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Shop Tweaks


Kev

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8 minutes ago, Coop said:

I’ll look into the Incra I-Box as I really like box joints. Probably because my dt’s leave a lot to be desired! 

If what you're currently doing for box joints is working for you, there's no reason to change.  I don't do a lot of box joints and picked up this jig to review and add to my arsenal.  I'm just being honest about the jig.  There's a good chance that since yours is older, it's a much better jig that the more current stuff being cranked out across the pond.

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I was able to find some glaze locally at Sherwin Williams so, decided to move forward with this finishing test today..

I Left the inside and underside of the lid unfinished so I'd have comparisons.  

image.thumb.jpeg.b3217a7887133f8426f086a1391f3d30.jpeg

The back is as done as it's going to get with just a coat of the Potassium Dichromate and a coat of amber shellac.

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And today so far, I've applied (and wiped back) a coat of van dyke brown glaze.

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When that's cured up, I'll add another couple coats of the shellac and then see how I like the sheen.

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I just applied the second coat of shellac.  I also put one of the off cuts next to it to show where it started from..  Pretty amazing transformation really!

image.thumb.jpeg.18d37173a22d5b8d33d9161ccb87e32c.jpeg

I'll take another picture once the shellac is dry.

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37 minutes ago, Woodenskye (Bryan) said:

That’s an incredible difference and really pops!

Yea, I'm not sure it would work on other species and I wish I could find the video where I got the recipe to give credit where it's due.  I'll keep looking and post the full recipe a little later.

I'm really happy with the way it turned out!

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I can't seem to locate the video so can't give credit where credit is due but, here's the recipe - Both the original and what I did differently...

African Mahogany.

  1. Start by raising the grain and sanding back to 180 - From memory, I think the source used 150
  2. Apply a coat of Potassium Dichromate - Dilute 1/2 teaspoon in 1 Qt of water
  3. Apply a coat of dewaxed shellac (Amber)
  4. Apply glaze coat - I used van dyke brown but, the source recommended Burnt Umber from Mohawk. - I let it sit on the surface for about 5 minutes and wiped back.
  5. Apply 2 more coats of the same shellac used in step 3. - I block sanded with 400 grit between coats.
  6. Apply coat of choice to achieve sheen of choice.

Being shop furniture, I didn't apply any top coat but, can see the benefit of adding one for sheen of preference.

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The top piece looks really neat. What part does the Potassium Dichromate play and how did you apply it? 
Can we assume that since you applied shellac prior to the glaze, that the darker streaks are the result of the glaze and not due to the grain of the wood? 

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14 hours ago, Coop said:

The top piece looks really neat. What part does the Potassium Dichromate play and how did you apply it? 
Can we assume that since you applied shellac prior to the glaze, that the darker streaks are the result of the glaze and not due to the grain of the wood? 

The Potassium Dichromate chemically reacts with the wood and really gets the darkening going!  It was applied with just a rag and wiped on since it's mostly water.  In powder form, it is a carcinogen but, there's not much risk when dissolved.  The glaze certainly played a part in darkening those parts of the wood but, it's really the whole recipe that made it work.  The glaze only sat on for about 5 minutes before being wiped back..  

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It was shop furniture so, was a great place to experiment.  

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14 hours ago, Coop said:

Ok, I’m confused. You said between the first two pics that it was potassium dichromate. Typo? 

I tossed that pic in to show what the glaze looked like on the surface before I wiped it back..  Sorry.

Raw wood..

image.thumb.jpeg.2eda3a1767627d31c7755500142bc828.jpeg 

Diluted Potassium Dichromate 

 image.thumb.jpeg.e774de5b9d018c729807205fc671321a.jpeg

Coat of glaze

 image.thumb.jpeg.f206dbdcf5d6816f5daa9b79a82fee08.jpeg

Glaze wiped back

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After 2 coats of Shellac

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@Coop, Does that clear up the confusion?

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I was able to find some glaze locally at Sherwin Williams so, decided to move forward with this finishing test today..

I Left the inside and underside of the lid unfinished so I'd have comparisons.  

image.thumb.jpeg.b3217a7887133f8426f086a1391f3d30.jpeg

The back is as done as it's going to get with just a coat of the Potassium Dichromate and a coat of amber shellac.
 

The confusion is that you said here that you used “Potassium Dichromate.” Did you use the Potassium on the underside and the sodium dichromate on the top side? 

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My bad, I should have caught that..  No clue what I was thinking when I typed it.. I'll edit the posts..

No sodium dichromate used on this project..  It's Potassium Dichromate.

The under side of the lid got no treatment at all.  The top side of the lid and outside of the box got the water pop, potassium dichromate solution, a coat of amber shellac, glaze, and then 2 more coats of the amber shellac.

Apologies @Coop, that was completely on me..

 

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Although this one won't make the video, it belongs in this category..

Today's project was fairly simple and gets my sanding block paper closer to where I actually need it.  Previously, this was stored in the base for my drum sander on the other side of the shop.

Built completely from scrap out of the bin and an old hack saw blade..

This is the bottom side..

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The walnut stop is set to size full sheets to cut and fit my sanding blocks.

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And the other side just had some thin walnut dividers that were offcuts from another project.  And, of course, a piece of 1/4" ply with some half circles drilled at the drill press for finger holds..

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Mounted under the cabinet near the sanding blocks where I need them.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Been a rough couple days...  When I was young, I had a severe allergy to bee stings.  Nothing that effected my breathing but, regardless of the sting location, the swelling in my face made it impossible for me to function for several days.  I'm a little older now and have been stung a few times with, for the most part, none of the effects that I got when I was much younger.  Yesterday was a different story!

I saw the bee's nest above the garage where I park my truck.  I didn't think much of it as I wasn't messing with them or disturbing them in any way.  Well, just walking through the opening, I got stung right next to my eye..  I sensed right away that this one could be trouble and shut everything down for the day and headed to the house to just stay calm and relaxed for the rest of the day.  

The swelling started immediately even though I had taken some Benadryl and it wasn't long before that eye was nearly swollen shut.  When I woke this morning, the eye was completely swollen shut and the entire left side of my face was severely swollen.  Still no issues with breathing.  Got my coffee and did my normal morning routine with just one eye..

As the morning went on, the swelling started to go down and I could finally see with both eyes..  I knew I wasn't going to do any filming with my swollen face looking as it did but, still wanted to get something in the shop accomplished and there were a few things on my list.

I started simple!  I have been wanting to get my HCM off of my miter station and stored down below by my refrigerator.  I had a couple TS jigs there previously that just needed a new spot on the floor between the TS and my sled rack so, this was an easy starting point!

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From there, I've been having issues with the drawer pulls that I've been using in this shop since it was new.  Although I liked the pulls I chose for the shop, because of the overhang on each side of the mounting post, they have a tendency to snag my mic cable a lot and it's not a cheap replacement if I break that mic.  My kids had gotten me an Amazon gift card for my birthday so, I ordered some new pulls for the shop with it.  I was able to order 25 pulls with their gift but, the problem is that I have 72 pulls in my shop!  Anyway, I changed out the most offending ones that had a tendency to snag my mic cable.

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At this point, the swelling in my eye had gone down a bunch so, I wanted to take on some outfeed support for my 18" bandsaw.  Pretty simple really and it works off of the stop block track in my miter station.  Allows me to slide it anyplace I need to in the track and provide some much needed OF support at the bandsaw.

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And, last on my list today was some infeed support at the table saw.  I had another set up for this with the last saw but, never got around to creating it for this saw.  The last couple big projects had me wishing I had this support but, I didn't take the time mid project to build it.  Got that done today!  Instead of adding toggle clamps to secure it in place, I simply use a could shims to lock it in place and it works great!

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So, now I've got both eyes back and the swelling has been reduced greatly!  So, my wife has brought home a can of bee spray so I can take another chance of swelling up again and remove the nest..

If anyone's really interested in how bad the swelling was, let my know and I'll drop a pic of my swollen ugly mug up here for you all to chuckle at!

 

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 Damn bud! I’m glad all’s ok without a doc visit! And then to get out to the shop for catch up, sounds like something I would do! 
As for the bee the bee treatment, I have the answer. An old country boy showed me this one and I’ve used it successfully several times.

Take a piece of rolled up newspaper (or any kind of paper) i.e. torch, light it with it at arms length, and throw a handful of flour across the top of the flame, towards the nest. It acts like a flame thrower and completely vaporizes the insects and nest and does no damage to what the nest is attached. Kind of a caveman approach. 

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2 minutes ago, Coop said:

 Damn bud! I’m glad all’s ok without a doc visit! And then to get out to the shop for catch up, sounds like something I would do! 
As for the bee the bee treatment, I have the answer. An old country boy showed me this one and I’ve used it successfully several times.

Take a piece of rolled up newspaper (or any kind of paper) i.e. torch, light it with it at arms length, and throw a handful of flour across the top of the flame, towards the nest. It acts like a flame thrower and completely vaporizes the insects and nest and does no damage to what the nest is attached. Kind of a caveman approach. 

Interesting approach to removing the bees!  

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Back in my working days,I’ve had people tell me that instead of a fire extinguisher for the kitchen, they kept a container of flour nearby to douse any flames. I had to explain to them that if they were going that route, replace the flour with baking soda. 

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