SPLINTERS

Tennessee Valley Woodworkers
    Vol. 17/ Issue 10           October  2002           Editor: Tom Gillard Jr. 

Meeting Notice:
The next meeting of the TN Valley Woodworkers
Will be held, October 15th, at 7:00 p.m. in the
 Duck River Electric Building, Dechard, TN
All interested woodworkers are invited!

The following people have agreed to serve as contacts for their particular skills.  If you have questions, suggestions for activities, or other comments relating to these skills, please call these folks.  Their interest is to help the club better serve their area of expertise.  Your participation with them will help them achieve that goal.

           Alice Berry      454-3815   Design                     Phil Bishop          967-4626      Finishing
           Tom Church    967-4460   Turning                    Harry May           962-0215      Carving
           Bob Reese      728-7974   Sharpening               Ross Roepke       455-9140      Joinery
           Maurice Ryan   962-1555   Health and Safety

   List of Club Officers
                                                     President:  Bob Leonard
                                                     V. President: Doyle McConnell
                                                     Secretary: Barbara Keen
                                                     Treasurer: Henry Davis
                                                     Publicity: Maurice & Ruth Ryan
                                                     Newsletter Editor: Tom Gillard Jr.
GOD BLESS AMERICA!

CALENDAR of EVENTS

The Fall Seminar on Joinery

Ken Gould announced that the fall seminar will be October 19th at Dean Lute’s Shop. (Maps available at meeting)
It will be on joinery and the agenda is:
8:00 A. M. coffee, 8:30 measurements and layouts,
9:00 Dean will demonstrate machine mortises,
after lunch John will show how to do a segmented bowl,
Dave Whyte will demonstrate how to make box joints and
Tom Cowan will demonstrate how to make hand made dove tails.
Andy will demonstrate his sawmill and the seminar should be over between 3:30 – 4:00.          COST:$ 20.00
The October meeting program will be presented by Harry May. Carving will be the subject of the meeting.
Elections are coming up soon!
If the nominating committee calls you and asks you to serve, PLEASE consider it.  They wouldn't have asked you if they didn't believe you would do a good job.

                                    Bandsaw Resawing Guide

This resawing guide lets you correct for blade drift, and you can build it from parts you probably have lying around your shop.

After struggling with his bandsaw fence, blocks, clamps, and a resaw  guide, WOOD® magazine reader John Hodges of Kaufman, Texas, decided to design his own bandsaw resawing guide. You can build one just like it by gathering up some scrap stock and following the illustrations below.   To use this guide, first mark a line along the top edge of the piece to be resawn. Adjust the center portion of the jig (A) until the bandsaw blade aligns with the marked line on the wood.   Tighten the wing nuts that hold A securely to B. Tighten the wing nut in part C to secure it in the miter-gauge slot.

 Because few bandsaw blades track perfectly straight (making a fence almost useless for resawing), the curved end of part A allows you to steer the board into the bandsaw blade and  make adjustments to follow your marked line. We recommend using a 1/2"- to 3/4"-wide  skip-tooth or hook-tooth blade for cleaner cuts. And, always use a pushstick for safety when resawing on a bandsaw.

SHOW AND TELL:
Dave Whyte brought in a Walnut jig to facilitate laminating wood on the end grain of plywood.
Henry Davis showed us a couple of pieces of spalted wood that he glued to plywood to enable him to plane the spalted wood with out it splitting or buckling.
John Green brought in a love spoon from Wales.  It was carved out of English cedar and the fellow he bought it from makes these spoons full time.  He uses a scroll saw to cut out the pattern and power tools for the carving.
Steve Shores showed a Christmas ornament that had been turned and painted  and two miniature ornaments.  He also showed a ring holder and a couple of boxes.
John Mayberry made two hand mirrors that he turned.  They were made out of Cherry wood and handles were glued on with CA glue.
Bob Bestweather, a guest, brought in a Mandolin that he made out of Western Red Cedar for the top and African mahogany and popular for the bottom.  He said he did 80% of work with a Dremel tool and rest with either band saw or scroll saw.  He used an oil finish.
Bob Reese made a ringed goblet.  He asked what type of wood the club thought it was.  He said his son thought it was Tung wood  from Florida.
Tom Gillard brought in two model sail boats he had made and also a box made out of very wormy maple.
Jim Van Cleave showed a Lietz carbide saw blade that he had bought through Tom Gillard.  He hit a screw when he was using it and it chipped a couple of teeth.  It still cuts very well and he showed some wood he had cut after blade hit screw.
Jim Parker’s daughter moved to Georgia and needed an entertainment center which he built out of pine.  It took him 4 weeks to build it and he brought in the pictures of it.
Don Helton made a magazine rack out of Red Oak with a lot of scrollwork on it.  He also brought in two scrolled motorcycle penholders one was Mahogany with a walnut base and the other was Cherry and Walnut.


   Sycamore

The hardwood giant of the virgin forest.

Although few woodworkers become acquainted with the wood of the American sycamore (Platanus occidentalis), that wasn't always so. Back when the United States was still a new nation, and its western frontier was just beyond the Allegheny Mountains, sycamore was the giant of the forest. It wasn't uncommon for pioneers in the Ohio River Valley to come upon huge sycamores. In 1802, one growing on an island in the Ohio River measured 13' in diameter 4' above the ground. Such old, large trees were usually hollow, and thriving despite the malady.

For some purposes, the hollowness made the tree all the more desirable. A frontier farmer would fell the hollow sycamore, then crosscut it to appropriate lengths. By nailing on bottoms of tightly joined board, the  industrious plowman had grain-storage containers. Left standing, hollow sycamores also were handy for stabling goats, pigs, and other livestock until a shelter could be built for them. And how many wandering woodsmen might have found refuge in a hollow sycamore?

Although hard, tough, and resistant to splitting, sycamore posed some difficulty in drying. That's why it was used only on a limited basis for
shipping trunks, piano and organ cases, washing machine bodies, and pails. It also was the choice for countertops and chopping blocks in
butcher shops because it withstands the relentless punishment of cutting edges.

While still the largest hardwood tree of American forests, yesteryear's giants have long fallen. If you do spy an elderly sycamore, bang on it. The
trunk may resonate with historic hollowness.

Crosscut Sled
 

Ditch the miter gauge to increase the accuracy of your benchtop tablesaw.

If you have zero tolerance for  tear-out and inaccurate cuts,  you’ll enjoy the results you get with this zero-clearance crosscut sled designed by WOOD® magazine reader Dan Pacht. He uses the sled to increase the precision of his benchtop
tablesaw. It replaces the wobbly miter gauge, and reduces tear-out by closing the gap in the saw’s wide-open throat plate. You also could modify the sled for use with a stationary tablesaw.

Start by cutting a 1/4" hardboard base to size. Now square the edges of a pine 2x4, ripping it to 3" wide. From it, cut two 24"-long pieces, and glue and screw them together to form an L-shaped fence assembly. Then glue it to the hardboard base.

Next, make a pair of hardwood runners to fit your miter-gauge slots. The runners should fit snugly but still be able to slide.

Place the runners into their slots and run a small bead of glue along each one where the sled’s base will cover them. Center the base/fence assembly side-to-side on your saw’s table. Square the sled’s fence to the saw blade by placing a framing square against the fence face and along the face of the blade. Allow the glue to dry.

Drill countersunk pilot holes in the base, and drive screws through it into the runners. Turn the sled over, and screw each runner into the base/fence assembly. Add a screw eye at one end of the fence so the sled can hang when not in use.

Note: This sled is designed for 3/4"-thick stock. To safely cut thicker
stock, add a 1-1/2x3x4" block behind the fence, aligned with the saw kerf,
to encase the blade.

Finally, make the optional stopblock if you wish, and you’re ready to go.
Simply place the runners into the slots, and raise your blade 1-1/4" above
the saw table. Glide the sled forward until the top of the blade cuts into the
fence and then back out of the cut. Now crosscut your workpiece.

 

For Sale:
     Heavy duty wood turning lathe, 18 3/4" swing, 35" between centers, made by J.A. Fay in Cincinnati in early 1900's, on heavy timber frame, 3/4 hp single phase motor, 3 different length tool rests, two faceplates, can be rigged for outboard turning, labor intensive, not for sissies, $250.

Jim Van Cleave  455-8150
 

 


WEB SITES of INTEREST

American Association of Woodturners

Scott Phillips Video Help sessions

Arrowmont School of Arts and Craft

Doyle McConnell's page

Loyd Ackerman's Page

WOOD ONLINE newsletter

Falls Mill

Appalachain Center for the Arts

Forest Products Lab. 1999 Wood Handbook

Woodworker's Journal

WOOD Online TVWW page

Kevin's Woodturnings

The Oldham Company

The Woodworker's Choice

Russell Brown's Web Page



 The Leitz Tooling Systems has moved to Muscle Shoals, AL but will still do the sharpening. The blades will have to be shipped UPS as the salesman doesn't call on me as much now that the company has moved.  This cost will have to be passed along.  Sorry.
                                                         Call (393-0525) or stop by for details.


 
 







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