Some Ideas For Wood working: i

Showing posts with label i. Show all posts

Monday, February 10, 2014

I Know Jack About This Stuff

In the last post I tentatively put the thought out there about building hollow workbench legs and filling them with sand for added weight. I dreamed up this brainwave because I want the bench I am going to build to be the perfect boat anchor. Making an 8, 10 or 12-foot bench heavy enough appears to be an easy task if you can afford the right timbers. The one I want to build will only be 5-feet long or less, so I think even if I could build it from ironwood, I’d still be chasing it around the room (ironwood often weighs more than 90-pounds per board foot).

The great part about blogging is how quickly things can happen. It didn’t take longer than two hours after posting that article before I realized I was on to something. Ok, the downside of it all is that my original brainwave turned out to be about as original as green grass, but at least I knew it is going to work.

I got a few comments posted here, plus a few more emails and they all said the same thing; “been there – done that – love it!”

Out of all the responses I got, only one used sand; Stoner told me he built a covered tray under his bench and filled it with four bags of sand. By my calculations, he added a quick 360-pounds to the weight to the bench for, what? fifty bucks?

Damlen in Belgium used gravel to fill his hollow workbench structure. He also suggested a possible negative to using sand, mentioning that it may possibly seep through the joints. It was good of him to mention this as I hadn’t thought too much about it, but will now that he warned me of the possibility.

Others emailed to say they filled their structures with scrap metal, stones, bricks and other sundry material that they recycled into ballast. It all was useful information for me and I thank you for it.

Now that all of you have confirmed to me that I am on the right track, it is time to take the idea and run with it. Ok, maybe not run with it, but at least be able to move it around a bit.

A while ago Chris Schwarz posted about Floor Truck Locks, an odd name for something that jacks a wheeled item up so its casters no longer touch the floor. The ones Chris discussed are available from the CasterStore.com for thirty bucks a pop.

Here’s the rub; with all that weight in each leg, anything that will jack it off the floor needs to be right under each one, preferably centered. Putting these in that position will make it impossible to activate the foot petal. Modifying them will result in a boom, rather than a foot petal, so these wonderful little items just aren’t going to work of me.

Enter my next brainwave.

Now I would like to think this is just pure genius in motion, but the reality is, the idea I have is based on the same concept as the adjuster I designed for the Birds House for the Shooting Board. Even that wasn’t an original concept as it is based on the same technology we all have used for years to change a flat tire – the scissor car jack.

Here’s the idea…

I would rather see the solid wood of the leg resting on the floor than have that leg swinging from a jack so this concept reverses things, putting the caster on the lift and letting the foot of the leg take the weight when it isn’t being moved.

Making a square scissor jack that just fits into the base of the leg will allow the leg’s structure to help keep the caster from twisting in ways I would rather not see it twist.

The casters only need to retract about an inch, so the lift capacity of the scissor jack needn’t be much. This means the raising arms can be shorter than normal, resulting in a more compact lift. As they neednt be monsters, the volume they will eat up inside the leg will be minimal.

Another major point for these things is they can be built out of scrap steel so the cost of each will be marginal.

The biggest drawback to them is that they look like they will be a royal pain in the butt to use, so I won’t want to move the bench too often.

The biggest issue, I think, is tying each pair of jacks together so both raise and lower using only one screw that turns both jacks. I can’t see how they can be raised independently without causing the bench to seriously twist, which would end up tearing the bench apart.

Like everything else I have done, figuring out how to build this thing will probably turn out to be its most enjoyable part of it.

By the way, while looking for some scissor jack ideas on the web this morning, I came upon this site – Jack-Bench.com.

Peace,

Mitchell

Dollhouse for Peaches Day 9 Part I

Day 9 - Starting on the front.

Ive started on the front face. If you look at the other photos of the dollhouse in general, you can see that I will be able to slide the front panel in as one unit. This makes it easy to do all the work on the front of the dollhouse before I ever assemble it into place. I also need to do the front before I can do the pillars. In these photos, I am starting to cut out the doors and windows, and trim out the interior surfaces...

This peice is for above the door. I just came up with something decorative with no real previous pattern...

Thursday, February 6, 2014

How I Stencil

Ive been getting a few questions on how to use my stencils, so yesterday I spent sometime making a few tutorials on techniques that Ive found helpful.

Through creating and using a few different stencils, I realized that I use each one a little differently. So I will start showing through photos and video (and still text) how I use them. After all, that is how I learn, so maybe you do too!

For the Moroccan Trellis stencil I took a few photos to illustrate the steps that I take.

I made a step by step version of the best and fastest way I found to paint the Moroccan Trellis stencil. This will give varying opacities, which I love. If you are looking for a fuller opacity, I would recommend using swirling motions, pulling away from the sides and building the paint up until desired opacity is reached.

Last night I started testing my new trellis inspired stencil, up in the shop a little later today or tomorrow.

With the smaller shapes, I found it easier to work in a swirling motion over the whole stencil pressing down semi firmly on the brush to hold the edges tight to avoid paint going underneath. I even made a video to help explain. It was taken at night, so please excuse the poor quality and weird coloring, but hopefully you get the idea :)

Better ones to come!

Also, it took me about 2 minutes to cover 12", so you could roughly calculate how long it would take you to stencil your surface.

Finally, I have this natural bristle stencil brush set from Martha Stewart. I found that they need to be broken in first as they lose bristles and are stiff. After they are broken in they lose a lot less bristles! Having a broken in brush made the trellis stencil easier since I could move faster. I broke mine in by using it (I didnt know at the time that it would work better for me broken in) but I would guess that maybe swirling it in vinegar would do the trick? I havent tried this, so if you have any tips let me know! :)

I typically just use the largest brush, but didnt see that option when I purchased at Michaels.

Hopefully this info is helpful both for using my stencils and your own!

Lack table update soon!