool... thanks for the offer. I've taken pictures of the doors I need to match, and the cabinets they're going onto:

http://faculty.cua.edu/lantry/templatepics/index.htm

Don't laugh at the cabinets, they were the first ones I made... ;) Don't know many people whose first cabinet is 8' tall and 3' wide, made to hold a double oven! Guess that just confirms I'm crazy... ;)

Looks like one is 36" wide, and the other 34"... I need to make double doors on each one... any template help would be *greatly* appreciated...

Thanks,

Bill


OK. You have the standard cathedral.

36 and 34 is your cabinet opening size?
Or your double door total width with hinge overlay?

If double door width, with overlay included,
you will need a template for [36] an 18" door, and a [34] 17" door.
Correct?
 
OK. You have the standard cathedral.

36 and 34 is your cabinet opening size?
Or your double door total width with hinge overlay?

If double door width, with overlay included,
you will need a template for [36] an 18" door, and a [34] 17" door.
Correct?

Steve,

Sorry, mistyped. One is indeed 36", the other is 32". There's 1/4 inch of "loss" on each side, so for the 36" opening, I need to make two 17 3/4" doors. does that make sense? For the other opening, then, I need to make two 15 3/4" doors...

Thanks,

Bill
 
Steve,

Sorry, mistyped. One is indeed 36", the other is 32". There's 1/4 inch of "loss" on each side, so for the 36" opening, I need to make two 17 3/4" doors. does that make sense? For the other opening, then, I need to make two 15 3/4" doors...

Thanks,

Bill


Yes. Gotcha. I will get them traced off for you Bill.
Pm, email me your address.
Steve
 
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