The Cajon Project

  The Cajon drum is currently a fashionable folk instrument. It has a number of attractive points, it is not very loud, it is easy to play and fairly simple to make.  All of the above virtues gives it potential as a elementary school musical instrument. I have a long time friend teaching in a local elementary school that has commissioned two class sets of cajons for his kids, 30 drums in all.

  I am not by nature a production wood worker but the cause was good and there was a bit of profit in the project,(if I don't keep track of time invested too closely) and so I have under taken to make 30 Cajon drums.(with my friend's help)

1st. you begin with a pile of Baltic birch,
 7 sheets 1/2 inch and 4 sheets 1/8 inch.
 

  

 The next part of the task was work space, there was no way to comfortably work with 5 foot by 5 foot sheets of plywood in my down stairs shop.  Two saw horses with a sheet of plywood and some supporting pieces made a work table arrangement that was up to the task, when there were four hands available for moving the sheets and holding them firmly while cutting.

  The Kreg Rip Cut jig proved to be an excellent tool for cutting those sheets of plywood into 11 3/4 inch strips. There are two things which you need to be aware when taking on a job like this with a circular saw and a jig. One, the long arm of the jig makes clamping the wood a problem, thus the need for an extra set of hands. Second, the jig doesn't have much registration left as you get to the very end of the cut and so you have to be very, very careful not to nip the end a bit as you finish the cut.Keeping those things in mind the jig worked a charm.

 As well as a good jig I used an excellent saw blade. The Freud blade I used cut very smoothly with nearly no tear out, the edges of the Cajons will need only the lightest sanding, just enough to break the edge, not to hide tear out.

some of the plywood ready to be cross cut.

  I will cut the plywood to length with my sliding mitre saw because I want to work in my shop where it is warm rather than in the garage where the only heat is supplied by mother nature, not because I think it will do any better job than the circular saw with the good blade.

  Next week I am away on holiday so the blog posts will be atmospheric, not practical.

  cheers, ianw

Oven Mitt Hanger, whittling project

  We've had a busy weekend with the fair and the grandchildren and family and all so it was nice to get back into my workshop yesterday for a while.  All the activity mixed with a bunch of sitting, eating and drinking means that my back is a bit sore and my temper a bit short.

  When my back hurts I like a small project that is a distraction without be a serious challenge.  If I am too tired or sore I am not up to the challenge of making a new design or working on a long drawn out project.

  So yesterday I experimented with my Kreg Rip Cut jig, I am impressed with its accuracy and consistency, a pleasing addition to my tools. 

  I also spent some time cleaning paint brushes, sharpening tools and generally cleaning the place up.  There had been a series of quick little jobs, toy repair etc. that left a level of chaos that needed attention.

 Once I got things put away I started on a silly little scrap wood project.  This is a project that serves as a distraction, can be worked on standing up or sitting down and gets done quickly enough to provide immediate satisfaction for guy that whines about back pain. 

 A couple of weeks ago the hooks on the side of the fridge that hold the oven mitts started letting go.  The metal hooks are attached with super duper two sided tape, but even that goes weary with time. I tried replacing the tape but I didn't get the back of the hook clean enough for the new tape to stick, it appears as though it would be an ugly solvent job.  My shop is in our basement and so I have a limited supple of nasty solvents and glue dissolving potions. 

 I decided to hold the hooks on with rare earth magnets. So opted to whittle a hook from wood and put an strong magnet inside.

  The last of the metal, tape type hooks on the 

fridge beside my first wooden hook.

                                                         

  Up close this hook is no beauty but I like the design enough to refine it and make three more. I wasn't sure that it would hold the oven mitt securely until I got it made and put to use.  I used a pretty big magnet in the body of the hook but it was still only a buck or so.  The whittling was done with a Bessey utility knife.  The knife is too heavy to be an everyday carry knife but it makes a great shop knife and one that I have used to shape, carve and whittle in my shop by the hour.

  I originally got this knife years ago to cut card board boxes apart at wood shows but soon promoted it to shop knife. I slash at boxes with something much cheaper and more nasty now.  If I working on a project like this from scrap wood I don't like to risk a good carving knife but I hate dull tools so this knife is the solution.

cheers, ianw

Now that's a knife!

Victory Wood Products

While I was at the Woodstock Wood Show I met a young fellow that is doing some really nice wood working.  I have known Rich for a number years as a industrial mechanic in the London Ontario area but didn't know that he was also a fine wood worker.  Victory Wood Products is Rich's site and features some lovely musical instruments including: 

baritone ukulele

hammer dulcimer 

                                         

as well as smaller projects.  Victory Wood Products will even make knobs  either 1/4-20 0r 3/8-16 with their CNC machine.

It is good to encourage local craftsmen and to encourage the next generation of wood workers too.

  I picked to two tools for an upcoming project while at the Wood Show.  I added a KREG KMA 2675 Rip Cut to my bag of tricks.

and a Freud 7 1/4 inch thin kerf 40 tooth blade.

  My initial impression is that this combination of jig, blade and my Makita saw  will enable me to break down plywood easier and with a much cleaner cut.  Once I get into Cajon drum box kit production I'll let you know how I feel about but quality and accuracy.


  The repair project

is coming along.  I have taken all the broken bits apart and glued most of them back together.  What remains is the re-attaching of the repaired handle, the original method was to attach the handle with nails and glue, I think my repair is going to use nice a brass screw and some glue.

  I have some wood burning projects to do as well as baking bread to compete in the local fall fair, these are just a couple of things I like to do that are keeping me out of the shop just now. There will be lots of time in the shop come winter, and winter is coming.

cheers, ianw 

 

  

Lovely Fall Day

  Lets face it, beautiful motorcycling riding days are winding down and there will soon be plenty of time to work in the wood shop.  So today instead of burying myself in a wood working project I went for a long, (all afternoon) motorcycle ride.  The day was lovely, the bike ran like a new watch and the miles (kilometres) rolled away by the hour.  When I am riding the bike I ponder world issues sometimes, but mostly I think about what I want to make and how to make it.  Today I was thinking about a tricky repair to a sheesham box from 10,000 Villages, I can't take the box apart to make the repair and that is what makes the repair difficult. I have formulated a plan, I think.  That will be a job for tomorrow or the next day, or soon since the box has sat on my bench for a week. 

  A wood working related project is shown below, so I haven't been completely away from wood.   I started taking a ten week course on Pyrography two weeks ago and this is the result of my first serious effort. 

 

  In the past I have used the Razor Tip Wood Burner that I inherited from my Dad.

  to add hi-lights to some of my 

smaller boxes and a couple of other projects.  By taking a course I hope to add some more skill with Razor Tip.

  You can see that first I outlined the leaves, as I have done before but next I used a fine tipped nib to add small dots to the leaves creating a shaded effect. There are many possible textures that can be achieved, practice will be required.  After I finished burning I put on water colour paint in a transparent wash.  All that remains is to give the project a couple of coats of spray varnish and I will be done.  I think the piece, which is 5 x 8 inches will become a lid or a panel for a box one of these days.

  *A foot note, 

 If you are going to be cutting plywood on a regular bases it is a good idea to bite the bullet and buy a saw blade specific for cutting plywood.  Steve Ramsey has a good little video on You Tube: Cutting Plywood: how to break down sheet goods, that is worth checking out. He uses the KREG Rip Cut while breaking the sheet stock down.  I know that there are woodworkers that have sworn off plywood, and I have really tried to use it less but there are some jobs that sheet stock makes easier, once you get it down to a manageable size.

  cheers, ian

Kreg Rip Cut

http://www.thetoolstore.ca/view.asp?Kreg-KMA2675-Rip-Cut-Circular-Saw-Guide_13754


Check out the video on thetoolstore.ca page. This is a tool that has a place in most peoples shops.  I have an early version of this tool made by another company and Kreg has made some useful improvements to their model, well done.