~ the love of wood ~

Hifi Project: The Vents

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Tue, 30 Jun 2015 09:00:00 +0000

To prevent dust and little curious fingers from getting into the electronics. Easy enclose the cabinet. However, the electronics can also get warm, so a cooling system is needed. I decided on a passive ventilation system has intake vents at the front above the kick board, and outtake vents at the top of the back panel. Air goes in and out in a linear fashion. At least in theory... but I think it's a good theory. The mesh is 5mm woven stainless steel.

HiFi Project: Joinery and Timber Flattening

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Thu, 25 Jun 2015 11:10:00 +0000

HiFi Project: Timber Take #2

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Tue, 23 Jun 2015 03:58:00 +0000

My second attempt for the case timber used 1" stock rather than 2" resawn stock. Instead of using the Veritas Small Plow Plane, I used a Carb-i-tool router bit to produce the Tongue & Groove joints.

HiFi Project: Timber Take #1

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Tue, 23 Jun 2015 03:06:00 +0000

Here's a few photos of my first attempt at preparing the timber in for the HiFi project. It was the first time resawing wide boards on the new bandsaw. Worked well until a change in the weather rendered some of the boards closer to bowel than a board. These panels that would meant to be for the cse will we re-worked as shelves and rear panel.

Rack It - Timber Rack

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Fri, 03 Apr 2015 07:04:00 +0000

In November 2010 I first posted about building a wood rack for long lumber. Well... 4 1/2 years later the project never got off the ground, so I took a different strategy. Down to Bunnings for some metal shelving. I'm using 3 x 900mm wide 2.1m tall shelving units. There are lots of advantages to this system - quick (took less than 2 hours to buy and install), easy inspection and access, termite proof, and eacg shelf rated at 750kg. Wasn't cheap though.

Planer Tune Up

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Tue, 03 Feb 2015 06:10:00 +0000

The planer / thicknesser combo was an easier tune up. I purchased some new blades from carbatec (took over 2 months to arrive, despite me checking that they were in stock before ordering). The old blades I have had sharpened locally. Always a little tricky to level the three blades which are suspended by 12 springs and 15 bolts.

Bandsaw Tune Up

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Tue, 03 Feb 2015 06:01:00 +0000

The current HiFi project requires some 50mm timber resawed and machined to 18mm. Assuming the bandsaw was still in top condition after more than a year since serious use... was a mistake. The first resaw job looked like I was making shingles with a beautiful cut at the top and a wedge at the bottom. The culprits were a combination low blade tension and the lower blade guide having come loose. It was a good excuse to take it all about and give a clean. Immediate rewards from a little maintenance with the remainder of the cuts working well.

A couple of useful links:

http://www.finewoodworking.com/tool-guide/video/how-to-set-up-a-bandsaw.aspx

http://www.finewoodworking.com/how-to/video/how-to-resaw-on-the-bandsaw-video.aspx

New Project: HiFi Cabinet

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Sat, 31 Jan 2015 08:03:00 +0000

After a long hiatus from furniture making, I have a new project, a small entertainment cabinet. Should be a 'straight-forward' project with a few points of interest. Tomorrow I start the rough cuts.

A Tree House Update

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Sun, 21 Dec 2014 09:10:00 +0000

I don't get much time to blog anymore. A quick post to show you the updated treehouse; complete and operational. The tallowwood also boasts fairy lights scattered through its leaves.

Tree House Progress: Posts & Rails

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Thu, 27 Mar 2014 06:57:00 +0000

With a new shipment of timber, I've made some progress on the tree house. The posts are made of tallowood milled to 72x72mm, the handrails milled to 72x60mm. Tested out the new carbitool handrail router bit. All worked well and quickly. Still a bit to do.

To do the initial break down I used some old saw horses and the trusty circ.

Windmaster 250mm Clear Turbobeam

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Wed, 19 Feb 2014 04:05:00 +0000

A quick shed upgrade - Windmaster 250mm Clear Turbobeam Whirlybird. The shed is an uninsulated metal box in a climate which can be rather warm (45.6c a month ago.) Inside temps could be 5-10 degrees hotter than the outside world.

With the Whirlybird installed and ventilation improved the temp appears similar to the outside world and usually a little cooler. The clear plastic allows a significant amount of natural light. (Unfortunately there is some flickering with its rotation.)

(By the way, with the windows open and the 30' industrial fan, the shed is a very workable environment even on a hot day.)

Unboxing the Router Bits

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Fri, 24 Jan 2014 07:31:00 +0000

Carbitool is an Australian company that makes a variety of cutting tools including router bits. Their quality is as good as any brand I've used and they have a great range. My order from AP Workshop arrived yesterday and I couldn't be happier with their service. I placed my order Sunday, received personal email confirmation that night, email at dispatch, and they arrived Thursday. Because of the size of the order it was all 30% off RRP and shipping was modest.

Among the more interesting bits in the collection is this stacked classical rail and stile bit. The most expensive and complex bit in the collection should prove invaluable forming cardboard doors and the newell posts.

Preparing the Tree House Platform

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Sun, 19 Jan 2014 07:51:00 +0000

Here on four saw horses sits the frame for the tree house platform.

The joinery is a series of rabbets cut on the tablesaw. (Which is really the first time I've had to break in the new saw. Worked well. Good power. Quiet.) There'll be two other beams across the narrow section. Then those four beams will sit on the main supports.

The boards are old hardwood planks the previous owner was using for shelving. Machined, they look rather nice. Looks like blackbutt.

AP Workshop

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Sun, 19 Jan 2014 03:27:00 +0000

I'm testing out a new company AP Workshop to supply Carbitool Router Bits. These bits will be used for the Stair Case and Tree House projects. Now to wait for the postman.

T 924 B 1/2 ----- CHAMFERING BIT 45 deg W/BRG

TPDS 11 B 1/2 ----- STACKED PANEL DOOR BIT W/BEAR D/F

THR 60 B 1/2 ----- STAIR HANDRAIL BIT

TBR 616 B 1/2 ----- DOUBLE BEAD W/BRG

TML 60 1/2 ----- MITRE LOCK BIT

TTC 16 B 1/2 ----- TRADITIONAL CLASSICAL 1/4 W/BRG

T 512 B 1/2 ----- ROUND OVER 3/8 W/BRG

Tree House

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Sat, 11 Jan 2014 07:29:00 +0000

In our front yard is a moderate sized chinese tallowood which boasts a child's swing and cargo net.

I've always thought it that it would hold a small tree house. I have a simple plan using left over hardwood... I've also acquired some stainless steel threaded bolt to attach it to the tree.

A design work in progress.

Joinery Systems

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Sat, 04 Jan 2014 16:45:00 +0000

I love using a hands-on hand tool or hybrid hand/power tool technique for most of my woodworking. However, lately as my list of projects and project repetition increases, I've felt the need to speed.

In particular I've been looking at a way to increase the strength of frames edged with with a rail-stile router bit. In my online search I found this dowel max system which looks positive and is a fraction of the cost of the festool option.

Now to find an Australian supplier...

Electrical Work in Progress

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Thu, 12 Dec 2013 12:12:00 +0000

Here's a few photos of the electrical work in progress.

There are many options in providing lighting for a workshop. After much reading and pondering I decided on bayonet mounted domestic LED bulbs, in particular iGlobe 9w warm 2900k 100w equiv. 16 mounted in the workshop and 4 in the storage bay. I selected a large number to reduce shadows and have even lighting. (The exact number was determined by the rafters layout.) The bulbs are all the same brand, power, and temperature.

The three main options for lighting were traditional fluorescent tubes, bayonet mounts, or LED strip lighting.

Fluorescent are what people expect in a workspace. However, they hum, take time to warm up, flicker on warming up, and then flicker with AC current. LED strip lighting is new and perhaps the cheapest. However, it relied on transformers and offered little back compatibility or flexibility.

The bayonet mounts with LED bulbs were the best compromise. Additionally even with the expensive LED bulbs the installation cost is less than half that of a fluorescent. They are cheap to run, offer consistant light, switch on instantly, and are said to last 50,000 hours.

I was also given a large mercury vapour light which I'll mount in the centre. This should add some character to the shed.

The majority of domestic outlets in Australia are 10A 240v which isn't quite enough for the larger 3-5hp machines. The workshop now has 6 x 15A outlets offering plenty options. (Note the 15A sockets have wider earth pins so that you can't plug a 15A plug into a 10A socket.)

I also had the opportunity to install a single three phase outlet. As I don't have any three phase tools this may be overkill. However, I wanted to future proof it as much as I could, and hopefully make my little workshop more attractive if I was ever to sell it.

A work in progress...

Electrical Work Begins

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Sun, 08 Dec 2013 22:22:00 +0000

Today the Electricians arrived to begin work on the shed. Its an exciting prospect given it has been about 10 months in the planning. The current plans should have enough power and flexibility to future proof the shed.

Details

New 32A three phase sub-main, from the location of the existing meter box to the RH rear of the residence, then underground to the approx.. center of the proposed work shop area.
12 pole D.B in the proposed new workshop, c/w main switch and ELCB,s for light and power circuits.
Twenty One (21) batten holders (16 – in the workshop, 4 in the storage area and 1 in the carport.) LED lamps to be supplied by owner.
One light switch for the workshop, one light switch for the Storage Area & one weatherproof light switch for the carport, and one 2 gang switch for the ceiling mount GPO’s.
One double weatherproof power point in the Carport.
Two ceiling mount double 10amp power points.
Four 10amp double power points.
Four single 15Amp 240volt power points in the workshop.
One double 15Amp power point.
One three phase 10A power outlet.

Re: Ray's question. The sub main is on the right hand side inside the door where the switches will be easy to reach. The scrap bin is easy to reach across at that point, but I may yet move it.

Electrical Layouts

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Sun, 24 Nov 2013 11:02:00 +0000

At this stage it looks like the workshop will have power before Christmas. It's all become a little complex (cough cough expensive) but it should allow for ample power and flexibility now and into the future. Plenty of 15A outlets, plenty of lights, and even a three phase. Any feedback is appreciated.

Northside Dovetailed Vegetable Bed

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Tue, 24 Sep 2013 10:00:00 +0000

Potter's Pal's Carrots

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Mon, 16 Sep 2013 10:29:00 +0000

This post follow's up a post earlier in the year when I planted from heirloom carrots in newspaper pots. The experiment was a mixed success. The pots while out of the ground dried out quickly and I lost a number of seedlings. In the ground after transfer they did a lot better. Next time though I will have smaller thinner pots to help the breakdown of paper.

Four-sided

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Mon, 16 Sep 2013 10:23:00 +0000

Progress...

End of Winter

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Tue, 27 Aug 2013 09:08:00 +0000

With the end of winter rapidly upon us, the garden is starting to spring into bloom. The vegetable raised bed is not quite ready but progress is being made. The site is excavated by hand. Drainage pipe laid. Timber beginning to come together with halflaps, wooden dowels, and dovetails.

50" Rip Capacity.

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Wed, 17 Jul 2013 10:27:00 +0000

The 50" rip capacity rails arrived a few weeks back and have been attached to the machine. Looks pretty. Still no power to the shed.

Garden beds by a furniture maker

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 04:40:00 +0000

While the shop continues to be without power my focus has remained on the gardens. I'm installing various garden beds and in particular a large one on the north side of the shop. This bed will be 5.4-6m long x 1.2m wide x 0.5m high, made from 2.4m x 1.2m x 50mm Tallowwood sleepers. A simple task to cut to size and screw together... however... I don't like simple. Rather than simple screws I've decided to dovetail the joints. In a sense treating the project as a rather large chest or blanket box.

To begin with I've used hardwood dowel and titebond 3 to joint the end pieces.

I've recently acquired a Makita BDF459SHE brushless drill. This is a piece of kit I can definitely recommend. Plenty of power. Not too heavy. Holds a charge well.

I used the circular saw to trim the ends using a MDF guide and a Chris Vesper Square.

Then laid out the joints like I would any other.

However, the dovetail saw stayed in the toolchest and the 4351FCT Jigsaw did all the hard work.

A slight deflection in the blade resulted in some angled cuts. However, repeating the cuts on the other side and adjusting the oscillation of the saw resulted in a good result without chiselling.

The site of the future Northside bed. I've be excavating slowly by hand to level it and remove rocks. I'll also be placing a drainage channel along the edge.

Joining the sleepers end on end will be a little tricker... perhaps finger joints, perhaps half lap... proper scraf joints made be a little too much.