Post a photo of the last thing you made...

[AndyP]

Nice

 

[Woodbloke]

Couple of framing projects:





The Phoenix by Katsushika Hokusai, 1760-1849. The original dates from around 1840 and can be seen on the ceiling of the Gansho-in temple in Obuse near Nagano. This is a print on fine cotton, framed in Bubinga with Bog Oak splines and 'museum' quality non-reflective glass. Purchased from the Gansho-in temple in Obuse.





The wisdom of Shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa, a calligraphic inscription printed on 'Kozo' washi paper, framed in Swiss Pear with Bog Oak splines and 'museum' quality non-reflective glass. The shogun wrote down many principles that guided his life, the first being that ''life is like a long journey with a heavy load. Let thy steps be slow and steady, that thou stumble not''. Purchased from the Toshugu Shrine in Nikko - Rob

 

[AndyT]

Your mitres are as good as your dovetails!

Very smart.

 

[9fingers]

Cross head screws ?? Standards are slipping! :lol:

Bob

 

[Woodbloke]

Cross head screws ?? Standards are slipping! :lol:

Bob

The one's that were supplied with the little hanging triangle bracket thingies Bob - Rob

 

[Cabinetman]

Never mind the screws thought I, what’s he done with the edge on the mount! All over the place - till I realised it was a piece of material on top not the other way round.
:text-lol:

Very nice Rob, I hate doing small profile frames like those.
Ian

 

[Dr.Al]

I've had a fairly productive weekend, which is nice as I've been lacking mojo recently.

A while ago, I made a little block plane. The primary use intended was as a shooting board plane for my travel toolchest. You can see some in-use photos in this post.

It never cut as well as I'd hoped, mainly because it blocked fairly quickly and it was hard to clear the shavings out of the mouth. Rather than trying to modify the front slope of the mouth, I decided to just make another one. Then, after putting the hole for the brass cross-pin in the wrong place and finding that the wood split as soon as the wedge went in, I made another another one!



The one in the middle is the one that split when the wedge went in: that's firewood now. The new one on the right cuts really nicely and the combination of the steeper mouth front and the smaller cross-piece means that it's really easy to get shavings out (and they tend to just fly up out of the top on their own). I'm much happier with the new one.



The brass retaining thingy is a 5 mm pin going all the way through with a 10 mm diameter body that spins loosely on the 5 mm pin. The 10 mm diameter body has a large flat milled into one side so that the wedge presses against a flat surface rather than a curve.

With that done, I got on with some metal mangling. I'd wanted a simpler body for one of my marking gauges. The existing gauge has some spinny bars on the back to allow you to gauge to curved surfaces. That's useful occasionally, but makes it less comfortable to hold. Simple solution: make a new body (old one on the right):



This was my first go at cutting concave curves on the lathe (this is 25 mm radius):

 

[Malc2098]

Nice.

 

[AndyP]

Great idea to put a flat on that wheel Al to stop it rolling around.

 

[AndyT]

Al, I admire your persistence.
And how did you do the concave curve - special attachment, form tool, etch-a-sketch style adjustments or freehand?

 

[Dr.Al]

Al, I admire your persistence.
And how did you do the concave curve - special attachment, form tool, etch-a-sketch style adjustments or freehand?

The closest one of those was etch-a-sketch. I drew it in CAD and produced a sketch with thicknesses every 1 mm. I then turned it to those dimensions (just working to the dials on the lathe) to produce a staircase effect. The last bit was done with a half-round file, followed by wet-and-dry paper.

 

[Doug]

My recent router table build ment I needed somewhere to store the 10 reduction rings that came with the lift, I figured a simple wooden box would be best & as Japanese tool boxes seem to be de rigueur at the mo particularly on Instagram I thought as I had this afternoon free I’d have a go at one of those.




Construction was nothing special just a few grooves cut on the router table to make the basic box.



Made from off cuts of pine plus some oddments of oak used to make the wedge & bracing bits.



The reduction rings slide into slots cut at the chopsaw in two more offcuts of pine which just sit loose in the box but are held in place by the rings



All that’s left is to give the outside a good sand & apply a coat or two of oil.

 

[Cabinetman]

Lovely neat clean work Doug, I haven’t done one of those box lids yet, but then it usually takes a while for me to follow fashion haha.
Al, I’m reassured and heartened that you made that curve that way, I thought it was going to be something hi-tech and metalworky that would leave me a bit cold, nice bit of kit btw
Ian

 

[Mike G]

Neatening up the neatest workshop in Britain!

 

[AJB Temple]

Very smart Doug. Re Mike's comment, we need a pic of the whole workshop now :lol:

 

[Doug]

Very smart Doug. Re Mike's comment, we need a pic of the whole workshop now :lol:

I used to post photos of the shop particularly when I started on forums back in 07 & whilst I’m more than happy with a bit of banter I can’t believe how vitriolic some folks are if you have a tidy well organised workshop. It’s just in my nature to be organised & tidy, how some think you can’t be like that & produce stuff is beyond me, so I just don’t bother posting photos of the shop these days.

Neatening up the neatest workshop in Britain!

Don’t think I hold that title anymore Mike :eusa-think:






Though I did help with the building of it :lol: :lol:

I’ll just have to try harder :eusa-think: :eusa-shifty: :mrgreen:

 

[Mike G]

Have you moved, Doug? Didn't you used to have a workshop with sliding glazed doors and radiators? And I'm pretty sure you've got a lathe somewhere... :eusa-whistle:

 

[Doug]

No I’ve not moved Mike & your memory is correct, the photos above are of a workshop I help build last year & is more tidy & Palatial than mine hence me no longer having the title of neatest workshop in Britain

 

[Mike G]

Oh I see, I see....

 

[AndyP]

There will be no vitriol here Doug just envy :mrgreen:

 

[AndyP]

A rare foray into the workshop of late..In my frustration at getting the local rag to hold a flame I made some firelighters.



Funny after 15 mins of making those I no longer felt cold.

 

[Cabinetman]

Crikey Doug, I thought the photo was an upsidedown one of a bowling alley! What a wonderful space, and yes plain envy, even from me and I thought my workshop was perfect, didn’t take long for me to mess it up though lol..

 

[Doug]

The guy I did the work on the workshop for Ian restores classic cars & everything about his place is immaculate, you could fit my workshop in there 4 times over but then again I’d rather have my heating bill than his

I used to wish I had more space but these days I’m more than happy with what I’ve got & being small makes me be more organised which suits me down to the ground :lol:

 

[BigMonka]

A rare foray into the workshop of late..In my frustration at getting the local rag to hold a flame I made some firelighters.



Funny after 15 mins of making those I no longer felt cold.

Andy do you just light the curls or do you soak them in wax first? I'm thinking I should follow your lead rather than using newspaper or shop-bought fire lighters.

 

[9fingers]

In my frustration at getting the local rag to hold a flame I made some firelighters.

Ah! That will be the new safety Euro-newsprint. Impregnated with fire retardant to reduce fire risk. :lol:

Bob

 

[AndyP]

A rare foray into the workshop of late..In my frustration at getting the local rag to hold a flame I made some firelighters.



Funny after 15 mins of making those I no longer felt cold.

Andy do you just light the curls or do you soak them in wax first? I'm thinking I should follow your lead rather than using newspaper or shop-bought fire lighters.

I just lit them last night as is. My method is to lay a couple of quartered logs on the base of the fire pointed edge up, fill between with yesterdays charcoal, those shavings went on top with kindling on top of that. I then angle another quartered log above with a prop at one end. As the fire takes the prop burns out and the angle log falls on top of the now burning fire. Means I do not have to touch it for at least an hour or more.

 

[AndyP]

In my frustration at getting the local rag to hold a flame I made some firelighters.

Ah! That will be the new safety Euro-newsprint. Impregnated with fire retardant to reduce fire risk. :lol:

Bob

I am sure the Daily Telegraph that I bought back from my father's last weeks burns better than the local stuff

 

[Lurker]

Do I remember a spoof you tube, a few years back about artisanal kindling :eusa-think:

 

[Mike G]

....I just lit them last night as is. My method is to lay a couple of quartered logs on the base of the fire pointed edge up, fill between with yesterdays charcoal, those shavings went on top with kindling on top of that. I then angle another quartered log above with a prop at one end. As the fire takes the prop burns out and the angle log falls on top of the now burning fire. Means I do not have to touch it for at least an hour or more.

You've obviously got a much bigger fireplace or woodburner than me. I too use shavings, and just pile kindling on top in as an open a structure as I can manage. The shavings go up with an impressive "whoosh", and I have to load up with bigger stuff within 5 or 10 minutes. I haven't used a firelighter for years.

 

[AndyP]

I use 50cm logs Mike, in a burner. The firebox is 65cm wide.

 

[Mike G]

Mine is 350w x 200d x 175-225h. I guess your volume is at least 4 or 5 times mine.

 

[Dr.Al]

A small square. I really don't need any more squares: I've got loads of them. Nevertheless I thought it would be a quick and interesting project. I had never cut a bridle joint before and this seemed like a perfectly reasonable project to try one out on. I'm very happy to say that it appears to be square (based on the draw a line and flip it test).

 

[Blackswanwood]

I like that Al.

 

[Dr.Al]

I like that Al.

Thanks Robert

 

[Malc2098]

Nice.

 

[Doug]

Not the last thing I made but one of the last things I helped with & also a throwback to a finial I turned. A mate had been asked to replace a sash window on a property he’s worked at for many years & he asked if I’d help him with the fitting as I’ve not had much dealings with sash windows other than replacing cords I was keen to help & learn.

I’ve fitted plenty of windows over the years but it wasn’t until I got to his workshop that I realised why he needed a hand with the window, it was big 2.4x1.4m fortunately for transportation the weights hadn’t been installed as they took some lifting on their own. I dread to think what weight the fully installed window weighed with double glazed units, weights & frame but I wasn’t sorry to see it in place.




The house was over 200 years old & the subsidence was noticeable without a spirit level, it turned out it was the same house he’d asked me to turn a finial for 9 years ago. The finial was part of a porch that had been knocked down when a drunk driver crashed his car into the front of the house.
This was the original finial & the one I made



As I’d never been to the property before it was really nice to see first hand my finial incorporated into the new porch

 

[Lurker]

Excellent work as always Doug :text-bravo:

 

[AndyT]

:text-+1:
Proper job.

 

[Doug]

Thanks,

It’s been a good while since I turned some pens but an offer of some polyester resin blanks prompted me to dig out the mandrel etc & come up with these



Realising what I’d been missing I had a go at some segmenting something I did quite a bit off many years ago

 

[thetyreman]

re-shaped the top, removed the volute on the neck and thinned out the neck profile quite a bit, feels much better to play now, also re-cut the nut slots so they're lower because it was effecting intonation quite a bit, re-finished it with french polish, I still might change the pickups to bare knuckles but everything else I am happy with it.