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woodturning


adla

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Yep use the parting tool to cut down pretty close to through then band saw the rest of the way.

Here's a pic of some belaying pins I made, I turned the handles at each end and the shafts in between, then cut them apart in the center. MUCH easier than turning one by one.

As soon as the camera batteries charge up enough so I can use it I'll shoot a pic of my mallets and post it. They aren't as pretty as Adla's anymore :)

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the reason i cut the logs down in the post here was because i was making magic wands --- i think like charlie says you can just chuck them and go to town. i went and bought another length of maple - i am going to glue it up and make a shorter and fatter mallet...for all the chisel work i plan to do (i wish i knew how to use a chisel properly...would do me good to see a real woodworker chop a thing or two...reading about it doesn't always do the trick) .... i think the lathe is wonderful - one of my favorite tools. Again - I think it would do me good to join the local turner's group and see a couple of experts use the tools.

a.

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Here's a pic of two of my mallets. They aren't quite as pretty as Adla's but they've been used HARD. Both have been returned at least once. Neither is weighted by the way.

And Greg- there's also a bench dog showing in the picture. I use wooden ones so I don't risk damaging a tool on them. Mine are maple.

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Charlie,

I was looking at a plan in one of my books and it specified steel pins with a brass head. I did not like that idea either, but I do like your's of using maple/wooden ones. That book plan called for making the holes round, which would make it more difficult to find pegs. I think that with some chiseling or sawing prior to assembly of the strips the round could easily become square.

Incidently, why use strips of wood glued together to make a 1-1/2 thick top? Why not use two layers of 3/4 plywood glued together? I must be missing something about these bench tops.

Thanks.

:)

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Much heavier therefore MUCH more stable on a production bench. Mine HAS to be carried in two parts cause it would take four guys to move it all together. The top alone probably weighs 175- 200 pounds. I also store 250 pounds of steel tractor wheels weights on the lower shelf.

When you are chopping a mortice or planing a board- it just sits there.

I would think also that over the years the laminated top will stay much flater- much less tendency to warp or shift shape.

The ply wood top is workable of course, but I'd advise building the heaviest, solidest bench you possibly can. Just consider it a tool in the shop :)

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I can get ready made maple, butcher block table tops from Grainger as follows:

1-3/4 x 30 x 60, $219

1-3/4 x 30 x 72, $257

1-3/4 x 30 x 96, $355

1-3/4 x 36 x 72, $306

1-3/4 x 36 x 96, $376

These are square edged and solid. I have used them at places of employment for years. I am thinking of buying the 30x60 and building a base, but maybe the 30x72 would be better?

Opinions please?

Thanks.

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Greg:

i'd really like a good bench too (and a 3 car garage---another time) ...i have made a couple of glued up table tops (pic-nic tables) and will settle soon for a doug fir top - glued up (first: planed/jointed) and then hand smoothed - cheaper than maple (i pay a little more than 3 bucks a board ft for 1" stock for maple that isn't 4 sided btw -a real rip off - butcher's block is different isn't it???(maybe not) i thought that butcher's block was end grain up ---- i could be completely confused - not the first time.

a.

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I thought I had a pic of the tops posted. Anyway, it is gone now.

The butcher block is not end grain up, but layered and glued sections, which gives more strength and mostly eliminates warping and cracking. The same way doing a rudder or center board does.

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Yes Adla- true "Butchers block"' IS end grain up and usually about a foot thick. You won't see much of that any more except in real butcher shops :) And by the way- that's what "Block planes" were originally designed for- smoothing that end grain in a butchers BLOCK. ;) We redid an old one for a customer one time to put in her kitchen- took a bunch of work getting it flat again- it had a big dished out place in the center from YEARS of chopping.

Greg- your pics still show on my screen. I'd say, nothing wrong with them as bench tops at all.

Nothing wrong with Adla's Doug Fir top either. It just won't stand up to abuse as well as the hard wood would ( :) ). because it will ding much easier. But it can be resurfaced as needed. Hey- If I hadn't lucked into my Steiner for a song ( had to do a LOT of rework on it) I'd most likely have a softwood bench too. When Laura and I opened the shop my bench was a frame that had been a front porch on a trailer, with a heavy sheet of ply wood on it. I still use that as my layout/scarfing table.

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