Thien Baffle – Part 2 / Crosscut Sled – Part 3

In celebration of my birthday I took off work last week which translated into several days of shop time. I had been in a bit of a slump with some of the projects and it was good to get my mojo back to face them.

Phil Thien’s Cyclone Separator Lid

I had already finished the majority of the build on this garbage can separator but I hadn’t had time to run all the 4″ DC plumbing to my equipment. I essentially needed to turn this:

Into something more like this so I could test the separator.

From all appearances the separator is working . I completely cleaned out the larger shop-vac and sucked away. Not surprising at all, the shop-vac is very much under-powered for this service but it is a start and way better than nothing at all. I also plan to add a couple of handles to the separator lid so I don’t have to pull on the hoses to dump the garbage can. Originally I was thinking metal pulls but it makes more sense and would be more thrifty to build them from scraps of wood.

One of my next projects will be to figured out a way to contain dust from my miter saw. I’ve gotten used to using it but it make an ugly mess each time and I’d like to get that under control. I don’t have enough room to build a box type collector behind the miter saw as my band-saw is essentially butted up too closely against it. I was considering a canopy draped from the ceiling or perhaps a modified umbrella. I’ve even considered a modified box constructed of a frame with cloth stretched over like a “tent”. I’m still searching for ideas. Just to drive my point home here’s a pic.  It looks like it’s been snowing after extensive use of my friend the miter saw.

At least I had somewhat effective collection on my table saw this weekend. The vac won’t evacuate the table saw completely but will suck airborne dust and even settled dust if I sweep it into the intake. I obviously need a real DC device at some point but this is a good start.

Crosscut Sled – Part 3

I picked up a handful of  2″ 1/4″x 20 bolts and used an additional length of recycled broom handle to make the attachment knobs for my adjustable mouth crosscut sled. The previous 2 knobs I constructed turned out to be too short so I am saving them for another project. I needed 4 knobs anyway, 2 for the adjustable plate and 2 for the removable extended fence (below).

I have a sheet of clear acrylic that I picked up from Lowes and have been saving to make templates for guitar bodies. I snapped off a piece and cut the blade guard to shape on the band-saw. Now, if I can figure out a way to tint it red without making it opaque I’d be in business. Finally, the completed crosscut sled.

I moved on to construction of the optional extended fence. The fence attaches to the sled with 2 additional bolts. It is thin and lightweight yet can provide the support for pieces up to 42″ to the left of the blade and about 6″ to the right (cut-off side)

The way my shop is currently arranged I’d have to pull my saw away from the way to actually use it but I wanted to build it anyway.

There is one more jig detailed in this plan, a box-joint attachment. The device leverages the pricey Kreg top track and micro-adjuster which I have not purchased. I can see how they could be home-built but the main issue is that I don’t even have a dado or box-joint stack to use the jig. The idea of making box-joints interests me but this is a futures thing so I might put it off a bit. What I’d really like to come up with would be an adjustable miter jig for the sled. Now that the basic sled has been constructed I can scheme.

Small Separator Baffle – a la “Stumpy Nubs Homer Bucket”

You may recall my small separator baffle build ended up initially in “failure mode” so I ended up putting the project on hold. Having several shop days, I gathered my strength and courage and attacked the project once again.

I fired up my compressor and added triple the number of support struts. The plastic bucket skin I last tried was another complete fail so I reverted back to the aluminum flashing I had on hand from the first attempt. I’m hoping the additional support will be enough to keep the thin metal skin from buckling again. Hell, they say you could punch a hole in the skin of the lunar model with a screw driver so maybe this will work?!?!? I caulked the heck out of it and I’m  letting it setup for several days before the test. I’m glad that I attempted another build on it but I’m not at all happy with the design and I’m almost ready to scrap the project. This last attempt will either work or more likely it won’t but either way I’ll not attempt another build of this device without a completely new design. Then again, there is always the Dust Deputy!

You have been reading an excerpt from the shop journal of the Turtlecovebrewer.

Thien Baffle / Crosscut Sled – Part 2

Last weekend I made my way back to the shop and projects which have been waiting for my attention.

Phil Thien’s Cyclone Separator Lid

Working from the Phil Thien’s cyclone separator lid page, I did my best lay out and fabricate parts to assemble my version of the chip separator. I started by tracing around the outside diameter of the 3″ PVC coupling I would use as a through (bulkhead) in the lid. I drilled a pilot hole and cut the bulk of the through hole out with a skill saw. Using a drum sander attachment on a hand-held drill, I smoothed and widened the hole until I had a perfect fit with the PVC coupler. I made two of these one on the edge for vacuum intake and one dead center for the vacuum exhaust. Mocking up the PVC elbow in the top lid I made my best guess-timate how far into the can the bottom lid would protrude and measured the diameter of the can at the level. The trick her is to get the near edge close to the can wall for a nice fit while not making it too big and having to hog off a log of material with a shave or drum sander. The spacers separating the two lids where cut from a recycled broom handle (hey, I had dowels that would have worked I just decided to use these instead).

Using a protractor, I measured a 120° arc then measuring in from the edge I came in 1.225″ drawing an inner arc around the remaining 240° arc of the circle for the chip fall-away zone. That 1.125″ measurement sounds silly but Mr. Thien’s research should a 2.25″ drop zone to be best for separating so who was I to question his findings?

Here is a dry fit of the baffle as I sort out placement of the spacers. I pre-drilled and countersunk 1 1/4″ screws into the spaces to hold the two pieces together.

I used 4″ dust collector hose fittings for both the intake and exhaust side of the baffle. I had to trim a small piece off the edge of the intake fitting then I ran a bead of sealant caulk and fastened them with 1/2″ screws. Ditto for the exhaust side.

At this point I’m almost ready for a test. I rigged up a 4″ to 2 1/4″ hose adapter so I could attach the unit to my shop-vac only to find out, it doesn’t fit. I could attach the plastic tools to it but the hose diameter matches exactly the diameter of this adapter.

So I left it there. I need to pickup another 3″ PVC coupling for the exhaust bulkhead and then I’ll rig up my other adapter that will fit the shop-vac hose. What a racket they have made from vacuum cleaner hoses and fittings?

Crosscut Sled – Part 2

I am still struggling with how to easily and properly install the 1/4″ x 20 threaded brass inserts into my crosscut sled fence. I experimented by drilling a larger than recommended hole but this time the threads didn’t catch enough to secure the insert. I’ve ended up basically drilling a hole the same diameter of the insert and using epoxy to secure it. Frustrating indeed.

I’m trying to think things through but it seems like a juggling act to get all the pieces in place .

So with the front and rear fences attached to the off-cut panel, I attempt to line up the front fence so it can be screwed down square to the blade.

I’m still working to line everything up which has been tricky. Stay tuned, this project is still underway.

You have been reading an excerpt from the shop journal of the Turtlecovebrewer.

Bird-Cage Awl

In the spirit of, “I got ta hab me one a doze….” I decided I wanted a bird-cage awl. Yes, I learned about this tool from Christopher Schwarz and like many of you woodworkers out there, I’m becoming quite a tool junkie. A simple yet eloquent tool it looked like something I would use on almost every project and the only problem was where to buy one. Arguably the gold standard might be this tool from Czeck Edge but at $55 I figured I’d try my hand at making one. What he heck, we like building things right? It would not be as beautiful but I was hoping for a tool that would be serviceable.

I started by laminating two pieces of scrap cypress 1×2 together to form a billet for the handle. Why cypress you ask? It was the most “precious” wood I had on hand. I don’t have a lathe so the handle was carved using a spokeshave, utility knife and the occasional file. I also used the band saw to form the basic shape. I used the 4″ scratch awl as a general guideline for shape. Note: if you want to save yourself this trouble Grizzly Tools sells a 4″ rosewood tool handle for $2.95 and a 5 5/8″ rosewood handle for $3.95.

For the blade I was looking for something inexpensive yet basically ready to go. I actually looked in the store for something that would fit the bill but came home empty-handed. I was thinking I could buy a screwdriver with a square shaft and just chop off the end. I decided to use what I already had on hand an 8″ square file that cost me $1.99 (Sorry Bill, I know you hate cheap Chinese junk). This approach offered a 1/4″ square blade that was surprisingly hard, so hard in fact I couldn’t cut it with my jig saw nor my hack saw. Finally I ended up using a Dremel with a cut-off wheel and was able to severe the steel. Continuing in the “Git-r-Done” spirit I took the tool over to the bench grinder and with a cup of water handy, I ground the tip to a pyramid. I have know idea what angle I ended up with. My first bevel I felt was too steep so I shallowed the angle a bit and kept grinding until it felt right. The pseudo-ferrule is non-functional and fortunately the blade is quite secure without need of it. If I find a copper pipe cap I might try modifying that, assuming I can find a size that fits. So this is my new tool.

 

I flood on a couple of coats of teak oil to the handle and called it finished. It didn’t really come out as a work of art but I think I’ll get a lot of service from this tool. I tried my best to keep from bluing the tip but it is very easy to do with hard steel and a conventional (high-speed) bench grinder. The reality is that this is tip doesn’t need to hold a fine edge as say a chisel would and this tip is really sharp and much harder than any would it will encounter!

Step Stool Repair

Shopping at home I found lots of odds and ends including a very small step stool that was used by our kids to stand at the bathroom sink. It had been outside on the porch for many years and was a bit worse for the wear but I rescued it and brought it inside where someone immediately used it and snapped the middle stringer. It really wasn’t anyone’s fault, the wood was weak and it broke along a knot line. If this stool didn’t have sentimental value, I wouldn’t have bothered but it didn’t take much work and it gave me something to do. Using cypress, I cut a piece to approximate length then ripped it to width on the table saw. I used a spoke shave to soften the exposed edges and then attempted to use some masonry nails to attach it. I pre-drilled and hammered away and….. spit the stringer.  So I got the opportunity to repeat the process, hey it’s good practice right? This time I wisely used 6 d bright finish nails without incident. I attempted to use the wide nails because I thought it would better match the staples originally used when this thing was built.

I noticed the dowel stretcher had also pulled loose on one side so I pinned it with a 1/4″ dowel from underneath.

Finally I spent a fair amount of time with scrapers and sand paper to remove most of the grey mold covering the stool and finished it with (you guessed it) a generous dousing of teak oil finish. I was tempted to just build a new stool using this as a template but I didn’t like the design, so when I do build a bench it won’t be of this design. This simple repair will suffice for now.

But wait there’s more…

Once a fella gets going in his shop, he just don’t want to stop. Bolstered by a couple of successful projects I boldly reentered the world of the Thien baffle build. Not the small baffle mind you but the LARGE baffle. I’m hung up because I don’t have a clear design in mind. Fact that everything needs to be vacuum tight is also intimidating. Looking around I see all these massive 4″ DC fittings and hoses cluttering up my shop along with my router and circle cutting fence. I’m going to give it a go (and no, I still don’t have a clear build design but I’m moving forward anyway). First to cut a plywood disk to the diameter of the inside edge of the 30 gal trash can. Lots of measuring ensued with several adjustments of the large compass and many trips back to the can for reassurance. I need a 20″ diameter disk to get me close. I draw it out with the compass and then take it over to free hand cut on the band saw. Next I have to “jig up” a tool that I have never used and I got to tell you, routers scare me. Here is what I came up with.

Spacers made from 3/4″ MDF under both pieces of ply support both the circle and the plywood off cut. As you can see the off cut is secured to the bench and provides support for the router. In this setup, the router is held stationary and the disk is slowly rotated and trimmed using a flush cut bit. Crude but I was happy it worked as well as it did. Unfortunately the disk was just a tad (1/4″) too wide to fit in the can. Using calipers I measured how much needed to be removed then I transferred this to the disk and halved it (because the jig is a radius and the measure was diameter). Once again I trimmed the edge, taking my time.

This time I got lucky, it fits! Now I need to figure out if I want to cut another larger piece of ply for the outer lid or whether I want to modify the metal lid ala Stumpy Nubs.  I really think it would be easier to make another larger disk and laminate them together than to cut holes and form metal although I like the idea of the potentially better seal with the metal lid. I’m afraid what is gained by sealing around the rim might be lost in leaks bonding the wood to metal.  Oh well, if it all fails at least I’ll still have a great metal garbage can for the shop!

You have been reading an excerpt from the shop journal of the Turtlecovebrewer.