What are you working on currently?

G-Man wrote: »

What ply is it and what way is the front edging done.. Cut and route or sand or what.

Would like to do, but would surely end up with it chipped. sd

18mm Birch plywood, I didn't edge band it-just sanded it and broke the sharp edges with sandpaper as well. I made a jig from scraps and routed an 18mm wide x 89mm deep rebate, glued & clamped the shelves in. Screws & glue for the top and bottom shelves, the plinth is just four pieces of ply glued & screwed as well.

Sparks

Tried a larger (6") bowl blank for the first time (I think this one was chestnut) and also staining and gilt cream.

It didn't go so well. Jumped off the lathe at my face. Dissuaded me from doing it right. But the bowl sat on the kitchen table mocking me until I put it back on the lathe and did it right the second time.

Chestnut (I think?), stained black, sealed, gilt creamed (copper), and polished with yorkshire grit before a coat of button shellac.

I'm still quietly working away on the loft bed I've been at for months. Something this big takes forever when you can only give a few hours a week. Nearly done however, I made the ship style ladder today. A few dowels to flush cut before work tomorrow morning, then sanding and finishing over a few evenings this week and the woodwork for the bed will be done.

awec

chillyspoon wrote: »

I'm still quietly working away on the loft bed I've been at for months. Something this big takes forever when you can only give a few hours a week. Nearly done however, I made the ship style ladder today. A few dowels to flush cut before work tomorrow morning, then sanding and finishing over a few evenings this week and the woodwork for the bed will be done.

Looks like a great job!

Is that the parkside drill press that was in lidl last week?

awec wrote: »

Looks like a great job!

Is that the parkside drill press that was in lidl last week?

Thanks - yeah it's a Parkside but I've no idea if it's the same one they had in recently to be honest. I got that one in late 2016, it's a PTMB 500 C3 (Grizzly Tools) and like all Parkside tools it's very much a compromised budget piece of kit.

The amount of runout on the arbor is massive so it's terrible where any level of accuracy is required but is grand for banging out DIY stuff where exact positioning is negotiable

(there is an adjustment screw hidden beneath the safety off switch but its impact is limited and impacts the usability if you try to dial it in too much)

Calahonda52

I have the Parkside drill press, its only 500 watts, so is way under powered.
It struggles with auger bits and hole saws

CelticRambler

Thanks, both of you for drawing a line under a "should I ...?" doubt that's plagued me for about two months! There was one of these in the clearance bin at the Lidl around the corner from where I work, unpriced. Unfortunately, it had just been dumped there by someone and hadn't been reduced so I left it. A few weeks later, I impulse purchased one of their drill stands instead which had been reduced (to 16€) got it home, put it into use and after struggling with its many design flaws wondered if I should have stumped up for the "proper" equipment instead.

In the end, once I'd carried out some modifications and bolted it to a Workmate, it did accurately allow me to drill the 200 or so holes needed for the project - but the niggle persisted ... until now!

Built a chest of drawers to match some lockers I did a while ago:

The finished set

I had a few decent off-cuts form both builds above, so I made a small table for using a laptop while seated on a recliner:

The legs are made from 2 x 20mm thick boards laminated together and squared off with the track saw, chamfer router bit used on the corners.

I just screwed the legs in place, then friction fitted two small pieces to keep the legs from wobbling; this worked well, and I can disassemble if not needed.

glynf wrote: »

I had a few decent off-cuts form both builds above, so I made a small table for using a laptop while seated on a recliner

More lovely work; wow you're cranking them out at the moment, lovely stuff!!

chillyspoon wrote: »

More lovely work; wow you're cranking them out at the moment, lovely stuff!!

Cheers, plenty of time to at the minute... takes nearly as much effort to get the materials

mayo.mick

glynf wrote: »

Cheers, plenty of time to at the minute... takes nearly as much effort to get the materials

Jesus, trying to get a few bits from the local hardware this morning, was like trying to get into the local on a good friday!! Forgot a few bits and I'll have to wait til tomorrow:(

glynf wrote: »

I had a few decent off-cuts form both builds above, so I made a small table for using a laptop while seated on a recliner:

Great work Glyn! The grain in that wood is lovely. Can't wait to get back to some form of woodworking when I can get my hands on some nice hardwood.

Have you ever worked with Ash? I can get hold of a regular supply of it soon and am planning on a few projects but not sure how hard it is (on a hardwood scale).

BackInTown

I'm working through a Paul Sellers build at the moment (in triplicate, for my wife and two daughters...). As it's copying along with his videos, it's more of a class/lesson than my own work, but lot's of new things for me, so enjoying it.
It's a hand mirror in steamed beach and walnut inlay. Found it tough to cut out a good circle recess for the mirror by knife and chisel.

HZFp7o3

Img doesn't seem to be working, here's the link

https://imgur.com/HZFp7o3

Guru Maith Agut wrote: »

Great work Glyn! The grain in that wood is lovely. Can't wait to get back to some form of woodworking when I can get my hands on some nice hardwood.

Have you ever worked with Ash? I can get hold of a regular supply of it soon and am planning on a few projects but not sure how hard it is (on a hardwood scale).

Thanks, no I have never used ash; I'm a noob so apart from flooring and soft woods-white deal, pressure treated and birch & bamboo plywood-white oak & walnut are the only hardwoods I have used.

I found oak easy to cut and work, having had the track saw blade sharpened before I started helped I'm sure. I did have end grain tear out using the router, but I sorted this by clamping the pieces to a scrap of the same thickness the next attempt. There is a Janka hardness test that shows ash and white oak are similar in their hardness, as in determining how durable the wood is (measured in Newtons).

Guru Maith Agut wrote: »

Have you ever worked with Ash? I can get hold of a regular supply of it soon and am planning on a few projects but not sure how hard it is (on a hardwood scale).

I've got a stack of mixed (from good to trash) rough sawn ash to work through, which is next on my list. It's meant to be lovely to work with, I've only done a tiny bit with it so far but that seems to be the case, a much underrated timber!

If you'd like some Ashy inspiration I can't recommend "The Man Who Made Things Out of Trees Hardcover" by Robert Penn highly enough, it's a fascinating read and he covers everything from felling, milling and preparing ash, to making all manner of tools and furniture with it, finishing up with an office desk.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Man-Who-Made-Things-Trees/dp/1846148421

Loft bed finally finished, deconstructed and then reconstructed at its destination -> One very happy teenage recipient!

Slightly off topic (MODS: move if necessary)..

Does anybody know (has used) a good supplier in Ireland for "piano/continuous hinges"? I am looking for some heavy duty ones in wholesale in lengths from 3 ft to 6 ft.

I have found UK suppliers but would rather buy Irish where possible to help our economy before another.

TIA

Guru Maith Agut wrote: »

Slightly off topic (MODS: move if necessary)..

Does anybody know (has used) a good supplier in Ireland for "piano/continuous hinges"? I am looking for some heavy duty ones in wholesale in lengths from 3 ft to 6 ft.

I have found UK suppliers but would rather buy Irish where possible to help our economy before another.

TIA

Lenehans do them: https://www.lenehans.ie/search/?q=piano+hinge

chillyspoon wrote: »

Lenehans do them: https://www.lenehans.ie/search/?q=piano+hinge

Sadly they are not strong enough. I'm looking for 72/76mm for a stronger joint as I'm using 2/3" material at 4ft to 6ft lengths. So I need a beefier "look" as well.

But thanks for the link

I could order from here but as I say, I'm trying to buy Irish if at all possible.

Guru Maith Agut wrote: »

Sadly they are not strong enough. I'm looking for 72/76mm for a stronger joint as I'm using 2/3" material at 4ft to 6ft lengths. So I need a beefier "look" as well.

But thanks for the link

I could order from here but as I say, I'm trying to buy Irish if at all possible.

Maybe something like this? bright steel designed for welding, so no holes... might want to get some decent carbide bits as well though.

Anybody know what you'd call [IMG][/img]

aluminium struts? They look like they'd be the dogs boll@* for keeping boards flat to stop warping during glue ups.

Sparks

Those look like T-track u-channels. But the generic name you want to go to ebay with is just "aluminium extrusion" - there's all manner of profiles for them.
I don't think they'd have quite as much strength as you'd need to stop boards warping in a panel glue-up though. There are very old designs of wooden panel clamps for that. Veritas remade some of the hardware a while ago but they're a tad spendy (as is usually the case - fantastic quality, great customer service, but you do pay for it). Shannon Rogers had a video a while back making his own:
https://www.renaissancewoodworker.com/rww203-panel-clamps/

Where aluminum extrusions are fantastic is for straight edges and for winding sticks. I have a 3' length of aluminium box section that's my primary straight edge, and two T-section pieces that act as my winding sticks. Never moves with temperature or humidity (at least to any degree that'd matter to the stuff I do), cheap as chips, and tough.

Oh, and a luthier trick from crimson guitars - stick some sandpaper on the flats of a box extrusion with double-sided tape or the masking-tape-and-superglue trick, and you have a cheap way to file wood flat while not shredding it like a metal file can.

Sparks wrote: »

...I have a 3' length of aluminium box section that's my primary straight edge, and two T-section pieces that act as my winding sticks. Never moves with temperature or humidity (at least to any degree that'd matter to the stuff I do), cheap as chips, and tough.

Oh, and a luthier trick from crimson guitars - stick some sandpaper on the flats of a box extrusion with double-sided tape or the masking-tape-and-superglue trick, and you have a cheap way to file wood flat while not shredding it like a metal file can.

Good call! Straight edges are a major bug bear of mine. Especially in our ever changing climate here in sunny, cloudy, sunny again Ireland :pac:

And I like the idea of the sanding build.

Cheers Sparks.

the_pen_turner

Guru Maith Agut wrote: »

Anybody know what you'd call [IMG][/img]aluminium struts? They look like they'd be the dogs boll@* for keeping boards flat to stop warping during glue ups.

looks like normal steel Unistrut to me. all electrical wholesalers will have it .. its 41mm x

41mmm

or 21x41mm

brane.nikic87

I don't think those are strong enough to keep boards from warping. I would rather use two or three pieces of ply bonded together to sit vertically, maybe 50mm high on both sides of the boards and have a 10mm bolt on each side. You can also use them as a panel clamp with just adding two wedges on one side and solid support on other.

[Deleted User]

They work perfectly well lads. Have used steel unistrut for years to do this with some old record sash cramps for panel glue ups and never any issues.