small workshop

Wooden Bandsaw Reindeer

November 23, 2017 by The Woodgineer Leave a Comment

In a festive mood and wanting to try out my new 6mm blade on my bandsaw I thought I’d have a go at a 3D reindeer that I’d seen on Matthias Wendals site.

Using a scrap piece of 2×4 I cut it down to roughly the size I wanted and printed out the template to stick onto my workpiece. The spray adhesive I used worked well to keep the template in place but was extremely messy so I’ll be doing that again with gloves or on some newspaper!

I first cut the front profile which wasn’t much of a problem due to the smooth curves though this was extremely noisey due to the large amount of wood being cut. This also highlight some minor alignment issues for the bed or the blade on my bandsaw as the cut did not join up perfectly at either end of the workpiece. I must remember to correct those issues later!

The piece cut off were then taped up together so I could do another pass. Matthias used nails to secure the pieces together and indeed when I did a second attempt at this later I screwed the pieces together and much better results.

I found despite the thinner blade some of the tight curves were a problem and I suspect this sort of design would do better smaller and on the scrollsaw. I may consider investing in an even smaller blade later perhaps (or improve my technique)

The final cuts saw the whole piece come apart and reval the 3D reindeer in all its glory. I gave it a light sand as best I could but didn’t bother to finish it as these were just test pieces.

A given my daughter loved it!

This took probably 30 minutes to make and even this common design could probably sell at craft fairs so I may rattle out a few next Christmas and see if I can make a few pennies for my time!

You can find the template on Mathhias Wendals site here if you want more details or a downloadable template

Wood Turned Xmas Tree

November 1, 2017 by The Woodgineer Leave a Comment

November 1, 2017

Wood Turned Xmas Tree

Categories Christmas Decoration, Lathe, Project

Still with xmas on its way I wanted to make another practice object on the lathe and had an idea for an xmas tree decoration.

I had some holly from a work colleague which I had been seasoning in the shed for 6 months or so and had hoped this would turn better than the usual cheap timber.

The piece was cut down to size on my mitre saw and then mounted on a 4 screw chuck so it would be nice and secure and this was supported by a live centre on the tailstock. The tailstock could be removed later for painting.

I roughed down the piece of holly with my new roughing gouge and this was a joy to turn leaving pleasing light wood chips and strips.

I then used a pencil to mark where I wanted the tree to start and the pot to be and used a skew chisel to rough the main shape making sure it was smooth.

I then used my parting tool to detail the trunk a bit further and create some concentric rings down the trunk to finish the tree.

I then gave it a light sand just so it wouldn’t cause splinters rather than any attempt to finish properly.

Green, brown and black kids acrylic paint was then used to give it some colour and the piece was done as a trial.

I noticed a small crack around one of the knots but didn’t think much of it however over the space of just a day where the paint dried a large crack appeared in the side and a week later this had grown.

I believe the piece was not fully seasoned so need to start reading up on wood checking and cracking and how to best season the wood or avoid cracks. I suspect the reason it turned so well was that it was still a bit green and the way my cuts went down to the core of the wood probably weakened the piece so maybe next time I will try drying the wood first before turning.

A great piece to learn from however and even with the cracks looks good!

1st Wood Turned Snowman

October 16, 2017 by The Woodgineer Leave a Comment

I still hadn’t made anything on the lathe other than sawdust and round bits of wood so I needed to make my first thing. As it was xmas, a snowman seemed ideal.

I used a piece of 2×2 construction pine and set about rounding the stock with my roughing gouge. I had previously been using an old spindle gouge which came with the lathe and not very sharp so my new roughing gouge from axminster was a pleasant change and cut the wood as it were butter.

I then smoothed the wood with a skew chisel and used the skew to curve two sections for the snowmans body and head.

I then used the parting tool to create a top hat (no snowman is complete without a hat) and some 180 grit sand paper to smooth things out. If I were not just practicing I might have moved up the grits and done some proper finishing but this was satisfactory.

A coat of tung oil/methylated spirit mix was added and another light sanding before adding another coat of tung/meth mix and this was left to dry overnight.

If I were not just practicing I might have moved up the grits and done some proper finishing but this was satisfactory.

A small wooden dowel that had been tapered down to a cone was inserted and glued into a small hole in the head for a nose and this was painted orange with my daughters acrylic paint. Unintentionally it was marred a little by the pliers I used but this actually made it look even more carrot like!

Very small holes so the wood wasn’t split were created for eyes and buttons and somenails were added which looked great.

The mouth was carved with my flexcut knife but this looked a little creepy if I’m honest. Carving is something I need to practice and perhaps I might have done better if I drew on a template first.

The hat was painted black with my acrylic paint although much care was needed to do this without it bleeding onto the head. If I were making lots of these I’d consider a template to go around the collar so I could paint quicker.

Once another night had passed the snowman was dry and I presented him to my daughter who fell in love!

This was a great prototype and while I didn’t have time this year, I think next year I should be making a run of these to sell.

1st Whistle

October 16, 2017 by The Woodgineer Leave a Comment

In line with the “projects my daughter will love but my wife will hate” set of projects I wanted to make a simple wooden whistle that my daughter could use during playing with her trains.

I’d never stopped to wrap my head around the theory of how a whistle works nor remember ever being taught such a thing at school but from somewhere I already knew how a whistle worked. Making something in wood would be fairly easy I thought.

I took a short scrap piece of 2×2 piece of construction pine and drilled an 8mm hole about half way down.

I then cut down a small pine dowel with a knife to create a reed that would fit into the hole and cut a slot directly where the end of the reed would be once inserted.

I was able to test the tone with a simple push fit of the reed into the hole and was happy enough with the sound.

I then glued the reed into position but also cut down the 2×2 a bit further to make something a bit easier for a small child to hold, about 20x20mm in width.

The edges were all sanded with 100 grit sandpaper by hand to avoid any sharp corners or splinters and I added a few coats of tung oil as it was the only stuff I had to hand that I knew was food safe.

I left it to dry 30 minutes in between coats with a light sand (150 grit) each time however I did waste a bit of sandpaper doing it this way which could have been avoided by letting it dry longer between each coat.

My daughter loved it of course and despite the telling off by the wife!

Hanging Ikea RIBBA Frames

September 16, 2017 by The Woodgineer Leave a Comment

We wanted to put a large selection of photos on the wall in Ikea black Ribba frames but this was a plasterboard wall and we wanted them in specific locations. Picture hanging wire and other hanging solutions have never worked for me so I needed to come up with a new solution.

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I used plasterboard screws straight into the wall at specific points and marked out a grid of where the photos should go. While not as secure as proper plasterboard fixings these would be strong enough for these lightweight frames.

Plasterboard Screws

The frames were then carefully drilled on the middle top back with my drill press to the exact size of the screw they would be mounted on. I found however that Ikea frames are not solid wood and instead a wood/cardboard mashup so this took a few attempts to get right without destroying them.

I also found I needed to cushion beneath the frame to prevent any marking with a tea towel on my drill press. Using a hand electric drill works just as well of course!

Drill Press Table with some cushioningI also marked the depth I needed to drill to with a bit of electrical tape on the drill bit so not to go too deep!

Never underestimate the importance of using an awl – even a cheap one like this for precision work! It will make a massive different if you do this before letting a wandering big drill bit loose on things.

A basic woodworking Awl

The finished frames look good and are positioned exactly where I require them flush against the wall with no hanging or adjustment required.

1st Carved Spoon

May 31, 2017 by The Woodgineer Leave a Comment

I’m not planning on becoming a full time spoon whittler any time soon but I love the idea of spoon carving and am impressed by the craft. I wanted to make a little spoon for my daughter that she could use but also keep and in years to come say “my dad made that”

I used some bass wood as this is a really nice wood for beginner carvers like myself, with relatively friendly grain pattern and not too hard.

I used a pencil to trace the outline of the little spoon I wanted to make then started whittling away around the edges.

I used my flex cut carving jacks gouges to cut out the hollow and one of the knives to do the actual whitling. I can see how this would be a nice tool out in the field but suspect a dedicated knife/gouge is the way to go when in the workshop.

So to really personalise it I then burned my daughters initials on the handle using a soldering iron.

I then soaked the entire spoon in tung oil/white spirit to bring out the grain and once dry gave it a light sand.

I then added two light coats of shellac to seal it over the following night.

Carving took about an hour and a half in total done over three nights and a further 3 nights for drying. I don’t think it would easy to do this for a living even if you’re really good!

In hindsight a small spoon was probably more difficult to do than a big spoon would have been due to trying to hold the thing comfortably.

Most importantly – the client was happy! 🙂

…

Pallet Wood Planter

April 17, 2017 by The Woodgineer Leave a Comment

It’s been two months since we moved so I really felt I needed to just make something rather than spend the time doing what we’d been doing for weeks, unpacking and tidying. Plans for the garden dictated some planters so it seemed a good placeto start.

With my limited funds, I love the idea of pallet wood projects especially when they are available from where I work for free! That said I did need to buy some 38×38 square CLS to make the legs. If I had a bandsaw or table saw for ripping I’d have made them myself from pallet wood so buying them feels a bit like cheating but hey-ho!

I started out by using my mitre saw to cut down the pallet wood to a manageable size and also cutting the legs to a sensible size.

The pallet wood would form side slats and so I made sure they stacked up to 4 equal heights when stacked next to each other.

These were then sanded with the orbital sander.

I then routed two 12mm slots in each leg on adjacent sides. I used a piece of wood clamped down to my makeshift mitre saw table to get a straight cut all the way down the leg and this was a bit tricky so not all cuts were as nice as I’d have liked.

In hindsight I would have done this before cutting the legs to length as I needed to set up the router each time which took time.

In the future I would hopefully just be able to use a router table once my workshop was set up.

The slats were glued with Titebond III so to make sure it was strong and waterproof and clamped overnight. I really missed having a workbench available though and with a limited amount of clamps this was really problematic. The saying “you can never have enough clamps” is very true!

I sealed the whole planet when done with cheap deck sealer and then added two coats of creosote to the outside as this was all I had available. I like the dark colour but the wife would have preferred the raw wood look.

Finally once dry, I planted the prettiest flower I have…

*Update!*

3 years later and the planters still look good in a different garden! 🙂

40th Wedding Anniversary Wooden Word Art

December 27, 2014 by The Woodgineer Leave a Comment

John and June are my wifes grandparents and somewhat of an inspiration as they have been happily married for fourty years. I was asked to see if I could make them a simply piece of word art that could be signed by everybody in the family but had limited time to do so.

I’d seen bits in shops like this but who wants to buy something like this when they can make their own!

We had plenty of spare 18mm MDF left over from a recent project but I wanted something a bit more solid. The answer of course two pieces of MDF glued together to a make a nice solid 36mm sheet.

The template was stuck on with spray adhesive and left for a few hours to dry.

Scrollsawing the MDF to the template was simple enough and some light sanding on the bench sander smoothed the edges nicely. Care was of course taken during the cutting and sanding process as MDF contains some pretty nasty chemicals that don’t want to be breathed in. In hindsight while the scrollsaw worked, it might have been better done on the bandsaw.

Although the scrollsaw was fantastic for the the smaller more intricate inner cuts

Before painting the item I primed it with a water/PVA mix as MDF soaks up paint and would leave a rough surface. This worked well as it only took a single coat of white furniture paint to obtain an acceptable finish however I’d had felt better if I had time to do another.

I used some of the offcuts from the scrollsaw to make some test pieces to see how it would like once painted and drawn on.

The finished item was signed by all the family and presented to John and June on their 40^th anniversary with much delight!

If I had more time I would have liked to have taken the item away to have it spray varnish to protect the work but now it sits happily on their mantle.

*Update*

John and June sadly passed away since this post was made but this scrollsaw piece was burried with them. I feel privileged to have known them, be part of their family and to have had the chance to make something so personal for them.