Creative Woodworks & crafts 2001-03, страница 30

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Subject: wood, books , videos, and a nifty plug cutter

A great new product

I ran into the block of wood pictured here on a recent trip to Willard Brothers Lumber in Trenton, NJ. It is a new product called Colorply composed of individually colored layers of veneer which are glued up and sold in various color combinations and sizes. The 2" x 4" x 4" piece in the photo cost me $19.95. It is not inexpensive, but it should yield an excellent bowl. I also have a notion that it could be incorporated into some very interesting intarsia designs. If you are interested in a source near you or a catalog, call Brookline Veneers Ltd at 1 -609-409-1311.

A book for the wood junkie in. us all

We recently received the Woodworker's Guide to Wood by Rick Peters for review, and it too is well worth the price. I am a wood junkie! I've admitted to it in the past and am not ashamed of it either. 1 feed my addiction with frequent purchases of wood, as well as with books on the subject. Even when I'm nearly broke, 1 can usually be found in some lumber yard drooling over a new shipment of wood, begging for the cast-offs. The Woodworker's Guide to Wood offers photographs and descriptions of over 60 domestic and imported species. It is clear and concise, with information on finishing and working problems you may encounter. The book goes into saw milling, lumber grading, drying, manufactured products and much, much more. You will not be .disappointed. Ii is published by Sterling Publishing Co, Inc. (ISBN # 0-8069-3687-8).

New videos from Rick Hutcheson

Billed as the world's fastest scroll sawyer (and he probably is), Rick Hutcheson recently sent me a video tape on antique scroll saws that he produced and is marketing. Shot on location in his shop and showcasing Rick's extensive collection of scroll saws, it

is to my knowledge the only tape of Its kind regarding the subject. Rick gives a thorough description of nearly every saw type that has ever been produced. If you are an antique collector or scroll saw enthusiast, the tape is well worth the price.

Rick also has a video oil scroll saw basics. Produced in his down to eanh style, it. is based on his experience as a commercial sawyer. In this video. Rick is clear in his verbal and visual descriptions and highly informative. I wish I knew how he finds enotigh time in a day to do all (hat he does, i ie has an extensive web site at. www.serollsaws.com, plus mail order of his original patterns. He also attends nearly every scroll saw function, and works with Delta on development of their scroll saws. My hat is off to him! If you are not on-line. Rick's mailing address is: 109 N. Ewing, Box 227, Grimes, IA 50111. (I would refer (o it as snail mail, but my Postmaster brother-in-law has promised retaliation if 1 do.)

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Colorply, composed of colored layers of veneer, comes in many different colors and sizes.

There are several books and videos on the market which will appeal to many scrollers.

Shop made 3/16"-Dia. plug cutter

Aunt Alice and 1 have been working on a scroll sawn cross projcct that was the inspiration of our Editorial Director, Robert Becker and drawn by Dirk Boelman (if you haven't heard of Dirk, you must be new here). He and his wife, Karen, do business as The Art Factory. The cross has many possibilities as far as presentation goes since it is made up of five separate layers of wood. One of the problems we encountered when assembling it was fastening the various layers together without the fastening method being obvious.

We like to use No. 2 brass wood screws to join the layers. The only problem is trying to conceal the screw heads. The screw requires a 3/16" countersink, which is easy enough to do with a 3/16" drill bit, but plugging the hole to hide the screw head is another issue. We didn't want, to use wood filler and there arc no commercially available plug cutters of this size.

We checked for steel tubing with an inside diameter (ID) of 3/16". Luckily, such tubing is readily available at any auto parts store—I'm talking about 1/4" brake line, sold in lengths from 12" to several feet, and inexpensive enough that it will not place a load on the family budget. All you need is a tubing cutter or hacksaw, a rat tail file, and a small triangular file or a Dremel Moto-Tool with a 10mm knife edge bit (sec Fig. 1).

Cut the brake line tubing to a length of 2" or more and file teeth on it using either the triangular file or the Dremel Moto-Tool. The file is a bit slower than the Dremel, but does just, as good a job (sec Figs. 2 and 3). You will find the Dremel easier to use if set on a higher speed and fed gently from the top. just on the outside edge, working down carefully. Be sure to wear eye protection and, better yet, a face shield as you will feel the small, sharp metal chips on bare skin.

Once you have created six teeth, ream the inside of the tube with the rat tail file (see Fig. 4). Drill several 3/16" test holes with the cutter and make several trial plugs, striving for a seamless fit. Once you get close, smooth the inside of the cutter with fine emery paper. You will find that not all attempts will yield a perfect plug. As you drill deeper, the friction will spin the plug off, leaving you with short pieces that may not be long enough for your needs.

Cut a narrow strip of wood for your plug material, drill the plugs, and then stand the strip on edge and cut it with your scroll saw. Your plugs will fail out at the proper length. If you try to pop them out with a small screwdriver, they arc likely to break at the wrong location, wasting your time and material. Apply glue of choice to the interior of the hole and set your plug in (see Fig. 5). Allow the glue to dry before attempting to level the plug to the surface. There is only a litlle bearing surface and you will need all the glue bond you can get. One final note. Cyanoacrylatc glue will leave a wet looking edge that may reveal the shape of the plug.

Until next time, happy scrolling. Wcs