Wood shop projects and jigs

Every home needs a hamburger press.

2011-02-21T14:09:00.000-08:00

I know you can buy these things but I hate shopping and feel the need to justify my tool purchases.
I took a bit of hard maple and and routed a dish out on one piece and turned a plunger on the other. I glued the plunger into the top and trimmed the edges for a hinge. I rounded over the corners and applied some light mineral oil. I will "die cut" some plastic separaters to put in the bottom to get the meat out in one piece this week.
p.s. I burned the maple a bit cutting the finger pulls. It's beginning to be my trademark.

From wood stuff 2010

Bandsaw V Jig for cutting round materials Safely.

2011-02-05T13:53:00.000-08:00

From bandsaw V jig

One of the routine tasks I use my bandsaw for is cutting tubes and wooden dowels to length.
Quite often if you don't have a jig or cradle of some kind to hold your stock the cut is crooked and in some cases the stock jumps on the blade and can either break it or give you quite a scare or both.
Today I made a small jig from a piece of 2 x 6 stock and a scrap of three ply fir plywood.
I can't give you any dimensions for this as each Bandsaw as a different table set up but the procedure is quite straight forward. First take a short piece of 2 x 6 for rough lumber and plan it flat on both sides so it can sit on the plywood without wobbling. You can use a hand plane but in this case I ran it through my jointer. You have to joint one side of this board as the next procedure uses the table saw fence as a guide and outside will rest against it.
Set the blade on the table saw the 45° and section the 2 x 6 board into two equal pieces.
Next, trim the leading edge or sharper edge of the angles so formed off the 2 by 6's and leaving a blunt edge of approximately 1/2 inch to glue the centers together. Grab a couple of 12" clamps and glue these edges to each other. Next trim the plywood on each side to make sure it will ride square to your table.
That is suitable piece of hardwood runner to fit in the slot of your bandsaw table and a line the plywood to the table and screw it to the runner.
Take the V-shaped 2 x 6 bed you just glued together and screw it to the leading edge(closest to the blade) on the plywood.
Crew through the base and V-shaped bed on the bandsaw then remove it and place a screw and each side of the saw cut to stabilize the be bed.
I left the V notcvh long to help with longer stock.
You're done now but should you need a strap or two to prevent your stock from rolling youve got plenty of room on each side of the bed to attach same.

Here's a picture of the finished bed.

From bandsaw V jig

And here's a couple pictures of stock cut using this jig.

From bandsaw V jig

Maximising space in the small shop

2011-01-18T09:32:00.001-08:00

I'm still trying to organise my clamps and keep them within reach but out of the workspace.
I find it is harder than it looks.
I have about thirty or fourty small clamps that I use for various projects. Until now I kept them in a box and it was not working for me that well expecially for glue ups.

I whacked this together this morning:

From

If I leave the four corner clamps until last I can remove any or all of the other clamps from the holder withone hand.... of course if I put 4 dowels on the corners I could remove them all. ...Maybe tomorrow;-)
Here's a crib for some of my most used screwdrivers and chisels.
The boxes are on piano hinge and mounted under my cupboards. I fastenened them up with bent wire hooks to leave the shelf over my dust collector pipe free to handle some hammers.

From small parts hangers

Here they are open.

From small tool storage

Here's one for my spring clamps.

From small tool storage

A simple outfeed table that takes little space

2011-01-18T05:37:00.001-08:00

There's not much to add to this little slide presentation.
I hope some of you find it useful.

*Just click on each picture in the row and it enlarges and give you a bit of text to follow along with.*
http://members.shaw.ca/boboswin/public/Outfeedtable/

This is only an example please click on the grey text here.

From Drop Box

Production jig for multi business card holders

2011-01-18T05:32:00.001-08:00

I sometimes get requests for things I have made one of and find that making a second one is as time consuming as the first and prone to the same errors.
To avoid this I try to make jigs that take the guessing out and speed up the process when the need arises.

I will be using this business card holder as a prize in several silent auctions this year so I wanted to keep the fabrication time down to a minimun.

The first shot shows several prototypes where I worked out the shape and size I wanted to use.
This is absolutely an essential step .

From business card holder

This next picture shows the jig made from MDF .It is essentially a right angle to butt the blank on with two adjustable cleats to hold the blank firmly in the corner.

From business card holder

On top of that is a guide to center the forstner bit exactly for cutting each corner.
I used 3/4" MDF and 11/16" spruce for the right angle to allow the blanks to side in and out without binding.

From business card holder

Next picture show how the guide centers the forstner bit so it drops on the same spot each time.

From business card holder

Here I am showing the finished blank still resting in the jig, We now have 4 nearly identicle corner radiuses.
This took about 2 minutes to prep thanks to the jig.

From business card holder

Next picture shows the set up for the mini router bit profile.

From business card holder

With a prototype blank mounted in the jig I ran a test to make sure we have the profile set correctly on the edges.

From business card holder

This shot shows a couple of blanks ready for finishing.
I tried 2 different profiles on them to see what works for me.

From business card holder

Here are some early results from the jigging.
I have yet to make a small jig for dirilling the screw holes that mount the stantions. - Later

From business card holder

Special thanks to "Dusty56 ":http://lumberjocks.com/projects/16691 who inspired me and helped me get up and running on this project

Mortises on the router

2011-01-18T05:17:00.000-08:00

As usual, I'm looking for an easier way to do a task when I'm woodworking.
Every so often I find myself needing to do more to some mortise and tenon joinery and have often thought that I wanted a dedicated mortiser.
My first big problem is I simply don't have room for another machine in my shop the second problem is I’m basically lazy and I just hate ten minute set ups for 5 minute jobs.
I was reading Bill Hiltons great book on using the router and I noticed that he had shown the router set up with two fences.
Eureka!
I have two fences!

I skipped out to the shop and grabbed a couple of pieces from the scrap pile and milled and faced them as shown here:

From router fence mortise

I clamped the big board in my vice and marked off a couple of spots for my mortise.

From router fence mortise

I grabbed the router I had that had two identical fences available and slipped one on either side of the guide rods.

From router fence mortise

Next, I dropped the router on the board clamped in my vice and lined it up with the previously drawn centerline. Because the fences are adjustable you can position your mortise and tenon anywhere along the edge of the material With really narrow material just use acouple of spacers on each side of the piece to be morticed.

From router fence mortise

I tried a couple of passes on the test base to get the feel for this rig and then proceeded to cut the tenon over on my table saw. After having a rather dismal result truing the shoulders of the tennon using my Osborne miter gauge I discovered that there was some play in the miter stop and that was preventing me from getting an accurate shoulder all the way around the tendon. A small turn with a spanner wrench and we were good to go.
I should mention that I did use a dedicated tenon device on the table saw to exactly position the tenon for proper fit in the mortise.

From router fence mortise

Here is the final result and I am pleased with the fit and the overall time it required to make this joint.
I am estimating that including scouring out the mortise with a chisel and cutting the tenon that my working time start to finish should be in the 4 to 5 minute range. What I like best about this system is it required no additional purchases apart from an extra fence guide and requires no specific footprint in my small shop.

A larger centering jig for wider stock

2011-01-12T08:53:00.001-08:00

After I made the small "centering gage last week":http://lumberjocks.com/projects/3023 I decided yesterday that I could use a larger one as well for drawers and the odd cut on plywood .
I picked up a package of 1/4" brass threaded inserts from Lee valley tools last week as well as a knurled set screw to hold the pencil in place.!http://www.leevalley.com/images/item/hardware/jigfixtureparts/44z0201s1.jpg!
I had a piece of mahogany lying about that had the height and width i needed so I cleaned it up with my fore plane and proceeded to mark the stick out to recieve the inserts and hole for the pencil

The centering of the inserts was easy using the drill press and a fence to line things up on the center mark from my smaller gage.
To make sure the hole were equidistant from the center I used stop on the fence and drilled the first hole them flipped the stick round and dropped in it's mate.
the layout took about 15 minutes because I wanted to check everyting but the actual drilliing was only about 5 minutes.

Here's another shot showing how I made the centering pins from some 2-1/2" bolts with the heads sawed off.
I was going to use brass rod for the pins but the Borg needs $18.50 for three feet of 1/4".

What they don't know will kill them.

I layed out the top curve with a french curve and ran it through the bandsaw.

It took about an hour and half of piddling and about 20 mins actual work to make this.

Question... Am i anal enough to put a finish on it?

p.s. The complete project is in shopnotes VOl 15 issue 86 page 24...

Cheers Bob

Simple divider for centering cuts on edges of common boards

2011-01-12T08:47:00.000-08:00

Finding center can be frustrating when you are in the shop and need a quick way to place a biscuit or dowel or mortise.
This simple math trick does the job for you.

Drill two holes in a piece of 3/8" thick stock that are 2" a part and exactly the size of your selected dowel material
The center hole should be the diameter of your favorite pencil stock.
All the holes must line up along a straight pencil line for this to work.
Drill a hole dead center between the previous dowels for the pencil.
If it's a bit loose set a screw through the side of your wood to hold it .

That's it!

By placing a dowel on each side of your wood and running down the stock with the dowels touching the sides you will draw a line dead center on the work.
You may want to stack more layers up to hold the pencil so the sharp end doesn't protrude as much.

Enjoy Bob

small mortise hinge jig for boxes etc.

2011-01-07T11:06:00.001-08:00

I've been struggling with fitting brass hinges into softer woods that I seem to work with today against my better judgment.
By the time I have the mortise cut for the hinge I find that usually a portion of the mortise has either fallen away, been crushed by my chisels, or a combination of both leaving an unsightly gash into which I have to place my hinge.
I've been looking at this jig as outlined in ShopNotes volume #12 No. 74.

From hinge jig

The principle of this jig relies upon your router having a square base with exact sides. In my case I am waiting for a new router and used my roto zip that happens to have a 4 inch base attached from a previous job.

From hinge jig

The first thing you need to do is determine where you need your hinge to sit in the wood. I laid a couple of hinges up as shown and marked their positions with a sharp pencil.

From hinge jig

Next I opened the gate on the jig and fitted each hinge to the exact opening. Next the depth of the hinge was set using a side gauge on the jig.

From hinge jig

Once the frame is lined up with the dimensions of the hinge the depth of cut is set for the router bit to match the thickness of the brass hinge being used. I actually made the mortise inset slightly deeper than the hinge so I could lightly sand away the milled edges giving me a cleaner mortise .
The last picture pretty much speaks for itself.
As shown, a 2 1/4 inch mortise on the left and the three-quarter inch mortise on the right and both are more than acceptable by my standards.

From hinge jig

You canwatch a demo of this jig here:
http://www.shopnotes.com/issues/74/videos/using-the-hinge-mortising-jig/

A landing apron for your miter jig.

2011-01-07T11:04:00.001-08:00

I have had this Leigh dovetail jig for more than a year and have yet to tune it so I can use it.

From wood stuff 2010

When I first got it it was an old D4R so I upgraded the clamp mechanism and added a bit of adhesive sandpaper to the clamp bars.
The first couple times that I tried this machine I found that the wood wanted to slide under the clamp bars so I put sandpaper strips to control that .
I also had difficulty the 1/4 inch shank bits that I had on hand were sliding out of the collet adapter and spoiling the joints.
I replaced the collet with a new one from Lee Valley and purchased *8mm shank* bits as well as an *8mm adapter*.
I'm surprised how much better this combination seems to work in my router.
It makes me wonder why the industry ever produced quarter inch bits as they have been a pain in the ass since I started woodworking.
My "go to" router has become a Triton three and a quarter horsepower machine which has all the right features but of course, with a large motor, becomes a bit of a behemoth to move back and forth on the job.

From wood stuff 2010

"So I decided to treat myself and purchased sliding vacuum system and extension table from Lee industries.":http://www.leighjigs.com/vrs.php

From wood stuff 2010

Essentially, it's a long smooth sheet of aluminum fixed in place by 4 rare earth magnets. On the underside they have attached a vacuum that slides along as you route. The end result is no more sawdust in my socks a convenient table to rest my router on and keep it level during the machining process. the two wire arms adjust to fit any router and the entire mechanism slides like silk with the addition of a bit of wax to the surfaces.

While setting the jig up to do a few test pieces I noticed that the fingers had several small imperfections from the casting process that made my router stall and catch in places in places making movements back-and-forth a bit jerky. I put a fresh piece of 180 grit sandpaper in my palm sander and gave all the mating surfaces a light buff. Just enough to remove imperfections.
I then gave the entire mating surfaces a light coat of Johnson paste wax to the base of my router.
The router slides on the table with one hand now!

From future projects 2010

Next I cut some pieces pine 1 x 4 and ran a couple of test joints shown here.

From wood stuff 2010

These joints are not perfect but they do show me that I'm on the right track.
The attached vacuum makes it extremely simple to rest the router between passes. I used to have to lift it over top of the jig and set it down between each pass.

From wood stuff 2010

Rather than try to hook up the Vacuum line to my central dust collection system from a 1 inch intake line I chose to use a small shop shopvac located on my storage shelf and operate the on/off switch with this auto switch so that each time I turn the router on the vacuum automatically goes on and runs for an a additional 10 seconds after I switch it off

From wood stuff 2010

Tweaking the Leigh Dovetail jig for my shop (DR4)- upgraded

2011-01-07T10:51:00.001-08:00

I have had this Leigh dovetail jig for more than a year and have yet to tune it so I can use it.

From wood stuff 2010

"So I decided to treat myself and purchased sliding vacuum system and extension table from Lee industries.":http://www.leighjigs.com/vrs.php

From wood stuff 2010

From future projects 2010

Next I cut some pieces pine 1 x 4 and ran a couple of test joints shown here.

From wood stuff 2010

Finishing the handles and mounting the blades

2011-01-07T10:39:00.001-08:00

Once the first handle is finished I cut it free from the stock and re center the tailstock on the remaining blank.
I will now refine the handle shape except for the part in the jaws and fit the ferrule.
p.s. The tool mark BEDAN is actually a bead scraper - my bad . A bedan only has one side sharpened.
<a href="http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2770357930101907180iUVgsA%22%3E%3Cimg src="http://inlinethumb26.webshots.com/16281/2770357930101907180S600x600Q85.jpg" alt="handle 8"></a>
Once the ferrule is fitted, I wrap electrical tape around it about 4 times and remount the handle the other way around to finish the back end. I generally use a small skew to sneak up on the tail stock point then finish the remaining coat of lacquer over the entire handle. I use lacquer becausee it seems the most durable for this stuff and doesn't warm up in use and get sticky.
<a href="http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2619191580101907180jyauYt%22%3E%3Cimg src="http://inlinethumb49.webshots.com/16432/2619191580101907180S600x600Q85.jpg" alt="handle-9"></a>
<a href="http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2835188590101907180whEEJp%22%3E%3Cimg src="http://inlinethumb62.webshots.com/17085/2835188590101907180S600x600Q85.jpg" alt="handle-10"></a>
I will let everything dry for 24 hours then fit the shank of the tool on by placing the blade in my vise and tapping the handle home with a rubber mallet.
Here are the two tools finished except for some epoxy resin in the spacing left from drilling the handles.
<a href="http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2806315210101907180jayygc%22%3E%3Cimg src="http://inlinethumb63.webshots.com/16382/2806315210101907180S600x600Q85.jpg" alt="handle10"></a>
As the need presents I will quite often make up a tool in a hurry promising myself to remake it "cosmetically" in the future but that never seems to happen.
Here's a few that I have made for various tasks:
<a href="http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2740535450101907180MDgXUv%22%3E%3Cimg src="http://inlinethumb62.webshots.com/15293/2740535450101907180S600x600Q85.jpg" alt="handle-11"></a>
The top two are the ones just made and the others are scrapers and similar.
The bottom one is a file contoured to produce a continous shape on a bowl I was developing.
The one with the round shaft in the middle I used for cutting an ironwood box. I brazed on a carbide tip on that one.
Just to finish this segment, I grabbed a piece of Manitoba Maple (Box elder), fresh cut and mounted it on the lathe to try the skew/gouge.
<a href="http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2525765580101907180CXzHaK%22%3E%3Cimg src="http://inlinethumb03.webshots.com/14402/2525765580101907180S600x600Q85.jpg" alt="handle-12"></a>
Mountains of long curly ribbons of beautiful smelling wood shavings.
*I love turning this wood green!*
Next I grabbed the new skew gouge and it works well to make continous beads with the advantage of being able to top the beads with the same tool.
I must try it on dry wood to see how it planes the surface.
It wanted to take too much off on this wet stuff.
My bead technique needs some practice as the beads I made in my excitment look more like mushrooms!
<a href="http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2594619470101907180JGiEkD%22%3E%3Cimg src="http://inlinethumb03.webshots.com/14978/2594619470101907180S600x600Q85.jpg" alt="handle-13"></a>

Making up the handles

2011-01-07T10:38:00.001-08:00

We have finished the hardening process and cleaned up the blades ready for handles.
The 2 tools in his blog are used with a lighter touch and so I went for a shorter handle that I could get a friim grip on an still control easily. As you can see I like big thick handles - my hands are quite large.
I had some dogwood blanks in my offcut bin so I used a 15-1/2 " piece for these handles and mounted the whole length to avoid loosing any during refining.
Here is the blank roughed out to start the hole for the tool shank.
<a href="http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2408707980101907180gFwyJB%22%3E%3Cimg src="http://inlinethumb32.webshots.com/15839/2408707980101907180S600x600Q85.jpg" alt="handle1"></a>!
Next step I put on my old spindle steady rest to hold the handle centered for drilling a hole to recieve the tool shank.
It's just four sealed bearings running on pieces of miter track in a piece of plywood. (baltic birch.)
Seems to do the trick but you have to watch for tracks from the metal bearings .
It's on my list for a remake as I cobbled this one together for this job. It was off and old 12" swing lathe I had for a few years and I just never got around to making a new one.
My new lathe is 16" swing so I needed to modify the base a bit.

<a href="http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2766268140101907180WQqkmu%22%3E%3Cimg src="http://inlinethumb12.webshots.com/16139/2766268140101907180S600x600Q85.jpg" alt="handle2"></a>

Heat treating the tool blanks (for 01 tool steel)

2011-01-07T10:37:00.001-08:00

Well, some disappointment for me this week:
After checking some metal heat treating companies here I find that they have (understandably) a $60.00 minimum for processing materials. The sort of leaves us little guys out unless we have a whole batch of tools to do at one time.
This has never been my good fortune.
So, luckily I had a casting furnace sitting around for years with nobody asking for one so it is now pressed into service as a heat treating unit.
<a href="http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2310570190101907180AnfvZB%22%3E%3Cimg src="http://inlinethumb02.webshots.com/14721/2310570190101907180S600x600Q85.jpg" alt="heat-treat-1"></a>
Showing here is the furnace with a stainless steel umbrella stand and small electric heater to preheat the canola oil for quenching the red hot steel. You can use any oil wth a high flash point ( over 400° F and you should be O.K. . ( motor oil will work but I dont' like the smell ) Olive oil corn oil etc etc.
The umbrella stand was fluke that showed up at my local Princess Auto store this week.
I leaks a bit but I will sweat a bit of silver solder around the bottom seam when I have time. ( Another poorly made, great idea from China!)
I needed something taller than my tool steel to prevent spattering - with fiddling, this will work, the heat required is less than 300° F so melting the solder out is not a problem.
<a href="http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2715859860101907180JcZLWd%22%3E%3Cimg src="http://inlinethumb40.webshots.com/14695/2715859860101907180S600x600Q85.jpg" alt="heat-trea-3"></a>
This shot shows the two tools I'm making with monel wire leads through drilled holes to dip the hot iron in the canola oil . (This wire was scrounged from the old wire style heating elements from electric stoves.
I could do this with tongs but the wires make it easier to handle the pieces .
Were ready to go so I take the temperature up to 1450° F and let the tools soak at this temp for 20 minutes
<a href="http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2534509710101907180GzETTY%22%3E%3Cimg src="http://inlinethumb21.webshots.com/14164/2534509710101907180S600x600Q85.jpg" alt="heat-treat-4"></a>.
Now I take them out of the furnace and quickly into the hot oil to quench the steel.
Next step is to clean off the thick black scale with a rag and rinse off the residual oil .
When the furnace drops to 350° I put the tools back in and hold that temperature or 2 more hours to take the brittleness out an give the steel some resilience.
<a href="http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2736934980101907180vmgTaE%22%3E%3Cimg src="http://inlinethumb31.webshots.com/13278/2736934980101907180S600x600Q85.jpg" alt="heat-treat-5"></a>
Here's the result , all mottled and looking like junk but hopefully a few minutes with some abrasive and they will be ready to recieve their handles then back to the wood lathe.
Before I get everybody thoroughly confused I should give you some definitions of the stages of metal we are interested in here:
*Annealing* - Softening the tool steel for working, by heating to the hardening temperature and cooling slowly. Slow cooling can be accomplished by burying the steel in an insulating medium such as lime or vermiculite and allowing it to cool to room temperature.
*Hardening* - Heating the steel to the hardening temperature and cooling suddenly by quenching in an oil bath.
*Tempering* - Reheating the hardened steel to the tempering temperature in order to relieve stress induced in the hardening process, and remove some of the hardness in exchange for toughness. Untempered, hardened tool steel is nearly as brittle as glass.

Phase 2 - refining the blanks

2011-01-07T10:36:00.001-08:00

I am now at the stage where I am satisfied with the basic shape and can move on to the heat treating.
Because it is so labour intensive and messy for just 2 tools I am going to send these out.
Basicially the technique is to wrap the steel then slowly bring it up to a temperature where the metal becomes ductile and the grain structure can be re aligned. It is held at a specific temperature for 1-3 hours then slowly cooled and quenched in hot oil to give the metal the hardness and ductility required.
I am trying for a RH of about 6200.
Heres a shot of the tools ready for the heat bath:
<a href="http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2198020830101907180qnthyI%22%3E%3Cimg src="http://inlinethumb10.webshots.com/14665/2198020830101907180S600x600Q85.jpg" alt="lathe-tools-7"></a>
Here's a close up showing the shape of the tips: The more finishing I do now the less labour intensive it is after heat treatment.
<a href="http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2874987300101907180HmFHeu%22%3E%3Cimg src="http://inlinethumb48.webshots.com/12271/2874987300101907180S600x600Q85.jpg" alt="lathe-tools-6"></a>
Finally here is a close up showing the taper I ground into the steel to allow the tool to pass through the kerf as it penetrates into the depth of the wood without binding. I wanted a strong tool so I made the depth 1-1/4" and the back is 1/8". I don't want any chance of it bending in the cut at 300-500 rpm.
<a href="http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2525227950101907180uihmQy%22%3E%3Cimg src="http://inlinethumb32.webshots.com/12511/2525227950101907180S600x600Q85.jpg" alt="parint-tool-1"></a>

Metal working for the wood lathe

2011-01-07T10:35:00.000-08:00

I never seem to have the right tool for the job at hand and most are easy to make if you have a few tools.
I use a power hacksaw and or a dedicated Beaver table saw to cut/grind out a pattern then refine that on the bench with a power grinder.
The pieces are made from "01" tool steel and tempered after the refining process to keep a decent edge for turning
I will try to add pictures as I progress with these tools to show you all the steps.
The metal is prepacked in 3 foot lengths and usually gives me enough material for up to 4 tools with tangs.
I have been buying it at a franchise store called "Metal Supermarket":http://www.metalsupermarkets.com/s.
You can search the web for one nearest you if you get the bug.
<a href="http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2378144660101907180HGQiPp%22%3E%3Cimg src="http://inlinethumb59.webshots.com/11706/2378144660101907180S600x600Q85.jpg" alt="lathe-tool-fab1"></a>
Here is a picture of the cut off disk I prefer and a tang that was cut with on of them with my cut off saw.
Ask for these by name at a welding shop or similar. They are tougher and last longer than other brands I have used.
<a href="http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2076349780101907180xVuZkf%22%3E%3Cimg src="http://inlinethumb47.webshots.com/10670/2076349780101907180S600x600Q85.jpg" alt="zipcut3"></a>
*Dont use them in your tablesaw for fear of igniting the wood dust*.
I have a separate old saw I use just for this cutting and slicing
<a href="http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2094799250101907180qzhicV%22%3E%3Cimg src="http://inlinethumb51.webshots.com/12530/2094799250101907180S600x600Q85.jpg" alt="cutoff-saw"></a>
I recently aquired this little metal bandsaw which has really been a good investment for me.
I seem to use it more and more now that it's so handy. Bolts, bars, slots and all kinds of things that just come up around the house and shop and have no easy solutions.
<a href="http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2185692860101907180cbMISB%22%3E%3Cimg src="http://inlinethumb37.webshots.com/12004/2185692860101907180S600x600Q85.jpg" alt="m-bandsaw"></a>
Cost me about the same as a couple of batteries for my electric drill. (smile)
It has a small attachment that allows me to use it vertically for cutting stock like a conventional bandsaw.
p.s. that way I could have avoided the nicks at the ends of the cut on the tangs shown here.
Enjoy
Bob

Chain saws I have known and loved.- Don't leave home without one.

2011-01-07T10:34:00.000-08:00

Currently I have 4 chain saws. A smart student of wood would probably have 2.
When I was tougher I used to carry the Pioneer 610 into the bush with a toboggan and some gas and fell and pull out a tree in a few hours.
As time progressed the saw became suddenly quite heavy and I yearned for a lighter machine.
Enter the Husky 353 - 18" with decompression button and easy start and much lighter.
It's a 3.2 hp (53 cc) engine but just barely enough power when hilted in a trunk. (11 lbs)
I could put a longer blade on it but why?
I would suggest nothing less than 75 cc next time like the Husqvarna 372XP (5.4 hp) at 15 lbs.
That was a trade off in that I have less power now to run a large blade but have the advantage of not lugging the big machine most of the time.
If I were buying it again I would opt for more power and at least a 22" blade.
The little electric is quite handy and works just fine on a good 14/2 cord that's not over 20 feet long.
After that the little motor starts getting grumpy
The last one not shown is a little 15" gas that I reserve specifically for cutting roots etc where the blade contacts the dirt.
Nothing puts a chain to sleep faster than a bit of dirt.

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