Any woodworkers?

If anyone is shopping for one

https://www.acmetools.com/dewalt-th...d-replacement-knives-dw735x/885911177801.html

 

The top is now banded with sapeli and walnut. Belt sander with 120 and orbital with 80. Focused on the bottom getting some fill practice. Threw a coat of finishing paste on the bottom for a preview of the top. Hickory really came to life.

 

Sanding in progress. Currently at 180 with 400 being the goal. Water popping started at 120.

I saw a comment somewhere else when researching finishes about a guy who doesn't "allow" sapwood in his projects. I'm not sure I'd like this without it.

Question. I'm deciding between tung oil and BLO. I like the BLO option because the cure time is shorter, but I've read that it adds a yellow sheen or tint like a varnish would. Any thoughts or good combinations you guys have used and really liked?

 

@woodtickgreg

 

Personally I like sapwood. Any oil wether it be tung or blo will darken the wood up somewhat. I don't know if I would call it yellow. I do like blo but like any oil finish it takes a long time to cure, about a week between coats. Wipe on, let sit for awhile and then wipe off the excess, let cure and repeat until the wood no longer absorbs oil. I finish it up with a blo and wax blend, very warm and not plasticy looking and very easy to touch up and top coat from time to time. And from a fire safety stand point be sure to lay the rags spread out and flat. Blo is very likely to spontaneously combust and start a fire.

 

Thanks for the info. I'm going to have to get a small bottle of them and see what it does on a sample. I'm not sure I want to darken it, more of a wet look.

And the rags, very aware. Bourbon Moth Woodworker did a study on it after his friends shop burned down. He had some surprising results in the various tests he set up.

https://youtu.be/3Gqi2cNCKQY

 

Another option is water based polyurethane, it dries absolutely clear. And you can get several coats on in a day as it dries really fast. It looks like skim milk when you apply it and it turns clear when it's dry. Offers good protection. If you want it shiney choose gloss. Also it's not flammable and very low odor. Cleans up with warm water.

 

I like Salad bowl finish

 

My experience with finishing is limited, but I did learn, I think, a fact about finishes. Gloss means it it is not diluted with "satin-effect light diffusers", and these "diffusers" weaken the finish a little. Some people will do "n-1" coats in gloss for strength, then satin for finishing effect.

Or is the JackDaniels kicking in?

 

I actually have some of that. Another test sample.

 

Well I was working on my scroll saw tonight and making some good progress until I went to adjust my magnifying light. The clamp for the swivel broke. Grrr. I bought this thing years ago at an auction so it really owes me nothing, but I like it because it has a large viewing window. It came with the original clamps that where broken, tied to it.
Someone at one time made some plastic clamps for it and they worked for a long time. I said I'm a genius (think wiley coyote) and I made some wood ones up real quick, they lasted about 2 seconds and broke as I was tightening them up, lol.

So the plan for tomorrow is to make some out of this 1/4" brass stock I have. I wanted to use aluminum but I didn't have any 1/4"
My metal cutting saw is in the garage.

 

I got some shop time today so I worked on the magnifying light clamp. I started by cutting the brass stock on my garage mitersaw. I clamped those 2 pieces in a small machinist vice and drilled the thru hole for the clamp.

Then I re positioned the pieces to drill the pilot hole for the light shaft.

Then I enlarged the hole, staying under the size of the shaft diameter.

Then it was off to my vintage Burke no.4 mill to machine a notch.

Here's the set up.

This notch is for clearance of a tab on the light shaft.

A 2 flute cutter made quick work of the task.

 

Then I rounded all the corners and edges on the multi grinder.
This is what I ended up with.

Installed on the light.

And the light is in the clamp. Here you can see the little tab that I machined the notch for.

And I'm back in business!

 

10 succulent propagation stations. Scrap wood holiday gifts. Just freehanded them out on the bandsaw. Then, freehand the inside on the scroll saw. Will try to get some finish on them tomorrow.

 

I haven't posted in a while, so here is a recent project.

I used some leftover (never "scrap") walnut and maple from other projects and made a screwdriver stand for my gunsmithing bench.



Unfortunately, my forstner bits were not quite the right size for some of the holes. A drum sander on the drill press fixed that.

 

I finished cutting out the Mesquite crosses, got 38 out of the batch of thin boards.

So I pulled some more shorts and cut offs, scraps out of the wood rack to get some different species and colors.
This was all re sawed to split in half, walnut was re sawed twice.

All run thru the planer to 3/8" thickness.

Then I traced the patterns out on the thinned stock, cut them free on the bandsaw, and drilled the entrance holes. Another 50 blanks to be cut. A good day in the shop.

 

Productive weekend in the garage.


A month or so ago I found two 6/4 walnut cutoffs and two 6/4 sapeli cutoffs at the local hardwood shop. Yesterday I wore out a set of blades on the planer getting the walnut flat. Started on the sapeli and started seeing some smoke from the exhaust and scorch marks on the sapeli. Shut her down and changed the blades after they cooled off.

The plan is to rip the walnut in 2.5" strips and build a box frame with a computer shelf for the left side of the desk.

The shelf. I want to use the hickory I have left for the shelf, but it isn’t wide enough for the computer. I pulled out some scraps of the woods I've used and started what will be an insert for the middle of the hickory which I will split down the middle.


The right side will have a simple box frame about the same size. Still need to figure out the attachment method as it needs to come apart to move.

Also thinking about a cross brace between the two for some lateral stability.

Desktop is done.

 

Final count of 20. Used the rest of a bottle of Mahoney’s Walnut Oil as a finish.

 

Computer shelf for the desk is ready for glue. Hickory, walnut, sapeli. I may add a thin strip of walnut to the edge. We'll see after glue. Right now it still fits through the planer.


The light in here has some room for improvement.

 

Got a little crowded in here. Had to flag the end of the clamps after walking into them a couple times.



I have the walnut milled down to 2.5 x 2 inches for the frame the shelf will sit in. Added a 1/4 inch strip of walnut to the shelf and have that in clamps. Hope to start getting the frame marked out tomorrow.