Digital Design

A place to discuss all forms of digital design.


165 topics in this forum

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  1. Sketchup vs. ?? 1 2

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  2. Make a Dodecahedron

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  3. Shapr3D CAD Program

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  4. Help with a image.

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  5. Drawing a twisted block

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  6. Fusion 360 tutorials

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  7. Solidworks? 1 2

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  8. just for fun

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  9. Sketcup line color?

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  10. Sketchup 2018

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  11. French curve

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    • Well, not today, but over the last two days, I thought I would get a leg up on my wife's Mother's Day present. She's been asking for a potting bench for the last year, so I figured I better get around to it. Just quick and simple, built with 2x4's screwed together. One feature that I threw in was the removable portion of the top that holds a 12 gal tote for potting soil or whatever. I also made a little tool holder out of a cedar picket that she can move or take with her. Now she's happy and I got enough husband points for her to leave me alone for a little while.
    • Handsaws are 26" long and some longer. Panel saws are shorter versions of handsaws typically 20 to 24" long.  I don't own any, never having a good reason to need a shorter saw. Backsaws have a stiff extra piece over the top of the saw plate. 8 pt. is a good handsaw for shortening boards.  I use 10 pt. for cutting wood siding boards.  12 pt. make nice clean cuts on finish work in hardwood. Sometimes a 7 pt. for soft (softer than Yellow Pine) framing lumber. 3-1/2 pt. is a beast of a rip saw, especially if you are trying to rip hardwood thicker than 4/4.    4-1/2 might not sound like much difference, but it is and is my most used size.  I especially like a Disston D8 with 28" plate and thumbhole for the second hand thumb in the handle.   A 6 pt. is okay, but slow and slow is harder on the arm than getting it done. Since the question was about handsaws, I won't get into backsaws.  A lot of new woodworkers call backsaws handsaws.  Don't. The second picture shows a saw box that I built in 1974 and still use.  I sat on that box eating my lunch many days.  The picture with more saws in it was made maybe 20 years ago just to keep the accumulation in a safe place. I also like Sandvik saws.  I think they stopped making them in the late 1980's, so I've bought up some unused ones to keep as spares-ones still in new sleeves in the newer box.  I also have a number of others other than the Sandviks that work good too.   If you use a handsaw to amount to anything, you need to be able to sharpen them. Long backsaw in old box came with Langdon-Acme miter box that I bought new and still use sometimes.  
    • @wtnhighlander - In my area, at about 30 minutes there is no adjusting anything although at this dimension and length there is some spring.  The parts are safe to handle carefully though and could be pulled apart if required.  I do use clamping squares or whatever you want to call them. I also have little squares of MDF or tempered hardboard wrapped in packing tape.  These are used to press the corner flat at the glue line, to the reference surface I am using for glue up.  I put a bit of wax paper between the material and the surface.  The clamping squares assure things are at 90 degrees and the little blocks and associated clamps assure the surfaces are in plane. y Helps to give you those nice air-tight corners whether mitered or not.  
    • @gee-dub, does 30 minutes of dry time leave the first corner's glue soft enough to fine-tune the squareness when joining the final corners? I usually have more luck achieving square when I can compare corner to corner measurements, than by using a reference square aganst the 'L'. I like the idea of making the frame in two stages, though.
    • Having tested my patience by rip sawing a 7" thick by 8' long log cant with a 7 tpi saw, I can tell you it can be done. I'll also say that a 3 or 4 tpi saw would have made the job much faster. Smaller teeth, with smaller gullets, get packed with waste only a small distance into the kerf, and don't clear until they exit the other side. This means very little cutting is accomplished with each stroke. For rough cuts, I would want one long hand saw / panel saw with 3 to 5 teeth per inch, filed for ripping. Cross cutting can be done well enough with 7 to 9 teeth per inch, even in thick stock, since the total cut is usually less that a foot or so. A pair of back saws with more teeth per inch will cover your joinery needs. Alternatively, all those tasks can be accomplished reasonably well with a single 'Ryoba', the japanese pull saw with teeth on both edges.
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