As you may already know, this week has been declared Woodworkers Safety Week 2008. This idea was the work of Marc Spagnuolo of The Wood Whisperer fame. Along with the declaration of Woodworkers Safety Week, the thought was that those of us who write, talk, or video about woodworking might focus some of our efforts during the week on the subject of safety in the workshop. The emphasis of this endeavor is, of course, to heighten every woodworker’s awareness of the need for safety in the workshop.
To do my part for Woodworkers Safety Week 2008, I thought I’d share a couple of quick stories about close calls that I have had in the workshop, the reasons for them, and what I learned from the experience. In addition to these stories, in a subsequent post I will also highlight just some of the things that I use in my shop that are focused on safety.
What you see in the picture is the sign that I have hanging in my shop. I got if from an old manufacturing operation that was closing down and I thought it would be perfect in my shop. It’s location in the shop causes me to see it every time that I enter. It may seem silly, but seeing it every day in the shop reminds me that the first thing I can do to be safe is to think clearly about what I am doing. If something that I am about to do does not feel safe, I don’t do it – plain and simple. This practice has never failed me. I will always spend extra time thinking about or setting up for an operation to make it completely safe. To me, the extra time is well worth the piece of mind I get as a result.
Having said this, I too have been through the “woodworking school of hard knocks”. When I first started out in the craft, I of course did not have much experience doing woodworking. On two separate occasions this lack of experience (and the lack of patience to try to research the write way to do something) resulted in a close call for me in the shop. One was at the table saw and the other at the router table.
The Table Saw Incident
The table saw incident occurred when I was first starting woodworking. I was using my father’s old Craftsman 7 1/4″ table saw. It had a very poor fence on it. I was attempting to rip a board but I had two things working against me: I was not using a splitter and I did not have the fence tuned to align itself parallel to the blade when it was locked down.
I started the ripping operation and the board started to become harder and harder to push. I could hear the saw straining but, I kept pushing thinking that there was only a little more to the cut and I thought that I could force it through. You can probably guess what happened – because the fence had locked down with the far end closer to the blade than the near end, and because there was no splitter to keep the board from contacting the rear of the blade, the board eventually rode up onto the rear teeth of the blade and kicked back with violent force. Luckily, I was standing in a position where it did not hit me but, the board ended up going through a paneled wall on the other side of my shop! Needless to say, I quickly shut down the saw and after I collected myself I finally did one thing right – I retraced what I had done and realized that the issue with the fence was the cause and that my forcing the cut and the lack of the splitter enabled an almost tragic result. The important lessons that I learned from this are:
- On the table saw a well tuned fence is paramount. Until I got my own saw I was diligent to check and recheck that the fence was equidistant at both the front and back of the blade before any cuts were made.
- Having a splitter on the saw could have helped this situation. Because this saw was old and the guard/splitter was long gone, I made a new insert with a wooden splitter attached until the saw was replaced.
- Forcing a cut on any power tool is the last thing you should do. From then on, if ever in a situation where a cut is binding I always shut down the tool to investigate what is causing the issue before continuing.
The Router Table Incident
The incident that I once had with the router table was not because of an issue with the equipment but, rather because of an issue with my knowledge of an operation. I was using a straight bit in the router at the router table to plow a groove.
I had already plowed a groove in my workpiece using the fence on the router table to position the groove properly. I moved the piece from right to left over the bit to do this. However, the bit I was using was 1/2″ in diameter and I needed to plow a 3/4″ grove into the piece. I was not quite sure, but this seemed simple enough…I could just move the fence in toward the bit by 1/4″ and widen the groove with another pass against the fence, I thought. I went ahead with this operation and as soon as the piece was engaged by the bit, it shot out the left side of the router table and into the wall across the shop! This happened in an instant and I hardly knew what had happened. I shut down the router and tried to understand what had gone wrong. After a bit of thought, I finally understood the problem. Because I moved the fence toward the bit and still fed the piece from right to left, as the bit rotated counter-clockwise it was widened the groove nearer the edge of the piece that was against the fence. This caused the piece to be trapped in between the bit and the fence effectively creating a climb-cut situation. The important lessons that I learned from this are:
- You need to always be aware of the rotation of the bit on the router table. All operations must feed the workpiece to be cut into the rotation of the bit – it is always worth a few extra minutes to walk through the scenario (and even draw a quick picture) to be sure that you completely understand what you are doing.
- Never ever trap a workpiece between the bit and the fence on the router table. Always consider the rotation of the bit and if the orientation requires the cut to be between the bit and the fence, then the feed direction must be reversed. In the scenario that I denoted above, I needed to actually feed the workpiece from left to right to safely make the cut.
These are the two close calls that I have had that stand out the most in my mind. They illustrate that disastrous things can happen in an instant in the workshop. I hope that reading about them will point out something for you to work more safely in your woodworking. I would also urge you to visit the other blogs in The Woodwhisperer Network to see what others are talking about during Woodworkers Safety Week 2008.
Tags: safety, Woodworkers Safety Week, woodworking safety, workshop safety
Well, after a wait for the finish to cure and my being out of town, the Queen Anne Side Table is finally ready for its unveiling.
When I last posted about this table, the construction was complete and I spoke about the possible options for a finish. In the end, I went with a finish schedule consisting of: Boiled Linseed Oil, Garnet Shellac and General Finishes Arm-R-Seal as a top coat.
I started the finishing process by first thinning the BLO by about 25% with Naptha. This thinned mixture was applied liberally with arag and wet sanded in with 400 grit wet/dry paper. After the oil had some time to soak in I wiped off any excess with a dry rag. The wet sanding with the oil made for a silky smooth base to which I could apply the shellac and top coats. In the picture you can see the table after the BLO was applied.
As I mentioned in the previous post, I elected to use some Garnet shellac to add a bit of color to the table and to also act as a sealer coat between the oil and the top coat (though that’s oil-based too, so there was no real issue except for the BLO possibly not being fully cured). In the pictures, you can see the materials and the pad that I used to apply the shellac. The pad is just composed of an inner ball of a loose cotton material and an outer skin of cotton T-Shirt material. I first charged the pad with denatured alcohol and then squirted shellac onto the pad using the little squeeze bottle shown in the picture (you can also see how I store the pad between uses in a sealed plastic bag).
I applied the shellac quickly in a straight motion where possible slightly overlapping my strokes. Shellac dries quickly so I let each coat dry and then the let next coat dissolve into the previous coat to cover any areas that were not evenly coated. I applied three light coats of shellac in total and rubbed lightly with 0000 steel wool after the last coat to smooth the surface. In the picture you can see the table with the Garnet shellac applied over the BLO.
For the top coat I used General Finishes Arm-R-Seal, Semi-gloss. I thinned this just a bit with Naptha to get very thin coats. The top coat was applied with a paper-towel folded into a small rectangular applicator. I rubbed with steel wool before the third coat of finish to get as smooth a base as I could for that final coat. After vacuuming the table surfaces I went over the table with a towel an Naptha so that it was as clean as possible for the final coat. With all of the coats applied I let the table cure for about two and a half weeks. Then I rubbed the entire table vigorously with 0000 steel wool to even it out for a satin finish. Finally, I applied paste wax with steel wool as an applicator and buffed the dried wax with a rag.
The hardware for the table came from Horton Brasses. I ordered two pulls and a matching escutcheon in brass with a semi-bright finish. As you can see in the the picture, the style is reminiscent of Queen Anne styling. I centered the two pulls vertically on the drawer face and aligned them over the center points of the scroll work left and right of center. The escutcheon was applied in the center of the drawer, about 1/16″ below the edge of the detail at the top of the drawer, just slightly higher than the pulls.
I’ll leave you with a few different views of the table (click for a larger view). I decided to take the pictures outside on a nice spring day. There are a couple of close-ups of the drawer, the knee and knee block and the pad foot. I really enjoyed this project. Working on a period piece was interesting and allowed me to develop some new skills. I guess all that is left is to decide which period to reproduce next!
Tags: period furniture, Queen Anne, side table
Well, I’m back from my travels and trying to get caught up. Hopefully I’ll see some shop time this weekend – if the yard work cooperates!
In any event, I wanted to do a quick post about an incredible tree that we saw while we were in South Carolina. The tree is called the “Angel Oak”. It is a Live Oak residing in the South Carolina Low Country near the city of Charleston – just outside of Kiawah and Seabrook Islands. This tree has been cared for by the city of Charleston since 1991.
Though they do not usually grow too terribly tall, it is typical of the Live Oaks of the south to have a spreading canopy and large overhanging limbs (usually draped with Spanish Moss).
However, the Angel Oak is nothing short of spectacular! Its canopy is huge – creating an area of shade over 17,000 square feet. It is 65 feet tall and has massive limbs that are so large that they rest on the ground and spread for huge distances from the trunk. The trunk has a circumference of 25.5 feet and its largest limb has a circumference of 11.5 feet and a length of 89 feet!
This is one enormous tree. It’s age cannot be exactly determined however, legend has it as old as 1400 years!
As I viewed this tree I could not help but to think about how long it has existed and what it has endured to do so. I also thought about how the craftsmen around it must have evolved during that time – potentially making things from wood harvested from around this very tree.
When you see something like this it certainly makes you contemplate the medium in which we work and how remarkable and unique it is. Wood is a renewable resource with many varied uses and benefits. Every piece is different, special and unique in one way or another. When you come upon something like this, the only thing you can do is stop to appreciate the majesty of a tree in its natural state and how special and beautiful it is. Usually when I see wood I am thinking about what I can build out of it. When I saw the Angel Oak all I could think was that some trees should be left standing.
In these pictures (click for larger view) you can better see the enormity of this tree with my wife and son for perspective. 
I’ll be back in the shop soon finishing up the Queen Anne Side Table and then continuing on with the Dreadnought Guitar project.
Hey everybody, I just thought I’d post a quick note that I’ll be out of town and consequently out of the shop for the next week or so. I’ll be back working on the Dreadnought Guitar and also completing the Queen Anne Side Table as soon as I return.
The Queen Anne Side Table has had the finish curing for a bit before the final rub out and hardware. So, it should be making its final appearance in a post on the blog soon. Things are moving along on the Dreadnought Guitar as well. I’ll be posting soon about the process of fitting and gluing the top to the sides. That should be an interesting operation!
Anyway, I just wanted to get an update out to keep you informed. I’ll be checking in remotely while traveling, so, please continue to send and commments or questions that you have. I’ll be back in the shop soon!
Just when you thought that the bracing tasks were complete there was more bracing to do. Whereas the back braces are a bit more structural in nature, the top actually has a more complex bracing pattern that keeps it strong but also allows it to vibrate giving the guitar its unique tone. Bracing the top was my most recent task in the workshop.
Laying Out the Brace Pattern
There are quite a number of braces that must be attached to the underside of the top. As I mentioned, because these braces are both structural and also directly affect the sound of the guitar, the braces must be carefully laid out and applied.
To do the layout, I overlaid the guitar top onto the full-size pattern. I was careful to align the center line of the top and the sound-hole with those on the pattern because all of the brace positions utilize these elements as a reference. There are several sets of braces – the main structural braces are the X-braces and they form and X across the top. In the lower bout of the guitar, stemming from the X-braces are the tone bars. Around the sound-hole are some reinforcement strips and above the sound-hole in the upper bout are the main transverse brace and another reinforcing brace. Last, there is a flat bridge plate just under where the X-braces cross.
To layout all of the braces onto the back of the guitar top, I started by transferring the locations of the ends of the X-braces to the top. With a long straightedge I connected these points giving me the X-Brace locations. Next, I marked for the ends of the tone braces and the upper transverse braces. By extending the lines of the shorter tone bars across the pattern and then replacing the top onto the pattern I was able to extend the end marks for the tone bars to the points where they intersected the X-Braces. The upper transverse braces were straightforward to mark across the top and the sound hole reinforcing strips and bridge plate were done in a similar manner to the tone bars. The picture (click for larger view) shows the completed layout on the back of the guitar top.
Notching the Braces
Before the braces could be applied to the top, some work was required on the braces themselves. A half-lap had to be cut into the X-braces and notches were required at the intersection points of the tone bars, sound-hole reinforcing strips and bridge plate. I started with the X-braces. With one brace clamped to the top, I marked the intersecting points of the other X-brace. Then, by overlaying the other X-brace I transfered the marked location to denote where the joint needed to be cut. From there it was a matter of some quick cross-cuts to half the depth of the braces and cleaning out the material with a sharp chisel.
In addition to the half-lap on the X-braces, the intersection points of the tone bars, sound-hole reinforcement strips and bridge plate needed to be notched into the X-braces. With the X-braces clamped to the top, I used the pattern to mark out the locations of all of the intersection points onto the X-braces. I then scored the lines with a knife and filed small chamfers at the marked locations. With a small chamfer applied to the ends of the tone bars, reinforcement strips and bridge plate I was ready to apply the braces to the top.
Applying the Braces
In the first picture you can see the top with all of the braces laid out, fitted, notched and ready to be glued to the top. I applied the braces to the top in a couple of stages. First, the X-braces were applied. In the second picture you can see that I again used the Go-bar Deck to clamp the braces. Because of the breakage of a couple of the wooden dowel rods I used the last time, this time I decided to use fiberglass rods as the Go-bars. These were originally sold as stakes to mark out driveways during the winter here so that the snow plow driver can see where the boundaries of the driveway are. The stakes came in 4 four foot lengths so, I just cut them to size and applied protective screw covers to the ends. This was a much cheaper alternative than buying the fiberglass Go-bars sold by the guitar specialty shops and it worked very well. Again, while clamping the X-braces you can see that I used small strips of stock under the corners of the top to maintain the radius of the top while gluing the X-braces to the top.
After the glue on the X-braces was dry, I moved on to applying the rest of the bracing to the top. I did this in several stages just to keep things manageable. First came the tone bars, next the sound-hole reinforcement strips and the upper transverse braces and last the bridge plate. In the picture you can see the clamping of the tone bars and how many Go-bars were used. Notice that I used some small blocks of scrap to hold down pairs of tone bars. When I did this I just left the X-braces clamped to keep the top in the same position and then carefully clamped the tone bars.
Trimming the Braces
As I mentioned, these braces are attached to the top of the guitar for structural reasons. However, the idea is to reinforce the top and make it stiff without adding weight or hampering its ability to vibrate. As you can see in the pictures, the most of the braces were already scalloped along their length. This scalloping minimizes their weight while retaining their strength. To further allow the top to vibrate, the ends of the braces were trimmed where they will eventually intersect the kerfed lining when the top is attached to the guitar sides. The ends of the X-braces and main transverse brace were trimmed to a thickness of .100″. The ends of the tone bars were trimmed to nothing where they meet the kerfed linings. In the picture you can see the top with all of the braces attached and their ends trimmed. Next up will be attaching the top to the sides.
