Marc Spagnuolo's Blog, page 81
January 29, 2015
Steve’s Audio/Video Equipment Rack
I bought some new A/V equipment and felt it needed a new home. I have had a real interest in the Greene & Greene styling ever since first being exposed to their work here on The Wood Whisperer.
This rack is made from solid cherry with ebony accents. Even the drawer bottoms are solid cherry, a real first for me. The vertical posts are extruded aluminum from 8020 inc along with the “L” brackets that hold each shelf. The finish is all water based including the stain.
I was amazed and blown away by the beauty of the Blanket Chest that Marc had built in the Guild and I knew I had to build something with those styling features, but I really didn’t need a blanket chest. The base, the top, shelves and the drawer pulls are all built with the same looks and techniques that Marc used in the blanket chest build. The drawers were built using the techniques in Darrell Peart’s books on G&G furniture. The drawers will be storage for DVD’s and remotes so they are on full extension soft close guides.
The rack is 43.75″ long by 35.5″ tall and 19.5″ deep. It can hold a total of 6 components and my home made turntable will sit on top but I’m letting the finish cure a little longer before I sit that heavy beast on top.
My vacuum tube amplifiers sit on the floor near each speaker, so I still have to build stands for them that will match the base of this rack.
This was a very fun and rewarding project for me and I look forward to building more G&G pieces. Marc, thanks for the inspiration.
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January 28, 2015
Memorial Box
One of the greatest things about being a woodworker is the fact that you can build things that will make a difference in people’s lives. Whether it’s a comfortable chair for your living room, a cutting board for your kitchen, or toy box for a child, we all have the power to bring great joy to other people by making things with our hands, some wood, and a few choice tools.
Never has this “power” been so palpable as when I was asked recently to make a memorial box for my Uncle Tom. I’ll admit that I found the task very difficult, not only for emotional reasons but because I had a time constraint of only two days.
I quickly sketched a few ideas on paper, worked out the dimensions in SketchUp, grabbed my best stock (highly figured quilted maple and bubinga) off the shelf, and got to making sawdust. The box was “designing on the fly” in the purest sense. There were more than a few occasions when I thought I might be going down the wrong path but there was no time to course-adjust. Instead, I kept moving forward and somehow ended up with something I was really proud of.
No Plans?
While I was able to film the process of building this box, mostly out of instinct and habit, I don’t feel it’s appropriate to turn this into an official plan. That would just be weird. So I hope you can still get something out of the video by simply watching over my shoulder.
What’s a Memorial Box?
While the box could be used as a cremation urn, it’s actually intended to hold a small urn plus whatever else my Aunt Robin wants to put in there. The idea is that the box will actually be opened in the future whenever someone wants to reminisce.
Why Does it Look Like an Asian Pagoda?
When left to my own devices, with no design restrictions, this is where my brain goes. I wanted something that looked elegant, unique, special, and most importantly something that didn’t look like an urn. I mean no offense to anyone who keeps a traditional urn in their home, but I personally find them off-putting (most likely a deep-rooted psychological issue). I also wanted it to include some shaping and power carving. There’s something about the shaping process that makes me feel like I’m putting more of my heart into the project.
There’s no great way to wrap this up so I’ll just say thank you to my Uncle Tom for the great memories I have of baseball games, camping trips, and watching Wrestlemania. And if you ever get the opportunity to make something like this for a loved one, take it. It won’t be easy, but it just might be the most important woodworking you ever do!
And don’t forget to check out WoodworkersFightingCancer.com for the latest in our fund-raising efforts.
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January 22, 2015
Engineer the Design: Mortise & Tenon Sizing
Designing furniture can be quite tricky for new and experienced woodworkers alike. Many of us are more than capable of building just about anything, but when posed with the challenge of designing something from scratch we start shaking in our shop aprons. I say “we” because I consider myself a wanna-be designer with minimal skill, but I do my best and I have fun while I’m at it! So as always when I discuss design, take my advice as the sharing of personal experience and not a how-to from an absolute authority.
You might recall a discussion we had a while back where I outlined the four phases in the project design process: The Process is the Project. What I’m going to do in this video is expand a bit on Phase 2: Engineer the Design. Once you have a good-looking form for your project, you have to decide what joints to use and where to put them. This is something that comes a little more naturally to me and it’s something I actually enjoy. Perhaps it’s all those years of putting together LEGO kits! For me, the process occurs in three steps:
Design for Quality
I like to start by designing for the best case scenario. This usually gives me not only the type of joinery I want to use but also the dimensions of that joinery. Bear in mind there usually isn’t one right answer but several. The “best” answer typically comes down to personal opinion and taste. Ultimately, your goal is to have joinery that suits the needs of the piece in the best way possible.
Adjust for Restrictions
Now that we have the ideal situation, we need to think more globally. Does the joint interfere with other joints or project parts? Does the joinery make an adjoining part inherently weak? If so, adjust the dimensions as needed. While this adjustment process takes us away from our ideal situation, it usually doesn’t render the joints ineffective. It’s all about compromise.
Simplify Where Sensible
Since most furniture requires lots of joints, it’s always nice if they can be batched out. And batching out becomes a lot easier when your joints are all the same size. So if it makes sense for the project and doesn’t take away too much from quality, I try to make my joints of consistent dimension.
So the next time you’re designing furniture or even looking at a set of plans wondering why the designer made the choices they did, think about this part of the furniture-building process and the three steps mentioned above. It might help clarify the situation and get you through a tough design road block.
And if you’re interested in the project used for this demonstration, you can purchase access here.
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January 19, 2015
Wood Talk #213 – Project Creep
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On today’s show, we’re talking about project creep and how projects can get out of control.
– Fiddler wrote in asking if our projects ever suffer from “project creep,” a situation where you keep adding nicer materials and more difficult techniques just because you can. We all share our perspectives with you in this bonus show.
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Wood Talk #212 – Udderly Cold
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On today’s show, we’re talking about tips for working with reclaimed lumber, buying workbench lumber, and are dovetail saddle markers lazy woodworking?
What’s on the Bench?
Marc: Repurposing an old bench as a shower bench.
Matt: Revisitng old projects while visiting family
Shannon: Working on shop odds and ends.
What’s New
– Reclamation of timber in Australia.
Kickback
– Miles has some tips on anyone looking to make plugs for their ears.
– Will has an update and more information about his desire to make his on stretched-ears plugs.
– Derek has a question about maintaining the look of reclaimed lumber. Thomas Porter of Porterbarnwood.com has some tips for him. And here are some examples of their work:
Farm Table, Wood Bookcase, Sliding Barn Door
– MikeT wants to know if we think Lee Valley Saddle Markers are for lazy woodworkers.
– Gerard wants to know if he can purchase the wood for his workbench over a long period of time as funds permit.
Reviews and Thanks!
Are you interested in setting up a recurring donation to help support the show? Use the links in the left column! We’d like to thank Greg Weeg as well as everyone else for their continued support.
Don’t forget to leave us a kick-butt review in the iTunes Store.
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January 18, 2015
Eric’s Upper Bureau Cabinet
This piece is my interpretation of a King George bureau upper cabinet from around 1765. I found a similar piece while browsing the web and the design intrigued me. I work a lot with reclaimed oak and had an idea for a variation which would allow me to challenge myself in design and give me some much needed practice in lathe technique and close tolerance fitting. I also tried to maintain a distinct color spectrum throughout the piece. This is always difficult with reclaimed stock.
The finished project measures approximately 10″D x 13 1/2″ H x 28 1/2″ W. It is solid oak throughout and includes tongue and groove back boards, box joint case and drawer joinery and turned and split sentinel columns. The center compartment features a hidden space and there is another as well which isn’t shown. The compartment is released by a hidden mechanism.
The finish combines honey colored stain, shellac and wax. It was fun to make and I intend to build a lower bureau to accompany it. Thanks for looking and have a great day.
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January 14, 2015
Which Table Saw Blade Should I Buy?
Choosing the right blade for your table saw can be tricky business. There are numerous brands and within those brands you have various blade configurations, angles and tooth counts. It’s no wonder emailer Pat was confused when he went blade shopping. Here’s what he had to say:
I am shopping for a blade for my used TS-3650 I just bought and will be buying a Dado blade also. I’m on a budget but good blades and safety are a must. Any light you can shed will be appreciated. I am still confused as to why some blades have fewer or more teeth than others. To which, the DeWalt #DW7647 has 80 teeth; the DW7646 has 60 albeit with the same Hook Angle. Wherein lies the advantage of one over the other?
As I write, I have five new blades in front of me, purchased this evening. Welcome to ‘Blade City’! Four will be returned unopened but I wanted all specs in front of me. The differences astound me. All are 10″:
– FREUD 80T “Ultra Fine Crosscut”
– FREUD Combination, 50T
– CRAFTSMAN Carbide C300, 80T, “Fine Finish Trim”
– DEWALT DW7647, 80T
– Oldham 40T Combination
But why the variance in quantity of teeth? What I am gradually picking up here is that some blades are better at Crosscutting, others at Ripping. My needs will be both. I am not a professional woodworker by any means but in due time I’d like to get into cabinetmaking. For now, until my skills are honed, it’s going to be lots of pine boxes, plywood, small items such as outdoor planters, indoor planters, jewelry boxes, bookcases, shelves, etc. You get the idea. Maybe just having one blade isn’t going to suffice for what I need to do. And on top of it, I want a clean, neat cut. The Forrest Woodworker-II claims to cut a finish where sanding isn’t required. How much do I believe that? Well common sense tells me it’s probably cleaner than most but also a bit of advertising embellishment. Or is it actually THAT good?
Like most things in life, having too many options leads to confusion and paralysis by analysis. So let’s simplify! Higher tooth counts (50 – 80) equate to smoother cuts. Because there are more teeth doing the cutting, you have less tearout but more heat build up and motor strain. Lower tooth counts (24-30) equate to rougher cuts. But because there is a lot more room between the teeth, dust is ejected efficiently and there’s less of a chance of heat buildup. That means less strain on the motor and an easier time plowing through thick boards. It also means you have a higher chance of tearing out wood fibers.
Now let’s think about the two cuts we make at the table saw, rips and cross-cuts. Rip cuts are made with the grain of the wood and are typically long in nature. This is the ideal situation for a low-tooth count blade. The aggressive cut won’t cause tearout because it’s cutting with the grain and the decreased friction and high efficiency make it physically easier to push the wood through the saw.
Would that same blade do as well on a cross-cut? The blade would have no trouble making the cut but the major issue has to do with tearout. An important part of making fine furniture is making clean cuts right off the saw, so getting tearout on our cross-cuts is never a good thing. This is where the higher tooth-count blades come in handy. The increased number of teeth results in a smoother cut. But what about heat and friction you ask? Well because cross-cuts are nearly always short in duration, there usually isn’t enough time for that to be a factor. So if you’re looking for a good blade for your miter saw, a tool that exclusively cross-cuts, you probably want a nice 80-tooth blade like this one.
Where you’ll run into real trouble is if you decide to use a ripping blade for cross-cuts or a cross-cut blade for rips. You’ll get tearout and burning, respectively, so avoid doing that if possible.
Now there is one more thing to consider, and that’s the beast known as plywood. Plywood has a tendency to tearout a lot, especially on cross-cuts. That thin veneer layer just doesn’t stand up well to sawing. So when cutting plywood, a high-tooth count blade is a must if you want a clean crisp edge.
In the ideal world, we would all have both ripping and cross-cut blades in our shop and we’d change the blade according to the activity. But let’s be realistic here: changing blades sucks. And frankly, I am just too lazy for that. So what I opt for is a combination blade, usually 40-50 tooth like the Forrest Woodworker II. A high quality combination blade is capable of giving you excellent results for both rips and crosscuts. Is it as good as using high quality separate blades? Nope. But for the convenience and savings in time I will deal with what little tearout I experience, if any at all. And after about 10 years of working with a Forrest Woodworker II, I can honestly say I have never once thought to myself, “Boy, that cut would have better with an 80 tooth blade.”
Is it capable of producing finish-ready cuts? In my opinion, no. The finish is incredibly smooth by table saw standards but I wouldn’t call it finish ready. That doesn’t bother me since I always prep my materials by hand before finishing.
In summary, 30 tooth and below for rips, 40-50 tooth for combination, and 60 tooth plus for cross-cuts.
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January 13, 2015
Wood Talk
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Collecting Dust From Sanders
Collecting dust from sanders should be a priority. Sanders do their job incredibly well which means they generate large clouds of dangerous fine dust particles in a hurry. If you aren’t collecting that dust at the tool, you’re risking your health.
Douglas wrote in with a good question about collecting dust from his sander.
I have a Delta 2hp dust collector with the HEPA bag and it works great, but (you knew there was a but), sanding is an issue. I generally hook up my shop vac to the portable sanders. They clog up quickly and then leave dust all over. I have yet to find a way to hook these smaller tools up to the big delta. Any thoughts?
It’s only logical that someone would want to use a big dust collector to pull dust from smaller tools, right? They are powerful and have a lot of capacity. If they work well on tablesaws, jointers, and planers, they should probably work just as well on sanders. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Although the suction seems pretty strong in 4″ piece of flex hose, performance take a huge dump when the pipe is reduced to the size of a typical sander’s dust port.
The big dust collectors are meant to move large volumes of air. If you restrict the 4″ hose of a dust collector down to the size of a sander dust port, you’ll very likely restrict the airflow so much that dust collection is ineffective. Furthermore, you could wind up starving your collector of air which puts extra wear and tear on the motor. A portable dust extractor, or a shop vac, moves small volumes of air but does so in a way that is still quite effective when using small hoses. The biggest shop vac hose I know of is only 2.5″ so you don’t have much further to go when reducing down to a dust port size.
The key to getting the shop vac to work better for Douglas lies in filter bags. Most shop vacs have filter bags that you can install in addition to the primary pleated filter. In my opinion, these bags are a REQUIREMENT for woodworkers. If you don’t use a bag, your filter will clog up in a hurry. Not only will it kill the air flow but you’ll shorten the life of your shop vac due to excess dust finding its way into the motor. I went through two shop vacs before I came to this realization. The bags aren’t cheap, but it’s better than replacing an entire shop vac. You’ll get better performance from your tools and your lungs will thank you!
There is one additional thing you can do to make your shop vac more effective at collecting dust and that’s to use a cyclone separator. But that’s a whole other ball of wax! If you’re interested in learning more about cyclone separators, check out this review on some of the common brands on the market.
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January 12, 2015
Wood Talk #211 – Ear Juice Finish
Special thanks to our show sponsors:
– Brusso Hardware: Get 10% OFF your next purchase using code WOODTALK at checkout!
Get your Wood Talk T-Shirt today!
On today’s show, we’re talking all about
What’s on the Bench?
Marc: Website stuff.
Matt:
Shannon:
What’s New
Kickback
Voicemail
Reviews and Thanks!
Are you interested in setting up a recurring donation to help support the show? Use the links in the left column! We’d like to thank Nick Carruthers as well as everyone else for their continued support.
Don’t forget to leave us a kick-butt review in the iTunes Store.
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