Happy 2017

I want to thank you all for your support. Happy new year from me and Scrapy!

Making a turned box, from a strange beautiful wood

I found this piece of wood and I figured that it had pretty awesome grain patterns.

I decided to make a wood box with it and see how it responded on the lathe.

First of all I cut it in half on the bandsaw.

Then I used my draw knife to rough flatten one side. I finished the job, with a hand plane.

With one side flat I screwed the face plate in place.

I mounted it on the lathe and used a round chisel as a roughing gouge to round over the side. To flatten the front I used my skew chisel.

I used my bowl gouge to establish the outer shape of my box. I used a flat chisel and a skew to shape the bottom. To the bottom I also made a tenon so I can reverse the box on my chuck.

I sanded the outer side using 100 grit sand paper. I gradually moved to 500 grit. I finished the piece by wet sanding it at 500 girt with mineral oil.

I also found a crack during the process. I filled it with super glue and sanded over it, to fill it with dust.

I reversed the piece using my chuck. I drilled a starting hole with a forstner bit on the lathe.

I started hollowing using the bowl gouge. I then moved to a spindle gouge and finished a few difficult areas with my swan neck curved scraper.

I made the cap of the box using a flat chisel and a skew. I measured the boxe’s opening with a caliper in order to create a tenon on the cap that fitted snuggly.

I am pretty happy with the way it came out. I really like that wood, even though I don't know what it is! 

How to make a simple segmented pencil holder on the lathe

I wanted a minimalistic pencil holder for my desk. I came up with this design. I made it out of scrap spruce pieces.

The holder was made out of 12 segments. So I need 15 degree miters. I tilted the blade of my table saw at that angle and made all the rip cuts.

To cut the segments  to size, I used my cross cut sled with a stop block, so I can make all the cuts with accuracy.

To joint the segments, I placed a piece of sand paper on a plexiglass and sanded all the miters.

I then glued all the segments. I used blue masking tape to clamp them.

I then cut the pieces for the base on my table saw. I glued 4 pieces to create a panel.

After marking the base’s size with a pencil. I rough cut it on the bandsaw.

To joint the base and the segmented ring, I sanded them on my home made disc sander on the lathe.

I glued the two pieces together and screwed in the face place on the bottom. I then mounted the whole thing on the lathe.

I used a flat chisel to turn the piece. I rounded over the piece. Cleaned up the open edge and rounded over the mouth’s corners.

I sanded it with 100 grit, then moved on to 240, then 320 and finished it with wet sanding at 500. As a lubricant and finish I used mineral oil.

At this point my pencil holder was ready, I hope you liked it!

How to make an experimental acoustic string instrument

I wanted to make an instrument using the lathe. So I came up with this 3 string instrument which I call a hybrid of a Greek bouzouki and a banjo. I made it out of spruce.

The body of the instrument is actually a segmented  bowl. For 12 segments I need 15 degree miters. 

I cut the miters on my table saw, using my miter sled.

I then sanded the miters on my DIY disc sander for the lathe.

I used blue tape and rubber bands to hold the miters while the glue set.

For the body’s bottom I glued a few pieces together. I also glued two pieces of wood for the instrument’s neck.

After the segmented ring was dry, I sanded it’s edges on the disc sander. I used the bandsaw to rough cut the bottom to size and glued the ring and the bottom together.

I then mounted that piece on the lathe with a face plate and turned it round.

To fill the gaps I applied glue and then sanded over that. This way the gaps were filled with dust and glue.

I glued wood blocks to the bottom. This way I have a little more meat for the neck’s joint and also my structure became stronger.

I then used my bandsaw again to rip a few thin boards. I grain matched them. To joint them I used a piece of sandpaper on a flat plexiglass. This way I sanded them flush and then glued them all together.

I rough cut the top on the bandsaw. Using a hole saw on the drill press I created the sound hole. I also glued a brace under the top for support. I shaped the brace with a sharp chisel.

I then created two flat spots on the body using the disc sander. I glued the top and the body.

I cleaned up the neck with a hand plane. I trimmed it to size on my table saw. For the cross cuts I used my sled and for the rip cut I used the fence.

I then cut the basic shape of the neck on the bandsaw. 

The neck is glued on the body with a dovetail joint. I shape the male piece of the dovetail on the neck. I made two stop cuts with a saw and a miter box and then shaped the rest with a sharp chisel.

Using a spoke shave I rounded over the back of the neck. I then sanded the neck. To shape a few difficult areas I used a sanding block as a rasp.

I then drilled the holes for the keys.

To make the female dovetail on the body, I made a few parallel cuts with the saw and then chiseled out the rest of the material.

I glued the neck and the body.

To make the fretboard I need the scale length. My scale is 52cm. I went to an online fret position calculator and printed out the measurements of my fret board.

I then made the fret slots using a miter box and a saw. 

For fret pins I used bamboo sticks.  I also used two pins to avoid the slipping of the fret board during glue up. I glued the fret board in place. 

I then glued the rest of the pins in place and cut them flush with my flush trim saw.

For the side fret marks I just burned a few points.

I used a cutter to cut the frets to size. Using a clamp I pressed the frets in place. To secure them more, I applied a few drops of super glue in the fret slots.

I rough cut the frets to size with a rotary tool and a cutting disc. I sanded them flush with a sanding block.

I finished the instrument with a spray acrylic clear varnish. I applied 5 coats while light sanding between coats.

Using my angle grinder, I cut a metal piece to act as string holder. Using a screw driver as a guide, I used a hammer to bend the metal in place. I made the the holes needed on the drill press.

I cut two ( plastic ) bone pieces for the bridge and the nut on the bandsaw. I shaped them on the disc sander. 

I clamped them on my vise together. I used a saw to make three cuts. Then I used a file to open up the holes that would receive the strings.

I cut a piece of iroco on the bandsaw to act as my bridge. I shaped it on the disc sander and cut out a groove to receive the bone.

I screwed the string holder and the keys in place. I added a couple of string guides and my instrument was ready.

I tuned it in D A D. 

I hope you like it!

How to make a rack for the woodturning tools

For a while now, Ι wanted a holder for the lathe’s tools. I wanted it to be mounted on the wall, so my bench would remain free.

I made it out of scrap pieces of spruce and plywood.

First of all I cut all my pieces to size on my table saw. For the rip cuts I used the fence and for the cross cuts I used my cross cut sled.

The sides of the rack are a bit tapered. I made that cut on the bandsaw.

I used a block plane to plane the two sides flush.

To mark the hole positions for the base I used a 40mm forstner bit.

I opened holes for the tools to sit in, using my drill with the same forstner bit.

For the top piece, I drilled holes with the drill and then cut one side out on the bandsaw. My bandsaw is small so I finished the cuts with my jigsaw. 

I then used corner clamps, to keep everything together before I drilled pilot holes and screwed everything in place.

The rack is mounted on the wall with a french cleat. I tilted the blade of the table saw at 45 degrees and made a rip cut on a piece of plywood.

I used wood glue to mount one piece of the cleat on the rack.

I sanded everything with 100 grit sandpaper.

I drilled holes on the cleat that would be mounted on the wall.

I marked the positions of the holes with a pen and a spirit level.

I used upat as a mounting method. I drilled the holes on the wall. Before that I gave a small punch on the drill to create a small guiding point for the drill. After that I placed the upats in place and screwed the cleat in place. 

The rack was now ready I hope you like it!