Before wrapping the core block (maple) with framing planks (walnut) I need to square the four sides so the glue lines and miters are perfect - and do so
without large capacity jointers and resaw capable bandsaws…
I have an extended table and some room for a vertical work surface.
I was thinking of trying to create a carousel-type jig (think vertically mounted lazy susan) that would handle the weight and allow the piece to be rotated at precise 90 degree increments relative to the spindle. A surfacing bit would make quick work of the job.
Another option would be to have two perfectly perpendicular mounting planes but adjustment for different sized blocks will be a challenge
Clamping would be a b*tch in either case but I have a couple ideas.
I’m not finding much for ots solutions.
Anyone out there tackle something like this before?
Here is a simplified idea that occurred to me while contemplating your lazy Susan. How about a vertically adjustable shelf, parallel to the top of your table that is wide and strong enough to hold one of your pieces of wood? It would go up and down on a vertical base on the end of your table - perhaps held at different heights by pegs. If that vertical base had other holes for clamps, then you could hold the work piece tight to the vertical base. At one end of the shelf you could have a vertical guide that you could hold the work piece to so you would get sides at right angles. Does this make sense? If not, I could try to do a drawing.
A general woodworking question - do you have problems with your center slab expanding and contracting with the seasons and pulling the walnut frame apart?
I think a vertical work table would work great for that, and clamping wouldn’t be too hard.
You’d have some dogs on the vertical table that are perfectly vertical (which isn’t too hard to do – I have a video about it).
The bottom could sit on adjustable shelf; you drop it on the shelf, push it against the dogs on the left side, clamp it with some large holes in the vertical table, and then square the top. Rotate 90 degrees and repeat.
I don’t think you need the carousel; just a basic shelf, which could be held on and adjustable in various ways. I’d probably hold it on with something in a t-track.
Thanks for that Garth.
I agree this seems the easier route.
I’ve just recently upgraded to the 12" z-axis so the original 8" z-axis with it’s linear rails and beefy plates may make for a decent vertically adjustable platform - or at least a decent place to start prototyping.
The vertical mounting plane would only need to be a static surface off to the side.
Looks like 80/20 is my next stop.
Most of my projects are riddled with single-point failures and this phenomenon is the greatest risk of them all.
I’ve yet to see it occur but its still early in the game.
The measures I take are as follows:
only using properly processed lumber with low moisture content
constructing from a single piece of lumber
consideration of grain orientations in each layer
generous use of Titebond III
proper compression pressure
miter splines at the corners
multiple coats of polyurethane sealing every surface
The soft maples share a similar dimensional change coefficient with walnut things should so be ok for the most part. The hotspots on these pieces are the top and bottom walnut framing boards that are oriented perpendicular to the rest. This is where the miter splines will be tested.
I’m still exploring stronger adhesive options and have considered epoxy but I need to do laser testing to see how it would react to being burned since I etch and raster over the seam lines - which in some cases can be quite exposed if the carving has a very low pitch incline.
I am currently using plain sawn b/c the surface is less visually cluttered by grain lines but may switch to quarter sawn.
I’ve carved edge grain glue-ups with success - the tradeoff being more exposed grain lines and glue seams on the surface.
I’ve tried end grain glue-ups and they come out great - the tradeoff being much more gluing and prep work and a less pristine background for the laser rastering. This may be where I’m headed though…
Thanks Corbin.
I’m convinced the adjustable shelf is the way to go and I’ll check out the video.
It will require a second perpendicular mounting surface for the other two sides so getting those two planes precisely 90 degrees to one another will be the most crucial part - and cncing the 2 planes’ mounting points on the vertical backboard is self-evident.
Seems the lathe isn’t the only tool that can create itself after all.
I’m still gonna fantasize about that carousel though…
Oops, looks like I missed Garth’s post about suggesting the same thing right before I did.
I’m not sure why you’d need two vertical mounting surfaces; as long as you have one you should be able to do everything (but I may be missing something).
Those are pretty cool carvings! What ski resort is it? I’m in Lake Tahoe, California and I snowboard a lot in the winter (currently Northstar, and previously Palisades/Squaw/Alpine).
Apologies Corbin, what I meant about “a second perpendicular surface” was a second surface perpendicular to the first.
The horizontal support surface, which would be vertically adjustable, would allow surfacing & paralleling two opposing sides of the block.
The vertically mounted support surface, which would probably be rigid, would then allow the same for the two remaining sides.
Those two mounting surfaces would need to be exactly perpendicular even though they would be independent of one another.
Though now I’m thinking they could be combined…
I’m in New England so I’m going local first.
The first one is Stowe in VT and the second one is Sunday River in ME.
Canon, Bromley and Stratton are under way.
Ah yeah, I see what you mean. Here’s another idea on how I do it that could help you:
Focus on just getting some dogs on the left side of the vertical work table that create a very vertical line. Your shelf doesn’t have to be perfectly parallel with your CNC table. It could actually be slightly lower on the right side. Then the trick is to get that left side of your workpiece dead on up against the dogs on the left side of the vertical table. If you just drop it on the shelf, and the shelf is lower on the right, the top left side won’t make contact with the dogs. So, you can get it level by slowly hammering a wedge under the right side of the workpiece (ie: on top of the shelf) to bring it perfectly in line. I use this technique in some of my pieces which are a bit out of square.
I’m not sure it makes sense, but just another thought and idea!
I like this approach. If the vertical table is really fixed the dog holes are absolutely vertical then the adjustable shelf doesn’t have to be quite so perfectly aligned. I’ve got a vertical table kind of similar to this on my machine. Originally I built if for cutting dovetail joints on the ends of boards. It works fine, but then I’ve hardly used it so I can’t say if I built it accurately enough for production work.
