Wexford Woodworking

Hat Blocks

2013-08-21T15:30:00.001+01:00

Here are some images of recent hat blocks i was requested to make by some Irish Milliners, if you would like to enquire about a hat block please contact me either through:

facebook: http://www.facebook.com/wexfordwoodworking
email: wexfordwoodworking@gmail.com
phone: 085-8188938

Paduak Bowl with Ridge Detail

2013-07-15T08:56:00.001+01:00

Just some images of one of my latest pieces... a Padual Bowl with a single ridge detail... this bowl was finished with friction polish and also wax...

Banksia Nut Coasters

2013-06-03T11:03:00.000+01:00

Just a little post on how i finished by Banksia nut/pod coasters...

basically i left the bottom of the coasters their natural finish with a light sanding, this way they should have a little bit of grip on surfaces rather than slipping all over the table...

They seem thin enough so moisture already on the table shouldn't affect them long term... i have toyed with the idea of spraying the bottom like i did the top and sides with clear lacquer and scuffing the bottom half but that takes away from the fact that you can feel the natural banksia pod/nut and appreciate it's velvet fuzz so to speak....

Either way each one is definitely unique and no 2 could possible be the same :D

Anyway here's some pics of them finished... some of these pics are already in my latest pieces post from a while ago... also i have my whole collection on facebook...

http://www.facebook.com/wexfordwoodworking

Large Spalted Beech Bowl...

2013-06-01T21:02:00.000+01:00

Just some pictures of my latest piece... A Large spalted beech bowl... finished with some Mylands Wax...

Facebook Twitter Etc...

2013-04-04T16:55:00.002+01:00

if you'd like to see more of my work or have my tweets tweet you then you can add me or like any of the following:

Website: http://www.wexfordwoodworking.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/wexfordwoodworking
Twitter @dammcg
Google+: damienmcgarry@gmail.com
or email me at damienmcgarry@gmail.com or wexfordwoodworking@gmail.com

and of course dont forget to follow this BLOG :D

Damien

Latest Pieces (woodturned Clock, Cheeseboard, Bottle Stopper, Coasters)

2013-03-25T22:21:00.001+00:00

its been a while since an update so i'd just like to post up a few pictures of my latest pieces, a cheeseboard made of spalted beech with burned ring, a Banskia Nut bottle stopper, a Banksia Nut set of 6 coasters and a Desk Clock, I do plan on doing a couple of write ups on how i done each piece but untill then if you've any questions about any of the pieces please ask me in the comments...

Damien

Wooden Clocks

2012-10-08T22:01:00.004+01:00

So after making a couple of bowls and a lot of pens i noticed i had some nice large blanks of Zebra Wood (Zebrano) and Bubinga that i had bought a while back, they were a bit shallow to make bowls out of so i thought I'd try some clocks.

I went to Paragon Tools in Wexford and got a couple of clock faces, they were about €12 or €13 euro each.

I started with the Zebra wood first and mounted it on my lathe as usual, i turned recess in the
blank to place my dovetail jaws into, i then remounted it and turned the front of the clock, i hollowed out the center enough so the clock would fit nice and snug, the clock inserts had these flaps on it which press outwards so when you put the clock in these flaps press outwards and hold it in place nicely.

Once i had the front finished the way i liked it i rounded over the edge. at this stage i wasn't sure if i was going to be able to remount it like it was so i finished the front by sanding up through the grits from 150 grit to 800 grit and finishing by burnishing it with it's own shavings and used Chestnut's Wax to finish it.

I mounted the piece in the opposite direction by using the recess i had turned for the clock to fit in as a place to expand the dovetail jaws in, i wasn't too worried about jaw marks in here as you wouldn't see here when the clock was in.

I turned the back of it and once again rounded over the edge to meet with the front round over to make a nice curve going around it. I finished this side in the same way as i finished the back.

Now to give it an area to stand i brought it over to my cross cut miter saw and clamped it in place and cut at 90 degrees to the face, i lightly sanded this surface then but applied no finish, this would give it a bit of grip on whatever surface it was to go on, i toyed with the idea of felt or little rubber feet but liked how it looked flush with the surface it was on.

For the bubinga i done the same process but placed 3 rings around the face using a parting tool. Also when i was cutting the base i angled it to 10 degrees, any more and it would fall backwards, it gives it a nice angled look on a lower surface.

Wooden Woodturned Pens

2012-09-10T21:52:00.003+01:00

Well after attending a monthly meet at the Craobh Cuig Deag Chapter on turning pens i decided to give it a shot.

I did have to buy a pen turning mandrel and i would highly recommend the Rotur Pen Mandrel Kit, comes with all you need including a 7mm drill bit, barrel trimmer and adjustable mandrel for doing all lengths of pens.

Anyway that's just my opinion on pen mandrels...

I didn't exactly know what sort of pens i wanted to make but nearly all the wood turning shops sold the classic 2 piece twist pen kits so i went with them and bought about 10 kits at €2.50 each, they were gold coloured pieces and looked nice enough in the packets anyway :D

I also bought a load of pen blanks, these ranged in price from €1 to €2.50 each depending on the wood, i have since seen 5 ebony blanks for €25 in McQuillans so pretty expensive at €5 each, you wouldn't want to be destroying too many of them while making them.

Anyway with each of the blanks i drew a line down one side, not touching either edge. i then cut them in half and this then means that if i put them down or anything then when i picked them up i could easy realign them to keep the grain running in the same direction.

I then mounted each half in my chuck in order to drill out the centre for the pen barrel. While you have this set up you may as well drill out a few of them, saves set up time. Once i had them drilled out i lightly sanded each of the pen barrels (the two gold coloured cylindrical things at the top of the picture of the pen kit) this scrubbed off any oil on the surface of them and gave glue a better grip. i used alligator glue (pretty much the same as gorilla glue) and ran a line down the length of each barrel before i inserted them in to the hole i had just drilled in each of the pen blanks. as i was inserting them i twisted them to make sure and get the glue everywhere in there. this glue expands and forms a great seal. using superglue due to its nature it doesn't work as well as the alligator glue and you will find on occasion that the barrel will slip out of the pen blank after all your hard work!! People have also complained of gorilla glue while expanding can push the barrel out also, i haven't come across this problem yet but I'm sure it's quite easily solved by putting the piece in a clamp with wax paper on each end to stop the glue sticking to your clamp :D

Once the glue is dry (about 2 hours to be safe) you place the two half pen blanks onto your mandrel with the narrow separators at the beginning middle and end. these give you a reference as to the diameter you're looking for in each end of the pen to be flush with the pen kit. i then screwed on the nut at the end and slid up the tail stock into a dimple in the end of the mandrel to provide ample support while turning.

While turning my pens i used only a skew chisel and got great results. Be careful with brittle woods though cause once you drill out the centre initially you seen to take away a lot of the structure of it and it can be very easy to take out a big chunk of the blank and then you're just left with the barrel!! :D

Once you're happy with your pen its as simple as sanding them while still on the mandrel, i sanded these right up to 800 grit and finished with sanding sealer and an array of finishes, from friction polish, normal polish, Mylads Traditional Way, chestnut wood dye, and burnishing cream for the one acrylic pen i done. Here are some pictures of some of the pens i made from wenge, zebrano, walnut, beech:

Purple Heart Bowl

2012-09-05T17:13:00.000+01:00

Ever since i got an interest in woodworking I've had an interest in the exotic woods, don't know why probably cause they can be damn expensive and i cant afford many of them :D

What started out as my favourite and the most interesting wood to me was Purple Heart, an 8" x 3" bowl blank will set you back somewhere between €30 to €40 in Ireland anyway. I bought one piece around the same time i bought my lathe and was afraid to use in for fear of destroying it and turning it into firewood, although i would of felt quite rich being able to use purple heart to warm my living room :D

I eventually thought I'd developed enough basic skill on the lathe to chance turning this piece, it was easily the largest piece i had tried to turn but i had fun turning it.

I had no idea what shape i wanted on it, what sort of base either so i just took the tools to the wood and kept turning till i was happy with it.

Now one thing i will point out here that came quite apparent when i started taking shavings off this wood was the smell of it, i usually love the small of ALL woods when you're turning but this turned my stomach, i turned this bowl about 6 months ago and i have it wrapped up in bubble wrap in the utility room still because of the smell that's still comes off it, i might just have been unlucky with the piece but it has put me off ever working with Purpelheart again... bar a couple of purple heart pens that i have done since.

But anyway back to the turning, i mounted the piece with a screw chuck to initially round over the piece and to work on the base of the bowl, i got fancy and put a bit of a design where i was going to mount it with the chuck, nothing TOO fancy just something different to a flat void where the chuck goes.

After completing this i mounted the piece on my chuck and continued to turn the outside and inside of the bowl till i got to a shape i liked which ended up being a conical concave outside type shape with a small lip at the base, this gives it the look that it's slightly raised off the table. I finished it by placing placing a small indent around the outside edge with a parting tool and sanded the whole piece through the grits from 150, 180, 240, 320, 400, 600 and then burnished it with its own shavings, this might of been overkill but i ended up with a really smooth surface. I finished the piece using Myranda Traditional Wax Polish which brought out the colour and grain of this piece nicely.

In the end i was quite happy with only my 3rd ever bowl on such a nice wood (forgetting about the smell) :D

Also i would point out that i wore a mask and face shield at all time while turning and sanding as exotic woods are more inclinded to cause skin/respiratory problems then native woods. as in yew being poisonous and walnut tends to bring on dermatitis for example.Thats not to say you shouldn't wear these while dealing with native woods!!

Here's some more pics of the finished piece:

Woodturning Baby Rattle with 3 Captive Rings

2012-05-12T23:48:00.001+01:00

Well after my first attempts at woodturning i went to a demonstration at Joe Lairds Woodturnings (www.joelairdwoodturning.com) where he was demonstrating making baby rattles.

So when i got a chance to make one and having 2 children both under 2 years of age i jumped at it. I started by getting some 6 x 2 x 2 beech which is a safe wood for baby rattles as well as most fruit woods, stay away from exotic woods if you plan on making children's toys.

I roughed the square piece to make it cylindrical. i then marked were the ends of the rattle would be and also where i would turn the captive rings on, leaving room to get in from either side of the rings.

I used a parting tool to make quick work of narrowing out the centre around the captive rings. From there i used a small gouge and with the bevel resting on the part i had just narrowed out i slowly pressed in towards the ring as close to the narrow piece as possible. when i was as far in as about half way i then done the same from the other side.

When the ring was just about parted from the rattle centre i rounded over the outer edges of the ring so there were no sharp edges.

I done this for all 4 rings, i lost one ring due to the fact that the centre of the rattle wasn't narrow enough for it and i shattered on parting.

In order to sand the inside of the rings i glued a strip of 320 grit sandpaper to the rattle and turned on the lathe, i could then position the rings and rotate them over this sandpaper to sand the inside. i finished off by rounding off both ends making sure they were thick enough so the rings couldn't slide off over either end.

It is not advisable to put any finish on baby items, simply sanding to a fine grit such as 600+ and burnishing it with its own shavings gives it a great smooth safe finish.

My New Lathe Axminster AWVSL1000

2012-03-10T10:08:00.001+00:00

Well after ordering my new lathe early January it finally arrived last week. the package i got comprised of the Axminster AWVSL 1000 as well as an Axminster Clubman K10 Woodturning Chuck & Accessories

A Package deal made up of the Axminster AWBGDL Wide Stone Grinder.

Axminster HSS Woodturning Tools Set. ( I must thank Joe Laird here of http://www.joelairdwoodturning.com for initially sharpening these for me)

Axminster Safety Visor and a pack of 10 P2 Axminster Cup Masks and an Axminster Multi-Head Live Revolving Centre & Additional Tips.

It arrived on a narrow pallet well packaged.

The assembly went relatively smoothly, the base was easy enough to put together with simple square ended bolts and nuts, the 1st problem i encountered was when trying to attach the tray to the legs, the holes wouldn't line up in order to bolt them together. i had read that this was a problem before and the simple solution was to take a size 8 drill bit and re bore the holes and finish attaching the tray to the legs.

Headstock, tail stock and tool rest come pre-installed on the lathe bed and there is no way one person would lift this, 2 people would move it handily enough though, if you were stuck you could remove the head/tail stock and rest and you would probably be able to shift it by yourself then. on placing the bed on top of the stand once again the holes in the stand were slightly off, this was rectified by simply aligning them at one end and then with the hold of a metal rod lifting the other end up, placing the metal rod through the hole in the lathe bed and then at an angle placing the rod through into the stand, then as we lowered the bed it pulled the other leg of the stand into line and once again this was tightened on with nuts and bolts, 4 at each end.

I placed the grinder on the bench next to where i had the lathe but did not mount it cause as of yet I'm still not sure where i want it permanently mounted as well as the fact I'm going to purchase the wolverine vari grind sharpening system so will wait till i get that before permanently mounting it to somewhere.

Here's a couple more images and the technical specs of the lathe:

Model:	AWVSL1000
Distance Between Centres:	1,100mm (43.3")
Nett Weight:	97kg
Overall L x W x H:	1,680 x 470 x 1,155mm
Power:	750W (1HP)
Rating:	Hobby
Speed:	500-2,000rpm
Spindle Taper:	2MT
Spindle Thread:	1" x 8tpi (ref T04M)
Taper Tailstock:	2MT
Tool Rest Stem Diameter:	25mm
Max Diameter over Bed:	370mm

Irish Woodturners Guild Craobh Cuig Deag

2012-01-20T16:14:00.004+00:00

Well last night i attended my first monthly meeting of the Irish Woodturners Guild (http://www.irishwoodturnersguild.com)

at the Blanchardstown Chapter (http://craobhcuigdeag.org/)

To be honest i didn't have a clue what to expect, sure i haven't even got a lathe yet to do any wood turning! But i have one ordered and hopefully it will be arriving shortly. :D I'll do another post on that when i get it.

Anyway, i arrived for half 7 to a room already packed with beginners and experienced wood turners
and a couple of other guests like myself where i was met by Joe Laird of Joe Laird Wood turning (http://www.joelairdwoodturning.com/).

The meeting started with a few announcements and then straight into a demonstration of an inlayed trinket box. All through the demonstration there was great detail given as to what was going on which was great for me because it was the first time i had seen anything being turned right in front of me, gave me real feel as to what to expect with the sounds and that of the lathe, much better then the 1000 YouTube video's i had watched.

The atmosphere was great in the place with jokes being thrown back and forth and everyone had a good chat at the break where there were some amazing pieces from their current competition on display. I met some very interesting people who were not afraid to share some very handy tips and techniques for when my lathe does eventually arrive

Was there as a guest last night but will definitely going back and joining next month.

My Hand Planes

2012-01-07T11:19:00.000+00:00

Since i started out woodworking not too long ago i always wondered why every workshop you see has a load of hand planes in it. Well the answer to me is.... It's addictive buying them!!! Not new... but 2nd hand!! the first pieces of hardwood i bought were Rough cut Walnut 4ft boards, one was 7inches by 2 inches and the other was 6 inches by 1 inch. there was a horrible bow in the 7 inch board so i said that no about of sanding would get that down so i purchased my first plane. I bought this one new... A Stanley 102 block plane.

It done the job... so to speak... after a couple of blisters and a lot of time i did get the bow out of the board. But it was then i started thinking about proper hand planes and watched numerous videos on hand planing and then started my search on e-bay. I knew what i was going to be looking for... mainly Stanley Planes in good nick, the blades didn't have to be sharp once they were rust free and a flat sole i was going to be happy. With in 2 weeks i had bid on about 50 planes and was the proud owner of 4 second hand planes.

The first plane i got was a Stanley G12-004 Smooth Plane. This is values at about €65 new, i got it on eBay for €20 including delivery. the blade was already sharp and just needed a touch up. On this plane i saved about €45.

The next plane i purchased was a Stanley Bailey Number 3 Bench Plane. This plane is valued at about €70. I purchased this plane on eBay for €18 including delivery. On this plane i saved about €52. This plane arrived brand new in the box. even though it was new every blade should get a touch up when you get it, it takes the machining marks off the blade and gives you a smoother cut.

After that i purchased a Vintage Stanley Spokeshave (A151) This plane retails at about €25 and i got it on eBay for €15 delivered saving about €10. Once again the blade on this was a bit dull and the paint was a bit faded but with a bit of sharpening this shaves as good as new.

Finally i needed something for those larger pieces so i came across a Stanley Bailey 5 and a 1/2 jack plane. This plane is valued well over the €100 mark and i picked it up for €35 delivered on eBay, a saving of about €80 to €90. The blade on this was slightly curved and needed a bit of work to straighten it out but once it was straight it was again like new.

So in total i have 4 planes worth €270 to €280 which i got for €93 a saving of about €180 euro. if you are interested in buying planes i highly recommend checking eBay for a bargain. if they arrive and there is anything more needed then sharpening the blade or flattening the sole then these parts you can pick up also such as a new blade or handles.

Jewellery Box

2011-11-09T12:56:00.000+00:00

For my next project i decided to try something i had seen on www.thewoodwhisperer.com, this website is excellent and i strongly advise taking a look. loads of video's and good reading here.

I am limited with the told i have compared with thewoodwhisperer but decided to give it my best shot and created this which is a variation of the one on the site.

I started by purchasing some walnut for this project, bought it from Strahans in Rathcoole, Co. Dublin. I bought 2 4 foot lengths in both 1 x 6 and 2 x 6 i wanted enough so i had some more walnut to mess around with after this project. Good thing i did cause i botched the first effort, i was still learning the basics of the tools i had so it didn't upset me too much.

i started by planing both sides of each board to get them somewhat straight, i don't own a planner thicknesser so i had to do it the old fashioned way with a plane. i done about half the length of both boards. i used a straight edge to check where along the boards i needed to plane as i was getting close. i also marked this area with pencil so as I'd know when I've planed that spot. both these tricks i also got from www.thewoodwhisperer.com.

I then used my compound mitre saw to cut 7 inch lengths of the walnut of both widths. I then started working on the lid, the lid is made from the 1 inch thick stock. i placed a stop block on my saw set for 6 1/8th inches. i then cut one side about a quarter of an inch shy of this stop block and then cut the parallel side of this with the other pressed against the stop block, this gave me 2 smooth sides. i then done the same process for the other 2 sides, this gave me a perfectly square piece of 1inch thick walnut. i repeated the same process for the 2 inch thick stock.

I then moved onto the base of the box. i had some 1/4 inch thick mdf and out of this i used an adjustable circle cutter similar to this one to cut a 4 1/2 inch hole in the mdf. i then centred this circle to the centre of the base. i traced the outline onto the box and removed the template.

I then used a 38mm forsner bit in a drill press to remove most the stock to 1 and a half inches deep. I then used double sided tape to re attach the template. I then used a Freud top bearing flush trim bearing bit in my router. The router i have is the black and Decker kw900 (http://www.blackanddecker.co.uk/powertools/productdetails/catno/KW900EKA/) I used this to follow the template taking out small bits of stock at a time until i had smoothed the sides and the base of the box.

I then set up my home made router table and placed my router in this. I inserted a Freud 14 Degree dovetail bit and ran the base of this box over the router the left of centre, i then rotated the piece 180 degrees and ran it through again, this made sure that the protruding dovetail was wide and also perfectly centred in the lid. i continued working out until i had cleared all the stock that was protruding except for the dovetail.

I then took the lid of the box and ran my dovetail bit as close to centre as possible, i then turned the piece 180 degrees and ran it through again, This made sure the dovetail was equal distance from each side. i continued moving it millimetre by millimetre doing a run down each side until it fitted over the base of the box with enough room for expansion. i placed a Roman Ogee bit into the router and ran the lid of the box through this to give the lid a nice feature on the corners. It also took the sharp edges off the top corners.

I then sanded it all and put one coat of Danishoil on the entire piece. i then lightly sanded it again once this was dry and put 3 more coats of Danishoil on the entire piece.

Third Project (Shelves for Baby Room)

2011-11-03T11:24:00.000+00:00

For my third project i decided to start scaling up a bit. I was now quite comfortable using the scroll saw so i tried to incorporate still using it into a bigger project so i came up with the idea of a 4 shelf unit for my sons room. I decided on a unit that had the letters A, B and C on each side.

Once again i printed off these 3 letters as templates and done what i usually do with scroll saw templates. If you're not familiar with that i describe it in my 1st and 2nd project. When choosing the fonts i had to choose a font with a large top and bottom surface area. i.e. a more square shaped "C" then a curved one. This would allow better support of the shelf.

Once again i made this project out of MDF as once again i was going to spray paint it. i cut out 2 of each of the letters A,B,C on my scroll saw and also 4 equal length shelves on my Compound Mitre Saw.

I had ideas of how i was going to assemble them prior to cutting everything out but after cutting everything i realised these ideas would not be strong enough. What i SHOULD of done was cut out 2 lengths with the letters A,B,C all attached to each other instead of individually cutting the letters out. Then i could of ran dado's through the MDF which would of been plenty of support for the entire shelf.

So in order so i didn't have to start again i kept thinking and decided to use "L" shaped brackets.

i started by placing one shelf along the top of the letters "C" and securing this with 2 "L" brackets on either side. i made sure this shelf was protruding out at the top of the letters by half the width of the shelf. I then mounted the bottom of the two "B" letters using 2 "L" brackets on each side on to the top of the shelf i had just mounted onto the "C's". I continued this procedure letting the top of the shelf protrude till i came to the top shelf on top of the letter "A" i mounted this shelf making sure it was flush with the tops of these letters. I then done that same for the bottom shelf of the "C's"

Once fully assembled i sanded all edges to round them over slightly anywhere where it could be dangerous for a child to cut themselves off. I then sprayed it with a MDF primer/sealer to seal the MDF and stop it absorbing too much of the main colour. Once again i sanded it to smooth any fibres that may of lifted while applying primer/sealer. i then finished it in the same light blue that i finished his name with in a previous project. it took about 4 coats to totally finish it.

My second Project (Scrollsaw Name)

2011-10-31T11:10:00.001+00:00

Well after my first project of the scroll saw horse shoe i decided to tackle something similar. I have a 1 year old son and back when i made this we had put him into his own room so i decided to tackle another simple project and that was a scroll saw cutout of his name "Dean".

I messed around with word art on Microsoft Word and came up with and printed the font and design in the picture below.

I used MDF for this piece as i knew i was going to paint it. Cutting MDF is alot dustier that cutting normal wood and i would highly recommend wearing some sort of respiration protection as well as safety glasses (which should be worn doing most woodworking) as there is a lot of air born dust and there's a high chance that pieces being cut out can go flying in your direction.

Once again i placed masking tape over the entire piece and glued to template to this masking tape. I drilled holes in the places where i needed to in order to fit the blade through.

When i was finished cutting I gently sanded the corners on the front of the name. I didn't sand the back as i felt it would sit smoother and closer to the door leaving the edges of this alone.

Now with MDF once you cut it you expose alot of new fibres so i first sprayed it with a spray undercoat to seal these fibres to stop them drinking the main coat. After this undercoat i once again gently sanded it due to the fibres raising slightly with the moisture of the spray paint. I then sprayed the complete sign in a light blue colour giving it 3 coats. i used plain sticky pads to stick the sign to the door.

My first project (Scrollsaw Horseshoe)

2011-10-29T15:08:00.000+01:00

Well my first project was a horseshoe welcome sign, i made this about 4 months ago, my girlfriend bought me a scroll saw at a show in Wexford, Ireland a SS16V 16" Variable Speed Scroll saw for about €120.

I then searched the Internet for some templates and came across a horse, a horse shoe, and the word "welcome", i put them all together and got this.

Was relatively simple to do, for each of the nail holes in the horse shoe i had to drill a 6mm hole with my drill in order to fit the blade through. The only downside to this scroll saw is that the blades have 2 small hooks on either side at both ends which hold it in place. You can get scroll saws that uses grip to hold it in place and therefore have no hooks and a smaller hole can be drilled to fit the blade into.

Anyway i printed this template out and covered my piece of pine in masking tape. I chose pine because it is a very soft wood and easy to cut through, and also because it was readily available at any B&Q, Atlantic Homecare, Woodies....

I then glued the template onto the masking tape using pritt stick but I'm sure any pva glue will do. this makes it alot easier to remove because all you have to do is peel the masking tape off and the glue comes with it when you're finished. this leaves very little sanding. Anyway the results or all this are in the following picture. It took me approximately 3 hours to complete. Not a masterpiece by any means but i was delighted with it for my first attempt....

Welcome

2011-10-29T14:50:00.000+01:00

Hello and welcome to my first blog, i'm currently starting out in the world of woodworking and am slowly building up my skills and hope to share my experiences with you all.