The Woodshop Shed

adventures in woodworking and home maintenance, from my shop in an oversized backyard shed

March 2022
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Stepcraft CNC Mobile Cart

Furnished content.
(from Lumberjocks.com)


Stepcraft CNC Mobile CartFinally ready to go!! I purchased this new Stepcraft 840 about 2 months ago. As everything typically goesI buy new tools and have every plan of giving it a home prior to use. Then I end up just breaking into it and having to re-adjust my plans later. This one was different, I waited to use it till the cart was done. Wellhere it is! 42×36 top to support the machine and also to keep the footprint at the bare minimum, including enough size to support any hanging wires in the back and to support the access panels on each lead screw without having them dangle in the air. Added storage, a drawer for keyboard and mouse. The monitor stand will be done on the CNC so I had to get it to this point to begin that process. And of course the first project was the logo accent light on the side. And the filling of the lines in the drawer faces in the orange. Mobile base allows me to move it super smoothly and out of the way! Cannot wait to really get this dialed in and assist with jig making or patterns for bigger projects, (really the only reason for purchasing). Thanks for looking!!



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posted at: 12:01am on 10-Mar-2022
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2022 Bowling League Swap - Twisted Shakers

Furnished content.
(from Lumberjocks.com)


2022 Bowling League Swap - Twisted ShakersSomebody said that we needed to try something new with this swap and really push ourselves. I may have taken it too far.I got the inspiration from a few youtube videos and a website (www.marchland.org/woodturning/list.htm) that explained how to get a twisted tapered turning. Given the amount of time we had to work on our projects, I figured I could give it a try and still have time to do something else if it failed.I began with three glue-ups, walnut, maple, and cherry, with the idea that I would have multiple attempts and that I may want to mix-and-match the species to create different sets. Each blank would yield two shakers and I figured the maple would be my prototype and the cherry and malnut would be the final products.
I turned the blanks as identical as I could, with matching tenons in the middle and on each end.
Next up was the jig to hold the blanks. It consisted of two 10” circles from 3/4” plywood which would be endplates for the jig. Each endplate was marked up for three equidistant holes sized to firmly hold the end tenons on the blank. In the end I didn't use the whole 10” capacity, keeping the holes as tightly spaced as I could while also getting the max twist from the blanks.
I was only 6 holes so I planned to simply drill the holes on the drill press by eye, but I realized that the holes actually needed to be tilted and a jig was preferable to make sure the holes were indexed correctly. I used a faceplate and a centering pin to locate indexing holes where the screws go, and then those holes could be used to space the mortices for each tenon. Clear as mud?

Once I got that thought through and made (and it took awhile as I'm no engineer), I put it all together and got it on the lathe without too much trouble. The tenons are screwed through each endplate to secure everything. I didn't put any thought into how I would index each face on the blanks, but I should have at least marked the endplate and blank in their starting positions.
It didn't take long for me to realize I had a long, slow process ahead of me. Me and my old Craftsman lathe really took a pounding with the interrupted cuts and it was a slow slog.
After awhile, I realized that the pounding had actually caused the blanks to rotate slightly, which caused a slight misalignment. I ended up adding additional screws but since the diameter of the tenon was relatively small they couldn't be spaced apart very far, the rotation was something I had to keep checking for.
The fix was to cut deeper than I originally wanted, but I made it work. After the first half of the first face was done, I created a template in a peice of scrap to repeat it on the other half and on each additional face.
I created a mirror image of the template and rigged up a holder so that I could do the rough shaping by eye.
I spent all day on the first face and I was spent. I knew I needed a better way to at least get the rough shaping done. I improvised a sliding trim router holder and using a 1/4” ball-end bit I freehanded most of the rough removal. The lathe was not running, just the router. I positioned the router and then rotated the blank jig manually to bring the blanks into contact witih the spinning bit. No CNC here! Ideally, I would have rigged up a way of using the template and a follower to guide the router, but that's for later.
After each face was roughed, I followed up with regular turning to bring it to final shape.
After a very long time, I had all faces turned and it was time to remove the jig and cut each blank into its two items. This is where those middle tenons come into play. I was able to use those to drill the center from either end.
Now that the bodies of the shakers were roughly done, I stared with the bottom plug/base. I was thinking wenge and maple for salt and pepper, but the walnut was suffering from alot of tear out and I was really liking the maple, so that called for a rethink. Instead I opted for the same contrasting wood on each, wenge for both maple and cherry, maple for the walnut “prototypes”. These were just 3” squares of 4/4 material on which I turned a tenon with space for a rubber o-ring sized for the bored holes.
I traced the outline of the main body on each to match, then trimmed to within about 1/4” with the bandsaw. Final shaping was with the belt sander and hand files.
Final hand-shaping and sandiing was done mostly on the lathe to use it as a rotisery. I finished the bodies with simple wax and alot of hand buffing.
The last touch was the matching black and white buttons that were glued into a small recess on the top with 5 minute epoxy. I will say that I should have partially bocked the holes for the salt and it pours out too easily.
I ended up selecting the maple shakers for Bill. The walnut shakers need loads more sanding due to the tearout and the cherry set needed a repair to one of the bases. Overall, I like the results. I've never tried to make anything this sculpted before. I would note that cutting the blanks in half resulted in less twist for each half, so the effect is a little underwhelming and may not even be noticed at first. I definately achieved the goal of trying something new and having fun while doing it. Swaps are a great place to interact other LJs and I highly recommend joining the next one!JD77



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posted at: 12:01am on 10-Mar-2022
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Simplified Stickley Bookcase

Furnished content.
(from Popularwoodworking.com)


Find a piece with great design, such as this Stickley No. 79 bookcase, then make adjustments to the construction to better match your skill set.Source

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The Grand Canyon State

Furnished content.
(from Lumberjocks.com)


The Grand Canyon StateI randomly bought a piece of flame birch and it looked like a waving flag. Added some curly maple and some highly figured shedua for the red and yellow. The star is shedua, I had made another star out of tropical walnut embedded with copper, but changed my mind. It's an available option. I had fun at the Arizona historical society archives, where they allowed my to see the original draft of the official flag. Took all of the measurements down and scaled it down Autocad. The frame is shedua with curly maple. I hope the pictures are good enough. They were the only ones small enough to upload



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Garage-Friendly Assembly Tables

Furnished content.
(from Popularwoodworking.com)


Efficient storage is important in my garage shop, so after use, my assembly tables tip, fold, clamp and roll. Each table has one apron-mounted caster ($10 at a home center). I used two sheets of 3/4-in. plywood to make the Source

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