I made this simple stand out of spruce and melamine from an old IKEA table.
It’s height is just about right, so that when the machine is on the stand, the jointer’s surface is just above my workbench. This way my workbench can act as an outfeed table during the jointing procedure.
First of all I cut the legs to size using my cross cut sled on the table saw. Then I cut the side pieces.
I made the first opposite sides of the table. I glued them and screwed them in place. To avoid splitting I predrilled pilot holes before screwing.
I then connected the two sides with the rest of the spruce pieces.
On the table saw again I ripped cut a piece to act as cleat. I cut it to size using my cross cut sled on the table saw. To make repeated equal cuts, I added a stop block on my sled.Then I glued and nailed the cleats in place.
I cut two panels out of a melamine sheet I had from an old IKEA table. I used my circular saw and a guide rail for this operation. I also used a handsaw to cut the corners out from one of the panels.
I then added the panels to the stand. I screwed in place only the top panel. I also countersinked the holes to avoid interference with the jointer’s legs.
Recently I found a broken washing machine drum. I got the idea to make a contrabass using the drum and a spruce 2x4.
First of all I used my drill with a wire brush bit to clean all the salts and dirt.
I then used my angle grinder to grind of the heads of the rivets that hold the flanges in place. I then used an old chisel to remove the flanges.
With the angle grinder I opened up the holes on the sides.
I removed the little doors and bended the sharp sheet metal edges with a pair of pliers to make the piece safer.
Using my jigsaw I cut the basic shapes out of a 2x4.
I then created two grooves with my a handsaw and a chisel. Those would receive the edges of the drum.
The contrabass is standing on a tapered foot. I marked a circle at the end of the 2x4 and used my draw knife to remove much material. I finished the job with a spokeshave.
I then marked the center of the fingerboard. Again I used the spokeshave to shape the back of the neck. The spots that couldn’t be reached with the spokeshave, I shaped using rasps and files. I use the rasp to remove much stock fast. The I use a less aggressive file to remove the rasp’s marks.
I planed the surface that would receive the fingerboard flat with a plane.
Using the table saw I ripped cut the fingerboard.
To avoid the fingerboard from sliding around while glue up. I used two small nails to keep it in place. I then glued the fingerboard in place using glue and clamps.
I then planed the sides of the fingerboard flat using a hand plane.
I sanded everything with 100grit sandpaper and finished shaping.
To sand the fingerboard flat, I used a flat foot from an old IKEA table as a sanding block. Using double sided tape I glued a piece of sandpaper on it.
I broke the sharp edges using my block plane.
I drilled the holes for the tuning pegs. I also predrilled pilot holes and secured the pegs in place with screws.
I clamped the wood temporarily on the washing machine drum, to mark the locations of the holes I had to make. I actually took advantage of the existing holes of the drum. I only enlarged them with my drill.
I secured the wood on the drum with four ball headed screws. I also predrilled holes to avoid spitting of the wood.
Using a handsaw and a small file I opened up a groove that would receive the nut bone.
Using a sanding disc on my angle grinder, I flattened the area that would receive the bridge.
I then made the bridge from a scrap piece of walnut wood. I cut it to size on the bandsaw and shaped it with my disc sander.
I predrilled pilot holes and screwed the string guides in place.
Using a small file I opened up the slots on the nut for the strings.
I then measured my string’s length from nut to bridge. My scale was 87cm. I used an online fret calculator to divide the fingerboard. I first used a pencil to mark the fret positions temporarily. I used my pyrographer to burn the marks permanently.
At this point my bass was ready. It has a cool metallic sound. I am really happy with the way it came out, I hope you like it too.
I made this toy out of scrap pieces of spruce, pine and plywood.
First of all I cut the frame pieces to size using my table saw and a cross cut sled.
I decided to join the frame pieces using finger joints. I made a simple jig for my cross cut sled to make accurate repeatable cuts. I do not have a dado blade so I made single blade box joints.
I then glued the frame together.
I turned a scrap pine cylinder to size on the lathe. I then turned eight small wheels on it using a straight chisel and a spindle gouge. I then cut the wheels on the table saw and sanded them flush on my disc sander.
I then used my center finder and located the centers of the wheels. I then drilled an off center hole to each wheel.
I moved to the lathe again and used a bowl and a spindle gouge to turn the worm.
I cut the worm in half and then mounted each piece on the chuck to finish the turnings. I removed the last part using the spindle gouge and a skew chisel.
I then sanded the frame with my orbital sander. I filled any gaps of the finger joints using saw dust and glue.
I then drilled the holes on the frame. To prevent the wood from splitting I clamped a piece of wood from the back side.
I marked the hole positions of the worm pieces with an owl. I secured the pieces in a plywood piece with a large inner hole. I then used the drill press to drill the hole.
I wanted the toy to have removable parts. So I opened up the holes that receive the rod with a saw. I then added removable stoppers to prevent the rod from moving around!
I made a template for the pieces that climb on the wheels and cut them on the bandsaw out of plywood. I sanded them with my rotary tool and a sanding drum bit.
I then started glueing and assembling all the parts.
I also added two dowels to act as the worm’s antennas. I jointed the worm with the mechanism using bamboo sticks.
I fine tuned the wheels and my little worm was ready to roll.
It still needs a few adjustments but overall it is pretty fun to play with!
This is a really cool woodturning technique. It involves multiple axis turnings in the same stock. It is also proof that the lathe is a really versatile tool, you can actually kind of draw with it.
I begin the process using stock that is not square. It is kind of extruded rectangle. I begin by marking three center points in each side of my stock. The center points are in line on each side. Also if you connect the centers of each side they should create parallel lines.
I then chuck the stock between centers between the center points. Now I remove stock from both sides.
Then I remount the piece from the first outer pair of centers. This way I remove stock only from one side of the material. In this eccentric turning the lathe should be set in a low speed to avoid many vibrations.
You should also sand each part separately, before you rechuck the material to create other forms.
This way I can actually create really interesting shapes on the lathe. I can also create ears and noses from a piece of stock witch is chucked eccentrically.
Also in a few cases you can create mirrored images. For example you turn one ear and then spit it in half with a saw, and you got two ears. Or perhaps you can make a butterfly this way!
Using eccentric turning you can actually create a huge variety of forms and avoid the symmetry usually created in most woodturning projects.
