As you can see from above I also had a great fathers day Now I can cut some more fingers!

Thanks kids…..

As you can see Dads files are already in use.

I spent months practicing, developing techniques and choosing materials to perfect this process. I noticed that there wasn’t a good book on the process so I decided to share my experience and wrote the book “Mastering the CA Finish”.

Ken, one of the books readers, made some excellent antler pens using the process.

Sweet work KEN!

Picture courtesy of Ken, more of his work is on his blog!

Get your copy of the “Mastering the CA Finish”

This drill pulls air from the handle which may be a better design for sanding rather then pulling dust out of the bowl and into the drill bearings. Thanks to Tom L on the AAW forum!

BTW did you know that there is a RSS feed to the AAW forum, its at http://www.aawforum.org/vbforum/external.php

While I was at the store I couldn’t pass by the fractional caliper that was on sale. Wow! I was surprised it is metric, decimal AND fractional.

Pictures below

Please do not be annoyed if you got an email invite, just ignore it or mail me to get removed. I don’t like spam either but I also like to be updated when something I watch or purchased changes?

Turnedoutright

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One day while marking my drill bit to the right depth it dawned on me that there must be a way to use the quill as a depth gauge.
After inspecting my Jet I noticed that there are graduations on the quill. Ugh! can’t a guy invent anything these days.
But my stubby and small jet don’t have graduations so it was still worthwhile to embark on a design. I wanted something that would work on any lathe, not do any damage and stay out of the way.

Next I went where I always go when I want to design something conceptually ….SketchUp.

The design uses a collar that clamps on the quill (when it is all the way back) as a base to hold the pointer rod which is made from a brass rod. Threaded hex standoffs are used to clamp the pointer and make the pointer itself. Set screws are used to make the pointer and the pointer rod adjustable. A cheap metal ruler (woodcraft) with a magnet strip CA’d on the back, makes up the dial. Otherwise I think the plan above and the pictures below are somewhat self explanatory.

Free depth-gauge 3D model

Below are some pictures of the different setups I used on different lathes. Grinding is necessary on the collar used in the plans for some lathes because the collars don’t come in exact sizes. The rod on the small jet was bent to create the pointer. You will see various pointer configurations in the photos below. Mouse over the picture to see the captions.

Before you ask… I painted my Jet 1442 to match my Stubby

As a free service to our subscribers turnedoutright will provide a short review of videos on relevant woodturning subjects. I am doing this in affiliation with SmartFlix.

I will review a new video about every three months. SmartFlix rents HOW-TO videos at a fraction of the price of buying them. Leave me comments on these posts and let me know what you think.

To read the reviews you can click on the SmartFlix “category” to see all the reviews. A good way to see the reviews as they are posted is to just subscribe (RSS) to the turnedoutright website.

My reviews are not an assessment of the authors skills but rather it is my view of what skill is taught and learned and how unique the learned skills are.

Here’s the first one, enjoy!

Wood Turning Into Art by Jerry Crowe

Jerry who has been turning for 25 years does a complete job of going from the chain saw to the final hollow form. The beginner woodturner will greatly benefit from Jerrys vast experience as he demonstrates the entire process of turning a hollow form using conventional techniques and tools. Jerry’s process starts with rough turning and wax sealing before drying in a kiln. Then after drying and hollowing Jerry teaches how to put a signature mixture of stone into the burls voids using practical techniques. Finally a unique method and formula for coating and finishing hollow forms is learned.

Jerry’s fine work is displayed on his web site.

Rent this Jerry Crowe Video

Happy Fathers Day Dad!

What do you give the man that taught you how to use:
- your hands
————– your tools
————————- and your brain?

Hand made tools thats what!
Thanks Dad

The finish is sprayed polyurethane for durability, polished with white diamond for shine and buffed with carnauba wax for a smooth feel feel.

The grip shape was designed for the back and forth motion of filing, matching the palm of your hand, with a butt that keeps is from sliding forward.

The ferrules were machined on my Taig mini lath from brass couplers. You can also turn these on a wood lathe using the tip of skew chisel.

The engraving was done by Imagine engraving.

The tool rest was made from bloodwood (one of my favorite woods to turn) also with a urethane finish.

I’ve got to make myself a set of these

I have so many great pictures of Alaska I could fill up a web site. Since this is a woodturning site I will stay on task and only drop in one picture.

I am mostly making this post to let you know I am still here and I have a lot of good material stored up  to share.

Here are some upcoming subjects that are waiting for me to put words to:

Symposium

The symposium was great. Mike Mahoney and team did a great job putting the show into a new venue. I learned a lot, spent time with my brother in law from New York and met some new people. One was Chris Pytlik, go figure he’s my neighbor! Check out his awesome work!

• Piercing: I learned to pierce, bought a Powercrafter and have since turned a vase and pierced it. This opens up a whole new arena in which to spend money and time. I’ll share some novice experience. I also discovered TREELINE, check them out.
• Spiraling: learned to spiral and bought a tool
• The Mahoney, Batty session had a lot of good material on turning bowls to a fine finish and some insights into tool sharpening.I will post my favorite picture from the Gallery
• Watched a demonstration of sphere turning and bought a chuck adapter for sphere’s
• Tried a new roughing tool that uses a four sided blade.
• Learned about pre-catalyzed lacquer and tried it out… awesome results.

Other Stuff

• Report on Woodturning for SketchUp book subscribers. Lots of turners are learning to model with SketchUp. I’m getting fit up to write the next edition which will have new things like chip carving, adding patterns for surface treatment and maybe even segmented turning.
• I have received questions on that age old problem of chucks getting stuck. I’ll show you how I solved the problem
• A new quill attachment for measuring drilling depth you can make yourself. Free drawings will be available.
• New video on the Pestle part of the Turning a Mortar project. Turned from solid surface!

So there is lots of information on its way. Subscribe to this site by using the RSS feed and don’t forget to register.

And check out the book store!

I decided to challenge myself and my turning skills by defining a tough project for a good cause …. my mother

Design summary

This project required a great deal of design and planning. Not only did it need to look good but it also needed to be functional. The knob on the top is used to wind the music box and the lid rotates with the music. This feature meant that the music box needed to fit perfectly inside the box dead on center. The top had to be turned with the exact dimensions so that it would rotate without interference with the base and mate correctly with the music box drive shaft. The lid had to be removable, dictating the use of a coupler that needed to be the correct depth so as to engage, without binding, the music box key.

The model perfectly defined all the interior parts. All I had to do was turn them properly

Well the project is complete and as usual it was fun and educational.

A video can be enjoyed at the tunredoutright video channel

I started this project in February. The previous post provides more details on my sources of inspiration etc. “Woodturning with Sketchup” will provide details on the modeling aspects of this project. A book is available dedicated to using SketchUp for modeling.

Below outlines the process and methods used to turn the music box:

	Wood selection: Three pieces of Redwood Burl were chosen all about 5×5x3. The model helped me select the correct sizes. Without a plan it is easy to get blanks that aren’t thick enough. Two were for the base and top. The third was cut up for the finial and other parts.
	A chuck mounted screw center was used to mount the blanks. Insure that the blank screws tight against the face of the chucks jaws.
	Throughout turning, the story stick (printed full scale from the model) was used to guide the turning. It was as easy as laying the caliper on the paper and adjusting to the print. Show here is a 2D (left) and a 3D type of story stick.
	A dove tail that matched my stronghold jaws was turned. Since Redwood is so soft, insure that the jaws fit perfectly, getting the most surface contact possible. The face of the jaws (not the back) need a solid and flat mating surface. Turn the base round.
	Shape the exterior and interior of the base using the story stick as a guide. Sand to 400 grit, finishing the base.
	Part the base off and make a jam chuck from the waste, that fits the perimeter of the bases lip. Finish the bottom with the tail stock brought up for support.
	Turn the top to round using the same work holding techniques show above. Drill the center to 1/2″ and turn the underside of the lid to finished internal dimensions. Not shown: Size and part of off the lid.
	I used a 1/2 bolt with the head cut off in a collet chuck for holding the lid. Mount the lid with the top surface toward the tail stock. Turn and finish the lids outer features
	The lid with the features turned and final sanding to 400 grit
	Turn the finial from a block of burl to the story stick dimensions.
	The next section will be focussed on the surface treatment of the lid. The lid seemed plain to me, so I decided some carving was in order. I set out to chip carve the surface but Redwood burl doesn’t really chip carve that well. (I tried it on a piece of scrap). I decided to wood burn the detail instead. In either case I needed a pattern. SketchUp proved its versatility and I used it to design a scale pattern. This was challenging because the pattern had to fit inside the inner ring and still provide a balanced appearance. It was quite easy to do!
	The pattern was taped in place and traced after which the surface was “burned”… Sweet!
	A coupler was constructed of a ring that would mount on the finials shaft. A slot was routed in the coupler to accept the key of the music box. (I suggest unlike this picture you put it in a vice for safer operation).The thickness of this coupler was adjusted to give perfect elevation of the top above the base while rotateing. This coupler will be glued on the finials shaft at assembly.
	Now it gets complicated. The music box has to be precisely positioned and mounted in the center of the box. To accomplish this a jig consisting of peice of 1/4″ fiber board was mounted on a waste block and turned to fit inside the base. Before removing it from the lathe a hole the size of the key was drilled on center. The music box was painted and glued (CA) in place using this jig.
	The final assembly note the redwood veneer on the surface of the music box. The plastic was ugly.
	Don’t forget to sign it!

More Modeling posts on the Music Box:

• Music Box Lid
• 3D Story Sticks
• Mothers Day Music Box Model
  

Enjoy…. Donnie

I found this photo lighting video on Utube very useful.

Prophotolife.com

Donnie