$1000 off Torque Workcentre

Had a chat with Professional Woodworkers Supplies yesterday, as I noticed in their latest mailout that they still have their Torque Workcentre for sale.

Bottom line is, if you tell them you are a Stu’s Shed reader, and you want to buy the demonstration unit they will sell it for $1000 off normal retail. (Actually $1010, to make it an even $4000, but a round number of $1k sounded better 😉 )

Just to be clear, this is a unit that in practical terms has never been used, except to drill holes in the MDF top to fit Walko clamps (as I use on my workcentre).

Normally, the TWC doesn’t come with the MDF top, so this is another $30 or so saving (plus the time it normally takes to drill all those holes!!)

Some specs on the unit: 2m long, and has a customised leg position so it can fit inside a 6’x4′ trailer.  (You can still have the legs at the original position).  It has the 900mm arm (which is the most versatile and convenient of the 3 typical sizes).  It includes the copy attachment, saw attachment and drill attachment.   The router is not included.  Think the mount for this unit fits Hitachi routers, but you can check that with Grahame directly.  Not too difficult to get it to fit other brands of plunge router.

The recommended retail for it is $5010.  For a Stu’s Shed reader, $4000 will take it away (pickup from SE Melbourne, or plus delivery if further afield).

If you want to know more about what the TWC can do, either do a search on here or click on the Shed.TV tab and watch the numerous videos.

I am not getting any kickback from this, nor am I selling my unit (too bloody useful!)  These machines are rather difficult to obtain, let alone with a significant discount.

Contact Grahame directly on 03 9776 1521, and don’t forget to mention you are wanting the Stu’s Shed discount on the purchase!

 

 

Enter, the Router Table

Taking the first components off to the next stage of the process involves the router table, and the rail & stile plus raised panel bits.

Cutting the interior profile

After some test cuts, the router table was set up to run the rails and stiles through the first router bit.  I use MagSwitch featherboards to hold the timber against the router table fence. They are so easy to position, and hold fast to the cast iron top of my router table.  Make you think it fortunate my router table is cast iron, but it came about in the reverse order.  I made the router table out of cast iron so that I could use MagSwitches on it.

Woodpeckers Coping Sled

After changing to the complementary router bit, it was time to cut the end grain of the rails.  If you ever wonder how to remember which is which, think about rails being horizontal.  They certainly are for trains! The stile is the other one.

The Woodpeckers Coping Sled is awesome for this task.  It holds the rails perfectly, and perpendicular to the direction of travel.  If I had taken more care, I would have used a sacrificial backing.  Probably should have – hardwood tears out a bit too easily. I’ll make sure I do when cutting the doors for the sink unit.

I just checked – the coping sled is still available from Professional Woodworkers Supplies.  They now have a mini one as well, but given the full sized one is on special, I’d still go with that one (the one pictured above).  There is so much more with this one, it is worth the difference.

Sanding the panels

After removing the panels being glued up in the Frontline clamps, I used the Festool belt sander to do a final flattening (including removing any glue squeezeout).  The large sander weights 7kg, and when coupled with the sled means you can hold the handle, and, well, hang on – letting the tool do all the work.  The work is clamped up using brass dogs on the vice, and dogs in holes in the table.

Panel bit

Once sanded (not the final sand – more a sizing sand than a finishing one), it was back to the router table, this time with a raised panel bit.  I don’t have a raised panel bit with a cutter for the back yet, so have to adjust it manually. This is not the final pass, but an intermediate one to check fit.  Best to do the crossgrain first, then the longgrain.

Panel bit

This is a monster bit – pretty much at the limit that a router can (or rather should) drive.  The run at the slowest speed still gets a decent tip speed.

Test fit

A quick test fit showed I was close, but still needs another pass to get it there.  Looking good though.  Will look even better when I do the 3D routing into each panel!  Once that routing is done (next session), then I can glue the panels up.

Thicknessing undersized stock

One thing I have been surprised with so far, is the lack of waste.  I’d always try to use timber to maximise yield, but there is always waste.  So far I’d not have enough offcuts to fill a 10L bucket – the yield is exceptional.

Even these thin panels that were ripped off the 19-20mm thick boards.  They will be perfect for the back of the units.  I wanted to run them through the thicknesser, but it just doesn’t go thin enough.  To solve that problem, I clamped on a sled.  The boards would not feed initially, but with a quick rubdown with Sibergleit, the boards fed through smoothly and easily.  I wouldn’t do this with any timber, or to go too thin, but it will get you out of trouble.
So a good session.  Progress seems slow, but this is always the slow part of any project.  Once the items are cut, and some preliminary joinery done, it usually flies together.

 

Some good news and bad news.  The good news is that I am documenting sessions on video.  Bad news is I am not planning on releasing the video until the project is complete!

When less is more

A recent release from Woodpeckers, this new square is of significant size.

Woodpeckers Mini Square

Significantly small that is!  When so many other items work to convince you that bigger is better, this goes the other way and proclaims “less is more”

As with other Woodpeckers squares, this is guaranteed square (and to stay square for the gauge’s lifetime) to 0.001″

You may notice inside the stylish container, that Woodpeckers products are made in the USA, and that not only being small, it has decent width.  One use of the gauge is for checking that a sharpened chisel is square to the sides, and that width makes it easier to align the gauge with the chisel edge.

Checking a chisel is square

This is not the only use for this gauge, as given its small size it can easily get into small spaces (such as a small box or drawer), and check for square.  That ability to fit into small spaces isn’t something to undervalue – resorting to folding a piece of paper to create a makeshift square will not achieve 0.001″ accuracy!

Available in Oz from Professional Woodworkers Supplies for under $40.

 

Damascus steel

There are not a lot of swords around these days, and the original techniques for producing Damascus steel have been lost to the ages.  Modern Damascus steel is typically created by a technique called billet welding.  This is where a billet of steel is hammered out, folded over, then hammered together again which causes the steel to weld together.  Hammered out again, folded, hammered together.  Rinse and repeat.

Japanese forgers used to use a similar technique, throwing a layer of carbon over the steel before folding it.  This creates layers of ferrite and cementite – soft and hard microlayers.

The result of whatever method is used, is steel with a distinctive organic wavy pattern across the surface.

Despite Damascus steel swords no longer being a household item (well in the household of a knight, or Samurai), you can still buy products that benefit from the tough, durable, yet razor-sharp edge that Damascus steel provides.  These are kitchen knives, with the incredible distinctive surface that layers upon layers of folded, billet welded steel creates.

So you may be wondering where this is leading? Well, you remember the steak knife project I did recently, creating wooden handles on a set of four knives?  (These kits are still available by the way).  How would you like to have a kitchen knife made from Damascus steel for which you have created the handle?

Professional Woodworkers Supplies have Damascus steel kitchen knife blanks that you can handle with a distinctive timber of your choice.  I do a great deal of cooking, and like having good knives.  So having one made from Damascus steel is something I have wanted for a while, and even better as a shed project.

Damascus steel Zhen Nakiri knife blank

They make great gifts as well.

Creating a handle for this knife blank will be featured in an upcoming article (just as soon as I make it!)

This particular blank is a Zhen Nakiri blade, which is particularly suited to cutting vegetables.  It has a blade length of 170mm, and a Rockwell C hardness of 60-62, and has 67 layers. Check out the range available here.

Steak Knives, Take Two

When I first made some scales for the steak knife set (from Professional Woodworkers Supplies) about a year ago, things were going well until almost the final step when excessive tearout occurred when the roundover bit got a tad aggressive. That project has been set aside for a little longer than I expected (or realised when I looked at the date of the first effort!). So time to try again. I’m not sure if this specific set is still available, but there are plenty of other knife projects available here.

Unhandled knife kit

I didn’t take a photo of the knife kit again this time, so have recycled the first photo here. Now on with the new attempt (and yes, there is a more successful conclusion!)

To start, I have a new timber for the blanks (for a bit of variety!) This time the handles will be black hearted sassafras. The blanks have been roughly sized, and ready to be machined accurately.

I have improved the method I use to sand thin stock on the drum sander by making a sled.

Thin stock sled for the drum sander

With a piece of MDF, I have attached a thin fence to one edge with a couple of 4mm dominos.

Thin stock sled in operation

The sled carries the blanks in and through the sander – the increased area of the base works well with the sander to ensure no slippage occurs when the blanks impact the sanding drum, decreasing any chance of snipe or burning. These were sanded to 8.2mm to match the knife bolster.

Next, cut an angle on one end to match the knife blank. In this case, 36 degrees, which is easily done using the Incra Mitre Gauge HD, and even better when coupled up with the Mitre Express.

HD Gauge from Incra

Mitre Express

The Mitre Express makes machining small items safer, and minimising tearout.

Knife Scales

The resulting knife scales ready for the next stage. I needed to drill 3.5mm holes, but found my drill bit that size had the end snapped off from a previous job. So for a bit of a diversion, off to the Tormek and the drill bit sharpener jig.

Tormek DBS-22

This jig quickly turned the broken tip of the bit back into a well-formed, razor sharp bit, better than new (originally a 2 facet bit – this jig allows you to develop 4 facets on the tip).

Preparing the scale for drilling

With double-sided tape, I attached one scale to the knife, then the second scale to the first. This allows me to drill both sides simultaneously, and any breakout can be minimised.

Drilling the blank

After drilling, I drew around the handle, then detached the knife. After roughing down on the bandsaw, I sanded right to the line using a combination of the disk sander and spindle sander.

The scales are then glued to either side of the knife, and the pins inserted. They are longer than necessary, and get cut and sanded to size once the glue sets.

Handles ready for final shaping and finishing

The knives were then returned to the disk and spindle sanders to finalise the shape.

From there, I used a random orbital sander to sand all sides, and round over the edges (done with the ROS held upside down in one hand, and the knife handle bought to the sander). After a while I decided the microcuts were becoming a bit excessive, so finished the job wearing a kevlar carver’s glove.

You may notice the knife bolsters are no longer polished – while shaping some of the bolsters got damaged unfortunately, so it was better to have them all sanded evenly to match. It may look a bit exaggerated in the photo, but ok in reality. Not the preferred result, but such is life.

The knives have already been used a couple of times – it is rather cool using a knife you’ve made the handle for, and the knives themselves are heavy, very sharp and slice steak to perfection.

Forgot to mention – they were finished simply by rubbing them down with Ubeaut Foodsafe Plus mineral oil. This is ideal for chopping boards, salad bowls, and of course, knife handles.

Finished knives

(just reread this post the following morning- I really shouldn’t write entries at 2am: so many typos, including the title. “Sneak knives”. Either that is autocorrect gone mad, or I have!

Wood Feeler Gauge

In the automotive industry (in particular), the feeler gauge is an invaluable tool for setting precise clearances.  You can get a cheap one for a few bucks, or spend significantly more for ones with a huge range of sizes and smaller tolerances of error.

Automotive Feeler Gauge

I do use one in the workshop, but there are not many situations that such fine gaps are required, or at least measured.  More often than not you will find many people talking about using a sheet of paper, a bank note or a post-it note to check gaps.  Seeing as you can get a feeler gauge for $7, not sure why you’d bother with paper, but that is just me.

Woodworking also doesn’t need the precision that an automotive feeler gauge offers.  It doesn’t mean that the concept of a feeler gauge wouldn’t be invaluable in the workshop though.  And no – I don’t mean the feeler gauge has to be made of wood!

Woodpeckers make just the thing – no surprise there!  Available from Professional Woodworkers Supplies, there is the “7 piece set up block” (available in metric and imperial).

You can use them as a ruler, but better, you can use them as woodworking feeler gauges.

Metric Setup Blocks

The sizes are 0.5mm, 1mm, 2mm, 4mm, 8mm, 16mm and a precision block providing 25mm, 50mm and 100mm.

They are still precise to 0.0254mm (0.01″)

The more you use them, the more you find yourself using them.

Tablesaw blade height

By combining the gauges together you can measure blade heights with 0.5mm steps. This, for example is the blade set to precisely 32.5mm

Setting Fences

Or do you want to set a fence a distance from the blade (and in a very repeatable way)?  This is the fence set at 104mm from the right side of the carbides of the blade. You can slip the smaller gauge in and out in the same way as you do with automotive gauges, ensuring it isn’t too tight so something is potentially loaded up creating a false reading (such as the blade flexing), and not too loose so as to get a sloppy (and therefore inaccurate) reading.

Resawing on the bandsaw

Resaw

Setting the resaw fence on the bandsaw for 1.0mm thick veneers.

Setting up the jointer

Precisely measuring the gap underneath a rule to show the infeed table is exactly 1mm below the outfeed, irrespective of what the height gauge on the tool claims.

The set is equally at home on the drill press, and the router table, and that is just a few applications for the tool.

Stretch your imagination for others!

Available from Professional Woodworkers Supplies. These are part of the One-Time tools, so once gone, they are gone for good.

Related articles

• Preparing Timber – Resaw (part b) (stusshed.com)
• Preparing Timber – Resaw (part a) (stusshed.com)
• The Hamilton Panel Gauge (lostartpress.wordpress.com)