Demo Day

Another Carbatec Demo comes to an end- was pen turning today, and I even managed to finish 1 1/2 pens.  Would have done more but the bushes I had for the Carbatec 401 pens was wrong, so what I turned ended up too small a diameter.

It is always harder to get something done on machines that are not your own, in a space which is not your own, and when you have an audience that you are talking to/communicating with.

Next month (August) I won’t be running the demo – have a clash of dates, so Lindsay at Carbatec will probably be doing a Triton demo. Back on for Stu’s Shed in September – haven’t chosen a topic yet.

As Seen on The Web

Found these photos of a memorabilia chest on the Incra Website – some beautiful work made in Spalted Maple, including the hinges.

The gentleman who created it worked for years on the Stealth Bomber program, and collected many souvenirs from the program.

Stunning timber, superb chest.  I like the idea of it as well as a way of storing and displaying coins, as I have a small collection that I’d like to come up with something like this for that collection.

Wish I had made something as stunning as this to showcase!

The associated article talks about the Hingecrafter, and the recent upgrade of the LS Positioner to the metric version apparently makes it partially incompatible with the Hingecrafter.

However, I am thinking the easiest solution is to maintain some capability of imperial positioning, by acquiring an Original Incra Jig.  I haven’t as yet, but the thought is there.

Also, while on the topic of Incra, I have been using the 1000SE Mitre Gauge a bit recently, and enjoying the ability to significantly extend the fence for crosscutting very long boards.

Tung Oil Data Sheets

If choosing a finish, and you see “Tung Oil” somewhere in the description, as in a Tung Oil finish, or Tung Oil type finish etc, just check the product contents.  Some have 0% actual Tung Oil (surprise, surprise), whereas others can be up around 98% – 100% pure Tung Oil.

Organoil sent me the following data sheets , so decided to post them here.  Includes a flow-chart for Tung Oil production.

Download Tung Oil Data Sheet pdf

Download Citrus Terpene Data Sheet pdf

Download Tung Oil production pdf

Keep on Turnin’

Once again in the shed late at night, feeling productive and not wanting to make an excess of noise, so another couple of pens got churned out.

Top one is a Sierra with a brown acrylic blank, lower one an Elegant Beauty with a new purple acrylic I found in Carbatec.

Don’t forget, this Saturday is the last of the month, so it is Demo day at Carbatec, Melbourne, and I will be demonstrating how easy pen turning is, even if you are a beginner.  I am certainly not an expert turner, so don’t expect some amazing technique with a skew or something – it will be basic, yet comprehensive, and if you have never made one before you may go away from the demo wanting to give it a try for yourself.

Warning: Pen Turning is an Addictive Hobby

Wax on, Wax off

Wonder how many reading this will either be too old, or too young to really get the reference?!

I’ve applied another couple of layers (now up to 3), with a steel wool rubdown between 2 and 3

If you’ve been woodworking for a while, you would have heard about 0000 steel wool (and the other 000, 00, 0 etc grades). They are not a license to kill – they are a license to finish.

Steel Wool

There is steel wool that you use to clean the dishes, and then there is steel wool with specific grades, from #4 #3 #2 #1 #0 #00 #000 #0000 in order of increasing fineness.  I haven’t been able to determine a decent correlation between steel wool grades and grit sizes, but #0000 is around 1500 – 2000 grit from what I can determine.  It works well in this sort of situation, smoothing and removing excess buildup, where sandpaper would clog easily.

You have to be careful disposing of it when it has been saturated with oils, as the wire is so fine it burns easily, so place into a container of water to dispose of it.  (Better yet, add some dishwashing liquid which will help breakdown the oil)

Steel wool is also used to polish metals, but don’t use the fine stuff for doing your dishes – you’ll be there for a while!

After 1st Application

After 3 Coats

Detail

Watching the layers build.  I won’t do another layer tonight – the weather has not been particularly helpful, so another day for the oil to be absorbed will not hurt.

ROS, TWC: TLA Heaven

To translate: you can now fit a number of Random Orbital Sanders to the Torque Workcentre!

What I have here is a prototype, but actual versions should not be too far off. Fits Bosch, Triton, DeWalt, Milwaukee and I’m sure there are plenty of others with a similar body.

ROS Attachment for TWC

Where a random orbital sander is used as a finishing device with a fine-grit sandpaper, it is not a stock removal tool, and it removes enough material to end up with a smooth surface, but not necessarily flat (and that is fine when at the final finishing stages).

On the other hand, if you want to use one for flattening a surface it is just not possible….until now.

Load the ROS with 80, 60 or even 40 grit, and with the tool mounted in the TWC, it will be kept at the same level across the entire surface, allowing the ROS to flatten out the peaks, lower and repeat until the surface is flat.

It could also help dust clearance, preventing clogging as the grit in the paper is touching and cutting, not the entire paper resting on the surface.  It can also decrease the amount of heat generated for the same reason.  And one other benefit, if you are often too heavy-handed with the ROS, you can prevent it achieving a fully random sanding effect – having your focus changed to moving the ROS across the surface rather than pushing it down into the surface will produce a better result.

I’d still use the ROS handheld for fine finishing – this is more a bulk material removal and flattening technique with the ROS mounted to the TWC.

Just another attachment that improves the already impressive functionality of the Torque Workcentre.

The Good Oil

Another night, or more correctly, another 24 hours, and another layer of oil onto the project.

This layer went on the same as the first, without needing any particular finesse, letting the wood suck up what it needs.  It was already noticeable the decrease in amount needed, as would be expected.  One more layer then the first sanding.  No point rushing these things.

On an side note, I have been wearing gloves while applying the oil/turpene mix, and even tonight wearing 2 pairs of non-latex, plastic food gloves (they are too sloppy to be any good in the kitchen) I found my fingertips damp by the end.  I suspect the turpene does a pretty good job of eating the gloves while I polish!

Apologies RSS Subscribers…

if I have been creating havoc with your readers today (and if not, please ignore!!)

I am experimenting with the best method of supplying both standard and high definition videos, and still have the correct formats available to iTunes for iPhones/iPods etc.

I am thinking of creating a second iTunes podcast, specifically for high definition versions, but need to do some of this experimenting before jumping down that route.

I’m not looking at providing all these as formats, but the ones easily available are:

Recently I have been providing 640×360, which does work on the iPhone despite what the graph here shows.

So as they say in Chadstone, “Please excuse me while I change in front of you”

The Safe Oil

A note on safety – Tung Oil is an exothermic oil – like linseed oil, it generates heat as it dries.  If you don’t treat the rags with respect, they will bite you (or more correctly, burn you, in the sense that they can catch fire and bring the shed down).

Used rags need to either be laid out to dry in the sun, or immersed in water.  If left screwed up in the bin, you might find that in the middle of the night the bin is very easy to find, what with the fire inside it and all.

A Finish with a Good Lick

I am not a fan of modern finishes.  I know with pens that I use CA glue, which is in effect an acrylic finish, but in that situation, it is durable and comparatively quick. In saying that, I am now wondering just how well this traditional finish would work.  It would require the pen to remain mounted in the lathe (or remounted for each application) for an entire week, but if the finish was perfection, that might be worthwhile.

But I’m getting distracted.

For some items a traditional wax finish works well, for others, an oil finish really brings out the lustre in the timber.  The (mineral) definition of lustre is very appropriate “a description of the way light interacts with a surface”, and some oil finishes on some timbers produces such a depth – a fully three dimensional effect in the surface of the timber.

I have wanted to try Tung Oil for a long time – I’ve seen it used on a finishing video by Jeff Jewett (Taunton Press), and it was an amazing finish for ‘just’ an oil. It is an oil that all others are judged by – a Tung Oil finish is used as a descriptor for other finishes, even those that have no Tung Oil in them at all.  China Wood Oil is another name for the genuine stuff, and dates back to China, and over 2400 years ago.

In the past I have gone for oils that have included Tung oil, but haven’t gone out of my way to seek it out in a pure form, so finding Organoil now have it on the shelf in Carbatec meant I couldn’t help but grab it.

Tung Oil

There was also Terpene, which is a distillation extracted from citrus peelings, and can be used in place of turpentine, including cleaning brushes, and for thinning Tung Oil.  Tung Oil is surprisingly thick, and is a nut oil that once it has been applied and has had time to cure (for want of a better word) it is both water and alcohol resistant – perfect for a hall table.

The citrus terpene allows better penetration of the timber by the Tung Oil, so I am using it for the first coat, but from then on will be using the Tung Oil neat.

The timber looks absolutely stunning, even with the first coat.  It dries to a matt finish, but additional layers (applied 24 hours apart) increases the gloss until a mirror finish is possible.

Mahogany table with a Jarrah river

Hall Table

And this is just the first coat of about 6

Even now, check out the contrast with the raw table state (before it was sanded obviously)

Raw Table

I’m feeling so inspired to finish this project off, and start another!  Once the finish is done, I still need to make a dovetail drawer and give it a lick of the Tung, but then I really want to see what else I can come up with.  Beating the procrastination with the leg of a Hall Table Fable!