Saturday, September 27, 2014

Make a clean and dirty clothes wooden rack with the scroll saw





I made this rack because I needed to have my wood shop clothes in order for laundry. 

First of all I designed the template of the rack with a vector creating software. You can have my plans here:
 http://www.scribd.com/doc/241168212/Clean-Dirty-Rack-Plans

Then I glue the templates on my wooden boards and cut them on my scroll saw. I used spruce for this project, but I think plywood would be better. That's because some pieces might be fragile, especially when force is applied with the direction of the grain.

Now I fine tune the peg's  tenon to fit on the rack's mortise. To do that I trace the depth of the mortise with a pencil and the I use a chisel and a knife to remove some material until I have a snug fit.

I sand the pegs and glue them on then rack.

I will join the top and bottom of the piece with dowels and glue. I use my bronze pointers to find the exact location of the holes I need to drill.

After drilling the holes on my drill press I glue and clamp the piece together.

I fine tune some of my scroll saw mistakes with chisels and sanding.

My rack is ready to be screwed on my shop's door.  

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Wood burning art again!





This is another drawing I made with my wood burner.  It was also a test for my new SLR camera. I think this video is an upgrade as far as my cinematographic quality is concerned.

Friday, September 19, 2014

Wooden stencil of my logo made on the scroll saw






This is a stencil of Scrap wood city's logo. 

First of all I printed the logo on an A4 piece of paper. I designed the logo in a vector graphic design software. You can use Adobe illustrator, Corel draw or any other vector creating software you want in order to create your scroll saw patterns. Some logos need some fine tunings in order to become stencils. For example the letter "o" needs to have some thin stripes, otherwise the inside circle of the "o" will fall apart.

I apply spray glue on the back of my paper and I glue it on a scrap piece of plywood.

I decided to add a handle to my stencil so that my hand won't be sprayed with pain when I use the stencil. I take a pencil and I draw the outer line of my stencil.

I drill holes for the inner cuts on my drill press.

I cut out the stencil on my scroll saw.

I sand the piece with 120 grit sand paper. I do more aggressive sanding when I sand vertically. This way I can correct my stencil's curves a little bit faster.

I test my stencil with a white primer spray I had laying around in the shop.


Sunday, September 14, 2014

Scrapy scroll saw illustration





Instead of just drawing something with ordinary materials, I decided to create an illustration with a slight 3D feel. To do that I drew  my stuff on scrap plywood pieces, cut them on my scroll saw and then glued them together layer by layer.

First of all I drew the background pieces and then cut them on my scroll saw. I use a pretty large blade on my scroll saw and as a result it is difficult to turn my piece fast in order to cut corners or tight curves. To do that with such a big blade I took my time to make room for the blade to turn. I also run the scroll saw at slow to medium speed.  After I'm done I glued the background pieces. I applied pressure with several heavy items I had on my shop. After glueing I sanded the piece smooth.

Now it was time to draw the next layer. I followed the same steps to draw the character on the right. On the left side of my piece I wanted to add some type. To do that I need to measure the space I had left. I used my caliper to measure roughly my area. I drew the letters and I cut them on the scroll saw.

In order for some areas of the illustration to pop out I decided to paint them with water based wood stain in the color of Oregon pine. I applied two layers of paint.

I made a hanging mechanism using screws and string. My illustration is now ready to be hanged on my shop's wall.

Monday, September 8, 2014

DIY cut glass bottle converted into a container






This project is not a 100% woodworking project, but I think it's is interesting for DIY lovers.

First of all I took an old glass bottle. I placed it on my glass bottle cutting  jig and traced a line around it's perimeter with the glass cutter. 

Then I placed a lit candle under my bottle and slowly heated the traced line. 

I cooled the heated line with water and with a light hit the bottle brakes in the middle. If the bottle is too hard you might need to repeat the cool and heat process several times. Do not try to force things here, you need to be patient and careful. Sometimes glass bottles aren't so good quality and might brake unevenly.  This procedure might be dangerous and I do not recommend it for non adults.

I sand the piece with 100 and 600 grit sandpaper to smooth any edges.

Then I begun making my wooden cap from a scrap piece of plywood. 

I traced the bottle on the wood and then I measured the inside diameter of my bottle with a caliper.

I drew another circle on my wood and I cut them both out on my scroll saw.

I sanded the smaller circle in order to fit snugly in my glass container. 

I glued the two wooden pieces together. After a couple of hours the glue is dry my container is ready. 

I can put my dowels, my nails, my screws and anything I want in my containers.

I think that's a nice way to recycle old bottles.

Friday, September 5, 2014

Make a tiny wooden box for your guitar picks






This is a tiny box I made for my guitar picks. It's made out of a piece of spruce.

First I cut the piece to size with a saw. Then I cut the top and the bottom of the box. To do that easily I clamp the piece on my bench.

I mark the thickness of my box with a pencil. I drill a few holes in the corners to pass the blade of my coping saw. I take my coping saw and remove the material of the inside of the box. I fine tune my cuts with a file.

I glue the bottom of the box. After the glue is dry I fill the gaps by adding glue and then sanding. This way the dust from the sanding meets  the glue and the gaps are filled in a pretty nice way.

I clamp the hole box together to mark the holes for the hinges. I drill pilot holes and screw the hinges in place. I add the front closing mechanism in a similar way.

Although I should have done this earlier, I sand the piece smooth.

I use my wood burner to draw something on my box. I decided no to apply a finish on this project.

My box is ready, I hope you like it.

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Super fast and easy DIY scroll saw table





This a table I made for my scroll saw. I made it out of spruce boards and a scrap piece of plywood I used for it's top.

First of all I cut my lumber to size.

I start by making the front side of the table. I drill  pilot holes and then I glue and screw the boards with each other. I use clamps to hold the pieces together. I also check everything with my square caliper.

After I finish the front and the back. I screw and glue them together with some boards.

Then I glue and screw the top plywood and I am ready to go. 

In the future I may add a base and a drawer to the table.

This is a super easy project. It is really important to drill those pilot holes, otherwise this soft wood will split. It's nice to have a drill and an electric screw driver, it will make the hole process faster and easier.