10-05-2012, 09:59 AM
Hi,
First job Tuesday morning was to source and buy 1.5” thick Oak. I visited Timber Specialists (Huddersfield) Ltd. Excellent; yes they stock this thickness oak and I could buy a 1.5” x 6” x 96” length from stock. The oak was well stored and stacked and after inspecting it I went into the sales office for the bad news. £22.87 didn't actually hurt too much and I asked for the board to be cross cut at 60” so that it would fit into our little Aygo.
Sawn American White Oak.
This was a good start to the day and it even got better; the sun started to shine and at around 15 degrees it actually felt like summer allowing me to work with both garage doors wide open and to let the neighbours know I was still alive with the singing of the machines.
After dinner I decided to dimension this oak; the oak by the way is American White Oak. It's ages since I did any serious machining in the garage so I had to get everything set up. The Startrite combination woodworking machine was wheeled into position and the thicknesser fitted with my home made dust extraction hood; this is a quick set up requiring just one large turn-screw then the dust extractor hose was coupled. The dust extractor at 1.5HP is three phase and home made powered from my home made 3 phase transformer.
Home made dust extractor.
The Startrite was bought as a scrap machine and totally rebuilt by me around twelve years ago; this too is 3 phase being equipped with 3 separate 3 phase 415V 3HP motors and a power feed single phase 240V motor at 1/2HP. It is a five function machine each function easily selected by a single rotary selection switch on the main control panel. All 3 motors were connected in “Delta” and using a single start and single run capacitor the entire machine now runs on 240V but at reduced power which has never been a problem. The spindle moulder is slow to run up to speed but once spinning at 6,000 revs with a big cutter block installed it's not going to slow down even with a heavy cut applied. I get a lot of pleasure from my machines as I know them inside out and all owe me nothing considering the amount of work they have done over the years saving me a fortune.
Startrite control panel.
The thicknessing table was wound down and the cutter block revolved by hand to ensure it was free before applying power. I didn't fancy trying to man-handle this oak over the surfacing planer tables so opted to simply thickness it using the power feed doing this whilst it still was 6” wide. With ear defenders fitted the extractor was powered up as was the thicknesser and the power feed; it's always a lovely sound to hear this machine on song saving me a lot of manual work. The shorter length was put in first and as I gently pushed the board forward I raised the feed table until the feed/pressure rollers took control. This board was put through again to tidy the bit that was missed on the first pass then the second board was put through. As each board emerged I had to hold the free just planed end taking care not to let the board dip as the feed rollers let go as this causes “Snipe” if the board was to come out unsupported as the free end dipped the end still under the single feed roller would lift bringing on a much heavier cut over the last three inches or so; if the timber is plenty long enough then this snipe isn't too important that is until later when the board is cross cut to length; with my luck I would forget the snipe and end up with a board thinner at one end than the other so I don't gamble hence I take care and hold the board. I could of course use a remote out-feed roller and would have done this had the boards been long and too heavy to handle in comfort. With a nice clean planed surface on one side of each board the boards were then turned over and brought down to finished sized thickness this being done in a number of passes always putting each board through before re-adjusting the table height. It's better to thickness wide boards where possible before ripping them to width as it saves considerable handling and time. This machine will accept a 10” wide board.
Thicknessing action shot and thicknessed to size.
Next job was to set the saw for ripping. Ripping is the term used for cutting along the length whereas cross cutting is cutting across the length usually at right angles.The dust extractor was hooked up to the saw; now I set up the remote out-feed roller which can be seen in the picture; this prevents the far end of the board from tipping as it exits the saw blade; for my own safety I never take chances and plan each operation before powering any of the functions up. The crown guard and riving knife were in place and the machine set for saw function. The riving knife prevents the cut board from closing onto the back of the blade as it exits; if the riving knife is not fitted and a length of timber put through the saw the timber tends to close as it leaves the blade and at around 10,000 feet per minute rim speed the upward moving teeth grab the timber and eject it like a missile straight at the saw operator who should know to stand to one side. Some saw operations require the removal of the crown guard; operations such as rebating and trenching. Rebating such as removing the corner to allow glass and beading to be installed are done in two passes; I do this a lot for small jobs but if I had much to do I would take the time to set up the spindle moulder with the big rebating head fitted; this gives a much cleaner rebate in one pass. For trenching such as half lap joints I use the sliding table. The riving knife remains installed as it doesn't protrude above the saw blade.
Saw ready for ripping.
Taking my time and letting the saw do its job I ripped the two oak boards to oversized width ensuring my hands never got too close to the revolving blade by using a push stick. When using a machine under power always be on guard for the unexpected; many jobs are repetitive and it's easy to become complacent; it takes a bit of force to push thick oak through a saw and if hands are allowed to get too close to the revolving blade what would happen if the timber suddenly moved forward quickly? Imagine the blade running into a split or even a void; yes it happens and this is when limbs become detached very quickly making a mess of lovely timber due to being splattered with sticky blood; I always use a push stick and I even use a push stick on my big band-saw for the same reason. Another hidden danger is embedded foreign bodies such as nails or stones; sparks can ignite dust in the dust extractor and destroy a blade.
The most important push stick.
With the oak ripped next job was to surface plane both cut edges at perfect right angles to their faces. The saw cuts were perfect right angles but with a rough sawn surface. The long fence was fitted to the surface planer (Surfacer) and time taken to accurately adjust it for perfect right angle using an engineers square; it was then securely locked in position. The guard was added to cover the exposed cutter-head that wasn't to be used and the in-feed table dropped to give a light cut. Both lengths were planed but on one edge only; before planing the second edge I put them through the saw again but this time with the perfect edge against the fence; I had allowed plenty extra material for this; now the lengths were finished on three sides and the forth side (edge) was parallel to it's opposite edge so a single pass through the planer left a nice smooth length of oak with all edges at right angles to each other; for narrow lengths I don't use the thicknesser although I could put multiple lengths through the thicknesser together but it's a practice I avoid. I'm not so short of time to start trying to speed the job up by taking short cuts.
After a good session the four lengths of oak looked good and they could then move to the next process of cross cutting to finished length and jointing which will follow in due course. Please note slight bow along the length; this is normal because stresses are released from the timber during machining and this bow will hopefully be easy to remove upon assembly of the desk. Also please note the perfect fitting joint lines between the two pairs. The smell of the oak and the singing of the machines really made my day; I was like a big kid playing with favourite toys.
Four pieces dimensioned and note slight bow.
Many of our friends who see what I have made over the years usually offer remarks or comments to the effect that it is so easy for me after all I have the machines and the skill. If this is true why do my bones ache after a heavy session using these easy machines which do all the work from loading themselves with timber and doing all their own adjusting entirely without input from me. I take my hat off to the old craftsmen who did most of the work by hand; I shudder to think what I would have felt like if I had to saw and plane this rock hard oak by hand using hand tools. My machines remove a lot of the hard manual work but not all of it. I enjoy both machine and hand work but above all I just enjoy playing with lumps of wood.
Much more to follow as things are now starting to happen and momentum gathers pace. I hope these ramblings are of interest. I'm catching up on my notes as the weather is dire once again; hopefully I'll do something useful later today.
Kind regards, Col.
First job Tuesday morning was to source and buy 1.5” thick Oak. I visited Timber Specialists (Huddersfield) Ltd. Excellent; yes they stock this thickness oak and I could buy a 1.5” x 6” x 96” length from stock. The oak was well stored and stacked and after inspecting it I went into the sales office for the bad news. £22.87 didn't actually hurt too much and I asked for the board to be cross cut at 60” so that it would fit into our little Aygo.
Sawn American White Oak.
This was a good start to the day and it even got better; the sun started to shine and at around 15 degrees it actually felt like summer allowing me to work with both garage doors wide open and to let the neighbours know I was still alive with the singing of the machines.
After dinner I decided to dimension this oak; the oak by the way is American White Oak. It's ages since I did any serious machining in the garage so I had to get everything set up. The Startrite combination woodworking machine was wheeled into position and the thicknesser fitted with my home made dust extraction hood; this is a quick set up requiring just one large turn-screw then the dust extractor hose was coupled. The dust extractor at 1.5HP is three phase and home made powered from my home made 3 phase transformer.
Home made dust extractor.
The Startrite was bought as a scrap machine and totally rebuilt by me around twelve years ago; this too is 3 phase being equipped with 3 separate 3 phase 415V 3HP motors and a power feed single phase 240V motor at 1/2HP. It is a five function machine each function easily selected by a single rotary selection switch on the main control panel. All 3 motors were connected in “Delta” and using a single start and single run capacitor the entire machine now runs on 240V but at reduced power which has never been a problem. The spindle moulder is slow to run up to speed but once spinning at 6,000 revs with a big cutter block installed it's not going to slow down even with a heavy cut applied. I get a lot of pleasure from my machines as I know them inside out and all owe me nothing considering the amount of work they have done over the years saving me a fortune.
Startrite control panel.
The thicknessing table was wound down and the cutter block revolved by hand to ensure it was free before applying power. I didn't fancy trying to man-handle this oak over the surfacing planer tables so opted to simply thickness it using the power feed doing this whilst it still was 6” wide. With ear defenders fitted the extractor was powered up as was the thicknesser and the power feed; it's always a lovely sound to hear this machine on song saving me a lot of manual work. The shorter length was put in first and as I gently pushed the board forward I raised the feed table until the feed/pressure rollers took control. This board was put through again to tidy the bit that was missed on the first pass then the second board was put through. As each board emerged I had to hold the free just planed end taking care not to let the board dip as the feed rollers let go as this causes “Snipe” if the board was to come out unsupported as the free end dipped the end still under the single feed roller would lift bringing on a much heavier cut over the last three inches or so; if the timber is plenty long enough then this snipe isn't too important that is until later when the board is cross cut to length; with my luck I would forget the snipe and end up with a board thinner at one end than the other so I don't gamble hence I take care and hold the board. I could of course use a remote out-feed roller and would have done this had the boards been long and too heavy to handle in comfort. With a nice clean planed surface on one side of each board the boards were then turned over and brought down to finished sized thickness this being done in a number of passes always putting each board through before re-adjusting the table height. It's better to thickness wide boards where possible before ripping them to width as it saves considerable handling and time. This machine will accept a 10” wide board.
Thicknessing action shot and thicknessed to size.
Next job was to set the saw for ripping. Ripping is the term used for cutting along the length whereas cross cutting is cutting across the length usually at right angles.The dust extractor was hooked up to the saw; now I set up the remote out-feed roller which can be seen in the picture; this prevents the far end of the board from tipping as it exits the saw blade; for my own safety I never take chances and plan each operation before powering any of the functions up. The crown guard and riving knife were in place and the machine set for saw function. The riving knife prevents the cut board from closing onto the back of the blade as it exits; if the riving knife is not fitted and a length of timber put through the saw the timber tends to close as it leaves the blade and at around 10,000 feet per minute rim speed the upward moving teeth grab the timber and eject it like a missile straight at the saw operator who should know to stand to one side. Some saw operations require the removal of the crown guard; operations such as rebating and trenching. Rebating such as removing the corner to allow glass and beading to be installed are done in two passes; I do this a lot for small jobs but if I had much to do I would take the time to set up the spindle moulder with the big rebating head fitted; this gives a much cleaner rebate in one pass. For trenching such as half lap joints I use the sliding table. The riving knife remains installed as it doesn't protrude above the saw blade.
Saw ready for ripping.
Taking my time and letting the saw do its job I ripped the two oak boards to oversized width ensuring my hands never got too close to the revolving blade by using a push stick. When using a machine under power always be on guard for the unexpected; many jobs are repetitive and it's easy to become complacent; it takes a bit of force to push thick oak through a saw and if hands are allowed to get too close to the revolving blade what would happen if the timber suddenly moved forward quickly? Imagine the blade running into a split or even a void; yes it happens and this is when limbs become detached very quickly making a mess of lovely timber due to being splattered with sticky blood; I always use a push stick and I even use a push stick on my big band-saw for the same reason. Another hidden danger is embedded foreign bodies such as nails or stones; sparks can ignite dust in the dust extractor and destroy a blade.
The most important push stick.
With the oak ripped next job was to surface plane both cut edges at perfect right angles to their faces. The saw cuts were perfect right angles but with a rough sawn surface. The long fence was fitted to the surface planer (Surfacer) and time taken to accurately adjust it for perfect right angle using an engineers square; it was then securely locked in position. The guard was added to cover the exposed cutter-head that wasn't to be used and the in-feed table dropped to give a light cut. Both lengths were planed but on one edge only; before planing the second edge I put them through the saw again but this time with the perfect edge against the fence; I had allowed plenty extra material for this; now the lengths were finished on three sides and the forth side (edge) was parallel to it's opposite edge so a single pass through the planer left a nice smooth length of oak with all edges at right angles to each other; for narrow lengths I don't use the thicknesser although I could put multiple lengths through the thicknesser together but it's a practice I avoid. I'm not so short of time to start trying to speed the job up by taking short cuts.
After a good session the four lengths of oak looked good and they could then move to the next process of cross cutting to finished length and jointing which will follow in due course. Please note slight bow along the length; this is normal because stresses are released from the timber during machining and this bow will hopefully be easy to remove upon assembly of the desk. Also please note the perfect fitting joint lines between the two pairs. The smell of the oak and the singing of the machines really made my day; I was like a big kid playing with favourite toys.
Four pieces dimensioned and note slight bow.
Many of our friends who see what I have made over the years usually offer remarks or comments to the effect that it is so easy for me after all I have the machines and the skill. If this is true why do my bones ache after a heavy session using these easy machines which do all the work from loading themselves with timber and doing all their own adjusting entirely without input from me. I take my hat off to the old craftsmen who did most of the work by hand; I shudder to think what I would have felt like if I had to saw and plane this rock hard oak by hand using hand tools. My machines remove a lot of the hard manual work but not all of it. I enjoy both machine and hand work but above all I just enjoy playing with lumps of wood.
Much more to follow as things are now starting to happen and momentum gathers pace. I hope these ramblings are of interest. I'm catching up on my notes as the weather is dire once again; hopefully I'll do something useful later today.
Kind regards, Col.
Happiness is a wreck of a cabinet to restore.
