Post your woodwork here

[patches]

Continuing with my lazyness, some non-traditional woodwork creations from this weekend

A dice tower for one of our favourite board games. Can't claim credit for the design, I downloaded it off Thingiverse. I just laser cut (3mm MDF) and assembled.

A test of how fine/intricate the laser can cut (on 1.5mm ply). Also downloaded from Thingiverse. Had to do something festive as "I can make Christmas decorations for you" was one of the justifications I gave the wife for my impulsive laser cutter purchase 😅.

[Jehosefat]

Some charcuterie/chopping boards I've made for gifts:

Walnut and Ash end grain:

Walnut and Ash edge grain:

Walnut, Ash, Oak and Saligna edge grain:

Six different woods (Maple edging, diagonals are Walnut, Pink Beech and Blackwood, Cherry filler strip and then an awesome bit of Rhodesian Teak in the middle) edge grain:

[patches]

6 hours ago, Jehosefat said:

Some charcuterie/chopping boards I've made for gifts:

Walnut and Ash end grain:

Walnut and Ash edge grain:

Walnut, Ash, Oak and Saligna edge grain:

Six different woods (Maple edging, diagonals are Walnut, Pink Beech and Blackwood, Cherry filler strip and then an awesome bit of Rhodesian Teak in the middle) edge grain:

Those look great!

What did you use for finish?

[Jehosefat]

10 hours ago, patches said:

Those look great!

What did you use for finish?

Thanks 🙂

Couple of coats of mineral oil then a mixture of beeswax and mineral oil to finish it off (specifically this stuff: https://www.plankiwax.co.za/).

[patches]

Finally took the plunge and added block plane to the arsenal. I decided not to go all out on a Veritas or Lie-Nielsen, but went with a trusty Stanley low angle.

I tried out out of the box and it wasn't great... but with a little elbow grease tuning it up, it was planing some whisper-thin shavings on pine.

 

 

The sole and the iron needed quite a bit of work

I started flattening the sole (as you can see from the shinier spots), but there's a LOT of work to do here, so I did some, got bored, and moved on to the iron.

 

The back of the iron lapped easily as it was pretty flat. The bevel had these terrible grind marks on (left side) which you can see I'm trying to hone out (right side). After about 1hr+ with the honing guide, I eventually cleaned up the primary bevel, then added a secondary (sorry no pics), but it made all the difference.

So yeah, I could have paid 4x as much for a Veritas or Lie-Nielsen and saved myself a few hours of work, but where's the fun in that, right!?

 

[patches]

I finally finished the Christmas prezzies that my wife volunteered me to make for the in-laws...

The walnut turned out really nice. I made 2x walnut and 2x maple.

Here you can see each version with and without finish (danish oil)

They're replicas of the clothes-hanger-hangers I made (with a number of improvements)

 

[patches]

Call it too much YouTube influence, a tool addiction, or just being left alone in the tool shop unsupervised for too long...

but that's all water under the bridge now... I've been testing the  recently acquired Domino and it really does feel like woodwork cheating... ...but I'm ok with that 😅

I used some scraps to practice some of the typical applications (end to face butt joints, bevels, bevel to face and mid board joints).

and this tricky one that required a CA glued clamping caul

Now I need to build something useful. Although I'll never truly justify my splurchase (financially), as I'm a mere hobbyist, not a tradesperson... I did like the one point I heard stating that although Domino joiners are an overkill for hobby use, they can be invaluable for those that take more joy out of the design and creative part of woodwork than the technical skill honing (like hand-cut dovetails etc)... that's how I justify it to myself anyway...

as for how I justify it to my wife... I promised her some new built-in cabinets 😅

Edited January 12, 2023 by patches

[patches]

Some workshop organizing means my 3D Printer and Laser Cutter are now on the top shelf, making it hard to reach for some of the setup.

So I figured I'd make a step-stool to assist.

This was a bit of a "wing-it" build, using scraps from the wood cart.

Base is made from H3.2 treated pine (90 x 32 decking timber) and the top is made from Kwila/Merbau 70x19 decking boards.

My initial panel glue up didn't go very well as Kwila is oily and I didn't strip the oil before gluing. Second attempt had oil stripped and dominos placed to try prevent it splitting again.

[Steven Knoetze (sk27)]

20 minutes ago, patches said:

Some workshop organizing means my 3D Printer and Laser Cutter are now on the top shelf, making it hard to reach for some of the setup.

So I figured I'd make a step-stool to assist.

This was a bit of a "wing-it" build, using scraps from the wood cart.

Base is made from H3.2 treated pine (90 x 32 decking timber) and the top is made from Kwila/Merbau 70x19 decking boards.

My initial panel glue up didn't go very well as Kwila is oily and I didn't strip the oil before gluing. Second attempt had oil stripped and dominos placed to try prevent it splitting again.

Way to pretty for a step, would have thought it is a coffee table, or some sort of table.....
Well done.

[patches]

16 hours ago, Steven Knoetze (sk27) said:

Way to pretty for a step, would have thought it is a coffee table, or some sort of table.....
Well done.

Thanks! Yeah I put way too much effort in to what is effectively a glorified milk crate.

That said, I treated it as a learning opportunity, which taught me the following lessons:

1. How to use the Domino for joinery on angled legs
2. Oily woods don't glue up very easily, extra measures are needed
3. Oily woods can tannin stain your hands, which make it look like you ran out of TP 💩, no matter how much dishwash, isopropyl alcohol, turps or Swarfega you use. None of the aforementioned worked, and I was getting worried. Cant have dirty looking hands while working at a hospital.
4. Lemon juice is the magical potion that will remove the tannin stains from said dirty-looking hands (whew!)

Oh! and a common one for all woodworkers... you can never have too many clamps!

(my initial glue-up attempt, which failed and resulted in the the image below... AFTER hours of sanding, edge detailing etc 🤬)

Edited January 15, 2023 by patches

[patches]

Busy working on restoring the old Record No. 5 Jack plane I acquired and I ran into a little challenge with the totes.

As you can see from the 'Before Photo' they were a little worse for wear and needed some sanding and refinishing.

But after sanding, it became evident that the rear tote is not the same wood as the front.

I suspect that the rear tote is beech and the front is rosewood (I think), as are the front and rear totes on the No. 4-1/2 on the background.

So how best to finish the rear tote to have it matching the front?

I was thinking about a wood dye/stain, but perhaps another finish may give the desired effect?!

Any suggestions?

[ichnusa]

I love this thread for the varied questions, answers and projects going on.  So i feel i can ask freely...

I really like & am loyal to the Bosch Blue and Makita powertool ranges.   I have a Bosch blue 18V cordless drill with 2 batteries.  

Now i am in the market for a oscillating saw... but the price range and choice is staggering.  On the one end we have Bosch green (https://www.toolcraft.co.za/products/bosch-diy-pmf-250-ces-multi-function-tool-online-only) for R1850.  On the other side of the spectrum is Makita (https://toolservices.co.za/products/makita-tm3000cx2) for R5050.  It is important to note it comes with a case!  And somewhere in the middle is a cordless Bosch blue (https://www.toolcraft.co.za/products/bosch-professional-cordless-multi-tool-gop-18v-28-solo?currency=ZAR&variant=31714718384230&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=Google Shopping&gclid=Cj0KCQiA8t2eBhDeARIsAAVEga338kK1HqROpG0Je-Vnj35HJFShTzVuWpaTUsNydh503zylRPecQ6MaAiOdEALw_wcB) without a case!

 

What say you oh wise ones?

 

a

[Capricorn]

44 minutes ago, ichnusa said:

I love this thread for the varied questions, answers and projects going on.  So i feel i can ask freely...

I really like & am loyal to the Bosch Blue and Makita powertool ranges.   I have a Bosch blue 18V cordless drill with 2 batteries.  

Now i am in the market for a oscillating saw... but the price range and choice is staggering.  On the one end we have Bosch green (https://www.toolcraft.co.za/products/bosch-diy-pmf-250-ces-multi-function-tool-online-only) for R1850.  On the other side of the spectrum is Makita (https://toolservices.co.za/products/makita-tm3000cx2) for R5050.  It is important to note it comes with a case!  And somewhere in the middle is a cordless Bosch blue (https://www.toolcraft.co.za/products/bosch-professional-cordless-multi-tool-gop-18v-28-solo?currency=ZAR&variant=31714718384230&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=Google Shopping&gclid=Cj0KCQiA8t2eBhDeARIsAAVEga338kK1HqROpG0Je-Vnj35HJFShTzVuWpaTUsNydh503zylRPecQ6MaAiOdEALw_wcB) without a case!

 

What say you oh wise ones?

 

a

I have that corded Makiti Material Eater.. thing is a beast!

BUT

Every.

Single.

Time i use it, i wished it was cordless.

 

minor gripe with the Makita: that case is a standalone bit of a storage. if you have bosch's L-Boxx or the makita/festool systainers, no play nice.

Edited January 30, 2023 by Capricorn

[Jehosefat]

If you've already got the Bosch batteries you might as well stick with Bosch because the batteries are pretty expensive and this way if you get extras, at least they will be interchangeable.

[patches]

On 1/31/2023 at 12:26 AM, ichnusa said:

I love this thread for the varied questions, answers and projects going on.  So i feel i can ask freely...

I really like & am loyal to the Bosch Blue and Makita powertool ranges.   I have a Bosch blue 18V cordless drill with 2 batteries.  

Now i am in the market for a oscillating saw... but the price range and choice is staggering.  On the one end we have Bosch green (https://www.toolcraft.co.za/products/bosch-diy-pmf-250-ces-multi-function-tool-online-only) for R1850.  On the other side of the spectrum is Makita (https://toolservices.co.za/products/makita-tm3000cx2) for R5050.  It is important to note it comes with a case!  And somewhere in the middle is a cordless Bosch blue (https://www.toolcraft.co.za/products/bosch-professional-cordless-multi-tool-gop-18v-28-solo?currency=ZAR&variant=31714718384230&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=Google Shopping&gclid=Cj0KCQiA8t2eBhDeARIsAAVEga338kK1HqROpG0Je-Vnj35HJFShTzVuWpaTUsNydh503zylRPecQ6MaAiOdEALw_wcB) without a case!

 

What say you oh wise ones?

 

a

Upvote for the Bosch Blue. Cordless (although not the be-all-and-end-all) is convenient.

Also, Bosch use the Starlock system which not only makes blade changes easier, but also offers more surface contact between the chuck/collect/shaking-thingy and the blade so gets the power down through the blade a little more efficiently... allegedly.

Here are a couple of good videos and an article with comparisons between various cordless multi-tools.

 

 

And Tool Box Buzz's article and final scorecard on their shootout

https://www.toolboxbuzz.com/head-to-head/best-cordless-oscillating-multi-tool-head-to-head/

Although the Bosch ranked relatively low, it's still a professional grade tool, and you probably don't intend to use it to cut through nails all the time.

I have the Milwaukee (had the AEG before that) and the difference is significant, It's an absolute monster as you'll see in those tests, but sometimes I find it too powerful and it can overshoot the mark if one isn't careful. I also think it's WAY overpriced in SA (at R8750-ish here). I think I paid about R3500 equiv.

[Rich Stan]

Does anyone have any experience with a Zenbot Router cnc? I have recently inherited a full workshop and this was one of the newer tools my dad got and I never learnt how to use it.

 

It runs on Mach3 and V-Carve Pro software, lots of material online but hope someone has any useful tips before I go too far down a rabbit hole