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Thread: Your Best Nifty Shop Tip?

  1. #136
    What a cool thread!

    Instead of using burning wire to make marks, I use a piece of scrap laminate. It sits on the tool rest and there is no danger for your fingers...

  2. #137
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    Redford, MI
    Posts
    141
    Some days your tool work may not be up to snuff, when it happens to me I grab the shellac. Liberally coat the torn grain or other problem areas. When dry I wet sand with 60 or 80 grit lubed with mineral oil/beeswax blend (sold as butcher block conditioner). 700 RPM is a reasonable speed when sanding wet, the oil/wax keeps the heat down. A small bowl takes two or three minutes then on to 100 grit wet. Wipe with mineral spirits to clean, then move to the finer grits dry and lower RPM. I find that once the heavier grits have done their job 180, 240, 320 will produce a glass like surface with only thirty second per grit.

  3. #138
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    Colby, Washington. Just across the Puget Sound from Seattle, near Blake Island.
    Posts
    931
    I can't wait to try this one, given by Jimmy Allen of our club:

    Sharpen scrapers UPSIDE DOWN, creating a burr on the cutting edge. It makes perfect sense
    I imagine a wood spacer would make things easier.

    Russell Neyman
    .


    Writer - Woodworker - Historian
    Instructor: The Woodturning Experience
    Puget Sound, Washington State


    "Outside of a dog, there's nothing better than a good book; inside of a dog it's too dark to read."

  4. #139
    Russell,
    Well, sharpening them right side up or upside down is an interesting concept. I was talking to Jimmy Clewes in Phoenix about it because he sharpens his scrapers that way. I sharpen the other way. Jimmy now has a CBN wheel. His theory is that because the wheel is dragging off the bottom of the tool, you get a sharper and more sturdy edge. My theory is that with the wheel driving into the top edge, you get more of a burnished edge. I have tried the upside down method, and it is sharp, but I can't say that it is sharper than right side up. For sure, it doesn't last as long as one sharpened right side up. This is with a CBN wheel. Now, the CBN wheel does give a much better burr than a standard grinder. Jimmy was going to try it both ways on his new wheel, and I haven't heard back from him yet. Most platforms can go to negative angles. For my robo rest, I tilt the platform down, stick the pin through in the 90 degree mark, but the pin rests on the frame rather than going through the pin hole in the frame. This gives about a 75 to 80 degree angle. I hadn't considered using the negative angles when I designed it. If you don't already know, scrapers are my primary bowl roughing tool.

    robo hippy

  5. #140
    "Some days your tool work may not be up to snuff"
    Have you bee snooping on me in my shop?

  6. #141
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    Colby, Washington. Just across the Puget Sound from Seattle, near Blake Island.
    Posts
    931
    Quote Originally Posted by Reed Gray View Post
    Russell,
    Well, sharpening them right side up or upside down is an interesting concept......If you don't already know, scrapers are my primary bowl roughing tool.

    robo hippy
    I'm a fan of scrapers, too and make no apologies for it. As long as they're THICK and of high grade steel, they give good results, especially if you have a light touch.

    Russell Neyman
    .


    Writer - Woodworker - Historian
    Instructor: The Woodturning Experience
    Puget Sound, Washington State


    "Outside of a dog, there's nothing better than a good book; inside of a dog it's too dark to read."

  7. #142
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    Colby, Washington. Just across the Puget Sound from Seattle, near Blake Island.
    Posts
    931
    Dave Schweitzer of our club -- who brings up something new and interesting every time I see him -- came up with this on in a discussion of trying to dry holly without it turning gray, which it is prone to do:

    Simply toss it in a freezer and allow the darn thing to freeze dry! I don't see why that wouldn't work for all species, as long as you can talk your spouse into letting you do it.

    Russell Neyman
    .


    Writer - Woodworker - Historian
    Instructor: The Woodturning Experience
    Puget Sound, Washington State


    "Outside of a dog, there's nothing better than a good book; inside of a dog it's too dark to read."

  8. #143
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    Winterville NC
    Posts
    389
    Fasten a magnetic long tool bar fastened to your stand. It will catch a lot of you pen busshings on the ewy down and hold some smaller tools. HG

  9. #144

    Freezing wood

    I have been using a freezer to 'keep' wood in for several years and have limited success. Not sure about maintaining color but I can see how it wouldn't spalt anyway. I try to use the freezer for short periods and for this it works great. As far as freeze drying, well, at least in my experience it is a toss up. Some of my wood splits and some doesn't.
    Pete


    * It's better to be a lion for a day than a sheep for life - Sister Elizabeth Kenny *
    I think this equates nicely to wood turning as well . . . . .

  10. #145
    Quote Originally Posted by Rob Sitze View Post
    When turning square bowls
    Do you find that your lathe dances/jitters a bit when turning those square pieces?

  11. #146
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    Colby, Washington. Just across the Puget Sound from Seattle, near Blake Island.
    Posts
    931
    Quote Originally Posted by Harry Goodwin View Post
    Fasten a magnetic long tool bar fastened to your stand. It will catch a lot of you pen bushings on the way down and hold some smaller tools. HG
    You can take that one step further, Harry. Mounting a couple of rare earth magnets on the mouth of your shop vacuum will help collect those errant allen wrenches and jaw screws that seem to vibrate into the pile of shavings below. I do that, and every once in awhile I'll discover that I accidentally recovered something important.

    Russell Neyman
    .


    Writer - Woodworker - Historian
    Instructor: The Woodturning Experience
    Puget Sound, Washington State


    "Outside of a dog, there's nothing better than a good book; inside of a dog it's too dark to read."

  12. #147
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Wallan Victoria Australia
    Posts
    60
    Fit a flat magnetic bar on the wall reasonably close to your lathe.
    Make a wooden base with a lip about eight inches below the bar.
    Sit your seldom used chisels upright on the base with the steel
    resting against the magnetic bar.
    Chisels are stored without damage to each other and are easy
    to find when needed.
    My wife and I had words, but I didn't get to use mine.

  13. #148
    With Christmas here, many of us are in the shop making gifts or are new woodworkers getting started. Do not be careless like I was when I first started woodworking and throw used rags and paper towels in the trash after applying BLO, CA and other finishes. Luckily, we smelled a strange odor coming from the basement while everything was still smoldering before it caught fire. Now I have a 5 gal galvanized can with a lid that contains a 1 gal plastic pail of water inside. Use a rag, into the water it goes! You can also take the rags outside and spread them out on the driveway or burn them.
    Last edited by john snowdon; 12-14-2014 at 7:43 AM. Reason: grammar

  14. #149
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    Colby, Washington. Just across the Puget Sound from Seattle, near Blake Island.
    Posts
    931
    Those two-gallon plastic bins are a must around my lathe because they facilitate easier cleanup. I use them to store sandpaper, polishing wheels, adhesives and the like. It keeps the from getting tangled up with flying woodchips.

  15. #150
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    Winterville NC
    Posts
    389
    I have installed one of those magnetic bars on the edge of my lathe and some benches. It's great to catch bushings from pen turning and small tools on the way down. HG
    Last edited by Harry Goodwin; 03-13-2015 at 6:41 PM. Reason: spelling

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