difalkner

Thanks! Maybe 1/32". It's just enough to be a relief but not so deep as to be a pocket. And I seriously doubt it will ever be used for anything except kitchen art. David

Yes, another cutting board thread... sorry. (mods, if this needs to be moved please do so) This is an all Maple board 12" x 15" x 1 1/4". The top 1/2" is bookmatched with some nice ribbon in a few spots, mostly toward the left side. The reason I'm posting yet another cutting board is that I've never done one like this and that's typically what I post. I don't see any point in showing y'all cutting boards just like the last 10 or 20 I've made so you get to see the new ones and then I won't bother y'all again. Well, unless it's sort of the same with a new and interesting twist. I cut the board, drew the design in CorelDraw X8, and took the CorelDraw artwork to the laser shop I do work for and they cut it for me while I had a cup of coffee and waited the 30 minutes it took to burn the design. This was cut on a 60 watt Epilog and done in one pass. I lightly sanded the whole board with 400 grit when I got back to the shop so the tree and other burn areas would take on a bit more character. Then the standard 2 coats of mineral oil the first day followed by our Beeswax and mineral oil mix the next day. On the bottom are silicone rubber feet attached with stainless steel screws. Anyway, here's the board. David

Until my cheapo HF magnetic base broke I got about 0.0015" backlash on Y and 0.001" on X. I used MDI and went in 0.10" increments back to zero and then to 0.750" in one large step and back to zero. I saw 0.003" one time but the magnetic base was starting to slip right before it broke. The first few readings seemed repeatable. Nate is sending me some new spindles and belts so I'll get those on soon and test it again. In the meantime I need to either buy another magnetic base or go into DIY mode, likely the latter. I suppose the problem has been there. When I calibrated it before I probably didn't get it close enough. Yes, the steps per inch have been tweaked now to the best I can get it. I modified the file for the final finish cut of 0.005" and changed to conventional cutting. It is far better and much closer, though the inside dimensions are still off relative to the outside dimensions. About 6 months ago I installed a tramming plate and got the spindle perpendicular to the axes and spoilboard. All good suggestions and thank you for asking. It helps me to verify I've done what I can. I've now recalibrated the machine, generated new toolpaths, and flipped the board over to make new test cuts. They're still off but a whole lot closer than they were. I also added a backlash compensation into Mach4 though I'm not certain that feature really works. Tonight or tomorrow I'll cut some test pieces with Walnut and Maple to see if the inserts fit any better than before. David

My calibration still isn’t as close as I know it can be so I created a file today for some testing and calibration. This is a busy piece but served its purpose. Here’s what I cut with a 1/4" two-flute downcut spiral bit running 18k rpm and 125 ipm. I checked the bit - it is 0.250" on the nose. If I really work at it I can make it be 0.2495" at the very tip of the bit but for all practical purposes, and for this test, it's a 1/4" bit. The depth of cut is 0.1875" and it is cut with one pass leaving 0.005" on the side walls for a final clean up cut to get the fuzz off. The depth needed to be just deep enough to allow my dial calipers in for good measurement. I started on the bottom left, ‘Before’, and made my first cut. You can see it was out +0.005” on Y and -0.010” on X. I changed the settings in Mach4 and then ran the top left. Ignore the diagonals, those are to ensure I didn’t get too close to the screws. The circled dimensions are exactly as they’re supposed to be. I then ran the top right and it’s exact on Y and out +0.005” on X. The middle right was next and you can see it is exact on Y but out -0.002” on X. Bottom right is exact on X and +0.005” on Y (I wrote it wrong on the piece). The circle is very close, as well. However, all of the inside circles and squares are 0.015” to 0.025” undersize and I don’t get that. The outside squares, rectangles, and circles are close enough to be acceptable. I think the variance is due to the material which is a sort of soft Purebond plywood from Home Depot. So how do I get the inside circles to cut accurately? This makes it very difficult when I’m doing inlays and inserts, fitting dowels or bolts in holes, etc. I can’t change settings now or the other measurements will be off and I don’t want that. Is it something not set correctly in Fusion 360? Something in Mach4? It's not mechanical; the machine is very rigid and tight and if it was mechanical the squares, rectangles, and outside circles would be off, as well. I know using hardwood or acrylic would be better but until I get this a lot closer I don't want to waste good materials. Because the X and Y are very close now I need to figure out what's going on with the inside dimensions. I can slow the feed rate but I don't really think that's the issue. And going from conventional to climb (or vice versa) won't amount to the 0.020" and greater errors I'm seeing. And if the X and Y are as close as they are I don't think any error in the R&P factors in on the inside dimensions. I have Forstner bits of the size holes I cut and I can't get those bits into the holes. I can accurately measure the Forstner bits and most are about 0.010" undersize but even at that they won't fit into the holes I'm boring, so that tells me my inside measurements aren't too far off. Thanks! David

Thanks, Coop. I didn't really mean to hijack the thread, more just a light-hearted stab at 'real rust'. The complete restoration for the table saw is over at Woodworking Talk. The jointer was about the same. If it's permissible to show the link to another woodworking forum it's here - PM66 Restoration. If it's not ok then mods please remove the link. David

That's not rusted. THIS is rusted! In 1990 I bought a new PM66 and a DJ-15 for my woodshop. Fast forward 10 years when I left the business and had no place for those tools so a 'friend' was setting up shop and said he could use them so they didn't just sit in storage. He had worked with my tools before so I let him take them (bad move on my part). I put them in the back of my mind and checking on my tools 3-4 times each year turned into every 3-4 years to not at all. Then I found out the motors were blown and he had abandoned them in a building with the roof caving in right over my saw and jointer. Here's what the saw and jointer looked like when I finally got them home. After months and months of work, this is what they looked like - I've sold the DJ-15 and replaced it with a PM 54a jointer. But even badly rusted they can be restored. David

I had a request to make a plaque for a Command Chief and this is what we came up with, an unsteamed Walnut and Maple plaque. It's pretty large, actually, so I included a shot of it by the guitar I just finished. The plaque is about 12" x 21" and the Maple inlays are about 1/8" thick. The finish is Nitrocellulose lacquer. David

Thank you!! Honduras Mahogany veneered in Walnut burl - Cutting a new line for the bevel and trying a test piece of Walnut burl - Arm bevel profile - Fitting the Zebrawood binding to the Walnut burl - David

That's a sound port and enables the player to better hear the instrument. Most of the sound is normally projected out of the sound hole and away from the player. But the sound port allows the player to hear without leaning over and further deadening the sound with his/her body (smothering the guitar inhibits vibration which kills sound). There's a noticeable difference if you cover the sound port so I guess it works. David

I wasn't certain where to post this so mods please move if needed. I took a ton of photos during this build but I certainly won't bore you with all those and I have a few videos but none in presentation form. The build is well documented and I may do a video compilation one day if I have time. I've mentioned this many times over the last couple of years and it's finally to a point where I can post photos. Over the last 30 years or so I have replaced tops, backs, done fret jobs, inlay, glued braces and lining, refinished, made bridges, saddles, and nuts, replaced tuners, and all kinds of repairs, etc. but this is the first guitar I've built from scratch. I cut all the wood for this including resawing the back/sides/top, cutting the binding and bracing from lumber or billets, etc. Along the way I've designed and built my own modular cantilever side bending fixture that will accommodate sizes from Jumbo down to 0, possibly smaller like a Ukulele. I'll post photos of the side bending fixture later and also built all the forms, fixtures, templates, and jigs for the build. I started the build a couple of years ago just working an hour in the evening, sometimes two, and some on weekends, but I put it aside and didn't touch it for about 8 months. I'll tell you ahead of time that it sounds good, is bright, has great sustain, and plays very easily with good action. But it may be a while before I make a video of it being played. Back and sides - Honduras Mahogany Top and bracing - Sitka Spruce Neck - African Mahogany with Maple and Honduras Mahogany center pieces Headstock, rosette, arm bevel, heel cap, and tail wedge - Walnut burl Headstock inlay - Zebrawood Fingerboard, bridge - East Indian Rosewood Binding, purfling - Zebrawood and Maple Sound port lining - Macassar Ebony Solid lining - Honduras Mahogany Side braces - Honduras Mahogany Finish - Shellac (French polish), measured just over 1 mil at the bridge The neck is bolted on and I devised a way for it to be completely removable. It can go from tuned to pitch to neck off in about 5 minutes. In the week that the guitar has been tuned to pitch it is holding its tuning as good as my other guitars. The intonation still needs some minor tweaking but I'll play it a while before working on it again. Assuming I like it enough to play in church I'll install a K&K Pure Mini pickup. If I decide to just play it at home and with friends I'll save the pickup for a future guitar. In the meantime, here are a few photos of the build and some of the finished guitar. Back bracing with Padauk glue strip - Top bracing - Gluing the back in place - Finished guitar. I didn't want a super high gloss finish but rather decided to do an old world vintage patina. Nothing against the super high gloss finishes but I have 5 guitars with high gloss finish and wanted this one to be different. Now that I've done it this way I like it even better than I thought I would. So feel free to comment, ask questions, critique. I have about 1,500 photos of the build and good documentation but these few photos tell the story just fine, I think, so I'll spare you the copious extras. Enjoy! David

As usual, very good work, Mick! I love your attention to detail. David

I've also bought from Talarico Hardwoods since the mid 80's. They have a section called Wood Porn with some fantastic pieces - http://www.talaricohardwoods.com/woodporn.htm David

Welcome to the forum! I've bought from Jewell Hardwoods and find them very easy to deal with and a great inventory of Walnut. https://jewellhardwoods.com/

Wow! What a haul - amazing! Got any projects in mind yet? David

Very nice, Mick! How is this to be used? David