POTD- PROJECT OF THE DAY: What Did You Make In Your Shop Today?

[dkemppai]

Patience, or materials, or tools aren't the issue here. It's just deciding on which way to do with the finish (and not screw it up in the process!). It will be used, so advantages for poly or varnish. I think straight shellac is out do to water marks. Oil would look good, but maybe not as robust. Lacquer sanded and buffed to a high gloss would be beautiful, for a while, until it scratched. I've even seen this wood stained and coated with many layers of automotive clear coat, and sanded/polished. (This is one option I'm seriously considering).

That said, I do like the oil finishes. Have done a few knife handles where it takes a year to finish the handle with boiled linseed. Coat, wipe, cure, 0000 steel wool, repeat (that wood with pores takes a long time to fill and cure). Have even left the BLO out in a sunny window to make "stand oil", which cures to a surprising tough glossy finish. That's held up well on a wooden knife handle for 15 years of near daily abuse.

Been buying adhesive backed rolls up to 1000gr, to sand/block this table flat. Planning on doing mostly hand sanding for this one. It's been drum sanded to 120 gr now, so is pretty good to start with.

 

[finsruskw]

I got a great deal on a Rockwell EFI drill press, really a brute. What is impressive is the Z height...and that's needed because it came with drawers full of MT3 and MT4 taper drills, which are huge. So I found that I had to fairly frequently reposition either the head or the table, and cranking either was relatively tedious. About then, I got an ad from Vevor for a Bridgeport X axis power feed, for about $125. I've paid about 3 times that much for several X axis and Z axis units from other suppliers, and frankly they all looked identical, with the same pretty useless instructions. Seemed like it was worth a try to adapt that to the table on the drill press. Here's a look at the drill press:

View attachment 454239

It seemed like a straightforward project to bolt the drive onto the crank shaft, and I suppose it was, but there were issues. The table hand crank drives a worm that runs an idler gear that mates with the vertical rack on the center column, and it has a slight angle built in, measured at 3.5 degrees in one axis and about 0.3 degrees in the other. I made an adapter block to compensate for that, and after a surprising lot of fiddling to prevent binding, and to get the right replacement shaft dimensions, and to get the right shim placement, it works really well. It has plenty of power to move a very heavy table, a Heinrich(?) vise and whatever is on it.

Here's what the result looks like:

View attachment 454240View attachment 454241

Yep, it's a little goofy looking, lacks a hand crank, but wow, it works. Perhaps I'll machine a more elegant adapter block someday, but it seems unlikely.

A feature that I need to add is the upper and lower travel limits. It's not clear exactly how to do this, but that's a good project in itself.

 

[woodchucker]

And up.

View attachment 454265

take an angle grinder and cut those corners off at a 45, then grind them smooth, that's a painful accident waiting to happen.

 

[woodchucker]

@vtcnc I am not able to get in to anything again.. I can get into threads I saw a few minutes ago, but now I can't get into anything else , same message as the past few days.
I am posting here, because it's the only way I can post:
Fatal error: Declaration of GeoIp2\Model\City::__isset($attr) must be compatible with GeoIp2\Model\AbstractModel::__isset(string $attr): bool in /home/hobbymac/domains/hobby-machinist.com/public_html/src/addons/Siropu/AdsManager/Vendor/MaxMind/geoip2/geoip2/src/Model/City.php on line 0

 

[Eyerelief]

@vtcnc I am not able to get in to anything again.. I can get into threads I saw a few minutes ago, but now I can't get into anything else , same message as the past few days.
I am posting here, because it's the only way I can post:
Fatal error: Declaration of GeoIp2\Model\City::__isset($attr) must be compatible with GeoIp2\Model\AbstractModel::__isset(string $attr): bool in /home/hobbymac/domains/hobby-machinist.com/public_html/src/addons/Siropu/AdsManager/Vendor/MaxMind/geoip2/geoip2/src/Model/City.php on line 0

I had the same thing. Server issues. I sent an email to
support@hobby- machinist.com

Them folks will have you up and chattering in no time.............

 

[pontiac428]

Thanks for the discussion on wood finishing, guys. I just received a rough shaped piece of xx claro walnut with a Rem 700 inlet and a few custom features from an outfit called Richard's Microfit Gunstocks. I can fit it, sand it, shape it, and add the features I want to make a fine prone match rifle, but it's my first piece of expensive wood and my head has been swimming with how to finish it. @Winegrower, the first post had my attention when you started, because that's exactly the same wood I'm working with. The blackening of the end grain is not what I want. I think the last few posts (@dkemppai, @woodchucker, @francist) have really helped me consider how to handle it. Good side discussion!

 

[matthewsx]

take an angle grinder and cut those corners off at a 45, then grind them smooth, that's a painful accident waiting to happen.

They are smoother than they look, don't know if the angle will make much difference but thanks for the tip.

 

[JohnWold]

I had to replace the engine in my Honda Element a few weeks back, a first for me.
After tearing the old 200k motor down to bits for the recycler, I decided to make a couple mementos.
A new dust pan for the shop, and small stool for the garage. I plan on using the stool when working on brakes and such.
I also ended up with a shocking number of metric bolts, in case I need them in the future.

 

[woodchucker]

I had to replace the engine in my Honda Element a few weeks back, a first for me.
After tearing the old 200k motor down to bits for the recycler, I decided to make a couple mementos.
A new dust pan for the shop, and small stool for the garage. I plan on using the stool when working on brakes and such.
I also ended up with a shocking number of metric bolts, in case I need them in the future.

ok, need some build info on both. I like the pan, but it looks heavy. But it is cool.
The stool is great, but it looks like a tipping hazard.. I probably would have splayed the feet.

 

[JohnWold]

ok, need some build info on both. I like the pan, but it looks heavy. But it is cool.
The stool is great, but it looks like a tipping hazard.. I probably would have splayed the feet.

Yes, the pan is a bit heavy. I was considering a new version in aluminum, but what really is the advantage of a light dust pan?

The stool is a little tippy too, not for standing on. When sitting on it 12 inches from the ground, with your own feet splayed out, we'll have to see if it's a problem.