Woodwork Sayings

Was taking to Daniel at Carbatec earlier today, and after we started coming up with some woodworking sayings, he suggested it would make a blog post.

I’ve decided to take it one step further, and once a list of sayings is together, I will choose a number that I will combine into a file that I’ll then cut on the CNC machine.  I have a large piece of camphor laurel that may be good for the list, which I will then be able to mount onto the shed wall.

This is what I have come up with so far.  Some are traditional, some are slightly modified, and a few are my own.

 

Measure twice, cut once, buy extra just in case

You can’t do the job right if you don’t have the right tools

The success of your project starts with the right lumber

When you get to the finishing stage, you’re half-way there

You can never have enough clamps

I only hope when I die, my wife doesn’t sell my tools for what I said I paid for them

When asked when you purchased a particular tool, the answer is always “I’ve had that one for years”

A workshop is a tool like any other

A router is just a motor to spin router bits

It’s not a mistake, it’s a design feature

Use your sand paper as if someone else is buying it

RTFM

Get the board stretcher

Quality remains long after the purchase price is forgotten

 

If you have any others, please drop them into the comments, and I will compile a final list of my favourites to send to the CNC.

Groovin’ on the Dancefloor

A CNC machine may be capable of placing a router in precisely the right place, and follow an exact path, but still a router is just a motor.

The real tool is the router bit – it does the real work.  If you were hand carving an intricate pattern, you’d want your tools to be razor sharp, and have the variety of profiles that you need. Just because a router is a powered version of a chisel, it doesn’t stop the need to have sharp bits and correct profiles.

This is where the Amana Tool In-Groove Engraving bits from Toolstoday.com come into their own.

Normally, if you want a really fine tipped engraving router bit, you either have to go with tool-steel, or a particularly expensive solid carbide bit.  The In-Groove bits have a real point of difference (pun intended).  They have replaceable carbide tips.  And not only that, but a variety of profiles that fit the same router bit body.

Toolstoday.com In-Groove

You choose either the 1/2″ or 1/4″ shank, and either just get the components you require, or get the 8 piece set which gives a good sample to start with, that you can then grow as required.  If a tip becomes blunt or is broken, it is a low-cost replacement and not the entire router bit being written off.

There are also a surprising variety of each profile, with different tip widths, allowing you to precisely choose a profile to match the job you are doing.

Profiles

There is another real benefit to the In-Groove system that is not immediately apparent.  You can change profile (effectively the same as changing router bits) without removing the bit from the router, or even having to disturb the current location of the CNC machine.

So you can set up a job with multiple paths, and like really expensive CNC machines that can change tools partway through a job, start with one profile to define edges, switch to a second for bulk clearing, then finish with a third profile that refines the design.  All by undoing a single hex bolt on the router bit itself.

Changing tips

As a bit of a test (and only in pine), I quickly threw together a design to test the different profiles out.  It really was simple changing tips on the fly, and matching design to bit.

Different profiles

As much as a V groove bit is the most commonly one used, I really liked the result of the cove tip

Cove Tip

I also gave a more complicated design a try, with a bit of a Celtic knot, a photo of a saw blade turned into a path, and some text on a curve.

This was done with a 30 degree V groove tip mounted.  Forgot to mention, I normally choose 1/2″ shank router bits, but knowing the CNC shark router is 1/4″, that is the way I went here.  The bits don’t get heavily loaded up – it is not bulk material removal after all.

The In-Groove router bits do sound like they are not running true (you develop quite an ear for that sort of thing after a while), but I didn’t see any particular problem at the router bit tip, so I suspect it is more because of some asymmetry caused by the tip retaining plate rather than the bit not running true.  For any bit mounted in the CNC, I made sure they were fully inserted into the collet.  No matter what the size, the router is single speed, and kicking along at 33000RPM.

Finally, I ran the same design onto the laminated board that I did the Mayan calendar and Japanese dragon, to see how well it came out.  I could have refined it further by choosing different bits (and depth of cut) for different portions of the design, but took the simplest option – letting it run from start to finish.

Stu’s Shed design

This isn’t some new design for a Stu’s Shed logo, although I don’t mind the saw blade and text layout, but I’d want to replace the Celtic design with something more applicable.  Perhaps the outline of a Festool Domino, or something!

If you are so inclined, see what you can come up with (Illustrator format preferred!)

So that is the Amana Tool In-Groove CNC Router Bits, from Toolstoday.com.  If you have a CNC router, these are definitely worth some attention.

Workspace

Although I put up the small storage shed last weekend, I really didn’t get a chance to actually make use of the space.

Today, I had a crack at trying to sort out the garage (where the majority of my machines are stored).  For a while it didn’t seem to be going particularly well – too much stuff, not enough storage, but slowly, slowly, things began to fall into place.

In the end, the 8m³ shed was filled to the brim – I would struggle to fit anything more in there at all.  And once I got that much stuff out of the garage, it was just sufficient to provide sufficient flexibility to move things around. As far as the decision to go with a shed rather than using a storage unit – I am storing pretty much all that I intended to, and now I’ll have a shed to show for it after the 2 months is up (the intended time I thought I’d need the unit). If it happens to be more than 2 months (every chance the way things always go), then I’ll be ahead on the cash stakes.  Money for jam.

So it is a shed of sorts – not able to handle large materials, but I can access each of the machines in there – the tablesaw, router table, jointer, thicknesser, both bandsaws, drill press, CNC (while I still have it), the lathes, and even the benchtop machines – there is an existing workbench along one wall in the garage.

Sure it is all a compromise, but hey – anything beats the last 5 months!  The thicknesser and tablesaw can only be run off the generator – no 15A power available otherwise.

Tomorrow I might even get to make some sawdust.  Exciting!

 

Plotting the End of Days

Given we are still here, guess that yet another “End of Days” has quietly slipped on past.  However, the Mayan calendar (or is it Aztec?) is still one of the challenging images that are sent to CNC machines all over!

I’ve been playing with this one today:

Mayan Calendar

It is quite a challenge for a CNC machine – results in around 1/2 a million lines of G Code to produce all the required cuts.  I started off cutting it into pine, but the initial size chosen (200x200mm), the depth of cut and the crapiata used, the results were not worth pursuing, so I cancelled it after about 45 minutes (so at least I could get a good idea how it could look).

Given how packed the garage is waiting for the new shed, working on a CNC machine is almost the only way I can actually manage any woodworking at all!  Note the precarious location for the laptop, so it is somewhat out of dust range from the router.

I then decided to find something more suitable, and this laminated electrical board was eminently suitable, given the lower layer is a significantly contrasting colour, so the pattern shows up exceptionally well.  Again, this was only a test cut on the underside – this was scaled to 300×300, and would have taken 4 hours to complete.  I stopped it after an hour, again as it was only a test, and a couple of settings I chose were causing some issues.

The other side of the board is a shiny surface, and should look pretty spectacular.  However, I plan to make it near the limit of size of the machine (a 580×580 calendar).  I didn’t start it today as I wanted to get a better idea of the settings before getting it underway.  It will also take 14 hours(!!), so I need to get some noise control in place before trying it on.  I might drop it back to 500×500, which will probably be closer to a 12 hour machining.

The CNC Shark range can be sourced from Carbatec, and seen in operation on Stu’s Shed 😉

Cake Boss

There are router bits, and router bits.  They come in a substantial number of shapes and sizes for a vast variety of functions.

Signwriting is a rather popular use for routers, given its particular ability to operate around curves and corners, its ability to follow templates and a router bit is basically a powered chisel.

Now chisels come in two types.  Ones used to shape wood, and ones used to open paint cans.  If your router bit isn’t razor sharp, you might as well use it to open paint cans – the difference between a sharp and blunt router bit is chalk and cheese. If you want a smooth, clean finish, the router bit needs to be as sharp as is achievable.  Tungsten carbide is not the sharpest material possible, but because of its hardness and durability it is preferred for the cutting edge of router bits and saw blades.

Face it though, sharpening it is a bugger.  Quality router bits are sharpened by CNC machines, able to produce polished carbide faces, but even a quality bit blunts with use.  You can send a bit away for sharpening, but the way to really get as sharp as new, is to have a new router bit.

So where does that leave us?

The ideal is:

1. A router bit that is razor sharp

2. Tungsten Carbide tip for maximising durability of the edge, prolonging the amount of cutting when the bit can still be considered sharp

3. Cheap enough (after the original purchase) to replace whenever it dulls off

4. Still able to be sharpened to maximise bit lonegivity

Guess we really want our cake and get to eat it too!

I’ve been trying out a couple of router bits that hit all these points – the professional signmaking bits from ToolsToday, by Amana Tool, and in particular the Insert V-Groove bits, that have replaceable inserts.

Amana Tool Router bits

These are not bits for massive stock removal – there are bits with significantly heavier chunks of carbide for that operation.  These are designed to achieve one particular feature – significant sharpness, and the ability to maintain that by easy tip replacement.   The angle that they approach the work is also important – sharpness is only one part of the formula, and the angle of attack is also critical to avoid tearout.

These bits are designed for CNC machines, and router tables.  So of course I turned straight to my ‘manual CNC’ machine – the Torque Workcentre.

My ‘manual CNC’

To try the bits out, I set up with the copy attachment, and chose a letter to duplicate as a first trial.

Mounted

The 1/2″ bit is mounted (this is the 90 degree bit – with the blade set at 45 degrees, the resulting groove is an exact 90 degrees.  There is also a 91 degree version for ‘mitre folding’ – this is where you cut a groove, then fold the material at that groove – used in furniture making with melamine and the like to get a sharp corner, with the outer skin being continuous around the corner, and not with a cut at the very corner).

From the Wood Magazine website, here is an example of a box made with this technique. (You can do it with a 90 degree bit – a 91 degree bit just achieves a sharper corner)

From WoodMagazine.com

First 2 passes, increasing total depth to around 5.5 – 6mm

The first pass went well, and a very clean cut.  I then increased the cutting depth for a second pass.  It comes down to how you use the Torque, but as a general rule this isn’t pushing the bit as much as a CNC will – it has a much higher feed rate tha what you’d tend to do by hand. Still, it coped well.

I then changed the copy pin to one with a wider diameter (from 1/4″ to 1/2″) and ran around the template again.

Twin pass

The bit cut really cleanly, and easily.  Don’t judge the small indentations around the curves of the “S” – that comes down to the smoothness of my template. I can really see how well this would also work on an actual CNC machine.

If you want a fine cut, then the 45 degree bit is for you.

Fine cut

With a combination of the two bits, you can cut large solid letters, and fine, precise details.  And as they dull off (as all bits will with use), the cutting surface can be removed and replaced or resharpened as you desire, without having to incur the price of a new router bit.

Available from ToolsToday.com in the USA. Now you can have your cake and eat it too…or in terms of router bits, you can always have sharp router bits and use them too!