Syzygy Woodworks

October 8, 2009

The completed knife display case

I finally completed the knife display case and delivered it to the lady who commissioned it. She was very happy with the case, which is the most important thing. It is a wedding anniversary gift for her husband. His collection of Harley knives has been sitting in the closet for many years, so now he will have them out on display.

The case is made from Tiger Maple and African Mahogany and is approx. 16″ x 32″. The joints are inlaid half blind dovetails. The wooden hinges are made from tiger maple. The pockets for the knives were routed with the Daisy Pin Router and then were flocked. A french cleat on the back of the display will allow it to be hung on the wall. It is pretty heavy and I thought a french cleat would be the safest means of hanging it.

Here are some images of the completed project.

October 6, 2009

Making wooden hinges

Choosing and installing hinges has always been a frustrating part of the process of making a hinged box. The array of hinges available is staggering, yet often it is difficult to find just the right hinge for a particular project. I’m also guilty of not planning far enough ahead, and so when it comes time to install a hinge my choices are severally restricted because of the thickness of the wood I’ve used or the design of a particular box. Lastly I’m nervous about mortising for a hinge, messing it up and destroying all the work I’ve put into building a box.

While trying to decide on a hinge for the knife display case, all these factors came into play. In addition I had a lot of details that I did not want detracted from by a shiny metal hinge. I did some research and thought I would try make some wooden hinges. To my surprise I found them easy to make and install. They also looked really nice, and I thought they would add to the overall look of the case.

I milled some maple to half inch thick and 1 3/4″ wide. The width was determined by the finger joint layout, I was using a 1/4″ straight bit in the finger joint template on my Leigh D4R jig. The joints could just as easily made using a jig on a table saw or router table.

Using a 1/4″ round over bit in my router table I rounded over the ends of each piece.

Using the finger joint jig, I routed pins in both ends of one board, and sockets in both ends of the other board.

Each board was then cross cut in half and a test fit revealed a nice snug finger joint. I then pulled the joints apart by about 1/16″ and clamped the pairs together against my drill press fence. The plywood in the image ensured a clean exit hole. It is important that the drill be perpendicular to the table. The entry and exit holes need to be in perfect alignment on each side or the hinge will not open nicely.

After drilling, and before removing from the clamps, I inserted a 1/8″ brass rod cut to length into the hole, and two wooden hinges were complete, ready to be cut to fit and installed.

October 4, 2009

Inlaid half blind dovetail joints

I planned to make inlaid half blind dovetail joints for the frame of the knife display case. The frame is made from African Mahogany and the inlays are tiger maple. This article will show how I made the joints. For more information on the Leigh Jig please visit their website. The article which I followed is one of Leigh’s technical bulletins. Their manuals are very well written and illustrated. Another excellent source for information on the Leigh Jigs is Al Navas’s blog, Sandal Woods.

When making half blind dovetails with the Leigh Jig it is critical to understand the following:

Bit selection is based on the thickness of the pin board.
The bit selected will only produce one specific cutting depth. If you have the bit set to low the joint will be too tight, if you have the bit set to high the joint will be too loose. Only one depth of cut will make a perfect joint.
The pins and the tails are both routed with the same bit.
The scale setting determines how much the pins protrude from the tails. You only want the pins to protrude by about 1/64″ to make for easy clean up of the joint.

The process for making inlaid half blind dovetail joints consists of first making a set of end on end half blind dovetails with two pieces of contrasting woods. Then making a regular half blind dovetail joint where the tails are smaller.

The first step was to prepare the lumber to the right dimensions. While I was doing this I also prepared a couple of test pieces to use in setting up the router and jig and to practice the joint on. I marked all the pieces with white chalk, indicating the sides of the frames (the tail boards) and the front/back of the frame (the pin boards). I also marked the show side or outside of the frame.

As well as the four sides of the frame, I also needed to prepare a spacer board, the inlay board and two shims. The spacer board is used on the Leigh Jig to rest the guide fingers on. The shims are used to help set the fingers of the jig when doing the inlay. The inlay board and shims needed to be milled to a particular thickness. The pin and tail boards are 5/8″ thick and I wanted an inlay of 1/16″ thickness. I was using the 120-8 cutter (router bit) which has a 14 degree angle and a cutting depth of 7/16″.

The inlay board thickness needed to be equal to the cutting depth + inlay thickness. i.e 7/16″ + 1/16″ = 1/2″

The shim thickness was determined by the following formula in the Leigh Bulletin: inlay thickness x 1.28 i.e 1/16″ x 1.28 = 0.08″ (The angle of the cutter bit determines the factor by which you multiply the inlay thickness by in order to determine the shim thickness.

Having prepared all the lumber the next step was to layout the fingers on the jig. As my board was only 2 1/2″ wide there were not going to be many dovetails! It is important to make sure that you have room for at least two shim thickness between each pair of fingers. The guide fingers need to be moved by this amount later in the proceedings.

The assembly is then rotated into the half blind pins mode with the scale set to the thickness of the tail board. The pin board is placed horizontally in the jig and moved forward so that it touches the tail board that is vertical in the jig. You can see in the image below that the tail board is set low enough that the router bit will not touch it!

The pin board is then routed. This is not the normal procedure when making half blind dovetails using the Leigh Jig. Normally the tail board is routed first. For inlaid half blind dovetails the pin board needs to be routed first so that an inlay can be glued into the pins.

The assembly is now rotated to the half blind tails mode and the inlay board is placed horizontally in the jig. It is moved forward so that it is flush with the front face of the tail board mounted vertically in the jig. The inlay board is routed out. When routing the inlay board you need to make sure you route back far enough so that there is enough of a tail to fill the tail sockets.

After making a test fit I took the inlay board to my cross cut sled on my table saw and cut off a couple inches of the end which had been routed. I then glued the inlay into the pin board. As you can see in the image below I did this on both ends of the pin board.

Once the glue had cured, I took the piece to my cross cut sled again and cut the inlay board flush with the end of the pin board.

Now comes the magic trick. With the jig assembly still in the half blind tails mode the guide fingers need to be moved so that the next set of pins and tails that are cut are slightly smaller than the first set. The Leigh Bulletin does a great job of explaining how the guide fingers need to be moved, I’ll do my best here.

The right hand fingers are loosened and moved to the right by one shim thickness. They are then tightened. The left hand fingers are then loosened, slid to the left so that two shims fit between the left and right fingers, then the left finger is tightened. The half pin guides need only to be moved inwards by one shim thickness. The easy way to do this is to move the “spare” fingers (the ones to the far left and right of the joint that are just used to rest the router on) flush to the half pin guides. Then the half pin guides are loosened, slid in by the the thickness of one shim and tightened. The “spare” guides are then moved back out. It sounds pretty complicated, but it is actually fairly simple to do.

Having moved the guides, and with the assembly still in the half blind tails mode, the tail board is routed out. As you can see in the image below the tail board is mounted vertical in the jig and raised so that it touches the underside of the guide fingers.

We’re nearly there!! The assembly is rotated to the half blind pins mode. The pin board with the inlay is mounted horizontally in the jig and moved forward so that it touches the tail board that is vertical in the jig. Again you can see in the image below that the tail board is set low enough that the router bit will not touch it!

The pin board is routed out and finally the inlaid joint is revealed! I don’t need to tell you how exciting a moment this is!

The results of all those steps, an inlaid half blind dovetail joint.

September 28, 2009

Pockets for the knives

After completing a test piece, it was time to route out all the pockets for the knives. 19 knives in total, with the pockets to be routed in a beautiful piece of 7/8″ thick tiger maple. A little nerve wracking to say the least!

Here are some progress pictures. The Eagle head of the pocket was routed first as that was the deepest pocket.

Next the main body of the knives were routed out.

I then removed the 1/4 plywood template from the back of the maple. That in itself was a struggle, it’s amazing how strong double sided carpet tape is! Using a 1″ forstener bit I drilled semi circles above the template of each knife. This was to be the guide to route out a small finger pocket. I then clamped the plywood to the front of the maple and using a plunge router with a core bit and collar cut out the finger pockets.

Here is a detail shot of one of the knife pockets.

Finally here is a shot of the tiger maple board complete with all the knives. I was pleasantly surprised when each knife dropped neatly in it’s designated pocket 🙂

The next step will be to make the frame of the case. I plan on using African Mahogany with half blind dovetail joints inlaid with maple.

September 20, 2009

Pockets for knife display case – test piece

I decided to do a test piece for the pockets I will be making for the knife display case. I’ve learned the value of test pieces from bitter experience. The extra time taken always seems to pay dividends as you figure out a process using a piece of scrap wood.

The first step was to trace the pattern of a knife onto a piece of 1/4″ plywood and onto a piece of scrap maple. I also drew a line on the pattern separating the thicker eagle head portion of the knife from the rest of the handle.

Using my scroll saw I cut out the eagle head portion of the pattern in the plywood. On the maple piece I hogged out the same portion using a 3/4″ forstner bit in my drill press. I set the drill press so that it would drill to a depth just slightly less of the final depth of the pocket.

Then, taking care to orientate it correctly, I attached the plywood to the back of the maple with double stick tape, and using a 3/4″ router bit and the Daisy Pin Router, I routed out as much of the pocket as I could.

Because of the diameter of the 3/4″ router bit I was not able to route out the area of the pocket at the eagle’s beak. So I switched to a 1/8″ router bit and also changed the guide pin in the Daisy Pin Router to 1/8″. With the smaller diameter bit I was able to access and rout out the area at the eagle’s beak.

I then removed the plywood from the maple test piece, and took it back to the scroll saw, where I cut out the rest of the pattern. I also took the maple piece back to the drill press and hogged out as much as I could with the forstner bit. You can see that portion of the pocket will not be as deep as the eagle head portion.

The 1/4″ plywood was taped to the back of the maple piece again, and I switched both the router bit and Daisy Pin Router guide pin back to 3/4″. Then the pocket was routed out. Because this section of the pocket was not as deep I did not have to do a plunge cut with the router. I simple placed the piece over the router bit in the deeper pocket, turned the router on and then moved the piece across to route out the shallower section.

The completed pocket with the knife sitting in it.

With a total of 19 pockets to create in the actual knife display case, it was worth taking the time to make a test piece and find the most efficient and accurate method.

September 19, 2009December 14, 2018

Daisy Pin Router

My initial plan to create the slots holding the knives in the display case was to use my scroll saw. However, the case dimensions were 16″ x 30″ which would have been to big for my scroll saw. Further, when I took delivery of the knives I saw the eagle part of the handle was considerably thicker than the rest of the handle. This meant the slots would have to be at a varied depth in order for the knives to sit flat. The only way to achieve this would be with a router.

Rather than having to factor in the thickness of a router collar when making the template, I decided to buy a Daisy Pin Router from MLCS Woodworking. Like I really needed an excuse to buy a new tool 🙂 The pin router includes four steel guide pin of varying sizes (1/4″, 5/16″, 3/8″ and 1/2″) and I also purchased the corresponding set of router bits to go with the pin router. As always, with MLCS, shipping was prompt and the package arrived in good condition. As you can see in the next shot, some assembly and set up is required.

After attaching the lever to the arm, I screwed the 1/2″ guide pin into the collet of my router. I then moved the arm around to see where it would fit best. Ideally I would have preferred bolting it to the table on the fence side of the router. However, I had very limited access to the underside of my router table at that location, so it would have been difficult tightening and removing the bolts. I ended up locating it to the left and back of the router. This meant that I would need to feed the workpiece from right to left, which shouldn’t be a problem as I have enough of the table in front of the router to support the workpiece. I also took care to make sure the arm did not cover the access hole for the router lift.

The next step was to mark where the four holes were to be drilled in the router table. I used a transfer punch to do this accurately. I drilled the holes carefully using a 5/16″ bit. The directions called for using a 3/8″ bit, but that seemed a bit big to me.

The next shot shows the pin router bolted to the table with the 1/2″ pin still secured in the router collet.

I was excited to take it for a test drive, so I cut a scrap piece of 1/4″ plywood, drilled a hole in it with a forstner bit and then secured it to a piece of maple with double sided tape. I set the guide pin so that it was just above the maple, but below the height of the plywood.

Routing the outside profile was quick and easy. I did it in four passes, raising the bit each pass. I routed the end grain first and then the side grain to avoid tear out.

Routing the interior profile took a bit more care, but was still quick and easy. I raised the guide pin, started the router, then carefully positioned the workpiece over the bit taking care to ensure the guide pin was inside of the hole cut out in the plywood. Then I plunged the workpiece down on the bit, held the workpiece securely while dropping and locking the guide pin in place. Then it was just a matter of moving the workpiece around within the constraints of the guide pin in the cut out hole. I had to perform these steps a couple of times, turning off the router and raising the bit incrementally each time. When I flipped the piece over it was good to see a perfect reproduction of the circle in the workpiece!

Overall I’m very pleased with the Daisy Pin Router. I think it will work great for the knife display case and I’m sure I will come up with many more uses for it as time goes by.

September 18, 2009

Knife Display Case

I have received a commission to build a display case for a set of knives. The knives are a Harley Davidson collection and there are a total of 19 knives. They have been sitting in a closet for a number of years and the lady who commissioned me wants to give her husband a case to display them in for their anniversary.

After consultation we decided to build the case out of Tiger Maple and African Mahogany. The background will be maple with the frame of the case made from mahogany. I felt the Tiger Maple was a good choice, the light color would make the knives stand out. It also has some nice figure, but not enough to over power the focus of the display, namely the knives. The room the knives will be displayed in has some mahogany furniture, so using mahogany for the frame was a natural choice and it will contrast nicely with the maple.

After looking at a number of different ways to lay the knives out we decided on a grid of five columns and four rows. As there are nineteen knives the knife in the lower right corner will be displayed in the open position. Each cell is 4″ x 5″. The final dimension of the case will be around 16″ x 30″.

I managed to pick up some nice boards from Chipmunk Hardwoods in Edgewater.

Here are a couple more close up shots showing the knives. It is quite a collection!

Now back to the shop to make some sawdust. This is going to be a fun project!

September 15, 2009

If the only tool you have is a hammer …

.. . then all your problems start to look like nails.

Yesterday evening I gave a demonstration at my woodturning club on turning a wooden mallet with an oval handle. I spent time over the weekend preparing for the demo. While I was turning a mallet in my shop, a friend of mine came round to visit. As he watched me we got to talking about hammers and he told me of a big carnival hammer he once had.

Boys will be boys, and not long after that we had this big log on the lathe and were busy making a monster size mallet 🙂

The head is 7 1/2″ x 9 1/2″ and the oval handle is 2′ long turned from poplar.

I took it to my demo and used it as an icebreaker at the beginning of the demo. It got a good laugh and helped to relax me as well as add some entertainment to the evening. Things came full circle at the end of the demo. I had turned the tenon on the handle ever so slightly oversize and was having difficulty pushing it into the hole of the mallet head. So I grabbed the “mother of all mallets” and with a sharp tap the handle slid snugly into the head, ending the demo nicely.

July 27, 2009

Turn a wooden mallet with an oval handle

A wooden mallet is very useful in the workshop and I’ve been meaning to make one for a while. To make things a bit more interesting I decided to make one with an oval handle using off center turning. An oval handle is also more comfortable to hold than a circular handle. I made this from cherry, probably not the best of woods to use as it is not the hardest of hardwoods, but it is what I had on hand at the time.

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July 26, 2009

Making a Board Game on the lathe

In a recent post I mentioned I had made a Quarto Board Game for a friend of mine. It is made from walnut and oak that he sent me. It was a fun project and was done almost entirely on the lathe. I used a table saw to cut the stave sections for the sides of the box, and a drill press for the inlays on the top.

This is an article on how I made the board game. The techniques here could be adapted for a number of different games. You can download a copy of the rules for Quarto here.

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