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George Vondriska on "DVD #2 Furniture Making Classy Mission Table"

George Vondriska — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 04:21:02 +0000

Great. Would love to see pictures of the finished project. G

Yonak on "Miter Saw"

Yonak — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 04:18:11 +0000

How 'bout this ? : Lay your board flat on the surface of the saw with the edge against the fence. With your saw indexed to 90° cut the board. Then flip the board over, left to right, and put it on the other side of the blade. Lower the blade and push the wood (edge against the fence) over to the blade (without turning the saw on). If you see a gap at either end of the cut edge you're out of square. Correct by adjusting the angle by half of the out-of-square. Repeat. When you feel you've got it right, check it out with a tri-square. Again, flip the board over and test to be sure the tri-square is square.

cooperalvanguard on "DVD #2 Furniture Making Classy Mission Table"

cooperalvanguard — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 01:04:18 +0000

Hi George: Thanks for sending the cultist for the Mission Style Table. All I have to do now is to figure the board feet for this project. I usually use Woodworkers Source in Phoenix, Arizona for my rough cut lumber. I will send a copy of the cut list to them and see what they come up with for the board sizes I will need. I will let you know when I have completed this project and send some pictures. Thanks again, Louis Margolies

Paul Mayer on "Miter Saw"

Paul Mayer — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:45:55 +0000

Hi Tommy, Use a board with two straight parallel edges. Mark one edge on each end so you can keep track of which edge is which. Set it on your miter saw and make a cut. Now take the two pieces to a known flat surface such as a table saw top. Place one of the marked edges down, and one marked edge up. Put the cut edges next to each other. The gap between the boards will indicate the direction that the saw is out of square, and the size of the gap will be double the amount of 'out of square'.

Tommy S. on "Miter Saw"

Tommy S. — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:29:12 +0000

I'm trying to set up my miter saw to cut square. I looked at the article from 2010 that covered this topic,but do I lay test boards fly or stand up? It appears that in article they are stood up to make test cuts. My problem is when I make a cut in a wide board it's not square. What's best way to get corrected? Thanks Tommy

George Vondriska on "DVD #2 Furniture Making Classy Mission Table"

George Vondriska — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:21:30 +0000

Mission-style table cut list Bill of materials Note: Rail and slat lengths include ½-in. long tenon per end unless noted. Quant Part Size Material Notes 4 Legs 1-1/2 x 1-1/2 x 21-1/4 Oak Cut these parts 24-in. long. Cut to finished length after mortising. 2 Upper rails, long ¾ x 2 x 17 Oak 2 Upper rails, short ¾ x 2 x 12 Oak Length is for use with loose tenon. Add 1” for conventional tenon. Cut kerf for table top fasteners 2 Lower rails ¾ x 3 x 12 Oak Length is for use with loose tenon. Add 1” for conventional tenon. 6 Vertical slats ½ x 1-1/2 x 14 Oak Cut these parts to finish length after the mortises are cut. 2 Shelf supports ¾ x 1-1/2 x 11-1/4 Oak Drill oversized holes for screws 1 Shelf ¾ x 11-3/4 x 16-11/16 Oak Cut shelf to final size after leg and rail assembly is glued. Take dimensions directly from table. 1 Top ¾ x 18 x 22 Oak 4 Table top fasteners

k3cfc on "Carvewright machine"

k3cfc — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 23:53:02 +0000

Well thank you all this restores my views on the carve wright machine. Chuck

George Vondriska on "What would you do?"

George Vondriska — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:17:20 +0000

Remember that, depending on how the table will be used, plywood isn't always a great choice. The veneer is sooooo thin, it doesn't wear well. It's a little complex, but if you do use plywood you can round the corners and make up a segmented trim to wrap the corner. You can also miter the corner and glue on a large slab of hardwood, then cut the radius into the hardwood. G

Paul Mayer on "What would you do?"

Paul Mayer — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 04:50:33 +0000

Hi Parry, I was visualizing exactly what Yonak described with an angle on the corner. Another solution is to watch Craigslist for some bargain materials. In MN I see great deals on oak regularly which would price it out cheaper than plywood around here. If the table is stained you might be able to substitute another material and get a close enough match with stain.

Yonak on "What would you do?"

Yonak — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 21:24:31 +0000

Parry, do you think you could make the main square of the table and the leaves oak plywood with oak edging and solid oak for the rounded ends ? Another option is to put a generous angle at the corners and use mitred edging all around. That way someone could sit at a corner.

Parry S. on "What would you do?"

Parry S. — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:46:06 +0000

I have a friend who purchased an Oak table for $15.00. This is because the top is warped beyond restoration. (size is 96" X 42" using two leafs inserted.) I wanted to replace the top with new oak but she doesn't want the expense. I next suggested an oak plywood with oak banding on the edges. Then she said she had to have rounded corners so she could seat someone on the corner. Should I run from it or offer her $30.00 and do it for me?

Parry S. on "Carvewright machine"

Parry S. — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:37:12 +0000

The CarveWright is like any other tool. It can, when used properly, embellish a project immensely. Although too many noobies have jumped in without understanding what they were doing and hence the complaints of a poor job. Sadly we are usually too quick to complain and too busy to make positive comments. I have used my CarveWright for almost five years and quickly overcame any small problems it presented. Would I do it over again? Absolutely.

George Vondriska on "Glass finish on clear fir?"

George Vondriska — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:45:36 +0000

I'm with Yonak on his explanation. I did a high gloss finish on a guitar a few years ago. The recipe I found for this called for 12 coat of lacquer prior to beginning the sanding/polishing process. The finish had to cure out for a week or so before I started polishing. The polishing process included wet sanding and polishing with rubbing compound. The thickness of the build is to allow plenty of room for sanding and polishing. G

Paul Mayer on "Cherry Salad Spoons"

Paul Mayer — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:28:23 +0000

Green is considerably easier. Your utensils are great, and knowing that you carved them from dry wood, they are REALLY great. I haven't done a ton of spoon carving, but after carving about 8-10 with dried wood, I carved one with green wood and I realized that I had been punishing myself for no reason (although I always have dry wood around and rarely green wood, so there's the challenge) I have mostly carved them with a spoon gauge (like this, except I am not sure what size I have: <a href="http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2001307/823/PFEIL-Swiss-Made-7mm-9-Sweep-Spoon-Gouge.aspx)" rel="nofollow">http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2001307/823/PFEIL-Swiss-Made-7mm-9-Sweep-Spoon-Gouge.aspx)</a> as well which is rigorous with dried wood and relatively painless on green wood. On green wood you can also use one of these: <a href="http://www.wwgoa.com/articles/product-reviews/pinewood-forge-hook-knife/" rel="nofollow">http://www.wwgoa.com/articles/product-reviews/pinewood-forge-hook-knife/</a>. I have also used it on dried wood, but only for the very final phase of carving, and even then I had to soak the wood for a bit before I could get a smooth cut with it. But on green wood it works great. On the popcorn scoop I mentioned above I used a Lancelot chain attachment for a grinder. It roughed it out in a hurry, but this is a scary tool to use for this as it is aggressive, almost too aggressive for a small project like this.

cer7960 on "Cherry Salad Spoons"

cer7960 — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:03:16 +0000

Thanks Paul. Carving the insides of the spoons were harder than I imagined. I don't have any power carving equipment or rotary grinding tools so I used my bent gouge, #8 sweep I think. The rest of it shaped pretty easy. I used cutoffs of some heavy KD 4/4 stock, green would've been easier.

Paul Mayer on "Cherry Salad Spoons"

Paul Mayer — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:47:26 +0000

These look great! What do you use to scoop them out? I recently carved one a scoop that looks quite similar to the one on the left (although mine is not as precise) that we use as the family popcorn scoop. Do you carve these green?

cer7960 on "Cherry Salad Spoons"

cer7960 — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:49:42 +0000

Here's a picture of a set of salad spoons that I carved from pieces of cherry. I finished them with salad bowl finish. Thanks for looking.

Yonak on "Glass finish on clear fir?"

Yonak — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 05:24:05 +0000

LTD, finishing, admittedly, is not my forte but I have learned some things about finishing over the years. One thing is that in a high gloss finish, bumps are not your friend. The smoother the surface the better it will look. High gloss finishes take time and many coats of finish with a certain amount of smoothing between coats. The best finishes end with very fine sandpaper and a sanding block, sometimes lubricated with water, then very fine steel wool then, either a top sprayed coat of gloss finish or wax. Regarding whether to spray or brush, brushing puts more finish on at a time, meaning fewer coats, but it leaves brush marks and requires more sanding to get the surface smooth. If you're concerned about sanding into the lettering beneath the finish, you could put several coats on before beginning to sand. If the letters have any thickness to them that adds an additional degree of difficulty. You've got to put enough thickness of finish so that you can sand down to the area between the letters without going through the finish on the letters. That takes very careful, level sanding. All of the above assumes you're looking for a high quality finish. If a lower quality finish is adequate for your project, you could put a few coats on then lightly sand with 320 grit paper. If the thickness of the letters makes it so the paper doesn't adequately smooth the space between the letters, a light smoothing with 00 or 000 steel wool would do it. Then, if your final step will be a top coat of gloss lacquer, now would be the time to put that on. If your final step is wax then you can go over it with a finer steel wool, then wax. No question, I could stand to be corrected, as I'm not a professional finisher, but at least it gives a basis for conversation. If anyone has any corrections I would welcome them as I'd love to learn.

George Vondriska on "Plastic laminate, what to get"

George Vondriska — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 03:44:43 +0000

It's been a while since I've worked with laminate, but here's what I remember. We used two types of laminate; vertical grade and horizontal grade. Vertical grade is about 1/32" thick, Horizontal grade is about 1/16" thick. They're used just as their names imply. I'd used horizontal for a router table. Make sure the laminate you get doesn't have a ny texture to it. G

George Vondriska on "Glass finish on clear fir?"

George Vondriska — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 03:36:02 +0000

I use 220-grit sandpaper on lacquer. G

caspersgrin on "Plastic laminate, what to get"

caspersgrin — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 01:56:43 +0000

Hi, I'm building a router table base on the instructions in Bill Hylton's Router Magic. To keep moisture out so that the table top stays flat, the instructions say to use plastic laminate. But since I'm unfamiliar with laminates in general, when I go to a plastics shop, what exactly do I ask for. Are there different kinds of laminates or if I simply ask for a sheet of plastic laminate and so I need to specify exactly what I want (and what ould that be). Or, do I simply ask for a sheet of plastic laminate and expect whoever I'm talking with to know just what I want? Thanks, Rob

Paul Mayer on "Glass finish on clear fir?"

Paul Mayer — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 01:17:51 +0000

Hi Chuck, 0000 steel wool would be fine on poly. I will let George give feedback on whether this would be appropriate on lacquer. When using this on poly, wait at least a couple days so that the finish has had a decent time to cure. If it feels soft at all, I would wait longer. Also, don't use steel wool if this is a between coats application used for water based product. Rust can form on small particles if they are left behind. I occasionally will buff out the final finish on a project with 0000 steel wool and paste wax. Removes all the nubs and leaves it silky smooth.

XXXLTD on "Glass finish on clear fir?"

XXXLTD — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 22:32:20 +0000

G.V. or Paul: Can I use a very fine steelwool or is it best to use sandpaper?

cooperalvanguard on "DVD #2 Furniture Making Classy Mission Table"

cooperalvanguard — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 14:42:33 +0000

Hello George: Like your DVD Series on Woodworking. I have sent a suggestion to <a href="mailto:productprograms@program-director.net">productprograms@program-director.net</a> about the Mission Table Dvd as follows Dear Sirs: Attn: George Vondriska (Hi George-I appreciate your masterful Woodworking skills) I just received the Number 2 DVD in the collection- Furniture Making and listened and watched your instructions to make the Classy Mission Style table. It will go great in our home. I have only one suggestion to make to your DVD presentation that you should include the CUT AND MATERIAL LISTS for the furniture style being built. It would be easier to follow your presentation and your excellent directions when all the parts are in front of the woodworker ready for cutting and sizing. instead of waiting for you to give the dimensions as you go through the exercise. I hope this is a good suggestion to improve upon. ]I understand that the DVD's are produced in advance of this E-mail. Maybe you can include the Cut and Material Lists when shipping out the DVD's when a project is to be built. Can you send me a Cut and Materials List for the Classy Mission Style Table it would be appreciate[]. I have a 19 Inch 720P TV installed in my garage and I have included a DVD Player so I can watch your videos in the garage-shop. I also installed a Western Digital HD Video TV Streaming Device (like a Roku) so I can stream You Tube Clips from WWGOA.com and George Vondriska-Editor material. I have Woodworking Information from various other sites that I can stream from my computer sharing folders to the TV including WWGOA. This is my favorite site of sites. Thanks for all the help you have contributed to the Woodworking Field. I am 72 years young and been doing WW for four years (sick for 2 of the four). WW has brought back to feeling good about myself and your easy style of presentation makes me feel confident that I can continue my hobby into the future. Best regards, Louis Margolies (cooperalvanguard) 1256 Ivy Arbor Lane Lincoln, Ca. 95648 9164082987 Please send a copy of the CUT and MATERIALS LISTS for this project.

George Vondriska on "Glass finish on clear fir?"

George Vondriska — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:10:05 +0000

Even with lettering under the finish you should be able to do a little light sanding. The finish will provide a little bit of build up over the wood and lettering. I agree with Paul. Spraying is the way to go. When you say lettering, do you mean it's something that has been applied? If so, do a test to make sure the clear coat you're applying won't lift the lettering. G

Yonak on "Table Saw Jig Magnets"

Yonak — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 06:44:04 +0000

Another source for reclaimed magnets is old speakers. I had an old set from which I salvaged the magnets. Although they're pretty big, they're strong. I've been meaning to try hanging a long strip of metal between them and see if it's strong enough to hold tools. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ OK .. I just tried an experiment. I stretched a 30" iron bar between the two speaker magnets and, although it held things somewhat light or with a large flat area, such as steel rules, tri-squares, wrenches, screwdrivers, drill bits, knives, etc, it had a hard time with items like hammers, large channel-locks, pipe wrenches, large vice grips, large C-clamps, etc. I'll tell you what, though : if I were to put one on a string and lower it behind my work bench to pick up stray screws and the like, I'd never get it back up for sticking to the bolts that hold my work bench together.

Paul Mayer on "Glass finish on clear fir?"

Paul Mayer — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 03:20:43 +0000

If you are have spray equipment and are comfortable using it, I suggest going that way. I am not set up for spraying, so I would mostly likely use Minwax oil based wipe on poly which has been a reliable product for me.

k3cfc on "Carvewright machine"

k3cfc — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 03:18:30 +0000

Thank you for the information on the carvewright. i must say you did a wonderful job on the cross. one would be proud to display it for all to see. Good luck and happy woodworking. ill check back later. Chuck

mathman on "Carvewright machine"

mathman — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 01:54:15 +0000

The basic machine has 'sandpaper' belts for moving the material through the machine. They have a set of 'heavy duty traction belts' as a $140 upgrade. $200 for the 1-year/100-hour warranty and $500 for the 2-year/200-hour. The absolute minimum I'd go with would be the machine with the traction belts and 1-year warranty. It gets a bit addictive, though, and you'll quickly start thinking along the lines of "I need that, I need that, ..." until you wind up getting everything. <a href="http://store.carvewright.com/configuretemplate.htm">CarveWright Configuration</a> - that link gives you more information. David

XXXLTD on "Glass finish on clear fir?"

XXXLTD — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:22:49 +0000

I have one shot at putting on a gloss finish on a piece of clear fir, because I will have lettering under the finish and cannot sand or use steelwool. Any thoughts on what I should use? Bush or spray? Thanksl

George Vondriska on "Lubrication"

George Vondriska — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:43:52 +0000

How about that crazy Paul Mayer???? He uses wax paper. Watch it here <a href="http://video.wwgoa.com/video/Maintain-your-Tools-with-Wax-Pa;WWGOA-Original-Videos" rel="nofollow">http://video.wwgoa.com/video/Maintain-your-Tools-with-Wax-Pa;WWGOA-Original-Videos</a>

Paul Mayer on "Lubrication"

Paul Mayer — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:19:14 +0000

Chuck, how do you apply the candle wax?

k3cfc on "Lubrication"

k3cfc — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:03:24 +0000

Your going to think i am crazy but i use candle wax. it lubricates and saw dust won't stick to it.

k3cfc on "SawStop. Worth It?"

k3cfc — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:45:52 +0000

I look at it this way. how much are your fingers worth? i have a friend that says i know i know when you try him something. today he has one less pinky finger from a circular saw and a thumb that doesn't work any more from a table saw with a dull blade. funny how a saw cuts everything but the wood when it's dull. kinda hard to hold a hammer when you do this. and now some food for thought. George teaches shop and i am inclined to buy why he uses because in school you don't need tools that fail period.

k3cfc on "warping top"

k3cfc — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:18:24 +0000

Depending on how bad it is cupped i have cut a 1/4 in deep slot in the bottom side from one side to the other and lay it upside down and flatten it and put a wood slat in there to keep it flat. you may need to do more than one cut to get if flat. i have done this to long boards i bought for a project only to find they cupped. Good luck Chuck