WoodworkingONLINE.com

If you’re into ShopNotes Magazine and enjoyed building with an Erector Set as a kid then chances are you’ll enjoy the 80/20 website.

The 80/20 company has a product line that they call “The Industrial Erector Set.” framing system that uses T-slotted extruded aluminum tubes and bolt on connectors. But, that is an oversimplification because there are thousands of different parts and variations available which makes the system highly adaptable for applications such as machine frames, automation, furniture, lineal motion, displays, and (to borrow from their catalog) “modular anything.”

So, visit the 80/20 website and think of all the cool stuff you could build for your shop!

Furniture designer and builder Sam Maloof passed away recently at the age of 93. I had the pleasure to meet him in the mid-1990’s. I was an assistant editor at Woodsmith Magazine in Des Moines, Iowa. Maloof, along with several other woodworking luminaries, was in Des Moines to make a guest appearance at a woodworking show. Woodsmith publisher and editor Don Peschke invited them to a party in the garden at Woodsmith headquarters. It was a beautiful evening.

Sitting at one of the tables under a big awning, a couple of assistant editors and myself found a rare moment when Maloof was alone. We had recently watched a documentary in which Maloof was carving a piece of walnut on a band saw with the blade guard removed and about 8″ to 10″ of blade exposed. So we asked him if he had ever been injured in the shop. He said yes, but only once. He said he’d been napping in the shop, and for some unknown reason awoke quickly and started back at the band saw where he had left off. That was when he buried the blade in his thumb. He showed us the scar.

But what I saw were the hands. His hands were big and strong and impressive. They were the hands of someone who worked with his hands every day. He was a designer/artisan. He was what we wanted to be on some level, if only we’d had the creativity and the skill to pull it off.
He was also very nice. We asked a few other dumb questions which he answered with candor and humor. Quite a guy.

I looked through several photos of Maloof for this post and chose the one above. You can see his hands.

You can read about his life and work in this LA Times obituary with lots of photos.

Recently I’ve been working on a prototype for a sharpening center for ShopNotes 107. Building a machine is one of my favorite shop projects. It’s always a thrill to watch turning shafts, sheaves, and moving belts in action on a tool I made myself. Experience (making poorly functioning machines) has taught me that much of the success in shopbuilt machines lies in the bearings and their installation. You won’t be proud of a machine that vibrates, or is feeble, or is inaccurate due to misaligned bearings.

There are, of course, many requirements for bearings and so there are many types. One type that I find quite handy for low rpm applications is a bronze sleeve bearing. They are easy to work with, durable, and inexpensive.

In a sleeve bearing, the load is supported through the sliding motion of one solid surface against another, very simple. The sleeve bearings you’ll find at your local hardware store are made of oil impregnated sintered bronze. Sintered bronze bearings start as a powdered bronze alloy that is molded into the correct shape and heated to fuse the bronze grains together thus creating a porous structure. Oil is then forced into the voids. As much as 18% of the bearings volume is oil and this creates a permanently lubricated bearing.

Sleeve bearings typically come in two different styles. Those that look like a short piece of tube are designed to carry radial loads, like a spinning shaft. The other style includes a flange on that piece of tube. This bearing is designed to carry both radial and thrust loads. For example, a spinning shaft that’s being pushed on from one end. The style that you choose depends upon the application.

Even though they are simple, there are a few things to keep in mind when using these bearing.

One simple way to install a sleeve bearing is to press fit it into a wooden part. However, if you plan on press fitting  a bearing  get the largest shell diameter available. Thin shell bearings will actually compress somewhat into a smaller internal diameter if forced into a very tight hole. The result will be a shaft that will not turn freely, if at all. (This will make you very angry.) And, always make sure to seal any wood that touches the bearing with some shellac or varnish. Remember that porous structure impregnated with oil? The oil will wick out into raw wood leaving a dry bearing on the road to failure.

Another way of mounting a bearing is to use an oversize hole with epoxy paste allowing the bearing to seat into the correct alignment with the shaft in place. I think it’s a good idea to rough up the exterior of the bearing with coarse sandpaper to allow the epoxy to get a “grip” on the bearing.

Whether you’re using epoxy to mount the bearing or even applying finish around it, protect the interior of the bearing with some wax and plug the opening. It’s hard to ream glue or paint out of the bearing  without causing damage. (This will also make you angry.)

I’ve found it’s often better to build your machine around the bearings with the shaft in place. This ensures proper alignment rather than to just hope that things will turn out right down the road. Remember, there’s more to an accurate machine than precisely cut parts. Accuracy must be part of the whole process of building a tool.

The last thing to consider is the shaft. Here it pays to spend a little more and  get a precision ground shaft. You can’t expect smooth performance from a piece of not  quite round hot rolled stock from the hardware store.

Simple, durable, and inexpensive, a sleeve bearing is  a great option for a shopmade machine tool.

Like a lot of woodworkers my workbench is used for many duties. Though purists (myself included) may shudder, auto work and home repair jobs take place on my bench with depressing regularity. To help with these chores, I often temporarily mount a machinist’s vise to my bench. But recently the grease, grime, and metal filings that find their way all over my woodworking bench have been too much for me. Not to mention the annoying vibrations and movement that come with a temporarily mounted vise. Enough!
I decided it was time to come up with a permanent home for my machinist’s vise that would isolate the mess and be rock solid. Now, I don’t have a 3500 sq. ft. super shop, so, the solution had to be compact. And, of course, have some storage space for files and hammer and a hook onto the side for my hacksaw.
What I came up with is a very simple wall mounted stand made of several layers of laminated plywood (mass matters). The joinery is simple: butt joints and screws. The main thing to note is that all of the shock and vibration that the vise encounters is transmitted to the wall and straight down to the floor.
My new vise stand may not prevent the unwanted auto and home repair work from coming into my shop, but at least it will help quarantine it.

It’s hard to underestimate the importance of the table saw in the modern home workshop. It’s great for ripping, crosscutting, cutting sheet goods down to size, and it handles dadoes, rabbets, and grooves with ease. But what if it hasn’t been set up correctly? Then it’s just a big anchor in the middle of an unused shop.

Vince Ancona takes us step-by-step through his routine for accurate set up and maintenance of a table saw. By the end of the seminar, you’ll have learned how to vastly improve the quality of the cuts you make with your table saw.

Get the seminar guide here: Table Saw Set Up & Maintenance

 

 Flash Video [00:57:45m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
 MP4 Video [00:57:45m]: Download
 WMV Video [00:57:45m]: Download

I asked associate editor Randy Maxey why hand planes are an important part of a modern woodworking shop? Here is what he told me:

“I know a lot of people think I use hand planes just because I’m old-fashioned. The truth is, I love my machines. But if you want to do quality work in your wood shop, you need to learn to use hand planes. I use at least one of the three planes I’m demonstrating almost every time I’m in the shop. It has changed the way I do woodworking. I really agree with a line I read once in an old, old issue of Woodsmith magazine. It said, ‘…no machine can come close to the quality of work a hand plane will do.’”

Get the seminar guide here: Three Hand Planes Every Shop Should Have

 

 Flash Video [00:56:14m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
 MP4 Video [00:56:14m]: Download
 WMV Video [00:56:14m]: Download

Phil Huber, a senior editor for ShopNotes magazine details in this seminar all the steps necessary for building a sturdy set of drawers on a router table.

First, he’ll demonstrate how to build drawers using a specialized drawer joint bit in just two simple steps. Then, for those of us who choose not to buy the special bit, Phil will take us through the steps of building drawers with an ordinary 1/4″-dia. straight bit.

Get the Seminar Guide here: Building Drawers Using Drawer Joint Bits

 

 Flash Video [00:45:36m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
 MP4 Video [00:45:36m]: Download
 WMV Video [00:45:36m]: Download

The latest issue of ShopNotes magazine will be in your mailbox or hitting the newsstands soon. In this issue, instead of our regular three projects for your home workshop, you’ll find four projects.

The first is an incredible set of Calipers and Dividers. All four tools were designed by Chris Fitch, senior project designer for ShopNotes and Woodsmith. They’re so easy to make. All it takes are some basic tools you probably already have: a hacksaw, a few files, and a drill press. Another project designed by Chris are what we affectionately called the “hamster caskets” while they were being built. Chris wrote about the design process here a few weeks ago.

We made three versions of these Sharpening Stone Storage Boxes for the article. As you can see in the photo, Chris also designed several alternate versions. The outside profiles can be made with a table saw, router, or band saw and the recess on the inside of the boxes is made using a hand-held router and a simple shop-made template.

You’ll also find a great new jig for the table saw (photo at left). This handy Precision-Cutting Jig makes the table saw (normally a great tool for heavy work) a perfect tool for cutting small parts.

Finally, we’ve strayed from the shop just a bit with a fantastic new Modular Garage Storage unit. Inexpensive and easy to build, this wall-mounted
system is a great way to add versatile storage to the garage.

The older I get, it seems I’m making more frequent trips to the doctor’s office. If it’s not for an exam, there’s blood to be drawn for lab tests. As my dad is fond of saying, “It stinks getting old.”

But fortunately, woodworking is one of those hobbies that can help keep us — more specifically, our brains — younger. I ran across this article this morning in the Imperial Valley News out of San Diego.

To quote the article:

“A hobby like woodworking, which stimulates the mind through complex measurements, visualization and creative problem solving, can have significant positive effects on the aging brain.”

To me, it’s just another reason to head out to the shop.