Wednesday, February 20, 2019

A Quick Valentines Day Project



I had a hunk of Apricot that I got from a downed tree. Its been drying for quite a while and I decided it needed a home.

This potpourri vessel was made for my wife on Valentines day. The insert came from Woodcraft.


This blank had nice figure and a small crack that I stabilized with super glue and some wood dust.
The lip was turned to accept the insert keeping it slightly above the surface.
The bottom was turned flat.
Apricot is an extremely hard wood but finished nicely
I held the blank from the bottom with a dovetail recess.
 I later removed the recess and added my traditional ring and signature




I wanted to try out my new carbide tools on hardwood. I wasn't that impressed with how they cut on a previous project but in this application they worked well. On the inside I got to a nice finish that only needed some touch-up sanding.


On the outside I still needed a better finish after using the carbide tools. Brought in the scraper for the final surface. Very little sanding need on this project.

I also tried out a new POV using my new overhead camera setup.

I used an oil finish to preserve the satin look of real wood.

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Enjoy and comment,
Don

Tuesday, February 19, 2019

Shop Vac + Cyclone Station

I do a lot of wood turning and typically sweep up the BIG stuff followed by vacuuming. This keeps me from overloading the filter in the shop vac with large chips.

Woodstock W2049

The key ingredient of this build is a simple plastic cover that goes on a 5 gallon bucket.
You can help me out by using my affiliate link to purchase, it costs you nothing ;)

Woodstock W2049 Kit

Fabrication

The station is made using 4x 2" pvc fittings and pipe acting as the stanchions with a plywood platform for the bucket:
  • 4x - 2" coupling inserted into the accessories slots in the vacuums feet. They fit perfectly.
  • 4 Pieces of 2" pipe are cut such that when inserted into the coupling their tops are 4" above the vacuum.
  • 2" caps are pushed onto the top of each pipe and used to affix a 3/4" plywood platform to the pipe. 
  • My platform was 18" x 18", your needs may vary with the size vacuum you are using.
  • I flattened the tops of the caps and tapped 14-20 threads in them used to fasten the plywood platform.
  • Cut the plywood and take the time to mark and drill 4x 1/4" holes so the pipes are straight after assembly. 
The completed unit

I added a base for the bucket to sit in to keep it from sliding. Notice that I did not have enough white pipe so I used some black sewer pipe I had laying around.

I bent the handle to use as a retainer for the lid. The lid will pull down tight when the suction starts.

Empty the containers

  • To empty the shavings I simply pop the handle down, pull off the cyclone and empty the bucket.
  • To empty the vacuum there are 4 1/4-20 bolts to remove [I will replace with wing bolts] and then remove the top of the vacuum and empty it.
  • The vacuum is harder to empty than before but the shaving bucket it easier.  

Performance

After sweeping up around my lathe. I was hollowing so it was mostly fine dust. Looks like its working well

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Thanks and please comment;
Don

Saturday, February 16, 2019

Shop-made Disks for WS300

Making Additional Disks for WS3000

I figured that since MDF was a pretty flat material I could make replacement disks for my WS3000 and not have to buy additional glass plates in order to have a selection of grits.

MDF Disk Fabrication 

The following sequence shows the approach I took to fabricating my disks. I used 1/2 MDF from Home Depot as the material.

6" squares were cut , the centers marked and then a 1/2 hole was drilled.
Final measurements written on the disk. Do this step as accurately as possible.

Removed excess material on the band-saw. Final measurements are written on the disk.

cut the head off  a 1/2 bolt  and inserted into my collet on lathe

Mounted and turned the disk round on the lathe

Flattening and sanding to thickness.

Disks were surface sanded to match the glass disk's thickness
Pretty decent results! 

Stropping Disk

Using one of these shop made disks I also made a stropping disk.
The leather for this disk is in the worksharp-3000-lapping-upgrade kit.

Stropping Disk Fabrication:

  • Make one of the disks shown above
  • Spray adhesive on both sides; the leather and the MDF. Make sure that both have plenty of glue as the disk and leather are porous.
  • Mark the leather using the MDF disk as a template. 
  • Cut the leather in a circle to fit the disk, I used tin sheers to get a good edge
  • Cut a 1" diameter in the center of the leather. This allows the fastening knob to seat on the disk not the leather. I used a sharp Xacto knife after drawing the center circle on the leather.
  • Charge the leather with polishing compound.
  • I made two of these stropping disks one each with the leather rough side up and down.

Cost Comparison

Cost of WS leather hone: $29
Cost of shop made hone: $2.44
  • 1/6 of MDF sheet  $8/6 = $1.33
  • 1/4 of leather sheet $12.99/4 = $3.25
  • Total = $2.44

Assessment

This was an easy accessory to make. I was pleased with the minimal run-out I achieved. Your mileage may vary if you do not have a lathe but employing a circle cutter jig may work just as well.

Upside: very cheap and available
Downside: not as easy to remove an abrasive from the MDF as the glass ..... make extra MDF disks!

Run-out: a 1/2" bit is slightly larger than the actual WS3000 spindle. As a result the disk runs a bit out of round if you just throw it on the spindle. I found that you can set the MDF disk over the spindle and get it on center by eye if you are careful. Not sure this amount of run-out is a problem. BTW the glass disk also has a bit of run-out.

Donate

If you enjoyed this project/post or my blog consider donating which funds more tool and materials.
You can donate by clicking the "DONATE" button in the upper right of this site.


Enjoy and please comment
Don