difalkner

Thanks, guys! Coop, the main reason I didn't attend is that Sandy and I quit eating meat, dairy, and sugar about 2 1/2 years ago. I walked back to the kitchen to give these to our pastor and I have to tell you that the aroma from all those meats was simply amazing!! Sandy is a huge proponent of healthy eating and lifestyle and the more she read about how bad meat, dairy, and sugar is for you the more she wanted to go all organic and eat fruits and vegetables only. So I said 'let's do it' and that's all we've had since then. A bonus is that her cholesterol has been around 320 ever since I've known her and doctors couldn't get it lowered (she weighs about 110 lbs. dripping wet but it's hard to fight hereditary issues). Four months after switching to our new lifestyle her cholesterol dropped to around 200 and has stayed there. So would I have gone to the Beast Feast otherwise? Absolutely! But since it was a men-only event and we rode to church in one vehicle - ladies Bible study for her and band practice for me - she would have to just hang around another hour and a half while I feasted. Long answer - sorry - but we have this event 2-3 times each year and Houston isn't too far to drive for a feast like this so I'll let you know next time we have one. Who knows, you might win a door prize! David

Our church had a men's Beast Feast tonight where they served rabbit, deer, duck, alligator, white perch, elk, and pig. I didn't go but from the looks of the cars my guess is there were 60-70 men in attendance. So I figured some Walnut trivets would be good door prizes and I made three plus a US flag. The trivets are finished with mineral oil and the flag is sprayed with Nitrocellulose lacquer. I used gloss but probably should have used semi-gloss. The flag is about 5" x 10" and the trivets range from about 6" to 7" x 10" to 12". Enjoy! David

Haha! If only it were that easy... David

Just before Christmas last year our Pastor showed me a quote for new signage at the church. It was for one logo and two 'Worship' signs over the main entrances to the sanctuary. When I saw what was quoted I volunteered to do the signage. They were going to do the signs in metal and the logo would be 48" and vinyl wrapped, also probably metal. I told Bro Terry that I could do the signs but they would be in 1/2" Baltic Birch. His only request was that no grain show on the logo. I found rattle can enamel that matched close enough and used Hammer Tone finish on the letters so they'd look sort of like metal. To completely fill the grain on the logos I used Bondo on the face and spot putty on the edges. I cut two sets of logos at 60" tall (one for each hallway instead of just one hallway, as was quoted). Sanding the Bondo back down to the BB face was no fun at all and neither was filling and sanding all the edges of the letters and logos. But it worked just fine. I sprayed primer and all the rattle can paint out in the back yard - there's no way I'm going to spray paint inside the shop. So that meant there were many days of high wind or rain or cold when I couldn't spray. Once all the paint had cured for 4-5 days I clear coated everything with Nitrocellulose sanding sealer and gloss lacquer. I allowed the top coat to orange peel slightly so it wouldn't show finger prints as easily. To mount everything I used 1/4" aluminum rod cut to about 2" and Liquid Nails for adhesive. I sharpened aluminum mounting rod ends and we held the logo and letters in place and gently tapped to mark where to drill. Because the logo doesn't have any true horizontal or vertical edges I wondered how I would line them up on the walls (one was sheetrock and one was brick). What I came up with was to cut a piece to fill the negative space and then attach boards on the back to hold the entire piece as a unit for marking, then take the backer boards off to mount each piece of the logo individually. All in all I'd say everything came out nicely and our Pastor is pleased. Now he wants a world map to fill a 12' wall where we can mark the areas we support for missions. That ought to be fun! Logo - Cutting letters on CNC - Cutting logo on the CNC - Edges filled with spot putty - Letters ready for clear coat - Logo with alignment guide - Finished signage in one hallway - Enjoy! David

Disclaimer: I am not a CPA or tax specialist Three years ago when I began my at home woodworking after years and years of working for the man my CPA told me to make a decision - hobby or business. He said "if you tell me it's a hobby I can't help you with expenses but you'll still need to report income. If we're calling it a business then expense everything you deem applicable. The caveat is that you'll have three years in which to turn a profit or at least break even." After that the IRS will not allow us to call it a business and I stand the chance of being audited and forced to redo the previous tax returns reflecting zero expenses, showing this as a hobby, and paying the taxes owed plus penalties and interest. The first year was very easy - I started mid-year and built the CNC so no profit. The second year I secured local contracts and clientele and opened our Etsy shop late in the year, almost broke even. This third year has been a banner year and we'll definitely show profit. I don't think you can show expenses for hobby woodworking at home any more than someone who fishes or hunts can write off their boats, guns, lures, ammo, travel, etc., even if you sell the fish you catch or the meat from your hunt. It's a hobby and that's where you choose to spend your money but that's all it is - a hobby. David

I cut Longworth chucks out of BB and the cuts are very clean and crisp. I'm using a 1/4" Whiteside compression bit and cut the full 1/2" of the BB in one pass. For the longest time I used a 1/4" downcut spiral bit and that produced a very clean and crisp edge, as well. David

We bought the Laguna 14 SUV about 4 years ago and ordered it with the 1" Resaw King blade. It cut great until I destroyed it (you can go to my YouTube channel and see a video called "PSA - Improper use of bandsaw" - I don't want to insert it here and hijack the thread). I quickly ordered another blade and a spare. All I use the saw for is resawing and the saw and blade have performed flawlessly. So for me the Resaw King is a great blade. David

The back plate is mounted to a faceplate and there is a 1/4" hole in the center for a bolt to connect the two plates. Each slot has a bolt and rubber gripper that holds the bowl or drum staves. Here's a video showing how it goes together and how it works when on the lathe. This is one of my customers and he gave me permission to use his video back when he posted it - David

I have greatly improved not only the process but the speed at cutting Longworth chucks so I thought I'd do another video. When I first cut these chucks they were taking about 16 minutes per disc followed by 5 minutes or more per disc of hand sanding the edges to clean off the tabs and to round the edge. Occasionally the Baltic Birch would chip where I cut a tab and that was frustrating. Anyway, it's now a fairly refined and efficient process for a small home workshop. It could be improved upon but for now it's working just fine. The tools for the entire process are circular saw to break down the BB, table saw, drill press, CNC, stationary belt sander, drum sander, and ROS. Here's the video - Enjoy! David

There's never been any alcohol in our house but we do drink water and coffee. Except for me and my coffee, for which I have a specific place to set my cup and to stand and take a sip, nobody brings liquids into the shop. No exceptions ever. Even though my tools are all heavy and industrial I don't allow anyone to lean on tools. My philosophy is that if you can't stand without leaning on something then take a quick walk through the shop and go sit in the house. I work in the shop all day every day and I don't lean on anything. Besides, as has been said I don't want your hands on my cast iron surfaces. And just as important, don't walk in and begin picking up pieces of wood or moving fences and such. Fences might have been set for a particular cut when you got here and I'll make the cut when you leave, so don't move anything. I welcome visitors and many from our Woodworking Club come by but all get the 'rules briefing' before entering the shop. David

I'll confess that I didn't read 100% of the posts above but probably enough to get the flow. I built a CNC router about 3 years ago and may have posted the build here (I don't recall, sorry). The main thing I cut with it is Longworth chucks that we sell on Etsy (we've cut almost 200 of them in the last 18 months). But the CNC is just another tool in the shop to me; I turn it on, cut something, turn it off and move on to the next step. What's nice about it is the repeatability and accuracy. If I can cut something on the bandsaw faster than using Fusion 360 for CAD/CAM and then cutting a piece on the CNC then the bandsaw gets used. But if that same part is one that I'll need a dozen more of over the next month then the CNC gets the job - it just depends but in the end it's just another tool in the shop. We don't (yet) have a 3D printer but I have looked at several. A good friend has two 3D printers so I don't need one right now because he'll print anything I need. The acoustic guitar, and related forms/fixtures/jigs I built last year, could have been helped by the CNC but I only used it for a small portion of cutting the bridge. The rest was completely by hand and I do a lot of hand work on a fair number of jobs/projects every week. And actually, the reason I built the CNC is to cut forms, fixtures, jigs, and templates for building acoustic guitars but I have yet to do any of that with the CNC. When I started woodworking about 45 years ago I used a handsaw. When I got a circular saw the handsaw gathered dust unless the circular saw couldn't do the job. When I got a table saw the circular saw got put away. But it is still used to break down Baltic Birch sheets for the Longworth chucks because it's the best tool for that task in our shop (no room to handle a 5x5 sheet on the table saw). Cuts that I would have done on the bandsaw a few years ago might today go to the CNC. They're all just tools and I use what makes sense for the job because I have them and they each handle the job for which they were designed. My $0.02 David

"haven't had that since 1969." Hotel California reference? Neat. Isopropyl alcohol won't work for dissolving Shellac. And it contains water which will make the finish blush even if it did work as a solvent. You'll have to find some real DNA or Everclear, I guess. David

In the next week or so I'll begin the upgrade on our HF unit to convert it to a two-stage dust collector. I replaced the 5 micron bag 'filter' with a Wynn 0.5 micron a couple of years ago because of the aforementioned fine dust on everything. One side benefit in upgrading to the Wynn filter is that I was having to clean the filters on our mini split unit sometimes twice each week, but after the upgrade I now can go 3-4 weeks without cleaning the filters. I won't be using a cyclone on this two-stage conversion, though, but will instead use a Thien baffle. I added one to my shop vac several years ago and it works great. David

I use these from Big Horn, 6 mil (I think) - https://www.amazon.com/Big-Horn-11781-Disposable-Plastic/dp/B003NE5A9Q I bought the 5 pack in Feb 2017 and still have 2 remaining. About two months ago I finally changed the second bag because when I dumped the chips/dust in our trash can the bag caught on something and tore 3 or 4 holes that I couldn't seal good enough to keep using the bag. Seems like that's what happened to the first bag, as well. But these are heavy duty bags that last quite a while. However, if you're in the habit of one-time use and throw away then I would look for something like the trash bags mentioned above. David

They are really quite handy tools. You can very easily let the CNC dominate your woodworking and greatly shift your mindset to nothing but CNC work, but I prefer to just use it as another tool in the shop. There are some pieces we sell on Etsy and these designs have come about because we have a CNC. But there are others where the CNC just makes the job quicker, easier, and therefore more profitable - just a better tool for the job. Sometimes I use the CNC for very simple tasks and sometimes the engineering side of me takes over and manipulating the work piece on the spoilboard coupled with multiple bit changes begins to look like a choreographed work of art (or nightmare )! Below is a simple cut I made yesterday for our mailman. He has a CarveWright machine and engraved a sheet of acrylic but the engraving didn't come out like he wanted, so he asked me to just cut the outer circle. It took all of 5 minutes to draw it up in Fusion 360 and generate the G-code. Then I found center of the circle and used carpet tape to hold the circle and clamps to hold the entire piece. The cut took about 30 seconds. In this case the CNC was the perfect tool for the job, far better result than if I had used the bandsaw or rigged a way to cut this with a hand held router. David