off topic winter projects

nice work Pete

Dave,
I found the Jatoba to be hard on tools. It was very difficult to maintain a decent edge on my HSS turning tools and the reason I mentioned I was constantly at the grinder!! For a B day gift, the wife and kids gave me a carbide insert turning tool from Rockler. It turned out to be a absolute joke. Someone didn't do their research and testing. The rake angle on the insert was so steep that it was impossible to control. It would grab any of the wood species I tried it on. Interestingly, all the write in reviews in Rocklers web site sited the same problem. Including mine, I believe there we 7. 6 people including myself sent the tool back for refunds! I can't stand Rockler anyway!!   

If you are having problems with Maple, it too is tough on blades. Even a brand new or freshly sharpened carbide blade will have a tendency to burn Maple. I suggest a Freud LM72 rip for ripping and maintain a constant feed rate. I know you're not doing a lot of Maple ripping but anyone who does, utilizes a stock feeder. Also, when was the last time you gave your table saw a tune up?

For your crosscuts in the miter saw, go for a Freud LU85 cutoff.

I've found the Freud's to be better than any other blades.

Hollywood wrote: 8122pbrainard wrote: I did find one about 30 miles from Steve W. but I'll have to work on the logistics! It won't fit in the back end of my Suburban and I don't think Steve has a pickup without a cap on the tail end! The late 90s Chevy with the v-plow he just posted in your SNOW thread did not have a topper on it. Also, I don't remember his K10 having one either. That lathe looks outstanding.

Just saw this post for the first time this morning...nice lathe Pete! btw, probably too late, but HW is correct my 72 has no topper, my 97 plow truck has a tonneau cover that can be taken off in a couple minutes. Only the 96 has the "old man kit" on the back!

With that lathe sitting in my shop, I couldn't resist getting back into some wood turning. I went shopping for cheap bowl blanks and found plenty of weird and exotics are available on ebay but they are green blanks. Never having turned green wood before, I gave it a try. Some good and bad!!! You need to rough turn first then dry the blanks. Ether you wait a year or more for the drying or you put them in the microwave. I chose the latter and had mixed results. Lets just say it was a experiment!! Well anyway, I was out in the shop doing some turning when my daughter came out, saw what was going on and told me again what she want's for a wedding gift..... A salad 8 bowl/serving bowl set. Well, considering the time involved I should have just gone out and bought a set!!     Still, not hand made and personal so I took my daughter over to my hardwood lumber yard to look at woods. We both wanted something out of the normal domestics and toward the exotics but luckily for me, she did look at the prices. She decided on Jatoba which here is sometimes referred to as Brazilian Cherry. It's probably the least expensive of the imports comparing in BF cost to our domestics. The only issue is it is HARD and the only resemblance to Cherry is the color!! On the janka hardness scale, Ipe is first, then Ebony and 3rd is the Jatoba. With HSS tooling, I was constantly over at the grinder sharpening!!! (I need one of those fancy $500.00 sets of lathe tools from England correct Roger?)




Matching wood forks:

The serving bowl:

Now for my confession.
My old high school electronics teacher used to let everyone build their own projects and then towards the end of the semester, he would have what he referred to as his “smoke test”. All the students would power up their projects and if it didn’t smoke, they would get a passing grade on the project! Well, what I haven’t mentioned is the first VFD I used on the lathe, didn’t pass the smoke test. In fact, it not only smoked, it also produced lots of sparks plus popped the breaker. What happened was with the power terminal strip being located on the bottom of the drive, I couldn’t see the terminal markings. Instead of getting a mirror, I went by the owner’s manual counting terminals from left to right. In the manual, there wasn’t a true diagram ID’ing the terminals but what I would call almost a sketch. If anyone has ever had the “pleasure” of dealing with a Chinese tech document, you’ll know what I mean!! I ended up crossing one of the L1 (a power in terminal) with a T2 (terminal out to motor). That VFD sure didn’t like it! Lesson learned – Use a mirror Pete

Now it’s on to using the lathe which I haven’t done since college. I’ve got some chucks of left over maple so I think I’ll turn a simple plate for my wife!

BTW, the second VFD works great!

8122pbrainard wrote: I did find one about 30 miles from Steve W. but I'll have to work on the logistics! It won't fit in the back end of my Suburban and I don't think Steve has a pickup without a cap on the tail end!

The late 90s Chevy with the v-plow he just posted in your SNOW thread did not have a topper on it. Also, I don't remember his K10 having one either.

That lathe looks outstanding.

John
About 20 years ago a 7 or 8 acre parcel came up for sale just across from my driveway, I contacted the realtor and got the legal description and walked it off it was all wooded and cheap. Well I dithered and delayed and several months later someone else got it for the price of a halfway decent used car. I have kicked myself ever since.

No doubt!   One thing about "land", they quit making it a long time ago.
Well, except for the Arabs.


Nice lathe, Pete.

If you live on a lake and you can by land abutting you now for cheap, buy it! before someone else does.

8122pbrainard wrote: harddock wrote: What amazes me is that that perfect shop looks like any now that you've moved in! Kevin, The picture was taken in my garage here at home. I'm still working out of it and won't have the complete luxury of the new shop up north until I retire. I will certainly enjoy it with the dust collector - and won't have to put up with Eric's sawdust comments!!

As I've watched the thread on the garages/shops, I've always thought that it must drive you crazy to have such an awesome shop developing, but not be able to use it. I have a similar situation at our lake, where there's five acres across the street from me (REALLY cheap) that would be perfect to build a shop, but I can't stand the thought of it sitting there for years on end without me being able to use it. I'm not as close to retirement as you. Hurry up and enjoy that thing.

Pete, I got bit with the sht to, it starts as soon as i get up in the morning, I have to carefully remove a coffee cup from the cabinet not allowing it to touch another one, same with the creamer, as the day wears on, i have to blink my eyes as each car passes on the freeway...just a touch of it though. lol

Pete,
Is that the same air compressor you loaned to me back in 1987??

8122pbrainard wrote:    I'm still working out of it and won't have the complete luxury of the new shop up north until I retire.

Now I understand why your wife went along with such an extordinary shop. She wants you to have a place to go!

What amazes me is that that perfect shop looks like any now that you've moved in!

BuffaloBFN wrote: The plastic feather boards worry me more.

Greg,
I missed this post. I must have been busy answering Peter's!!

Yes, PLASTIC!!! It does sort of rub me the wrong way!! But, I've made plenty of wood ones and they just never seem to work like the purchased. Plus, you do need some time to make a decent wood one and start with some real clear good material. Then, there's the clamping or fumbling with C clamps!!

What you're looking at is the router lift (Bench Dog) that I installed in my table saw extension. "T" slots in the table and fence make the purchased boards easy. I even added "T" slots to my Unifence on the cabinet saw! I've got a couple of the boards that fit into the 3/4" miter slots.

I'll never make another wood feather board!