Right Said Fred

It’s crunch time. With the router table that is.

I spent some time yesterday getting the table together properly, drilling the final holes to join each wing together (some holes were missing – fell out in transit).  It didn’t go well.  The machined plate (the one I had with the insert hole cut out) had serious warps – stress relieving both the original stresses once the webbing had been cut, and the results of heat from the machining process.  The warping was both longitudinally, and laterally, and even after all the care in bolting the sections together trying to take out as much as possible, it was still excessive to the point that I finally thought that the only solution will be abandoning the project.

This morning I went through my options – more machining (where?), alternate plates (wrong shaped cavity), abandoning the drop-in plate (undesirable, but one real option), abandoning the cast iron top altogether and going with a Pro Router Top from Professional Woodworkers Supplies (most likely final solution), and a bit of a stab-in-the-dark – firing up the belt sander.

This may not have occurred to me, except for the recent Hall Table course at Ideal Tools, and Terry’s enthusiastic use of the belt sander in production woodworking.  I don’t have a 7kg Festool, only a cheap’n’nasty GMC with a small contact area.  Oh well, you work with what you have.

Nipped off to the hardware store for some new belts for it – 40, 80 and 120.  I fired up the 80 grit initially, but it wasn’t achieving much, and when I got too close to the newly machined edge of the cavity, the belt caught and ripped itself off the sander.  Bugger – ok, change to a 40 grit (significantly aggressive looking thing) and go again.  I blew one of the 40 grit belts as well, and was going to throw them in the bin until I remembered the Blowfly – I can use the cloth-backed paper in the blowfly and at least get some more use out of it.

I treated the top in the same way as you would flatten a wooden tabletop – just a lot harder.  Sanding, sanding, checking, sanding – hmm – seems to be working.  Using a straight-edge to check progress, and testing the insert in place (sanding was only done with the plate removed).

Sanding the top flat

The 40 grit did cut significant tracks into the top, and they will take some removing, but that will happen over time (hitting it with 80 grit ROS each time I condition the top until it is scratch-free).  But actual progress was being made. The top was finally becoming flat.

Sanding Sanding Sanding

I then hit it with the ROS, first with 40 grit, then 60, then 80 (although I needed to do more with the 40 grit realistically).  Would have gone longer, but the ROS shredded its mounting pad.  So that was enough to call the sanding evolution quit for the day.  I then gave it a quick polish, so it was a bit protected.  Used a paraffin wax block, then instead of the normal kitchen green scourer, I decided the Spider should put in an appearance.  Boy did that save some elbow grease!

Spider for Top Regeneration

So that is where I got to – there is a lot to do with the table, but the top seems to be a go.  The base is still a long way from an optimum solution.  In the meantime, I used the router in the forward position for a different job.

Table in Use

Sure is nice having a functional router table again!

Cast Iron Router Table…Progress!

It has taken slightly longer than I expected (9 1/2 weeks or so all told (sure there’s a movie reference in there somewhere 😉 ) but finally I have the machined router wing back in my hands.

I’ve had a couple of operations performed on it, one quite high risk, so it will be interesting to see if it really survived.  The first was flattening the rounded front edge, so I can butt a couple of the wings against each other.  That was ok, and without particular drama.

The second was removing a large portion of the centre of the wing so it could fit a Woodpeckers Router Lift.  The amount of material removed allowed a lot of stresses in the metal to be released, causing quite a lot of cupping of the top.  However, by bolting through the top into a couple of metal bars to act as brackets to pull the top back into alignment seems to have done the trick.

CI Router top in its new form

The underside

So there we are.  Nex job will involve finally bolting it all together to form the ultimate router top, and fit something like the LS 17 from Incra to it.  Build a real base, and then we might be done before taking it for a spin.

When did machine construction go wrong?

One of the regulars sent me this photo of a 40″ bandsaw from a website dedicated to old woodworking machines, called www.owwm.com

Old 1890's Cast Iron Bandsaw

The gentleman in the photo found this bandsaw in the States on eBay – no idea what he paid for it.  The bandsaw itself is from the 1850s – 1890s, and it is 40″ (the wheel diameter), which gives it a massive throat, and it has a significant resaw capacity.  The thing looks like it weights a ton (and that may not be that far from the truth!), being solid cast iron.

I started scanning through the large collection of other bandsaw photos on the site, just out of interest, and noting the dates I started to see a trend emerge.  The newer the bandsaw, the more likely it was that it was folded steel construction than cast iron (and sure, other aspects such as guarding began making an appearance!)

So the question began to form – when did machine construction go ‘wrong’?  When did cast iron stop being the material of choice?

I’m not necessarily proposing that modern, folded metal construction cannot make a good machine, and the cost difference is phenomenal. Cast Iron also has a bit of a bad rap – when done poorly (in modern, cheap productions particularly, when cast iron is used incorrectly in thin casting as a cost-saving measure, using poor material engineering techniques then it is a curse – castings break easily (cast iron is by its nature brittle, unless correctly heat treated to produce versions such as spheroidal cast iron), but it is still a superb material of choice in many situations.

It’s weight can be a significant benefit, particularly for machine stability, it can be easily machined (but leave welding it to the experts – low carbon steel (mild steel) is easily welded, high carbon steel is not, and needs serious welding procedures written to cope with it.  Cast Iron can be thought of as high carbon steel, with so much carbon added that it becomes a bit of a carbon/cementite/iron mix.  Welding it is a bitch!)

Because of the (micro) voids of graphite in the cast, cast iron has real vibration damping capabilites – an excellent property for a machine to have – reduced vibrations means a smoother running machine and less noise.

Finally, strength – put a heavy cast iron body against one made from folded steel – one has inherent strength from the material, the other from careful design and internal ribs trying to dissipate the stresses / tensions and compressive forces so the structure does not fail.  To get that in cast iron, just make the casting thick enough!

So back to my original question – when did ‘it’ go ‘wrong’?  From the OWWM site, the dates of the real transitions appear to be after WW1, but before WW2.  There were massive technological changes happening around that time, a depression, and so a possible emphasis towards lower cost production.  I’m not an historian, so wiser heads would be able to give a much more considered view, but that is what I am seeing as potential influences on machine manufacture.

I’ll stick with my cast iron machines as much as I can – sometimes the traditional is more than a romantic concept.  Sometimes it also makes good engineering sense!

Bits n Pieces around the shed

Think I have found a good location in the shed for the drum sander.  It may not be the perfect solution for the machine in every workshop, but how I use the machine, this solution works for me, and saves the machine footprint as well.

Drum Sander & Thicknesser

This solution works on a number of levels.  Because my thicknesser has a fixed head, there is no load on the height mechanism having the sander on top, and the thicknesser is certainly strong enough to cope with this load.  It doesn’t interfere with any of the thicknesser mechanisms, and it means I use the same infeed and outfeed areas for two machines with similar requirements.

I’ve also been playing with the drill press, trying out different tabletop combinations.  This current look isn’t working too well – it weights way too much to be functional, so I imagine I will be restoring the Pro Drill Press table shortly.  Just wanted to give this a try anyway.

Trying a CI Drill Press Tabletop

My ideal would be a CI top with the features and sizing of the Pro Drill Press Table.

It took me a long time to get around to it, but I’ve finally found a home for the Incra Mitre Express, and the coving jig.

Jig Storage

I did drill a couple of holes in the mitre express to allow it to be hung.  So much better than having it kick around the shed floor.

I had a chance to have a quick look at the panel clamps I’m reviewing for the Australian Wood Review Article.  Clamping them overhead wasn’t really the plan, but once I started, I just kept going!

Some Panel Clamps

CompressX Panel Clamp

Not every clamp was able to clamp overhead of course!

Still hoping to have Frontline Engineering’s version included.  I’ve managed to get a bit of an extension on the article deadline, so that should help. Aussie products always especially welcome!

Router Table Upgrade now ver 3.0.3

Got the CI (cast iron) plates to the shed, and cleaned up overnight, so had a chance to play around a little with the layout to see how it might all work.  After a couple of iterations, I have been forming some more solid concepts with what I want to achieve.

Firstly, to the cleanup.  As we saw in the earlier post, they were wrapped in plastic with some horrible looking surface (which I hoped was antirust) and it turned out to be.  Very sticky too.

I decided to try some thinner on it, to see if that would budge it easily.

CI Wing Cleanup

It did!

Spun Metal Bowl

BTW, I find a small collection of these spun metal bowls very handy around the workshop.  In this case, it’s holding the thinner that I’m using, but they are good for all sorts of things, from collections of miscellaneous screws, to soaking old rusty components, to BBQ salads. Well perhaps not.

CI Router Table, Incra and MagSwitch

So once I had all the plates cleaned, I laid them out and placed the Incra LS Positioner on top to see how it would work, and what size table I really needed.  It also confirmed for me that just using two MagJigs is sufficient to solidly lock the fence down for routing operations.  Doesn’t the CI top look the bees knees!

Choosing a Layout

After trying a few different options, (and remembering I still have 2 wings to come, cut with the hole for the router), I decided that I wanted a smooth wing nearest me, then 1 router wing, then the other two smooth wings.  Having a second router mounted would cause it to be too far from me to operate safely, and the LS Positioner is not long enough to service both locations from the one mounting point.  Not that I can’t move it, but that defeats the purpose.

So the plan is back to having the other router wing mounted on the tablesaw, and this table to become a 680 x 1000mm cast iron router table.

Final operation would look something like this, with MagSwitchable jigs in play!

Looking the part

Just need the one with the hole in it so I can bolt it all together and start thinking about the base.

Rockler and the Roving Reporter

Stu’s Shed’s unofficial roving reporter got over to the USA recently, and had an opportunity to get to the Rockler Store (lucky bugger).

So I now have a new cap 🙂 and a very interesting catalog (deliberate use of US spelling 😉 ) from their store.

It kind of looks like a magazine from the 80s!  I am also surprised just how many non-woodworking specific items were listed – toilet roll holders for example.  Guess they were missed from the Carbatec catalogue this year!  Even more disconcerting is amongst that sort of thing, there is a very obviously woodworking related item or section.

However, all that aside, it is fascinating to see the range of products that are available over there.  It is like someone in Australia has gone through the catalog, and circled specific items with “that will work in Oz”.  Also, in reverse, you cruise through their catalog and come across a couple of MagSwitches, or a Triton Woodrack.

It isn’t meant to sound negative either – there is so many interesting items in the catalog that I’d love to have available in Oz.

One of those wood branding irons for example.  “Handmade by Stu’s Shed” perhaps.

However what really caught my attention was actually on the front cover.  A large, solid cast iron router tabletop, and not just as an extra wing for the tablesaw, but a dedicated router table.  Not cheap, but stunning never the less.  I’m sure some would just say – add a permenant motor, and it becomes a standard spindle moulder, and that may be true to an extent, but I’ve never seen a spindle moulder capable of handling an Incra fence.

Given a new router bit I have just received from Linbide to review, I am seriously tempted to add an extra wing on the tablesaw anyway with this bit (semi) permenantly fitted to a second router.  Of course if I did that, my original fence I made (before buying the Incra Wonderfence) would again be useful.  However I can’t remember for the life of me what I dd with it.  Turns out this site can be useful, even to me – just scanned back through a few pages to the last photo of part of the workshop, and found it quietly sitting on a shelf!  A couple of brackets on the back of it, and I’d be able to MagSwitch it to the table easily, using the tablesaw fence and Wixey digital scale for accurate positioning!

The ‘roving reporter’ was also wrapped with a few of his purchases at the store, including some angle brackets and clamps for glueing up brackets, and a polyurethane encased mallet.  More on these later 🙂