Telephone Speaker and Bee House.

  Last week I glued and clamped the phone speaker made from nicer wood together.  This small speaker seems to double the volume output of my phone speaker.  This wooden speaker also holds the phone firmly, so it can sit anywhere.

    Inside the box I placed two small dowels to keep the phone from choking the sound waves and reducing the sound.

I painted the inside black for aesthetic reasons. 

  Next job is to make an equivalent speaker for my tablet. 

  Yesterday's project was a bee hotel for our back yard.  It is firmly believed by experts that bee houses/hotels are good for solitary bees, and all bees are good for our gardens.

5 by 16 by 5 inches,
 that is a whole bunch of plant stems.

  I used part of a bundle of the pallet lumber I collected during the summer and nailed it together.  Along time ago I was taught to pre-drill holes when nailing thin stock or nailing into an edge.  I adds a bit of time but....nothing splits and the thinner nails don't wander or bend.

    I don't have bamboo available so I used stems from plants from our back yard garden.  There are spaces of random size for the bees to crawl into for protection. 

  As I gathered more information about bee houses I found that some builders cover the outside to protect the bees from predators.  I opted for a louvred front, there is plenty of room for bees to get in but it should be almost impossible for a bird to snack on the bees.  

The house is in an out of the way corner of the garden. The bees should be able to live undisturbed and I hope happily.

Clamps and Glue

 I continue to be amazed at that you can make with glue and clamps.  I am building another side table, again without fasteners and currently have the beginnings of a music stand drying.

  Last evening I glued a small lip onto the ledge. This afternoon I sanded that joint and then I glued the ledge to the back of the music stand.  All that remains is to leave it until it is properly dry and then sand and finish.  Ratcheting or Quick Clamps are perfect for this type of task.  As you can see I have three different clamps in use.  I often pick up a clamp or two at a wood show, somebody always has something on sale.  Don't buy cheap, 'no-name' clamps, they are not worth the money.  The clamp in the middle of the project is 35 years old and works as well as the day it was purchased.  

  The  other thing that is clamped and drying is a prototype acoustic amplifier for my phone. 

  Every time I change technology I need to make a new speaker.  It is worth noting that each device's speakers are placed differently.  I like the compact size and shape of this design but decided to make a rough prototype before using good materials.  Part of what I wanted to see was how small the speaker could be and not fall over.  The tablet stand I made a while ago was not prototyped and is not a stable enough to hold the tablet vertically. I like to believe that I can learn from my mistakes.  

  This speaker stand is stable while improving and increasing the volume of my phone. I will next make a prettier version with nice wood, careful joinery and then finish it  with shellac. If you are thinking of something like this there are many possible designs for phone acoustic speakers  if you can draw your own plans after seeing a photograph.  I begin with an internet photograph and fitted the design  to my phone.   

  I am not a slave to my phone.  In fact it sits on my desk unused for days at a time, that's why I decided to turn it into a radio.

  

Spoon

 We have been having some wonderful weather these last few days  so I have tried to take advantage.  I've been for a couple of long motorcycle rides and other things have taken me out of my shop too. There will be plenty of cold and rainy days in the months to come,  now carpe diem and carpe coffeum,  I recently found a place that sells ginger cookies at a very reasonable price to dunk in my coffee.

  The only project I've finished lately is another spoon.

I think it is a witch's spoon!
 but the wood grain is lovely.

  This spoon was chopped from a piece of firewood.  I think it was black locust  It is hard and stringy. I chopped it into basic shape with my hatchet but used a grinder and a dremel tool to complete the shaping. 

  My Dremel is old school with a cord attached, and I generally use it with a flex-shaft.  A traditional wood worker this sort of thing is competed with knives and scrappers.  I love to carve/whittle, but this wood was so darn tough it was only going to get done with electric help.  

   Carving a wooden spoon is a link to many, many videos about carving wooden spoons.  I don't think there is anything I can add to the vast knowledge out there about spoon carving.  What I can add is that I think every wood worker should have a spoon on the go in their shop. There is almost nothing as relaxing as fussing away on a spoon and ultimately sanding it with ever finer sand paper until it is baby's bottom smooth.  After I wax or oil my spoons they are  remind my just how wonderful wood can feel. 

  It is supposed to be lovely tomorrow.  I won't be in the basement shop tomorrow either. It is good to be the King.

T.K.o.T.P.

Repairs and clamping jigs

   

  This squirrel has stood in a bird bath since I was a teenager. The other day I was visiting my friend to find the squirrel's base had collapsed from years of the freeze/thaw cycle, and was laying on its face in the bird bath.  Of course, I decided I could and would repair it.

  In my shop are many non-woodworking resources for making repairs.  Needless to say I have a large plastic jar of Portland Cement .  I put the squirrel in an appropriate plastic container, mixed up the cement and created a new base.  A simple repair that is possible because I had the basic tools and ingredients at hand.  In my shop are two shelves filled with plastic and glass jars and other containers in all shapes and sizes.  This selection of containers enables me to mix, sort and store all sorts of things in all sorts of sizes and shapes. I also have a couple of shelves of cement, various filler, glues, grouts etc. 

  Then.....when a little repair something comes along shazam, I can do it with no effort at all. Since it takes no effort, it gets done.  Often little repairs are ignored because it is too much trouble to go out and buy the two small ingredients to make the repair.

  

   I am working on another side table.  This table is being made from oak and being glued with Gorilla Glue.  This table is being built with glue joints only, no metal fasteners at all. This type of construction is only possible given the tremendous developments in adhesive science in the last few decades.  The frame for the top of this table has mitred corners and so clamping critical.  I made the red corner jigs a few year ago, use them often.  With careful clamping and quality glue the mitred corners are strong enough.  I have a 1/4 plywood top I will drop into the top and once that is done it will be solid enough without having to re-enforce the joints.

  You can see Bessey clamps and a yellow handled No-Name clamp in the photo. If you are buying clamps for your workshop....cheap clamps are not good value.  The yellow clamps slip, and fall apart and remain in my shop only because I spent time riveting the heads on and filing the clamps so that the moving section will grip properly.  The time and aggravation spent out weighed the money saved, in my opinion.

  

What is a Hybrid Table Saw?

When you want to know something, ask some one that is  knowledgeable, and it isn't Google all the time.

Matthias Knows : 

What is a hybrid table saw 

  For general workshop knowledge it is worth checking out the video.  If you are in the market for a table saw, it is worth checking out the video too.

  While we are thinking about table saws, here is another short video related to safety and performance of a job site saw.

5 Tips for Job Site Table Saws

cheers ianw

Lots of Things Drying

  At this moment in my shop there are things drying and small project stacked up. I am making some small projects for a coming event at our church and the impending Rockton World's Fair .  Our church is having a 'food fair' as a fund raising event in a couple of weeks and I am not going to contribute food, but kitchen accessories. I have made a serving board and three cheese boards.

   The cheese boards are ash wood rounds that I planed and finished with food grade oil. This set of rounds I flatten differently that previously.  The rounds are only about ten inches across and so I used my 12' Planer to flatten them.  I very slowly lowered the blades and took extra small bites as I planed the end grain of the ash.  The result is good but....I think I will have to replace the planer blades sooner than I'd planned.  

   Going to the food fair as well is a turned bowl I made a while ago from maple stair treads. Maple is hard but slightly boring looking wood. 

  I also made and wood burned a tea box.  I felt like working on a small hand tool project and after planing the wood down and edge gluing it I set about making a nice little box.  There is a special satisfaction in beginning a project with a piece of very average stud grade lumber and ending with a small finely fitted project.

  The little oak caddie for the three glass bottle with the turned wooden tops is also for the church. Projects like this are made in factories over seas by the ten thousand.  Mine however is one of a kind, with three up cycled bottles and their three different turned lids.  If some one realizes the unique nature of the tops they'll find a use for the bottles, it no one realizes that the three lids are different wood and hand turned, they don't really deserve them.

  It is nice to be at a point in my life where I no longer have to explain or promote.  I just make stuff I like and let it go at that.

  I have a piece of furniture to make and I have a door knob that I plan to turn in the next while.  My big projects right now are paintings for competition at the fair. Painting is nice, it is a quiet pass time, which serves as a relief from the noises in the shop.

 

 

 
  

Its Hammer Time

  Yesterday I dropped over to David's house to do a very small job, with the right tool.  We all own a drill, many of us own several.  Now days most drills are cordless, but you should not discount corded drills and especially corded hammer drills. 

   The small job  was to drill two holes into their concrete block foundation.   A few years ago I bought a good hammer drill.  The hammer feature on that drill is a thing that I  only use a couple of times per year, but is a feature for which there is no really good substitute. We could have gotten along without the hammer drill, but..... having the proper tool available makes the job so much easier.

    I remember drilling a hole in cement before carbide tipped drill bits.  In fact I worked with my Grand Father to drill a hole in a house foundation with a star drill. 

star drill bit

 It took us a very long time to drive that star drill into the concrete, probably something nearing an hour and hundreds of hammer blows.  A modern hammer drill delivers hundreds of blows per minute so does the job much quicker.

  If you a planning on a job that requires a few holes in cement buy a cheaper hammer drill and then you'll be set for years.  If you have a big job in mind, rent a big, powerful rotary-hammer drill someplace, you can drill holes all day.  You can also rent large bits that will drill holes big enough for dryer vents and drainage pipe and things like that. 

  Hammer drill vs. rotary hammer 

Small Drill vs. a Big Drill 

  Aside from a bit of home improvement stuff this weekend I am working on three new cutting boards.  Cutting boards are low skill and another case where the correct tool makes the job easier.

cheers, ianw