Vol.12 / Issue 5                              Tennessee Valley Woodworkers                             Editor, Richard Gulley                                     May 1997

Let’s see if we can get a handle on what went on at last month’s meeting. I wasn’t there so I called on Tom Gillard, my trustworthy and faithful assistant. He got back to me with the lame excuse that he wasn’t there either. (I remember it being a lame excuse because I have used something similar to it several times).

I then turned to Loyd Ackerman. Here is his reply- (email is great!)- "I was there Richard, but I get caught up in the spirit of the meeting and take no notes at all. I'll check with John Green and let you know if he took notes. Well, I'm back. I just got off the phone with John. Although he didn't take notes either he was able to pull most of the following from memory."

Well, John, I’d like to thank you for the following report and I’d also like to thank Tom and Loyd for the help that they give in getting the newsletter out.

Business items (there are probably more):

1. The Exhibit was named "Magic in Wood" and an effort was made to get the necessary info for the placards, but still more information is needed.

2. The Fall Seminar Committee was named __ Loyd Ackerman, John Green, Tom Cowan. Tom will try to get talented woodworkers from outside the club to present. We discussed Dr. Bingam from Huntsville as one possibility.

3, The Falls Mill flooring project will be rescheduled for sometime in May.

Show and tell (incomplete):

1. Jim VanCleave showed a jewel case made from applewood.

2. Merle Chattin showed a miniature furniture piece.

3. Tom Cowan showed a bowl turned out of a square block of 8/4 walnut and textured.

4, Manual Brown showed pictures and a sample of lattice work.

5. Henry Davis brought an old tool set that was identified as a woodgraining set.

6. John Sergeant brought a gavel and presented it to the club to call meetings to order.

Program put on by Tom (Sawyer) Church and Ray (Huck) Cole. Tom supervised and Ray presented the program which ran overtime with questions. Subject was design and construction of cabinets, but the discussion ranged well into house construction items and time/motion studies of 'the lady' in the kitchen. Very informative and thought provoking.

Harold Hewgley has another great program lined up for May’s meeting. He contacted Motlow for possible leads for a program and came up with the following: Billy Allen, who will tell about restoring antique guns. All you big shots (and little pistols too) be sure to be there.

June has the promise of being this year’s greatest program. Super Show and Tell ! Everyone bring in a favorite project, a great mistake (a lot to be learned there), or maybe a favorite tool. Show and Tell is one of our greatest assets so let’s let our glory shine.

Now that all the business is out of the way, let’s see what else there is to see.

News From Ross

The TVWW exhibit, "Magic in Wood" is planned for the first three weeks in June in Manchester, Tullahoma and Winchester in that order. We presently have about 14 members planning to exhibit. If you are one of these, please provide Loyd Ackerman (ph. 967-3678) with the following details: names/description, material, finish, and size. We must have this info to prepare placards for the exhibit.

Then, we want others to participate so the scope of the membership is well represented. If you have plans or desire to exhibit please contact Doyle, Loyd or myself immediately.

Loyd is making fliers to advertise the exhibit in business places, etc. But we solicit your diligent efforts to reach your friends and acquaintances at every opportunity to attend the exhibit.

We will discuss "Magic in Wood" at the meeting Tuesday, May 20^th. Please be there.

Ross Roepke (ph. 455-8310)

More Exhibit Info

"The Exhibit committee needs the following details about your projects to plan the physical layout of the exhibit and to compose the placards. Please provide these details on a sheet of paper (or back of an old envelope) for EACH of your projects and give it to Loyd Ackerman or Doyle McConnell at the May meeting. If you expect not to be at the May meeting please mail this information to

Loyd Ackerman

662 Magnolia Drive

Winchester, TN 37398

at your earliest convenience. If you require a change in the information after you submit it you can call Loyd at (615) 967_3678. We want to do this right and show your piece(s) in the best light."

Information needed:

Dimensions: [Width, Depth, Height in inches]

Materials: [The key materials __ for example for a Cherry Table which may have poplar drawer sides we would just list "Cherry" but for a Walnut Table with inlaid Maple we might list "Walnut and Maple inlay"].

Finish: [an example may be "Pigmented Walnut stain with Polyurethane Varnish"]

If there's a specific way you want your description written please note so on your submittal and we'll try very hard to comply.

Sanding Tips

(Ross wanted to pass along these sanding tips he gleaned from Popular Woodworker.)

In a recent article in Popular Woodworker several sanding secrets were shared that I thought might be of interest to several of you.

For hardwoods you need not exceed 220 grit and for softwoods you could probably go to 320 but this probably won’t be necessary.

If you use a random orbit sander (ROS) you can stop at a lower grit and get comparable results to a regular sander; e.g. 150 grit with ROS vs 220. DeWalt advises that too much pressure on an ROS will reduce the free rotation random action.

Do most of your sanding before assembly but stop short of the finish grit. Sand all components to the same grit if you intend to use stain. To prevent rounding over the edges of your project, don’t let the disk extend over the edge more than two inches.

News From the Net

From: Joe Brott <jb04404@navix.net>

Old Joe's American Plain Woodcarving Studio

Plattsmouth, NE

Meanwhile, back at cyber woodcarving, I use homemade substitues for stones, hones and strops for woodcarving knives..

The basic sticks are 3/8" X 2" or 3" wide MDF, 12 to 16" long, or just right length to fit in tool box.

MDF is Medium Density Fiber board. Cut_offs from a low end furniture operation.

I use auto type feathering adhesive or high quality commercial spray adhesive to apply 150 grit Alumina_zirconia (emery type cloth) to one side and 240 grit wet/dry aluminum oxide paper to the other side. This is the shaping/sharpening stick.

The second stick has 320 grit wet/dry aluminum oxide paper on one side and leather on the other side. This is the hone/strop stick. I use white aluminum oxide buffing compound on the leather. The secret seems to be to keep the blade flat on the stick without giving it the "old barber roll" at the end of the stroke. Lift the blade straight up. turn it over and then pull it straight back, flat on the stick. I wound up with a dozen or more stones before making these sticks, and much prefer the sticks now. Put a little water on the wet/dry paper as you sharpen, it cleans off the steel residue.

I've used plywood, 1/2" lumber of any kind, all with good results. The MDF (medium density fibre board) just happens to be free for now, is cut to size, with quite smooth surface, and reasonably durable. You can use yellow or white glue for adhesive, spread it smooth with an old credit card, putty knife, etc. I use the better adhesive as I use them for teaching sharpening and sell a few to students. The better quality adhesive avoids embarrassing returns. Besides, being an evil old man at times, it is interesting to have folks get the spray all over their fingers, then sharpen a knife. The black residue all sticks to their fingers, and they look terrible. (washes off easily, however).

Sharpening: I use paper wheels and a cloth buffing wheel for sharpening gouges, V tools and chisels. Also, strop a knife on the paper occasionally. These wheels are 3/4" Upson Board type material (Upson Board was the pressed paper, depression era predecessor of dry wall, still available in most lumber yards.) I make some wheels and buy some. (The dust from making them is like floss cottonwood tree and clings to everything.) The wheels are 6" or 8" in diameter. 8" for use with a large grinder or electric motor with arbor. 6" are for small grinders. One wheel is coated with 150 grit aluminum oxide powder on the edge. When using this wheel, I use a wax compound on it the same as loading a buffing wheel with compound. When shaping a tool and sharpening on the aluminum oxide wheel, the wax melts with heat from the tool, and serves a coolant to retard possible burning of the steel.

The other wheel is plain, loaded with white (aluminum oxide) buffing compound. This wheel creates heat very quickly and you can burn an edge before you know it. A variation of the paper wheel is a 1/4" wheel, same diameter or as small as 3" diameter. I shape these wheels with a V on the edge for stropping the inside of V tools and small vieners. These thin wheels are loaded with white aluminum oxide compound.

The cloth buffing wheels are either spiral sewn or loose floppy type. The spiral sewn work best at slower speed (1750 rpm or less), the floppy loose wheels work best at higher speeds (3450 rpm). I use two buffs together to give a wide cutting surface. The secret with these is to closely watch the angle of the tool on the wheel. For outside gouge and V tool surfaces, I use as much as a 45 degree angle. The tricky part is inside surface. I use a very shallow angle, 10 degrees to almost flat. If you use a bigger angle on the inside of a gouge or V tool, you get a double bevel that will be like a blunt flat edge. When stropping a knife on any of the wheels, I use the almost flat angle to avoid a double or rounded bevel on the cutting edge.

Black and Decker makes a nice little 6" grinder running at 3450 rpm that I can find on sale for $29.95 at times. This is my favorite machine for wheels. I remove all covers and grinding wheels that come with the machine. Install paper wheels or cloth buff, FINGER TIGHT, only. Wrench tight will warp the washers and make the wheel wobble. If you have a wobbly wheel, just keep rotating the washers 1/4 turn at a time until the wheel runs true.

I turn the machine around so it runs backwards. This lets me see the edge of the tool against the wheel. The switch is a little awkward on the back side, so I use a multi_receptacle strip with switch and light. Running wheels backwards can be very dangerous. Habit is to try to use it running toward you, so it is easy to stab a tool into the wheel and lose control with resulting injury and/or damaged tool. Also, running machines without all guards is a very dangerous practice, I do not recommend either of these practices. It is safest to bolt your grinder to a bench. I use a piece of the non_slip RV cupboard liner material under mine, and they stay in place OK for me. I recommend bolting it to bench.

This information is merely my opinion, not a recommendation to use any unsafe practice or machine. Use of this information is "at your own risk" with no recourse.

Sweepins’

I have two more tidbits that will wrap up another issue of Splinters. First, Harold Hewgley wanted me to pass along his new address while they are building a new home.

Harold Hewgley

P.O. Box 6

Wartrace, Tn 37183 (Ph. 389-9519)

And last, but certainly not least, Loyd Ackerman has the following for sale.

Shopsmith Mark V Model 510 with $500 worth of optional accessories. Anyone interested should call Loyd at 967_3678. Test drives can be arranged.

That’s all folks! Watch out for SPLINTERS!