Woodworking in a Machineshop

I have an addiction. There, I've admitted it. Whenever I happen to be in a hardware store, electronics part store or any other store really that sells precision screwdrivers I have to will myself not to buy a set. I don't know what it is about precision screwdriver sets. I guess it's because people who use precision screwdrivers on a daily basis do incredibly clever things. And, by association I'd like to think that because I own a set of precision screwdrivers I'm the sort of chap that could do incredibly clever things. Not that that has happened yet to my knowledge.

I was given a multi-bit precision screwdriver when I started work here. Cute little set except for the cheesy plastic handle. Since I hardly ever use it (just proves I hardly ever do clever things) I figured I could probably do something nicer than what the factory had done with the handle. So, grabbing my trusty branch that I set to dry a couple of years ago I got to work and this is the end product.

Here's another one to show the wood off a bit.

While I was at it, and because the lathe was full of wood dust I was going to have to clean up anyway, I went ahead and made this shifter knob for my new Jeep.

For those wondering what kind of varnish I'm using it's called Plexitone. Well, that's what I call it anyway. It's just bits of plexiglas (perspex for you non north americans) dissolved in acetone. Lay it on thick, wait for the acetone to flash off and polish like there was no tomorrow and you get a plastic encapsulated piece of wood.

New, old speakers

I made these more than six months ago and they've been out of storage for only a couple of days. At most I've played 5 or 6 albums through them. In short, for the price, they sound absolutely amazing. If you want to build yourself a pair do a search for Dayton III. You'll find plans, parts lists, sources and the crossover schematic. I went and put a can of cider in the picture for scale.

Fears And a Ten Inch Blade!

I've been thinking about building a practice amplifier for some time now. Something not too loud that I can use to practice guitar and/or bass guitar in my apartment without sending the neighbours into orbit. Something my tube amp certainly can do.

My dad and I build the little cabinet for it a few weekends ago. When I say my dad and I what I mean is he cut the pieces and I assembled and glued and stapled the thing. There is a reason my dad does the cutting when I have a little project like that. You see, a real man admits his fears, or so they say! I admit to being scared shitless of a simple shop tool called a table saw! Ya, you heard right, the table saw. How can this be, you ask. Here's a guy who works with gigantic metal cutting machine tools capable of ripping one's body in many little pieces yet the one he fears the most is a comparatively safe woodworking tool that has less than 1/10 the horsepower and only a 10" blade!!!!! Like most fears, this one is irrational. There's just something about a table saw that scares me and it goes back a long time ago. Anyway, I've started using it again a little bit. Still, if someone who knows how to operate it is close by at the time I much rather have them doing it than me. Maybe one day I'll overcome the fear, it's baby steps for now.

Then last weekend I installed the speaker onto the speaker board which involved making some little cleats. Thats what you're seeing in the middle photo. And I also got a pretty good buzz going while gluing the fabric covering over the speaker board. Something funny happens when I try to take a picture of the fabric. Somehow the picture always looks like shit. Maybe it has something to do with the pattern. I assure you it looks much nicer in person.

The Ancestral Loupe

My father bought my grand mother a table mounted loupe so that she could read her bills and such. When he gave it to her and while on the subject she told the story of her fathers loupe. When she was a young lady my grand mother had a loupe and her father having reached the age where a loupe was a necessity also had one. My great grand father found out that my grand mother's loupe was more powerful than his own and so proposed to exchange loupes with my grand mother. This they did. It transpired from the conversation that my grand mother still had her fathers loupe only that it was broken and missing some pieces. She pulled out of her drawer a carefully wrapped package and pulling aside a few layers of tissue we looked upon a lense. All that was left of my great grand fathers loupe. It was entrusted to me to see what I could do for it. I measured it and started scouring the shops for a body that could hold the lense but to no avail. I turned to e-bay and soon found that the measurements matched a loupe made by Parker in years past that was now a collectors item. After a few weeks of looking I found an ad for a Parker loupe that had lost it's lense and for that reason the seller was asking only 1.99$. Who wants a lenseless loupe anyway! Bought that and it was only a matter of making a new handle because 1) I can and 2) the old one was scratched and didn't look very good. What you see is the end product. A Parker frame and fittings, an ash wood handle and my great grand fathers lense. My grand mother really liked it and I hope she wasn't just humoring me because in all the point was to make her something she'd like.

The picture up top is the handle mounted on the lathe just prior to varnishing.

A Whale of a Time

My dad decided it was a good idea to send me pictures of all sorts of things I've made in the past so that I could post them on my blog. To honor the effort and to show you all a bit of my past projects I will now post them. Here's something I made a long time ago. I must've been 17 or 18 at the time. It's a blue whale or at the very best an interpretation of one. I sculpted it in red cedar. Actually, a fence post offcut I got when my grandfather built his fence and deck. I think there was a pattern in a magazine for it or something or other because I cannot draw a convincing whale on my own. The lucky part was the eye. It's actually a knot in the wood that was just in the right place! More or less. :o)