Woodworking is fun...

...  and rewarding.  But woodworking has it's risks. 

Take the table saw for example.  It has a 10" blade, with anywhere from 40 to 80 carbide cutting edges, spinning in your direction at approximately 3450 RPM! 

This was taken from a table saw basics article from the internet

Back-Side, Kickback
"This type of kickback is the most dangerous type, because the velocity of the wood coming back at the operator can be nearly the same speed as the blade. (50 to 100 miles per hour on a typical 10 inch saw.)" 

Then there is the router.  Those little guys pack 3/4 hp to 2 1/4 hp in a small package that is whirring the cutting edge at up to 23,000 RPM!  If you have ever had a piece of wood launched by a router, you know that they are no joke.

No matter what the tool is, or what each of the tools risks are, the best defense against injury is education.  Knowing what the purpose of the tool is, how to operate it safely, and what the inherent risks are, is the key to staying free from injuries in the woodshop.  Just knowing these things alone are good but, we must practice our knowledge of these things each and every time we are in there.  One simple slip of the mind while using any tool can result in serious injury or even death.

Life is no different.  There are many risks out there, and the best defense against being blindsided, or caught off guard, is to be educated. 

Here is a link to a 30 minute documentary that will get a person thinking about more important issues in life.  Don't be caught off guard!

Scary Glue-up!

I have started to glue up the 5 panels that make up the body of the pulpit.  I tried a couple of different dry trial runs and I am glad that I did! 

I kept having the joint between the two panels separating.  The angle of the joint combined with the clamping pressure was wanting to make the joint come together at first but when more pressure would be applied, the pressure wanted to make the panel fold back on each other like closing a book.

I ended up building a framework to support the two panels being glued and that would keep them from folding in on themselves.  I have some cauls and weight on the joint to keep pressure down and I can get good clamping force without it wanting to open. 

I will glue two sections like I have pictured here and the final two glue ups will be with the pieces vertical.  I will take pictures and give some explination when I get there.  I will leave all of the joints in clamps for at least 24 hours to be sure that the glue will do it job.



Beech Pulpit #2

It is nice to start making some progress on the pulpit. 

Its easy for me to get sidetracked and lose interest in a project, especially when I am unsure about how to do a certain procedure.  There are many ways to accomplish a woodworking project, probably as may different ways as there are woodworkers.  I guess my big slow down was that I was unsure how I wanted to go about making the arches and the corner details.  I like to have a picture in my mind before I start but, sometimes coming up with that picture is difficult.  I knew what I wanted the panels to look like when finished but I didn't have a plan on how I was going to reach that destination.  I had a direction to go, I just needed to get going!  Well I figured out how to get the details done, with decent results, at least one that I am satisfied with and now I am getting ready to join the panels to make the body of the pulpit.

Here are the panels with the arches, corner arches and trim.  I still have some cleanup work to do on the corner arches but that will be towards the end before the final assembly.  If you click on the pictures you will get a large picture that shows a lot more of the details and you will see what I mean about cleaning the corners up. 

Here are the arches and corners removed and labelled for each panel that they came from.

This is the stack of panels after the details are removed and ready to get marked and cut for joining.

The pulpit is 5 sided and forms a half circle, sort of.  I will be cutting each edge that will be joined with a 22.5 degree cut so when two edges are joined, one from each panel, it will make a 45 degree angle measured on the inside of the two panels where they meet.

Here they are all marked up so I don't make a mistake and cut them on the wrong side, or the angle going the opposite direction.

Here is one edge after running through the table saw.  I used a thin kerf combination blade to make these initial cut to remove most of the waste.  I will install my Freud Glue Line rip blade and make the final cuts to width for a smooooooth surface to glue them together. 

These will be a long grain to long grain glue joint and I am thinking that it should be plenty strong enough for this situation.  I have thought about splining the joint but I should be doing good with this.  If any of you have any other thought, just leave a comment, and we can discuss it. 

Here are all of the panels rough cut to width.  Next is the get them to final width with a clean edge and then start to figure out a dry assembly to get ready to use real glue!

Next is final width and joining them!  

Beech Pulpit #1

If you will notice on the right side of the blog, there are some links to some of my favorite websites.  Soveriegn Grace Baptist Church is one of those sites.  This is our church that my family and I attend.  We are blessed to be a part of the body of Christ, and blessed to be in fellowship with such wonderful Christian people at Soveriegn Grace.  Our Pastor is truely gifted in preaching and teaching and we have grown under his leadership in many ways. 

I may never have the gift to teach and preach as our Pastor does but, I am able to cobble some wood together and do what part that I can for the Lord. 

I have started building a pulpit out of beech for our sanctuary.  I have never built one before or designed a piece like this.  It isn't very complicated but there are some skills that I am learning, like steam bending, as I go along. 

So far I have made it to the point of glueing up the five panels that will make the shape and body of the pulpit itself. Now I am ready to start adding the trim detail to make the panels have some character, more than just flat panels. 

Here is what the panels look like at where I am now. 

Here are pictures of some pictures where the basic design came from.  This is a pulpit that our Pastor has seen before and likes the design of. 

Each section is simply a frame and a flat panel.  The framework is constructed with loose tenon joinery.  The panel is 3/16" thick MDF with beech veneer on both faces.  The arches, corner details and trim are all beech.  The arches were my first try at steam bending, I am happy with how they turned out.

In these photos, you may be able to see how the details of the panels are constructed.  The corners were stack cut on the scrollsaw.  The pieces are separated and then specifically fit to each corner in the panel. 

After I have all of the details fitted to each of the panels, I will make sure to label each piece for each panel and take them apart to join the panels together.  The details will be the last thing attached to the project before the final sand and finishing so I don't damage them too much when I am working on the main body of the pulpit.

Next will be joining the panels to make the casebody.

Shop Tour

Finally I was able to get a video shop tour ready.

Price of admission.   $0.00!

Dramamine is optional.

                                                          

Thanks for watching.

Where's Waldo in this video???  Watch closely and you might catch a glimpse of him!
(hint, it's not the man on the walls)