Splintered Board Podcast

Episode 24 - WoodRat Update

Rick Waters — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 19:15:39 GMT

Really quick update about the WoodRat and a little about woodworking class last night.
Look for a video episode coming soon!!!

Music in this episode from Podsafe Music Network.

Episode 23 - Announcement From Splintered Board

Rick Waters — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 15:12:00 GMT

I have a great announcement about a possible partnership between Splintered Board and WoodRat!

Episode 22 - What is it That Inspires You?

Rick Waters — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 22:21:30 GMT

In this week's episode I discuss inspiration in design and fitting in all of the projects that you want to do for yourself - outside of obligatory work. Also, an update on the desk restoring project.

Find pics of the baby changing table pieces here.

All music in this episode was obtained from mangatune.com.

Episode 21 - Artistic License in Design

Rick Waters — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 21:49:43 GMT

Episode 21 - Artistic License in Design

Furnitology's Neil LAmens joins me in an energetic and in-depth discussion about artistic license in design. We cover many aspects and examples of art throughout the ages.

Two of the main sources of information to accompany this discussion were Creating Modern Furniture and Droog.
We also reference Silas Kopf and Edgar Allen Poe's A Cask of Amontillado, Albrecht Durer.

Audio readings of A Cask of Amontillado available in iTunes from BJ Harrison's The Classic Tales podcast, and Patrick McLean's The Seanachai.

Music in the podcast (Odd Bird by The Lascivious Biddies) from Podsafe Music Network.

Don't forget to take my survey too!

Episode 20 - What Is In You?

Rick Waters — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 08:48:42 GMT

Episode 20 - What is In you?

Please don't be offended or put off by what is said in this episode. My intent is to explain my reckoning of what is inside me, what my woodworking style/direction has become. I will be challenging you to explore what is in you also.

Intro and Outro music for this episode by Chris Greene Quartet, obtained from Podsafe Music Network

Episode 19 - What I Learned This Week

Rick Waters — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 21:06:19 GMT

Episode 19 - What I Learned This Week

When last we left him, Rick Waters, aka 'Splintered Board' – the self described 'Woodworker Un-extraordinaire' – was about to continue his project in completing the most difficult, most dangerous, possibly the most disgusting project of his woodworking career – the Baby Diaper Changing Table.

Said table has quickly and rightly become Splintered Board's nemesis. With such heinous acts against the woodworker as: repeatedly demanding more and more wood; requiring many extra hours of design; consistently jamming up an 18" thickness planer; having so many pieces that the woodworker can't possibly keep track of them all; weighing so much that the constant shuttling back and forth to the school woodshop is breaking the woodworker's back – this table has now resorted to pulling out the big guns. It has now called in the woodworker's wife to comment on the lack of progress! Splintered Board has no choice, this table is going down!

Meanwhile, locked away in the bowels of the 'Mancave of Sawdust', Splintered Board tackles another project. This first commission (pro bono, naturally) proves to be no challenge for Rick's fledgling skills.

And if that's not enough, in this episode, your hero, Splintered Board will share a tip on wood identification, some anecdotal information about a pen-turner, and the possible future of THE SPLINTERED BOARD PODCAST!

Thanks, Greg, for the great intro!!!

Links for this episode:

Please take a few minutes to fill out this quick survey!
Check out this ToolMonger blog entry on the Angle Ease.
Please visit Greg Crites' website VeinArmor.com
If anyone can help identifying this type of wood, please let me know.

The Sawdust Chronicles - Episode 2 Part 1 - Beginners' Improvisations

Rick Waters — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 21:15:24 GMT

The Sawdust Chronicles - Episode 2 Part 1 - Beginners' Improvs

This is part 1 of a 2 part series about how beginners can/will improvize in the absence of a tool. We will cover what are some good improvs, and some bad ones.

Episode 18 - What I Learned This Week 9.24.2008

Rick Waters — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 22:31:38 GMT

Episode 18 - What I Learned This Week 9.24.2008

Links
    Drying Times Document
    Fine Woodworking Index CD
    Fine Woodworking Content CD

What I learned this week...
    I love the Bandsaw!!!
    Mark your waste.
    Don't look like an idiot.
    Newbies don't know scrap!

My Woodworking Aug and Mid-Sep Wrapup

Rick Waters — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 07:47:01 GMT

Episode 17 - Woodworking Aug and Mid-Sep Wrapup

Fox Valley Woodworking Club Meeting

I had another woodworking club meeting last week. This one's content may not have been as exciting for me as the previous one, but I did get some very valuable time with the club's vice president. The club president is out of the country, on business, but the VP and I agreed to sit down with the pres. when he's back, to discuss ways to get the younger generation more involved in the hobby/craft.

What I Learned This Week

Something that may be obvious to some, others may have learned it simply by occurance, but I really didn't expect this to happen. What I found was that wood residue stays on blades. Like I said, it may have been obvious... Walnut and Purpleheart getting 'smeared' on the faces of maple boards.

What am I reading now?
Box by Box by Popular Woodworking. I picked it up last night and am already getting some great ideas.

Bridge City Toolworks CT15
Stainless Steel bevel angle tool for the small price of $289! Compare that to the bevel angle tool I almost picked up at Woodcraft last night for $16.99.

Local (to me) woodworker's blog
'Spackle & Sawdust' by Patrick Jaromin
At least he's local to me. Less than 5 miles from my house is local, right?

Coming to grips with replication
Well, it looks like Wendell Castle has already done something very similar to what I wanted to create. Lately I've been calling it the 'Dali Table' because it reminded me of Dali's melting clocks. Not that it was going to have anything to do with a clock, but that I wanted the table to look like it was melting - liquid.

Well, I went on over to Wendell Castle's website and took a look at some of his desks and tables, and was really surprised to see an almost complete replication (if you can call it that, since he did it first) of what I wanted to do. The proportions of certain features of his 'Table with Leg' aren't what I had imagined, but it was so similar, I almost don't want to make the table now. Am I being a baby about this?

I emailed back and forth with Neil Lamens, over at Furnitology, about this and he had some very interesting things to say about it. Castle's sculpture background firmly planted him in Art, and thus he creates/created furniture as art. While the rest of us create, mostly, for use and if we can make it look art-like, well, all the better.

A little bit on Safety
This past week Kaytrim (aka) pointed the 'Twitter Crowd' to a LumberJocks discussion topicon workshop safety. Please be careful when bare handing wood with power tools!

The Sawdust Chronicles is available!
Erik Pearson and I are now recording episodes of The Sawdsut Chronicles, a podcast for beginning woodworkers, by beginning woodworkers. Our aim: help newbies understand craft terminology and techniques, make the craft less ambiguous and intimidating.

Introducing The Sawdust Chronicles

Rick Waters — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 11:23:33 GMT

Introducing The Sawdust Chronicles!

The Sawdust Chronicles is a new, joint podcast that will be available soon at www.thesawdustchronicles.com.

Hosts:
Erik Pearson from Novice Garage Woodworker
Rick Waters from Splintered Board

Co-hosts:
Contact us if you would like to contribute.

Topics:
Nothing woodworking related is out-of-bounds. We plan to cover all things woodworking for the beginning/novice/soon-to-begin woodworker. We won't claim to cover everything newbies need to know, but we will always cover topics that they really should know, find humorous, and find enlightening.

Where are all of our veterans?

Rick Waters — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 20:33:18 GMT

Episode 16 - Where Are All of Our Veterans?

Our Veterans, Where are They?
As a few of you already know, I went to my first woodworker's club meeting last week. It was great! Although I was probably one of only two people there that were born anywhere near or after the 1970's, I still had a great time. In fact, looking at the crowd that was there (probably over 150 people), I was wondering where all of these woodworkers hiding? Why don't we hear from them in our digital woodworking community?

Router Cabinet Design?
I just saw a maple base cabinet come up in my neighbor's trash. This cabinet has a nice drawer on top of the door - you know, like a kitchen floor cabinet would. I was thinking about picking it up and using it for that router table that I so despirately need.

But then I was thinking, 'Hey, why doesn't someone make a router cabinet that is one giant drawer?' Then you could change the sawdust bag easily and change the bit easily. I don't know if that's something that everyone is looking for, but that's the first thing I thought of.

Too bad I don't have room in the garage for a cabinet, or I'd have picked it up.

My First Box
This weekend I built my wife a box. This was my first box, but even without taking any measurements at all, I was able to make it completely square with an inlay and miter keys.

Take a look here and let me know what you think.

Opinion Poll Results

Rick Waters — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 12:27:38 GMT

Opinion Poll Results

Hi everyone! I really feel like I need to apologize for not getting this episode out sooner. You are probably receiving this episode on or after Tuesday, August 5th 2008. I promised to have this episode to you a week ago, so I’m going to go ahead and combine it with the one I promised to have for you this week.

What I’m alluding to is the ‘Short Opinion Poll’ on which I had tried to get some blind discussion going. I got only a handful of responses, but they were pretty much on par for what I thought I’d read. To sum up the reason for the Poll, let me explain some things that led me to ask for the opinion survey.

I am a total beginner to woodworking. In fact in all of the social networks, the communities, podcast episodes, viewer/listener emails, it sounds like I may be the newest person, who is likely to share my inexperience, to the hobby. I only really have about 6 months under my belt. So all of those lessons you learned early on, I’m still learning.

I’ve shared, in my podcast, instances where I’ve experienced breeches in safety, projects that I have completed, and those I haven’t started. I’ve received more criticism privately than I have shared, about selecting an obviously advanced project as my very first ‘real’ woodworking project. My very honest responses have apparently been interpreted as arrogance, not ambition.

I have willingly and informed as well as unknowingly and accidentally put myself and others, in one instance, at risk for a shop-related injury. For this I have been criticized, and my judgment has been called into question.

I really wanted to hear from the community about how they feel that they have fulfilled some unwritten prerequisite in beginning to use a new tool or technique. So, what I really wanted was to know when woodworkers believe it’s ok to do something new in the craft.

Here are some examples of what I’m talking about. Now keep in mind, I am talking about a beginning woodworker that has had no formal instruction, no hands on tutelage, never watched a single retail woodworking video, but has access to the entire catalogs of all woodworking podcaster’s episodes – video and audio.

For instance, when I was making the cornhole boxes I went out and bout a router because I knew I wanted the top edges of the boxes to be rounded over. I had just started watching woodworking podcast videos and saw that the right tool for the job was a router. I did a little homework, found the one I wanted at the price I wanted to pay and bought it. I set right out to using the tool with only reading the instruction manual. Question: Should I have been ‘allowed’ to use the tool?

Another for instance: A couple of weekends ago I decided to cut a dovetail to join two boards together end-to-end. Again, I was using my router to do it, but by now I have plenty of experience with it and know what to expect. But, I don’t have much experience with any kind of joinery. Question: Should I have been ‘allowed’ to try to cut and fit a dovetail since it’s viewed by many to be in the advanced category of joinery solutions? (At least that’s how I see it.)

So how would you answer these types of questions? You say that your answer is specific to the technique or tool? Well, if you think that way, then I’d like to know why.

I’m not talking about industrial grade equipment or how to build a pyramid. I’m talking about home shop tools and techniques that wouldn’t be foreign to anyone listening to this podcast.
So, that’s the basis for this topic. I’ve gone ahead and re-posted all of the comments that people have not requested that I keep hidden. The comments that spurred me into action to question everyone were meant, not to be inflammatory, but were posted in concern for my safety and that of others.

Admittedly, I read these posts and understood them in a less than ideal tone and manner. It actually disturbed me that some of my listeners would think that I would willfully or unknowingly put own children at risk. Though I do subscribe to the thought that life wouldn’t be the same without a certain level of risk, but I do not generally subscribe to exposing children to risk when it is not in a controlled environment.

As far as the results from the poll go, well, it seems that everyone has subtle flavors of the same idea. Always try new things that you think you would like to learn, but go into the experience informed. Some of you stressed taking formal classes, others said that books and videos are their preference.

I’ve got to say that for me, every situation is different. Every tool, and every technique, for me, could possibly have a different optimal learning technique. I’ve been taught how to use different kinds of machines and tools in classroom settings before, and scored excellent on tests, but once faced with the tool or machine, I had no idea what I was doing.

Same goes for things to remember when wood working. I could read tons of info on how to, and not to, do something, but I’m not going to remember that well, unless I have experienced it.

Yeah, I was told repeatedly not to run end grain over the jointer blades. And yeah, that’s exactly why I did do it. I needed to know what to expect. I may have explained it a little differently on the podcast, but the actual situation was that I took a very thin 6”x6” board and built a jig for it to hold it in a ‘slot’ against the fence of the jointer. I was using a stick to push the board across the blades, and about 1” into the length of the board it shattered. I had my knee over the off switch and immediately shut off the machine and backed away.

The amount of wood that actually made it out of the jig was minimal, but would have been dangerous to anyone standing to the right side of the jointer. But it was only me in the shop and I planned it that way.

Other incidents, including multiple tablesaw kickbacks in a single day, are admittedly my fault and could have been prevented with adherence to basic shop safety guidelines, and more experience cutting sheet goods. Since then I’ve learned how to center and maintain my splitter and anti-kickback paws, and I’ve been making an effort to learn more about cutting plywood safely on the table saw. From these dangerous incidents came order and safety.

When I first let my kids into the shop while I was working, I had 2 pairs of goggles and a single pair of hearing protection. At times I would go without safety equipment so the children could use them. Now, my shop is equipped with enough safety equipment for the whole family.

As for introducing my children to power tools, that will take some time. So, with that in mind, please have no fear that I would allow any child under my supervision to engage a machine without proper safety training.

When I related to you that I was thinking about getting a mini-lathe for my youngest son’s 11th birthday, I had every intention of enrolling both of us in the Woodcraft lathe classes they have every month. When I told you that my oldest son helped me cut an angled tenon with chisels, he was fully aware of the dangers involved in handling sharp tools.

As far as having an inexperienced woodworker not be an adequate supervisor of his children in his own shop, I do not believe this concern has any weight. There is much more to the human element, that I cannot verbalize in a podcast, that governs a parent’s ability to safeguard their children. It does not take an expert in any field to identify the most obvious dangers of any given environment. From my online education in woodworking – from the podcasting community, I believe that I’ve received some of the best technique and safety training available.

I still haven’t fully answered the question of when to try something new. Daily. Always. Whenever you feel the itch. I completely subscribe to Neil Lamens’ sentiments when he says you should push the limits, try new ideas. Stepping outside of your comfort zone is really the only true test of your abilities.

While talking with Neil about this subject I related a story to him about when I was in Airborne school in the Army. I’ll give you the full story that Neil didn’t get:

While waiting to receive training the day before my first jump, I was in a building that had a ton of WWII paratrooper memorabilia. Among it all were a lot of comic strips drawn by the first paratroopers, and pictures of the first parachutes. The comics depicted paratroopers that didn’t make it, the pictures sometimes showed failed chutes. While the truth to these artifacts is gruesome, to a 19 year old private, it drove home a single fact that lasts with me to this day: Practice may make perfect, but if you are practicing what others continue to fail at, you will also fail. Try something new. Let your imagination go and you will fly.

Since then I’ve been a complete advocate of creativity and breaking out of taboo-restrained boxes. When I interview people at work, I force them to approach difficult situations from points of view that are completely out of the norm. Social norms be damned. I need creative thinkers at work, because they solve problems. In the shop, I need to cultivate creative use of the tools I have.

If I believe I can solve a problem by using a tool in a way that is not prescribed as its intended use, I believe that the manufactures may have left the list possible use cases unfinished – I do not automatically believe that the use is forbidden.

My actual analogy of parachuting was this:
As parachuting was invented and (nearly) perfected, a large percentage of the evolution of the technology and techniques associated with it were developed by trial and error. If no one had ever tried and erred, then there would be no parachutists today. I take that experience with me always and use it in my work daily. Though all of that experimentation slows my work down, I usually end up coming up with excellent results beyond that which people expected.

Many of the first parachuters died trying to develop a way to land safely. Though I don't want to imply that I don't mind dying in order to develop an understanding of woodworking techniques and tools, I do understand that there are safety issues that I don't already know about, haven't been identified yet, and have heard about and forgotten already.

So, I’ve gone in a lot of different direction in this episode. Let me wrap up my opinion for you. I probably will not stop pushing my own ambitious work. I will be working on the basics, but believe I can learn them while taking on more difficult projects and learning along the way. I understand the phrase ‘practice makes perfect’, but have yet to see perfection in anyone’s work – anywhere. I understand that safety is something that almost everyone is on board with. Even those that are the most safety conscious have accidents once in a while. As you may remember, I had an accident with the thickness planer at school. That was under the supervision of an experience professional who lives by the safety rules. No one is infallible.

Once again, the entirety of this podcast can be taken in the wrong tone. This is not a retaliation podcast. Please understand that I publish this content to document my experiences. Those of you that voice your concerns and criticism only serve to make my work better. There’s not much that could make it worse. So, thank you all for your support and sending me your concerns and criticisim. Again, I’m the type of person who sees criticism as an educational opportunity, not a stab in the back.

I know I didn’t quote anyone, as I said I might. Since the majority of the opinions were so similar, I felt that paraphrasing would be sufficient. As soon as this podcast is published the comments sections will all become immediately available again, so feel free to comment away.

What I Learned This Week - 2008.08.02

Rick Waters — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 07:00:22 GMT

Episode 14

News:
I just signed up for the next semester of the 2-part woodworking set of classes at the local community college.

I got the plans for the Baby Changing Table yesterday - along with a couple of catalogs. So, I went and got wood for the changing table today. I bought way too much, but at least I'll have enough for a very small side project later.

I cut my first dove tail!!! I really needed a board fixed under one of the extension wings of my table saw so I could clamp things to it. But I didn't have a board quite long enough. So I took 2 thin scraps and tried out cutting a tail with my router. It worked!

Picture Of Dovetail Here

I got the components of my dust collection system delivered! Except for 1 more horse clamp. Doh! But, I bought a copy of Encyclopedia of Woodworking to justify another package. And can you believe this, but the package is left Forest Park, IL on July 25th, and here it is July 29th, and the package is still not expected to make it to me until Aug 2nd! Now, I know not many of you are familiar with the Chicagoland area, but from my house to Forest Park is about 45 miles at most. I could have walked there and picked it up by now… Anyway, I’ll just say ‘Thank you’ to Amazon for giving me the free USPS free shipping and be done with it next week…

State of the XLeg Table:
The XLeg Table is finished and it's in its intended position next to my recliner. Pictures of the progression of the table are here.

It was a long road getting there and there have been many developments since I last shared anuthing about the table.

When last I left you, I think the Thick Leg was ready to be placed in its mortise. If not, then let me back up for just a second. I cut the mortises in the lower 3 panels of table top. The easiest, and best was the third mortise which was the only one that wasn't a thru mortise. I cut that one using the drill press and a 1 1/2" forstner bit. Then I just chiseled out the excess. IT fit great on the second try after clearing out more with the chisel.

The next day I put the lower 3 panels together to see how they all fit on the Thick Leg all at once. Well, it was not good. I had cut the mortises separately - probably one of the biggest mistakes during this project. Doing the mortises seperately, and these being my first, well, let's just say they didn't line up right. They all fit over the Thick Leg's tenon, but they were skewed a little left or right. None of them were right on with each other.

I wanted to fix this the best way I knew. I took the 3 panels to the table saw. Then I realized that even though I had the panels clamped to each other in the positions that they fit over the tenon, there's no way to run this over the table saw!

So, I got a bright idea! Screw the boards together, then trim the edges a little, then they'd be square with each other! So I did it. Only afterwards did I realize that if you have already cut your mortises, you cannot, or shouldn't really, change the dimensions of the board.

I already had the mortises for both legs cut and trimming the edges put the mortise for the Wide Leg so close to the edge that the Wide Leg's tenon actually busted through the edge because there was very little support. But that's jumping ahead...

So, I was actually a little excited that I could finally show the table taking shape, that I jumped into gluing up the Thick leg to the table top. Well, I failed to remove the screws and glue the table top panels to each other before doing this, so the table is going to stand with 4 screws in it and only 3 panels.

It's OK I guess, it's a little neat too. The Wide Leg is 1" thick, the Thick Leg is 2" thick and the table top is 3" thick... Kind of cool I guess.

Next I dry fit the Wide Leg. While doing this I split the Wide Leg pretty badly. I had every intention of putting a little glue in the crack and fixing it, but I never got around to it. I had a heck of a time getting the Wide Leg to fit over the Thick Leg and I still don't know what the problem was. I spent hours filing down the sides of the Wide Leg's mortise that the Thick Leg goes through, but it just wasn't helping. Eventually what I realized was that the mortise wasn't square with the edge of the board. That made the entire mortise crooked and angled the Wide Leg to one side - by almost 1/2"!

While trying to decide what to do about the mortise being crooked, I saw that the Wide Leg was also about 1 1/2" too long! How did that happen?! Well, I set up my table saw and cut off the excess.

I decided to straighten out the mortise using the jig saw. So much for my new love of chisels, rasps and files. There comes a time when you want something done right now - this was one of those times. I only had to cut about 3/16" off at the thickest point, but it was enough to straignten out the Wide Leg - for the most part. This made it simple to get the Wide Leg in place for a glue up.

But wait! Now that the Wide Leg is in place, it's way too short! How did that happen? Just one night ago I had measured it about 3 times and it came out too long each time. Well, guess what? I was measuring it without it being seated in it's mortise. The tenon was still getting caught on the table top, so of course it was too long!

I was almost ready to just glue on the piece I had cut off the night before, but saw that I was right that it was too long in the first place, but only by about 1/4".

So now I had to take a 1 1/2" wide board and shave 1/4" off of it with the table saw blade tilted at an angle that would have hit my fence (yes, I have a right-tilt table). So, not to be unsafe, I made a really ad hoc jig to be able to have the board be pushed up against an auxiliary fence and pushed down so it wouldn't take off upwards. I took a very long and thin piece of scrap and pool-cued the board through the jig. If you can't picture it, just think of it as passing a very thin board through a wood tunnel with a small push stick.

While getting ready to glue the Wide Leg onto the table I realized that when I had glued the Thick Leg to the table, I didn't clamp it in every direction that it needed support. So the clamps had pulled the Thick Leg so that it left a large gap, about 3/16", wher the leg should be flush with the table top. This made gluing the Wide Leg awkward because it was going to have to leave a gap also, since the two pieces depend on each other for their angles.

The only thing I could do, short of ripping the table apart, was to glue very thin scraps into the gaps. So that's what I did. You can easily pick the scrap pieces out in the pictures if you know what to look for. After the glue up I shaved off the excess as well as I could.

Today I leveled the legs and ran through 3 sanding and finishing cycles. I used 100, 220 and 320 grit with Dark Maple Varathane. It's the same finish I uses on the plywood cornhole boxes, and was hoping to use it all up.

So, that's the end of the XLeg Table! For now...

What I learned this week:

While chiseling, keep your fingers and hands out of the path of the chisel
Don’t drop your chisels
Trust your measurements – don’t make a cut just because it doesn’t ‘look’ right
Put pressure (clamps) in every critical direction during a glue up
If you have joinery at the edges of a piece that you are working on, after the joinery components are cut, you should not make adjustments to the dimensions of the piece
Lock the fence down, lock the fence down, lock the fence down
Hand tools are cool
While removing router bits, watch your hand positioning!
Marking guages work better for me than a ruler
My respirator makes funny lines on my face
Always meticulously look over each board you buy before you check out
When finishing use both a sponge brush AND an old cotton T-shirt

Erik Pearson (from Novice Garage Woodworker) and I are working on a new, joint podcast. We have a name all picked out, we’ve registered a domain. And thanks to Dave over at the Modern Woodshop Podcast, we’ve got the info necessary to get a site up that’s at least better than my own site.

Remember to check out the blog, show notes and leave comments at www.splinteredboard.com for the occasional update and for links to pictures of projects.

You can also take a look at my current projects at photos.splinteredboard.com.

And, as always, feel free to send me a direct email at splinteredboard@gmail.com, or follow me on Twitter as rwaters73.

Update 7.31.08 - Sorry for lack of episodes this week

Rick Waters — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 08:00:38 GMT

Splintered Board Listeners/Readers,

I’m so sorry for the absence of episodes this week. In the past two weeks I promised you 2 episodes for this week – a What I learned This Week episode, and an episode on the results of the Opinion Poll from a week and a half ago. This week has been exhausting for me, and even though I recorded the WILTW episode, I don’t think I put forth much effort in it and I just can’t will myself to pollute your MP3 players with it. I still haven’t gathered the results for the Opinion Poll.

So, how am I going to redeem myself? On Friday night I will stay up as late as I need to in order to record both episodes for this week (and I’m not dismissing the possibility of a single, long episode). There will be a little news, a lot of wrapping up of the XLeg Table prototype project, and more.

Stay tuned! I’ll be back shortly!

-Rick

Episode 13 - What I Learned This Week - 2008.07.23

Rick Waters — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:25:19 GMT

Episode 13 - What I Learned This Week - 2008.07.23

Welcome to the Splintered Board Podcast!

Woodworking Class

So it’s been 2 weeks since a real Splintered Board episode. I know the audience is still pretty small, but nonetheless, I hope no one went through the Splintered Board DT’s I got back from STL yesterday afternoon after 5 hours of driving, dropped the kids off at their mother’s, then went to my house for an hour’s rest – where I proceeded to watch Norm put together, hmmm, something… I think I fell asleep. Then I had to get my butt over to the school for woodworking class.

Last night’s class was pretty productive. I actually learned a valuable lesson, taught the instructor something, and made a little bit of headway with the XLeg Table.

The valuable lesson I learned actually adds more fuel to the fire that is currently brewing about workshop safety. I had a couple of boards that make up the table’s top that were cupped diagonally, so that there were 2 corners that were higher than the others. So, remembering Dave Noftz’s episode and blog post on the thickness planer sled to repair this, I brought some ¼” plywood, wood screws and a piece of poplar scrap to class. If anyone is not familiar with the technique/method, please give Dave his due and check out his description, it’s much better than I can describe. You can find it at: http://modernwoodshop.com/2008/06/18/flattening-wide-boards-with-a-planer-sled/

I explained what I was doing, to the instructor, and why just running the board through the planer is not going to fix the problem. He thought it was a great idea.

I got the jig together in less than 5 minutes (which included finding and getting out the drill and driver bit, plus putting it away again) and I was ready to feed it into the planer. Here, I need to set the scene a little bit, because this is where/when I learned a valuable lesson. The in feed side of the planer faces the jointer, which is about 7-8 feet away, the bandsaw which is at least 15 feet away, maybe 20, and then the instructor’s desk that’s at least 20-25 feet away.

Also, remember I said the piece of scrap that I used as the lip on the sled was poplar? Well, let’s take a moment to understand something. Weeks ago I jointed the wood, then planed it then cut it to size. A week later I planed it again to get out the cupping and twisting. I had saved all of my scraps and took them home – that’s where this piece of scrap, for the jig, came from. Anyone see a problem with this? Go ahead, take a minute to think about it.

OK, here’s the deal. The scrap piece was thicker than the piece I was sending through the planer, it was going to hit the knives. No problem right? Wrong! The grain was going sideways.

The result was the lip getting ripped from the sled at about 6000 RPM and thrown across the shop – about 20 feet. I’m not sure how hard it hit the bandsaw because there was no dent or noise, but it made it that far and splinters went clear under the instructor’s desk.

The instructor and I went over the design of the jig and both came to the same conclusion, the lip (or fence) needs to be lower that the knives, and if it has a grain pattern (because MDF doesn’t) it should go forward and backward. We made up a plywood jig from shop scrap and the rest went just fine. I just realized though, and Dave confirmed it, that we were using the jig backwards. The fence side goes in first. This would explain why I had so many problems with the board coming off of the sled.

I just want to say, though, that in this instance you had a beginner woodworker and an experienced woodworker trying something new, and there was still an accident. That’s all I’ll say about that.

Other than the fireworks, I made a little bit of headway with the table itself. I got the second mortise for the table top cut to the correct size. Or at least wide enough to get the Thick Leg’s tenon through it. I also cut into the third board of the table top to account for the same tenon. This mortise looks great, I think. I used forstner bits on the drill press to hollow it out, then used chisels to clean up the edges. I think this took me about 30-45 minutes. I couldn’t be happier with the results. Oh, and the tenon slid right into it on the second try – you know, after cleaning up the edges of the mortise.

Next up for the table is to glue up the boards to make the full table top. Then I’ll trim the edges on the table saw. After that, the through mortise on the Wide Leg, then the long mortise/groove on the bottom of the table top, and I should be done.

My Vacation

Thanks everyone for wishing me a nice vacation. I really tried to have a nice one. I really, really needed to get some relaxation in after the past 10 months – it’s been a very stressful time at work and in my private life. We took the kids to Six Flags, we went fishing, and just did a lot of outdoor stuff. Unfortunately, the weather down in STL last week was 90+ degrees with high humidity then entire time. At least I dropped 3lbs! Woohoo!

Future Podcast with Erik Pearson

Erik Pearson and I are still in the works, trying to get something together as a joint beginners’ podcast. We’re hoping there will be a lot of listener interaction with us too. So please stay tuned to the Novice Garage Woodworker and Splintered Board podcasts for more news. We don’t have a name for the show yet, so any suggestions are always welcome. You can send them either, or both of us, at splinteredboard@gmail.com, or garagewoodworker@gmail.com.

Confusion

I’d like to clear up a bit of confusion about my ‘Short Opinion Poll’ that I added while I was on vacation. I just listened to it again and yeah, I guess it could be said that I came off as trying to start a little fight between some of the listeners that left comments. That is definitely not my intention.
To explain, I received a couple of comments that criticized my lack of familiarity with proper use of tools and techniques. Safety, or lack thereof, was a large concern in these comments. I agree that some of the things that I have done were pretty unsafe, but something that you inherently learn in the Army is to work safely. It is always forefront in my mind when in the shop. And, while I don’t want to get too much into what I want to share with you in upcoming episodes about this topic, please trust me that when I say I tried something risky on purpose, I tried to do it in the safest way possible.
Also, when I asked, ‘what gives you the ‘right’ as a woodworker to try something new?’ What I probably should have said was ‘what qualifies you to try out tools you’ve never touched before, or techniques you never even attempted on scrap before?’ I hope that clear up some confusion.

Remember to check out the blog, show notes and leave comments at www.splinteredboard.com for the occasional update and for links to pictures of projects.

You can also take a look at random pictures of my current projects at http://photos.splinteredboard.com.

And, as always, feel free to send me a direct email at splinteredboard@gmail.com, or follow me on Twitter as rwaters73.

Episode 12 - A Short Opinoin Poll

Rick Waters — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 21:58:59 GMT

Episode 12 - A Short Opinoin Poll

I want to get as many of the listeners' comments/opinions on a vague question.

Please listen to the episode, but here's the gist of it:

I've been receiving a bit of comments that lead me to believe that some of you think that I am headed down a path that will surely endanger myself and others.

My vague question (that I will not explain or elaborate upon) is this:
As a woodworker, what gives you (for lack of a better term) the 'right' to try something new within the craft/hobby; instruction (video, audio, personal lessons, fill in your favorite instruction media here) or hands on experience.

I will not be displaying any comments to this question/episode for a week and a half (roughly) and I go over them in an episode. I'll also be going more in depth with you about why I decided to ask for your opinions. Then I will display them all (unless you tell me not to share yours). A week later, I'll be sharing my own opinion with you.

When the next few weeks' events have concluded I will then open up the comments sections of the episodes to immediately post your comments again.

Thanks!

Rick

Brief XLeg Table Update

Rick Waters — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 07:35:46 GMT

Technorati Profile
I got out the jigsaw last night after 3 hours of chiseling out the mortise for the Thick Leg. Unfortunately, I don't have the experience to be able to pull off a successful angled mortise and tenon.

Not a big deal, really. I will definitely have to learn how to do this in the future, but as I need to finish this table withing the next 3 weeks, I have to make it work sooner rather than later.

So, anyway, I cut the tenon on the Thick Leg to be square with the bottom of the Table Top. Much like everyone has been telling me would have been easier to do. Well, I hope you can't fault me for at least trying...

Thanks for all of the comments and encouragement!

Episode - 11 - Interim 2008.07.13

Rick Waters — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 09:16:35 GMT

Episode 11 - Interim for 2008.07.13

News News News. Lots of news and a little woodworking.

Vacations
The Novice Garage Woodworker resurfaces!
Family News
The New Tree On The Block

Sorry for not having a 'What I Learned This Week' episode this week. I'll be on vacation starting the day after class this week, so I won't be able to get an episode up for you. Maybe a longer one in two weeks? Maybe a couple of short one while I'm on vacation? Maybe.

Check out the XLegTable progress on my photo album, click on XLeg Table

Episode 10 - What I Learned This Week - 2008.07.08

Rick Waters — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 12:18:52 GMT

Episode 10 - What I Learned This Week - 2008.07.08

There's no clock in my shop

There's no clock in my shop, and there's several reasons for that. I'd like to say that the only reason is because when I'm in the shop, I WANT to lose track of time. I WANT to be relaxed and not live by the clock. The majority of the time I spend in the shop is after work and on weekends. If I'm in there after work, I don't want to know that it's 11pm and I have to wake up in 4 1/2 hours to get ready for work again. On the weekends, I don't want to know, on Sunday, that my weekend is almost over.

The shop, I guess like in a casino, no one wants to live by the clock. We, or at least I, spend almost my whole week governed by the clock - even on weekends. I just want to keep that time in my life free from the stress of timelines.

Sure, glue-ups and finishing are time sensitive, but a simple oven timer, or wall socket timer connected to a lamp could alert you when the next step in your process is ready. At least that way there's no visible clock in the room.

I guess this only really applies to those of us who are hobbiests. Those of you who are making a living doing this, well, I can't speak for you. How do you deal with time?

Dust, dust, everywhere; but nary a speck collected

Very anticlimactically, I am actually listening to MBW episode "Dust Collection Advice for Tablesaws" while I write this, hmmm, about 24 hrs too late. In fact, when I woke up yesterday morning to design and build a dust collection system for my tablesaw, I didn't even know Matt had an episode on this exact topic.

So, to let you know my thinking/planning/building process yesterday... I sat down at the kitchen table and drew out some plans for an upside-down pyramidal chute from the base of my contrator table saw to a hinged door that I could dump sawdust into a plastic bag when needed. I also was going to cut a hole in the side of the chute to connect the shop-vac to.

I measured everything out, made up a parts list and went to Lowes. I was able to find everything I needed, except a 3" to 2" hose reducer (for the jointer), and a dust collection bag that I was going to use to catch all of the dusty air that the shop-vac blows out.

So, I get everything home and I start cutting the pieces to form a pyramid. The only thing is that the base of the table saw is not square, it's rectangular. For once my geometry failed me. I failed to realize that a non-square-based pyramid will have a different bevel angle than a square one. I just bevelled the edges of the triangles at 45 degrees and noticed that the pieces never fit - at all.

So Plan B was to take the small amount of 1/2" plywood I had left and enclose the bottom of the table saw in a box with a slanted bottom and a hose hole cut-out. So, I cut out a few pieces that will fit the stand that the saw sits on, but at that point I was out of time to play around with it for the day.

So, this morning while looking for more MBW episodes to listen to, I see the one I mentioned above that is right up my alley. I started listening and Matt says he has pictures of his solution. I take a look and it's almost exactly what I had already started to build. Just that his is much more compact and looks a lot better...

Kickback Rounds 2, 3 and 4

OK, when I had said before that I had experienced kickback, I had no idea what I was talking about. So, for one of the biggest things I learned this week, kickback is dangerous. Very dangerous.

Didn't I know this? Of course I knew. Didn't I try to prevent it then? Of course I did - when I remembered to. Believe me, I'll remember everytime now.

So, what happened? Well, while I was cutting plywood for the dust collection bin for the tablesaw, I was having trouble feeding the wood, keeping it flat on the table, keeping it up against the fence, and standing on the left side of the blade. Well, I was ripping a 2'x4' piece of plywood down the middle and the right half got caught on the splitter. So instead of backing off the blade, I tried to push it against the splitter and force it to back off the table.

Big mistake! The board lifted, spun and flew across the garage. It caught my index finger and shaved a lot of skin off it before it hit me in the upper thigh - a little too close to home if you know what I mean.

I was pissed! Especially when it happened 2 more times that day. I don't know what was wrong with me on Sunday, but I just couldn't cut anything right that day. Eventually I just threw all the wood on the garage floor and gave up for the day. So, there everything still sits and my wife can't be too happy. But, I think sometimes you just gotta take your lumps and give up for the day. That's what I did.

Now I understand all of the things I was doing wrong:
1) I wasn't using my push sticks.
2) The splitter wasn't aligned properly - something I'd been meaning to fix
3) I wasn't paying as close attention as I should have been
4) I was saying "Fingers and thumbs don't be dumb" but I wasn't heeding that warning.

Listen for Notes on Class and my take on Furnitology's interview with Wendell Castle (part 1).

Episode 9 - What I Learned This Week - 2008. 07.01

Rick Waters — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:27:11 GMT

Episode 9 - What I Learned This Week - 2008.07.01

Music in this episode by:
Kelly Dean
Zoe Keating
Rubber Band Banjo

The Jointer Has Landed!

Notes on Jointer setup:

1) I've heard the jointer referred to, in the reviews section of HD's website, as mislabeled as jointer, when it should have been labeled 'Box of grease. Jointer included.' Well, I would label it as 'Hernia in a box' or 'Be-careful-not-to-break-your-back-or-crush-your-hands-or-feet-while-offloading-this-from-your-car'

2) The instructions were written by someone who meant well. But they really should have done some proof-reading. The instructions often include 'as shown in illustration' when it was definitely not shown in the illustration provided.

3) The setup, at least when dealing with the motor installation, should be simplified - drastically. There's not much worse than to install a heavy motor on an angled piece of metal, strap a heavy belt to it, then told to pull the motor along the angled mount until the belt it tight enough, then tighten the bolts. Picture this for a minute. That's about the most idiotic thing in the world. I had to rig up a system of clamps to get the motor to stay in position while I tightened the bolts. Truly not an ideal setup. To Ridgid's credit, there was an optional way to do it. The way I did it was to have the assembly upside down. Which is how the assembly already was positioned from the previous steps. The other option was to upright the assembly and have gravity pull the motor into place. The last thing I wanted was to have the motor fall into place, and then land on my face when I was under the thing trying to pull on it and tighten the bolts!

4) I think it's just absolutely awesome that they included two angle mounts that, when used together, form a cross that sits on the bed and helps you to angle the fence for beveled cuts. What I think is just down right lame is that there are two of these guides and only room to store one of them on the jointer's frame!

Woodworking in America

Woohoo! Woodworking in America is coming! Woodworking in America is coming! Aww, crap! I'm booked solid in November! JK

Surprisingly enough, I'm not kidding when I say that I'm trying to schedule going golfing with my friend, but we're already looking at the middle of August! Sheesh! My schedule never used to get filled up that fast before I was married...

Alas, not going. I do have a very special announcement to make right that will take place right around that time. But I won't be making that announcement for a few weeks. (Muhahaha, let the anticipation build!) It'll keep me away from joining everyone this year, but I hope to go to some large woodworking events next year. Just like I joined my local Woodworkers Club (Fox Valley Wood Workers Club), but haven't been able to make it to a single meeting yet (I've missed 2 and will miss a third tonight), mostly due to the woodworking class I'm taking.

But anyway, I just wanted to let you all know that I'd love to join you all and meet you face to face, but I think it's going to have to wait. Shame to, it's in Kentucky. Though I can't stand Kentucky (no offense to you Kentuckyans, I've just had a lot of bad experiences there), it's not that far of a drive...

Class This Week

OK, this was the first REAL week for my woodworking class. The first two weeks were familiarity with the machines, the third week we had no class because the instructor was out of town. Now this week, we started our projects.

Remember the first junior high dance you went to? Where all of the guys were on one side of the gym and the girls on the other. A lot of people standing around looking at each other, the floor, their hands, waiting to see who would be the first one to 'make a move'. Remember that? That was tonight at class. At least, that was the first 5 minutes of class. Then everyone jumped into action.

Sorry, but it wasn't me that made the first move. It was the captain of the football team. Damn! He always has more guts than me. No, no, it wasn't like that. I was, um... sorting... out... my wood! Yeah, that's it, I was lining it all up so that it looked like I knew what I was doing. Aww, what do I care? No one's looking at me. Well, except the cute girl in class. Sheesh! Who am I kidding? She's not that cute.

OK, let's ditch the high school mental reunion! I jumped right in jointing the edges of my boards, then thickness planing them as well as I could. It turns out that most of the boards have cupped and twisted in the past 7 weeks, or so, since they've been sitting in the garage. Go figure.