talkFestool

Designing a desk

Sparky977 — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 01:25:35 GMT

So Peter just chewed me out on Facebook that I need to post this here. I really have intended on it all day, but I kept getting distracted thinking about different design aspects.

I have a potential client that I met through a friend of my wife's. He had posted on Twitter that he was looking for a desk and my friend "re-tweeted" his post. So I sent him a quick message asking him to pass my info along. Lo and behold, he contacted me. We talked some details back and forth on Twitter. He ended up putting it on hold for a bit, but I told him I would work on some designs and get them to him at some point, but wouldn't be in a hurry about it.
This was about 6 months ago or more.
I had worked on a couple ideas then, just rough sketches, but a couple really stood out for me. Through the course of life, I put it all on the back burner, but it was always in the back of my head. I finally had to scratch the itch and yesterday I sat down and really worked on my favorite of the two designs.

I will post a few pictures here, but there are more on my Picasa site. There you can view them a little larger. There is also a couple pics of the other design idea and more of the steps that got this design to this point.

Anyway, here is where the design stands now. I'm trying to decide which I like better, or if I want to take it another direction all together.

Wood species are Walnut and Sycamore. I'm thinking the contrast is definitely stronger in sketchup than it will be in reality. It will have pulls for the drawers, just haven't gotten that far. I'm completely obsessing over every detail of this design, as I truly feel it will be absolutely pivotal in my career. I think it will be a defining piece for me.

Bench Dogs and Fences

Qwas — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 03:58:03 GMT

I have a bunch of bench dogs and fences for the MFT on eBay. You might something useful. :)

eBay Sales Qwas

Kremlin Airmix and solvent based

EijiFuller — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 16:08:23 GMT

Well I have tried and tried to make it work with waterborne finishes. Frustration and dissatifaction with the final results has made me rethink my path.

I started spray finishing about 2 yrs ago with a fuji mm4 and target based coatings. I had success on a few projects but quickly learned that the fuji didn't lay down the product fast enough to be efficient and get professional results. The target coatings products were so inconsitant that I had to return a bunch of product and find a different manufacturer. I did some research and found the valspar zenith finishes. I also switched to a compressor fed pressure pot water based gun system by Asturo.

While the Valspar zenith sprayed out very nicely and sanded very well it didn't impart any warmth to the wood without adding an extra step of oil before topcoating with the water base. How much sense does that make? I also found the zenith very problematic when polishing.

I've started on with MLCampbell's solvent based cv and precats. I am borrowing a gun from a shop neighbor. Man what a difference! The wood is so much more alive.

Now I need a different system and I don't want to have to go thru the same process of getting a system and wanting/having to upgade later. The Kremlin airmix system looks to be the cream of the crop and something I'll wont have to upgrade for a long time unless I get bigger britches.

Also when comparing VOCs the solvent based finish don't actually have much more than the comparable waterborne.

Wild Discovery: Hasslefactor Sightings

RickChristopherson — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 02:24:06 GMT

It was a bit of a �spur of the moment� deal, but Laurie came for a short visit this week to shoot a new video in my shop. Even though the shoot ran a full day longer than we had scheduled, we did have a couple hours available before she had to drive back.

I had been promising her a motorcycle ride ever since her first visit, but we never have any spare time with the tight schedules. Today, we decided to take a quick trip to the Apple Store in the Mall of America on the Goldwing. On the way home, I decided to take a quick detour down by the river.

Don�t worry. I made sure the keys were in my back pocket before letting our little Hasslefactor near the controls. The last thing I would want to see is my beloved Goldwing sailing down the boat ramp with Laurie screaming back, �I got it covered.....hey, which side is the brake?!?!�

The weather was so nice, we decided to take the long way home and continued to follow the river toward St. Paul. Being an unplanned trip, her camera was already packed up in the car, but luckily she had her iPhone. Of course Laurie�s idea of picture taking varies slightly from the rest of the world. ......don�t ask me....a bug, maybe?

With time running short, we decided to head back to the shop and pulled into a little canoe landing (or something) on the inland side. Of course there were more pictures, but at least this made more sense, as she said she wanted to get algae shots for Peter.

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7.0 at Christchurch

PaulMarcel — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 19:03:24 GMT

So Christchurch got hit with a 7.0 earthquake. Hopefully everything is okay at the Marcou shop.

Check in, Philip; let us know.

The MFT and Angles, any Angle

Qwas — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 00:31:35 GMT

It's been over two years since I introduced the concept of how to use the holes in the MFT for easy and accurate work. I've not had a complaint about the accuracy yet so I think it is safe to assume that the holes are the way to go. So how about we take it up another notch? Everybody ready? This thread is about another MFT secret � angles. That's right, angles on the MFT. I know this thread is kind of long but bear with me and you will be cutting angles on the MFT. And it's almost as easy as using Qwas Dogs.

In my thread about building my new workbench, someone wanted to buy my blue angle unit. I could take this unit and start selling it but just the bare aluminum plate is more than most would want to pay for the whole unit, and that's before machining, deburring, sanding, and anodizing. Then there are the packaging and shipping fees for the big plate. To top it all off, there are only a few angles it will do. If you need any other angle you are out of luck and will feel like you wasted your money. Sure I could put in a slot so it is adjustable to any angle, but that makes it like everyone else's product. I know Festool customers expect more and with the MFT there has to be a better answer.

A Sine Bar and Gage Blocks

So I went in search for a better answer. I was introduced to what a machinist would use, a 5 inch long Sine Bar. Bear with me as we learn about the sine bar because we need to understand the principals of it in order to find something useful for us.

A sine bar has 2 perfectly round cylinders of the same diameter and resemble Qwas Dogs. :) The precise distance between the centers of the cylinder's is typically 5.00 inches (you can also find them in 2.50 and 10.00 inches). The sides and faces are all made parallel to their respective sides. Gage Blocks are often used with a sine bar and they are precisely sized metal blocks of different lengths.

Gage blocks are used to raise one cylinder as shown. Due to the principles of circles and math, no matter how high you raise the end of the sine bar, the points of contact on the cylinders is still precisely 5.00 inches. So you can say that you have a right triangle with the hypotenuse (the long side) being the bottom side of the sine bar, the short side being an imaginary line going through the gage blocks, and the last side being the top side of the gold bar (aka Incra track). In this triangle, the 5 inches between the cylinders will always be the same and the angle can change by vary the height of the gage blocks. The higher the gage blocks are, the bigger the angle. The height of the gage blocks will be equal to the trigonometric value of SINE of the angle of the sine bar times 5 (the length of the sine bar). Another way of saying the same thing is the gauge block height divided by 5 equals the SINE of the angle. So in the above picture I have 2 gage blocks equal to 1.109 inches. 1.109/5=.2218. The sine of .2218 comes out be about 12 degrees, 49 minutes (oh yeah, there are 60 minutes in a degree and 60 seconds in a minute). So in the picture the sine bar is at an angle of almost 13 degrees.

Wow. Did you catch that? Them machinists with these 5 inch sine bars and gage blocks can accurately measure angles down to 1/60th of a degree. Some of them measure down to the seconds. That is impressive. It's all done with simple math. Okay, that's what we need for the MFT. :) Those of you not familiar with trigonometry need not worry, just know that machinists have used sine bars for many years and it works every time.

L-N Hand Tool Event Newport, RI: 9/17 & 18

JimKirkpatrick — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:10:54 GMT

Anyone going to the Lie Nielsen event this year? It's at the International Yacht Restoration School in Newport RI which should be interesting in and of itself. I'm in, not sure which day yet.

T15+3 review

WoodNerd — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 15:09:22 GMT

Full review with photos, videos, etc, at Review of the Festool T15+3 Li-Ion Drill

Quick synopsis: Held it, no big deal. Talked into buying it. Planned to return it. Actually used it. Fell in love with it. Quiet. Cool motor and clutch. Unbelievable battery. Chucks are awesome. Glad I bought it.

Marquetry and Clint

trident98 — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 19:04:31 GMT

I've been teaching myself marquetry to take my projects up a notch or two and having fun doing so. The jewelry box is mahagony with walnut accents. The picture of Clint Eastwood if fretwork with a marquetry background. I've done others with a black background but decided to experiment with the different woods.

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New Festool sander - 2011?

Poto — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 02:23:29 GMT

Here's a link to a video from the Atlanta woodworking show, demonstrating a new Rotex:

YouTube - Festool Rotex Sander - International...

It's got a small pad (3.5"). But the coolest thing is that you can take the round pad off, and put on a Deltex-type triangular pad to get into corners. So it's a Rotex-Deltex combo. Very cool!

Joraft 65 Today

FredWest — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 16:47:50 GMT

Guys, Gals & Pups,

Today our very own John Raftery has reached the distinguished age of 65. :thumbsup2: :thumbsup2: :thumbsup2: :thumbsup2: :thumbsup2: As you can no doubt tell by his posts age has started to weigh on him and he has a hard time holding his head up to even see what he is typing. Big eekBig eekBig eek So, please help him out by writing young ideas and/or projects so that John may once more feel young.BIG Big GrinBIG Big GrinBIG Big GrinBIG Big Grin Otherwise it all DEPENDS on him to feel younger. Big eekBig eek :laughing1: :laughing1: :laughing1: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: BIG Big GrinBIG Big GrinBIG Big Grin

Fred

Anyone know about anvils?

TahoeTwoBears — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 01:02:57 GMT

Every once in a while, I bump into an anvil or a reference to one. I keep thinking it might be handy to have around the shop. Anyone have any knowledge in this area?

Thanks in advance,

Mike

PS I'm currently in Montana, so I might be able to save shipping if anyone knows of a supplier in this area.

Kapex Stop tip

SRSemenza — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 19:20:38 GMT

Hi,

I was using the Kapex to cut "stopped kerfs" in some strips for bending. The kerfs could not go to the edge or they would show. I came up with a simple way to add a forward travel stop on the Kapex. Just slip a hose clamp over the left rail. There was zero marking or damage to the rail from the clamp.

Seth

Finishing Purple Heart?

SRSemenza — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 17:48:47 GMT

Hi,

I have some nice purple heart that is really true purple, just like the Crayola crayon purple as opposed to a redish brown purple.

I would like to keep it looking as near to its unfinished color as possible. I have tried some lacquer and some oil base poly. Both give it a much darker red/purple appearance.

Any suggestions?

Seth

Burnt Silk Metal Finish

FredWest — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:28:38 GMT

Pups, & Big Dogs,

Yesterday, Philip sent me a link to a thread in Sawmill Creek. I found it fascinating and hope that you all enjoy it as well.

The thread was started by a man named Stanley Covington and here is his first post:

"
Burnt Silk Metal Finish
Last night I finished working up a set of chisels I purchased here in Tokyo for my son. The kanmuri and kuchigane were originally bright steel with clear lacquer. Very unattractive. I refinished them with a very traditional but little-known treatment using silk that you may find interesting. This is not a smooth, uniform finish like hot blue or rust-blue or paint, but is much more interesting and attractive in my experience for this particular application. It is also easily accomplished. Warning: if you aren't careful, you can burn your fingeys, or even worse, if you do it in her kitchen and the range hood is not very powerful the odor may drive your wife temporarily insane possibly forcing her to use your money to buy an all-expenses paid vacation in Hawaii for some lucky attorney (may they burn in hell forever amen...).

1. Remove the kuchigane and kanmuri.

2. Heat them on a gas stove until just past the point where the metal turns blue. A camp stove outside is safest due to the smell. A propane torch will also work.

3. Holding the metal with pliers (I like needlenose), scrub the metal with a steel or stainless steel brush to remove oxidized particles of paint or oil.

4. Reheat. How hot? Idunno. If it isn't hot enough, the silk will not melt/scorch/stick properly. Too hot and the silk will bubble and crater. Somewhere past blue, the metal will turn greyish. That seems to be a good point.

5. Wad the silk into your off hand thick enough to protect it from the heat. Be careful.

6. Wrap/rotate/wipe the hot metal in the silk. The silk will smoke and scorch. If it doesn't, you don't have it hot enough. Remove the metal before it cools enough for the silk to build up too thick a layer or globs will adhere to it.

7. Quench the metal in water.

8. You can leave the metal as it is, or use a SOFT, FINE bristle steel or stainless steel brush to remove loose particles. A bit more polishing will burnish it. Too much and you will cut through to bare metal. If that happens, simply reheat and reapply.

9. Apply oil to the dry metal to prevent rust. The silk carbon will retain oil without softening, and is a very effective rust-preventative.

Warning: don't use this treatment on heat-treated metal unless you want it to go soft.

I love this finish. Some won't. Give it a try.

Stan"

In addition he showed this picture:

to be continued. :thumbsup2: :thumbsup2: :thumbsup2: :thumbsup2: :thumbsup2: :thumbsup2: