Bedtime

Today I made up the lathe bed. It is made of laminated 3/4 inch oak plywood. I went with the oak because I want it to match my router table and my planer/spindle sander table. So, the lathe itself will be finished in the golden oak oil and the stand will be red. The plans call for the exposed edges of the plywood to serve as the ways. I want a more finished, furniture look so I made these pieces to cover the edges. They overhang the front and back of each way 1/2 inch. The inside overhang will serve a purpose later on. As I began to count the expenditures and future purchases, I realize that my 100/150 dollar estimate may be a tad optimistic. I need about 80 bucks worth of hardwood for the head and tailstocks and a sheet of MDF for the stand. Still, I think 2 bills will cover the whole thing. Money is pretty tight right now so I will have to set it aside for a while until we catch up.

Lost And Foundry

The lathe project requires a three step, cone pulley with a one inch bore. They run about fifty bucks. No way am I going to shell out half a hun for a lousy pulley. I decided to make my own. I made a pattern from plywood, rammed it up in the flask and lit the furnace. I knew, right away, that my chances for a good part were slim so I allowed myself one failure. It is a large casting and I needed to melt a full crucible of aluminum. The lid on my furnace fell apart when I was making the water pump for the bike. I thought I could just use a piece of steel as a lid. Not so. I need a lid that holds the heat in in order to get a full melt. I tried some bricks and It seemed to work. I had a full load of alloy, ready to pour, or so I thought. As I poured it, I realized that it wasn't going to go well. It wasn't fluid enough. The casting was useless. So, I initiated Plan B. Since this is a low stress deal, I decided to make a wooden pulley. I planed a piece of maple to 5/8 inch and cut out four circles, 6, 5, 4, and 3 inches. I glued them together and, after it dried, I bored the center out to 1 3/8. I had a piece of 1 3/8 DOM tubing that I bored to 1 inch ID on the metal lathe. I pressed it into the wooden pulley. Using the tailstock spindle as an arbor, I chucked it and the pulley into the lathe. Using both the crossfeed and the wood lathe chisels, I whittled the blank pulley into a pretty good looking finished part. I then drilled through the wood and the steel core and tapped it for a set screw to keep the two parts together and to secure it to the headstock spindle. So far, I have a total expenditure of 50 bucks in the project. I think I will be able to come in at hundred bucks total cost, certainly no more than 150. I have several good motors to choose from as well as two or three of the smaller cone pulleys. Tomorrow, I'll pick up a sheet of plywood for the lathe bed

Where The Humuhumunukunukuapuaʻa Go Swimming By

One of the grand daughters asked if I would make her a ukulele. Well, you can't say no, so I shifted into luthier mode. I have a stash of cigar boxes, so I grabbed this one and got to work. I borrowed a uke from a friend so I could get all of the critical measurements without having to do any tricky math or buying a fancy instrument makers rulers. I laminated some maple and walnut for the neck. Once it was dry, I shaped it with the band saw, a rasp, the belt sander and a cabinet scraper. I made the bridge from another piece of walnut. Those are staples that the strings rest on. I didn't want to lose the cool plastic Punch Cigar logo when I cut the sound hole so I cut a quarter moon shaped hole. After looking at it I thought, "What a happy looking uke." So I added the goofy teeth and eyeballs for a whimsical look. I like it, Hope she does, too. I then shot three or four coats of clear over the whole thing. Once all the parts that I ordered from the luthier supply arrived, I could finish it. I installed the frets and the tuners. I strung it up until the strings made a nice plinking sound. Again, I possess no musical skills at all, so I will have to take it to a friend and get him to tune it and pluck out a tune. I think it will be just fine. Of course, A fine instrument needs a case. I cut some red oak down to 1/4 inch, made four sides and finger jointed them into a box. I cut some grooves for a sliding lid. The handle was whittled out of another hunk of oak and fastened to the box with walnut hingey thingeys that I cut on the bandsaw. I connected them together with brazing rod pins. The inside was covered with some really pretty blue felt that I got at the fabric store. I found a cool picture of a girl, on the beach, playing a uke. I printed it and transferred it to the lid with some Liquitex gel. I sprayed the whole thing with clear lacquer and then made a little frame for the picture with some cardboard and a piece of fabric that I found in Wifey's sewing room. That's it. All there is left to do is to package it up and ship it to her in Kansas. I'm very pleased with the way the entire project turned out

There Is A Season, Turn, Turn, Turn

I have my little hobby lathe that I use to make small projects like pens, knobs and other lightweight things. I've always wanted a larger machine for bowls, table legs and larger projects. So here goes, another moderately large build. The plans come from a book of homebuilt tools that I bought some time ago. The entire thing shouldn't cost me much more than a hundred bucks. The majority is built from one sheet of plywood, one sheet of particle board and a few lengths of hardwood. I went to the metal supply last week and picked up a length of one inch round cold rolled steel. I lopped off a hunk of it and centered it up in the four jaw chuck. This is new territory for me. I have never attempted to cut threads on a lathe. I watched a few You Tube videos and figured, "I can do that." After setting up the change gears, dialing in the tool bit location and setting the compound angle I hit the feed handle and made a light, scratch cut. It looked good, a quick measurement showed that I had the correct eight threads per inch that I wanted. After a dozen, or so, passes I had a nice set of threads. They aren't real smooth where the tool cut. I suspect by bit was not sharp enough, but they are concentric and the chucks and face plates fit very nice. No slop or excessive tightness. I'm pleased. The next problem involved drilling a 3/8 hole all the way through the new spindle. It is a bit more than a foot long. I checked around for extra long bits and found the too expensive for the Po' Boy. I have a 7/16 X 12 inch bit. After looking at the plans, I figured that would work just fine. I drilled as far as I could with the long bit. Before I took the piece out to finish drilling from the other end, I had to address another, potential problem. The threaded end needs a number two Morse taper to accept various tapered accessories. I don't have a boring bar small enough to cut inside of a 7/16 hole. As I went through all of the tooling that I have, fate smiled down on me. I have a number two Morse taper reamer. I drilled out the first three inches of the spindle to 9/16 and reamed the hole until I reached the desired depth. The whole tapering process took about five minutes. It was just a matter of  removing the spindle, turning it end for end, re centering it in the chuck with a dial indicator and finish drilling the through hole. I also had to make the tailstock spindle. It was, pretty much, a repeat of the first, except it has six inches of threads. Same taper, same through hole. I'll pick up a sheet of plywood, later this week or next, and begin the main body of the machine

Time Marches On

Prior to mounting the TV to the fireplace, there was a large clock, that was a gift from my dear, departed brother, Jeff LaFong, 30 years ago. Now, with it being taken down, we always have to check our phones or computer to see what time it is. I saw something that another woodworker had done and I thought that I could improve upon his idea. Down to the shop I goes. It only took about three or four hours to whip up this little clock that we can put on the end table. The bezel and buckle are maple, the straps are walnut and the base is red oak, all from the scrap bin. A few coats of semi gloss and pop in a little quartz clock works and it's done. Wifey thinks it's cute. I have to agree, though Boy Geniuses™ and manly men, such as I, don't generally do "Cute". Still, It came out pretty cool.

One Thing Always Leads To Another

The mantle and TV mount are, essentially, done. I still have to clean up the wiring a bit and make the top, which will be a simple flat board, maybe with an edge detail to dress it up. Now, I have to consider where to put the components and our DVD collection. I am leaning towards a cabinet, to the left of the fireplace that mirrors the book shelf on the right. The lower 24 inches, or so, will have the DVD storage and a cubby above that for the components. The rest will be a curio cabinet with glass on three sides and a mirror on the fireplace side. It should balance out the whole area and allow us to drag out a lot of the knick knacks that are stuck away in the attic and closets and display them. Until then, I have a bedroom that I have to patch and paint so Wifey can take it over as her chick cave

At Second Glance............

After I assembled the mantle, I began to take a critical look at it. There were some gaps where the vertical and horizontal members joined. The more I looked, the more it bugged me. Since all of it was assembled with pocket screws, except the crown molding, which I fastened with micropins, I decided to take it apart. It only took an hour to disassemble it, re cut the horizontal portion and put it all back together again. Everything flushes up much better now. I think it all began with me watching Japanese woodworking videos. Those guys are so meticulous and patient. It makes my stuff  look like it was made with a chain saw and a sledge hammer. I stained it and brought it up to the house for a trial fit. It's crooked because the left side is resting on the old TV stand/DVD storage cabinet. That will go away once the mantle is ready to install. I'm pretty pleased with the way it looks. There was a fireplace door that I built when we moved in. It never fit quite like I had wanted, but I never got around to fixing it. Now I will have to make a new pair. This time it will be a better fit