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Link of the week

February 24th, 2012
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Bessey Tools

After all of the help the folks at Bessey gave me on Wednesday’s post, it’s only fitting I throw a little love Bessey’s way.

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Nice folks, and they make some great clamps for both wood and metal working. They also make a line of sheet metal snips for those of you who may want to do some of that kind of work.

Of course, you can never have enough clamps, right?

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Posted by Tom, in Link of the week No Comments »

Can you ever have too many?

February 22nd, 2012
Translation

One of my favorite movies of recent years was The King’s Speech. What an awesome film. It followed King George VI of Great Britain and told the story about his stammering problem and how he overcame it. The culmination of the movie was the memorable speech he delivered to his subjects on the occasion of the start of World War II, helping to steel the resolve of his island nation.

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It’s a good thing he came to power, because his brother, Edward VIII was a real weenie. Rather than take the advice of his counselors, he chose to continue a relationship with American divorcee Wallis Simpson. She was less-than-reputable, allegedly having several suitors while dating the Prince of Wales, later the King of Great Britain. She also treated the future King George VI and his wife in a manner not befitting their status as members of the royal family.  Often seen as vain and self-centered, she was quoted as saying, “You can never bee too rich or too thin.”

This quote later became the rallying cry of fashionistas and super models strutting the latest designer clothes on the runways of Paris and Milan.

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While I’m neither too rich or too thin, I do know of a similar expression in woodworking circles that seems just as applicable… you can never have too many clamps. Basically, you need the clamps in your collection to hold wood together while you glue, mark out joinery or otherwise work on a piece of wood. Clamps should be strong, hold well and easy to deploy when they are needed.

Since most woodworkers don’t have the financial wherewithal to afford every single clamp out there, we need to take the time to explore the different kinds of clamps that exist and which ones can create the basis of a workable collection. I’m sure that some of you will write me to ask why I didn’t include your favorite.  Just remember, we’re looking at clamp 101 here, so bear with me.  By the way, the awesome folks at Bessey Tools helped me with my research.  Nice folks.

spacer The pipe clamp:  What many people think about when they think clamps. They are exceptionally affordable – you buy the the head assembly and tail piece together, then attach them to a length of iron pipe you can find in any home improvement center. They are perfectly adequate for most clamping purposes, giving a lot of clamping power. You can even use a pipe coupling and attach two lengths of pipe together, making uber-long clamps.  The down side is they are heavy.  Black iron also reacts with water-based glues, staining your wood.

spacer The F-style clamp: Also known as bar clamps, these  have a head that is fixed on one end of the clamp, and a sliding tail piece that allows you to make large adjustments. Once snugged up to the work piece, you apply pressure on the clamp by twisting the handle, extending the bottom screw of the jaw to apply pressure to the work piece. Much lighter than pipe clamps, they are more maneuverable. With their smaller clamp pads, aggressive tightening can leave crushed areas, so either watch how tightly you crank them down or use a caul to help distribute the load.

spacer Aluminum bar clamps: Very similar in appearance to many other kinds of clamps, you’ll be able to recognize these things by their light weight. Made of aluminum rather than iron or steel, these babies are very easy to maneuver and give a great amount of clamping force. They also tend to resist bowing when pressure is applied because the aluminum is drawn into a rigid channel form. The best ones are made from aircraft quality aluminum, and they can cost a bit.

spacer Parallel jaw clamps: These are the big daddies in the clamping world. Bessey’s K-Body clamps were some of the first out there, and they are the type I reach for most of the time. They have an enormous clamping area on both faces, and can be used in several different configurations. While they do cost more than your average pipe or bar clamp, they are solid performers and make clamping a whole lot easier.

spacer Squeeze clamps: These one-handed clamps are as convenient and handy as the day is long.  For most of my small-project glue ups, I reach for these. Also, when I have to attach something like a stop block to my crosscut sled, I reach for these babies.  You can get a decent amount of pressure on them, and they release by tripping some mechanism that releases the clutch on the bar. I have seen these as long as 36 inches, but my collection seems to be mostly in the 6 to 12 inch range.

spacer Spring clamps: Just like large clothes pins, these babies use spring pressure to hold the jaws shut. Again, these are light-pressure clamps and they have limited opening ranges, so don’t count on them for a lot of glue ups, but when you need to hold a molding in place or some other delicate job, they are more than up to the challenge.

spacer Strap or band clamps: Not every project we build has 90 degree corners. Some projects have crazy angles (chairs come to mind)  or are round (or mostly round in the case of something like an octagon). In those cases, it may be tough to get a standard clamp to work right. That’s why these clamps are just so darned handy. Basically, they consist of a nylon strap, some mechanism to take up the slack and tighten the grip, and possible some corner guides.  These corner guides make gluing up miters very easy. You typically won’t use them every day, but you will enjoy the heck out of them when you need them.

spacer Handscrews: An old fashioned tool that still is a heavy hitter in most shops. They consist of two large wooden jaws joined by a pair of threaded screws with handles on the ends.  By adjusting the handles, you can get the hand screws to open to any angle you wish. You can also use these babies to grasp the back end of a long board when the other end is secured in a vise. This way, the board is supported while you edge plane. I have also used them as a holder for small pieces which need to be routed, giving my hands a little more distance for safety.

spacer C Clamps: The old tried and true standby. These babies are made with a c-shaped frames and a threaded post that allows the clamp to be cranked into place. While they may seem small and even cute (a word my wife used to describe the first set I brought home), these clamps are capable of providing tremendous clamping power.  Again, either watch how much force you use when applying them or use a caul to protect your work.

Now, I’m sure that I have missed a bunch of specialty clamps out there… there’s no doubt about that. But, these are the kinds of clamps I rely on for the woodworking in my shop, and you will find many of them being put to use every day.  Hopefully, this is a starting point for you on your clamp acquisition adventure, and that you find it to be a good starting point on your way to having a King’s ransom of clamps … that STILL will never be enough.

Posted by Tom, in Tools 5 Comments »

The FIRST Modern Woodworkers Association Florida meet-up!

February 20th, 2012
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I love when the Woodworking Shows come to Tampa. It’s a great opportunity to see my friend and fellow Wood Magazine contributor Jim Heavey (and, Jim, yes, you are welcome back to the house for more Jambalaya, if you are up for it!), sit in on some awesome classes and get hands-on time with some great tools.

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This year, there is going to be something else to look forward to – the first ever Florida meet-up for the Modern Woodworkers Association. With online woodworking now a huge deal, the MWA is a place for us all to hang out virtually… but, it’s always good to get folks together in person to talk, shake hands and swap some tall shop tales.

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This year, the Woodworking Show at the Tampa Fairgrounds is held the weekend of March 16 – 18. I plan on being there on Saturday, March 17. Since that Saturday is St. Patrick’s Day, I’m sure most of you would like to get your Irish on at a St. Patrick’s Day celebration, so we’ll make the meet up from about 10 – 3.  I won’t be sporting any green, but I will be wearing my Modern Woodworkers Association t-shirt I got last October, so I should be easy to find. I will look a lot like the guy in this photo:

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While we won’t have a formal ‘agenda’ for this meeting, it should give us a good opportunity to get together. Since the St. Petersburg Woodcrafters’ Guild will have a table at the show, this might not be a bad meeting spot around noon…

In the meantime, I’m looking forward to seeing everyone next month!

 

Posted by Tom, in Experiences 4 Comments »

Quick poll

February 19th, 2012
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There’s nothing like getting a brand new shiny tool. Or, maybe a sweet new jig to make your router do more. Or… well, you get the idea.

Anyway, you open the box, take out the three thousand screws, parts and and other things and – most importantly – the user’s manual. You may look at it during the assembly… or not. And, you may refer to it during the first use. Then, you are left with that darned manual..

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Today, tell us what happens to your users manuals. Do you keep them handy, or do they just go away?

Posted by Tom, in Quick Polls 5 Comments »

Link of the week

February 17th, 2012
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Hometown Woodworking

In addition to Marc Spagnuolo, there’s one other person I have to thank for helping me take that first step into woodworking blogging. Her name is Gail O’Rourke. She’s a talented woodworker from Cape Cod who invited me up to a charity build-a-thon at a woodworking school in Indiana back in the fall of 2005. From that one contact, I was inspired to take the next steps into the wonderful world of online woodworking.

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Gail has recently had her website redone, and it’s still being tweaked. But, I thought I would list it here today to let you know she’s back online. Check out her site, which links to an article about her Cabinetmaker Magazine, he brand-new blog and a video pilot of a show she had shot. It’s a great tour of what you can find in a lumber yard.. a great primer for the new woodworker.

Thanks, Gail, for all you have done for me!

Posted by Tom, in Link of the week No Comments »

Stuff I’ve Built: The Valentine’s serving tray

February 15th, 2012
Translation

Yesterday was Valentine’s Day… Which meant that I had better come up with a gift or face the wrath of my sweet beloved…

spacer Just kidding, Dear.

Actually, my long-suffering wife had once mentioned something about our living room.  There, we have our couches, a few side tables, the TV, a built in entertainment center and an ottoman. A nice big one that two people can sit on, or you can throw your feet up on after a hard day of work. The only problem? No coffee table. No place to put a drink down, especially when you are sitting at the end of the love seat farthest from the end table.  ”Wouldn’t it be great if we had some kind of serving tray to put on there?”

Of course, she said this about three years ago… but, who’s counting?  With the hanging wall cabinet done, my shop was kinda quiet, so I put my mind to building a serving tray.  Which plans to use?

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It turns out that the folks who published Tommy Mac’s Rough Cut Season One companion book had sent me a copy to evaluate. And, there was a plan in there for a serving tray.

Digging around in my wood pile, I found a 8/4 chunk of walnut. Rhonda had mentioned that she liked the way the wood looked during the wall cabinet build, so I figured that would be the piece to grab. With my band saw now able to forgive me after the years of abuse I had heaped upon it, I rigged it with my 5/8″ resaw blade and proceeded to resaw the piece into three separate pieces. Working with my new thickness planer, I was able to get the pieces looking sweet in very short order.

In fact, I think I fell in love with resawing… I may need to do a whole lot more of that!

Following the instructions in the book, I was able to glue up the bottom and cut the sides and ends out of the plans I cut from the board. The tip in there about building a ‘magic block’ to help set the compound miter cuts was killer, and I got everything right on the first try. I cut rabbets on the ends pieces to accept the sides, and my boys came out into the shop to help with glue up and assembly.

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Unlike Tommy Mac’s version, I used brad nails, filling them with some dark wood putty. I had the boys sand the piece, and finish it with a coat of shellac.  After smoothing the finish with some 320 grit paper, I rubbed in three coats of Johnson’s paste wax to get a soft, touchable feel to it.

After Rhonda left for work, the boys and I staged the tray on the ottoman with some special chocolates and cards from each of us. And, it was my youngest son Steven who got to surprise Rhonda with the piece when they returned from school yesterday afternoon.  How sweet…

So, you wanna hear a review about the book?  Funny you should ask… The Modern Woodworkers Association – more specifically, myself, Dyami Plotke, Chris Adkins and  Michael Lingenfelter – got together to do a review of it.  Here’s the audio review for your listening pleasure…

Be on the lookout for more stuff from the Modern Woodworkers Association coming soon!

 

Posted by Tom, in Projects 1 Comment »

Species Spotlight: Leopardwood

February 13th, 2012
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I have a friend who – many years ago – used to work for Busch Gardens here in Tampa. He was involved in the transportation of animals between zoos and the theme park, and that involved getting up-close and personal with some very large – and very dangerous – animals.

So, I asked him, what was the scariest animal he ever moved? A lion? A tiger? A bear? Oh my!

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Nope. It wasn’t any of those. It was – surprisingly enough – the leopard. Unlike the other big, strong animals that made their presence known, the leopard was always stealthy… moving carefully in its enclosure while the staff would coax it into a vehicle for transportation. My friend told me several times that the leopard’s stealth was so good, he would often lose sight of the big cat while it moved through its habitat…

While the big cat that bears the name leopard can be sneaky and covert, that’s the last thing you could call the wood bearing the same name. Leopardwood grows in carefully managed forests in Brazil. The tree is a magnificent specimen, growing nearly 100 feet tall with trunks as large as 48 inches in diameter.

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While it’s gorgeous to look at on the outside, once it is cut into, the real beauty starts to show through. The wood is a reddish-brown with a coarse, straight grain.

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But, that’s not where the beauty ends. As with white oak, leopardwood has rays in the grain. Unlike white oak, these rays are numerous and closely packed, giving the wood a lacelike appearance similar to quartersawn sycamore. These rays are similar to figure in maple or other hardwoods, and can make working the wood a bit of a challenge. Using very sharp tools and skewed cuts gives the best results.

As with many tropical hardwoods, leopardwood sawdust can cause skin irritation or respiratory issues with some people, so dust collection, a mask and other precautions would be a good idea.

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Leopardwood is readily available, so finding boards shouldn’t be an issue. Its figure is so prized, it also makes outstanding veneer and works well in that application. It also accepts finishes beautifully, so once your project is sanded, planed or scraped to a fine finish, have at it.

So, the next time you are looking to sneak a little exotic wood into your project, why not give leopardwood a shot?

 

Posted by Tom, in Spotlight 2 Comments »
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