Shop Tips Series

I've been racking up a bunch of shop tips that I've wanted to post for a long while, so I'm going to begin chipping away at it!

I have searched for a good material for pattern making for a long time. I found "for sale" signs to be good plastic that lasts forever and is easy to cut and manipulate. Plus, it's thin enough to mark a fine point through, unlike mdf or masonite etc. I've used poster board for years and it degrades seemingly instantly!

I found that high impact polystyrene that you can buy in 4'X8' sheets from Amazon is the same stuff as the for sale signs but cheaper and bigger. You can cut it easily with scissors and even use spokeshaves on the edges to get refined curves. I'll show some of the benefits of it's flexibility soon. You can snap it by hard creasing it, so some care in handling is in order, but I've found it to be super durable.

You can write on it with sharpie markers and erase the marker with denatured alcohol if needed

I'm in the process of remaking my vital patterns in the material. If you want to check it out, go buy a for sale sign and give it a look.

Too Good?

My experiments with the shrink wrap for bending have been yielding interesting results that I think are worth sharing. There have been a few times that I've had some splitting happen to green bows, but not the kind I'm used to. It isn't the sort of letting go that I've seen before, where a small bit lifts up and it spreads to a larger break. These look more like the wood is pulling itself apart with small breaks that are perpendicular to the bend. I think that perhaps leaving the plastic in place after the bend until the wood cools is giving the wet/hot/stressed wood a chance to pull apart. Today, I bent a C arm, and really took my time on the second bends just to see how long the heat really kept the wood limber and it worked like a charm, but then, I cut open the plastic to let the heat and moisture out and the bend stayed perfect, and I mean perfect.

This log I've been working on has been questionable during bends, but this bend was ideal. I am going to do some more samples to see how long I really have to complete the bend with this process. Stay tuned for the results.

Glitch fixed and Turning Class Opening!

Sorry about the last email that got sent without the content or link to my latest post, I believe that I fixed the problem, please let me know if have issues. Also, please check out the last post if you didn't, I've been experimenting a lot with bending and I think it's worth looking into.

*This spot has been filled!* Also, I have one turning intensive class opening for the class that will take place on April 28-29. Please contact me if you are interested, the first respondent will get to reserve the class.

As a continuation of my testing of the rss feed, here are a couple of images of recent shop happenings!

Here are some spindles about to go into a rocker, I thought this view was especially interesting

I really loved this view of the arm in the finished and fumed rocker

This color is deep sapphire from the Real Milk paint company, I am in love with it and can't wait to use it on a more elaborate chair