43 cubed - june update

It's been a few months now since I've talked about the 43 cubed project. Although I've the best intentions to do things on this project I've been side tracked with a new job as Senior Digital Producer for Sapient Nitro and also with my 6month old boy.

I've been working up the 1:1 pland for a few stools and have the templates ready to cut. Before I go ahead and do that though I want to be sure of the construction methods for each stool. I'm about 2/3 the way through the construction of one stool and to be honest - I'm not all that happy with it.

A few weeks back I took delivery of a table saw which I plan on using to cut more accurate blanks with. The blanks on the first stool were all cut by hand with standard tools. The accuracy in joints isn't good enough for me, +/- 1-2mm. I would much prefer <1mm tolerance in the joints.

I was also recently blessed with some timber from a stranger, 5 unwanted pallets that comprised some very good quality marine ply and really decent planks of pine.

With this I plan on getting two more stools underway. One with solid shaped pieces and the other with steam bent laminates. I've never steam bent before so I'm not entirely sure what to expect. However I am looking forward to it.

The table saw will help me cut the laminates as well as the bridle and tennon joints with much more accuracy. Stay tuned as I've got a new camera and will be sure to take plenty of pics.

3 Axis CNC Router

Thanks to the Tax department sending me some cheques from the early 2000’s I’m now in a position to purchase parts for the 3 Axis CNC Router. It’s been a dream of mine to have one in the workshop to be able to quickly cut parts with incredible accuracy and repeatability. I am happy to advise that everything I need to build the machine has been order, aside from nuts and bolts to hold the wooden parts together. The next month or so will find my weekends filled with cutting, drilling and welding this beast into submission. I’d love to be cutting by the end of march if everything goes to plan. Again, this machine will be a massive help in the production of 43[cubed] and the Flood Relief Furniture (Drift Wood?). I’d like to thank linearmotionbearings, Mcmaster Carr, Procureit Australia, Ausxmods, Foden Designs, Lamare Wimberly and VXB for being such awesome suppliers to deal with during this process. I’d also like to thank the community at CNC Zone and Wood Work Forums for their ongoing support in getting the technical aspects of things sorted out with the construction of this machine.

Dual Router Finishing Table

A few days ago I received a lovely little package from Foden Designs that contained some super accurate parts for my dual router finishing table that I’m building. These parts will allow me to run two routers at the same time with different bits in them for completing different stages of templating components. I’m really happy with the service, price and accuracy of the things Foden Designs have made and would highly recommend them to anyone looking to have unique one off items made. The dual router table is the next step in getting the machinery setup for the production of 43[cubed] and the Flood  Relief Furniture (Drift Wood - a working title)

[yes I took pics on our FX coffee table]

Flood Relief Furniture (Drift Wood?)

So after a number of calls into local businesses about the supply of damaged wood I can report that not a single one of them was willing to come on board to help with the flood relief – despite themselves being affected. They either weren’t interested or wanted the money raised for themselves. Needless to say I'm a little disappointed with the attitudes of some people.

I’m off this weekend to a couple of local scrap yards to see if they have anything from the floods for this project. Stay tuned as things develop. I’m hoping to have a few initial sketches up by the end of the weekend.


[edit]
I'm pleased to find out through a friend that there is a scrap yard in coorparoo that has flood affected floor boards. I'll be checking them out tomorrow or next weekend to see if its going to work for this project.

My Flood Relief Effort - Another Stool Project

On the way home today I got to thinking how I can help out with the flood relief efforts. I can't be there during the day to clean up as I have a full time job that needs me right now. So, during some quiet time I began to recall the "Three T's" from some bible reading I was doing recently. It's all about sowing into other people's lives - we are blessed to bless etc. The three t's are Time, Talent and Treasure. Now time is something I have but not when the cleanups are happening. Treasure, yup got that too but what I have wouldn't get very far with such an enormous task as cleaning up and rebuilding Queensland. That leaves me with Talent left and I've been told that I've got a little bit of talent when it comes to making things.

I tossed a few ideas around about what I could make and how I could then generate money from that in order to give the entire lot to the Premiere's Flood Relief Appeal. I have, for the past number of months, been working on 43[cubed], a unique stool project that will feature some collaboration with local textiles designers but had to put that on hold with everything else going on right now. During the process of researching natural connections I had begun drawing some rather organic shaped stools - also under the same design confines as 43[cubed] - that I'd planned on realising late 2011.

I've now decided to swap the projects around and bring the late 2011 project to reality in the next couple of months, if not sooner (provided I can get things sorted)

So, here's the low down:

- I will make 3 to 5 stools that commemorate the 2011 flood disaster in brisbane. Each capturing the natural landscape and spirit of South East Queensland

- I want to use recycled materials from the flood affected areas. If you know of anyone with hardwood they are throwing out or see some, please let me know. Floorboards would be a perfect stock material to use for this project. I see using materials from the flood as a perfect way of taking the massive destruction and turning it into something useful and beautiful.

- I am seeking textiles designers to collaborate with for the seat cushioning

- I am seeking individuals and business to help promote the fund raising side of things

- I will be having an online auction (1 each for each stool)

- 100% of the proceeds will go the the Premiere's Flood Relief Appeal.

If you are out there and you can help with any of the items above or you would like to get on board with the collaborative aspect please contact me. I did see 'Drift Cafe' ripping up their flooring the other day and today I saw a massive pile of flooring stacked outside. If you are connected with David Moore or the Drift Cafe please let them know about this project. I'd love for them to be a part of it. Equally, if you know of any other businesses in a similar situation that would like to come on board I'd greatly appreciate the information being passed on.

Stay tuned for more information as I get things sorted out. I will be uploading sketches of some potential stools in the coming days/week.

2011 Brisbane Floods

Hi everyone, over the past weeks Brisbane has seen flooding similar to that of the 1974 floods. Many parts of Brisbane have been completely inundated and there is a massive cleanup underway. I will be putting all projects on hold for the near future so that I can spend my available free time trying to help with the cleanup and restoration processes.

Thanks for your continued support in my journey into woodworking and furniture making.

Router Surfacer / Planer

I’m in the process of making some finger jointed boxes but to do so I needed to rip some planks in half to get the thickness I needed. The challenge I had was ripping 1500mm long planks that were 19mm thick and 110mm wide. My circular saw only cuts to a max depth of 65mm and I don’t have a table saw. My only option was to make some bench buddies to hold the planks up and against the side of my work table and then make two passes on the plank with the hand held circular saw. It’s very ghetto and was never going to produce a nice cut but I had no other option. So I proceeded to rip down the middle of the 19mm plank, flip it over and rip down the other side. Very early on I noticed that the wood wanted to fold in on itself behind the blade as I made the first and second cuts. To overcome this I cut some 3mm shims from hardwood post I had laying about and as I cut along I slipped a shim in behind the blade every 100mm or so. This was quite effective in preventing the cut wood from clamping on the back side of the blade which was causing the timber to burn.

With the planks cut in half I was left with a lovely set of saw/tool marks, burning and a groove where the wood had shifted during the process of flipping it over for the second cut. It was never going to be perfect but I’d hoped for a nicer initial result than what I got. So, I jumped online and began looking for thicknessers and was astounded at the cost of the machine and the cost of the replacement blades and parts. I am not in a position to be spending that kind of money on something that is going to only be used every so often. This presented me with challenge two for this project – how to surface the material and get it to a uniform thickness using what I had laying around in the man cave (aka workshop).

I got thinking, rather dreaming, about how far away my CNC is from being started and had an idea to make a manual sled to move the router around. What followed were some sketches for a 2 axis manually controlled router sled system. The idea being that the X axis was long enough to do a whole plank in one pass and wide enough in the Y axis so that it could do a few planks at the same time. Using the sketch I began looking at what I had available in the scraps pile to see if I could get it to work. It turns out that I did have all the materials to make the basic sled (minus the bearings to make the linear carriages slide nicely).

So I set about using:

-          1x old laminated chipboard cupboard door
-          3x 25x22x1.8mm aluminium extrusions (that I had first used for the proposal to my whifey)
-          Some 6mm (1/4”) polycarbonate/plexiglass
-          A handful of screws

I did place an ebay order for the bearings and my father in-law was kind enough to get me some M8 bolts from Bunnings while he was there. The total cost of all of that is well below $50.

Initially the sled was made to slide on wooden pads so that I could get a piece of plank surfaced nicely. Since then I’d received my order from ebay and I set about drilling and tapping the bearing carriages. BAM! I’d made a boo boo here by not considering the additional height the bearings would add to the whole assembly. It effectively put another 2” distance between the cutter and the material hold downs. As a result I had to modify the Y axis carriage so that the router base sat inside and at the bottom of the Y axis rails – where as it was on top of the rails initially. I’ve also had to modify the X axis carriages so that Y carriage sits closer to the X axis rails. Not a huge problem but it has since limited the movement of the Y axis – something I’m hoping to overcome with a few more modifications to the Y carriage and rail assembly.

With it now complete I can surface anything, including horribly uneven and figured timber, that is 1900mm x 430mm x 35mm. The best thing about the design of this unit is that I could easily increase the Z distance/clearance by adding a series of spacers to the bottom of the existing X rails. I’m thinking some pre-cut and pre drilled mdf strips will work really well for this and having them ready to go will make it easy to lift the X rails in increments of 9mm and 12mm (depending on which pre-cut strips I combine).

I am eager to see if I can use a template with this jig to do some nice engraving work on my finished pieces. More to come on that should I be successful (or if it fails).

My next mission is to create a circle cutting jig for cutting circles that are smaller than 300mm OD. My current sketches suggest I can cut a circle that is 1mm OD – provided I could get a cut work piece that small to stay put and not be shredded by the spinning router bit. In reality something as small as 5mm should be easily cut with my 3.17mm (1/8”) carbide end mills.

The original setup with wooden slides. This was upgraded once the bearings turned up from ebay.

The original piece including burns, tool makes and grooves.

The surfacing half way through the process

The finished work piece. nice n smooth

The whole assembly and finished work piece

A comparison (original on top, finished workpiece below)

The upgraded bearing rail assemblies

a short video of the diy router  surfacer / planer