New display case

Like most people who love trying out new ideas and techniques, I keep running out of display room.  Joe kindly offered to build a display case, so we looked at all sorts of plans until we found one that was room but not overly large or overwhelming.

It's made from sapele, which blends in well with the dining room furniture, and is a pleasure to work with.  The glass shelves and absence of a back and sides keep the look light, so it's just perfect for our needs.

And of course it was a lot more work than we expected, down to the half-lap miter joints for the shelves, but the results were certainly worth it.

Of course I don't know what I'll do with future projects, but I'll deal with that when I have to!

An easy way to figure out the cutting angle

If you're having trouble understanding how the cutting angle for bowls works, take a look at this photo.  The two parallel lines on the edge represent the ring width, in this case 1/4".

To get a rough idea of the correct cutting angle, tilt the saw table, left side down, so that the tensioned blade meets the right line on the top edge of the wood, and the left line on the bottom of the wood.  That angle, with the thickness of the wood in the photo and 1/4" wide ring, is about 20˚.  If the wood were thicker or thinner, the angle would change.

If you go to scrollmania.com and look at the diagram for the Angle Calculator, you can get a clearer idea of what that diagram represents.  Remember, the angle you are computing is actually the amount the saw table is lowered from its normal level position.

Hope this clears things up a little.  And yes, there are people who just use the method in the photo to "compute" the cutting angle.  If you're precise enough, it should work just fine, but I'd rather double check with a calculated angle.  With a neat online tool like the Angle Calculator, there's no excuse for not being precise!

A new type of sander

At the Fox Chapel Open House this year, the SandFlee folks (RJR Enterprises) had an interesting new type of sanding mop.  I was intrigued by the compactness of the sander, and the fact that it came in both 2" and 4" sizes.  I'm always on the lookout for sanders that can be used to sand bowl interiors, especially for open segmented bowls.

I started out with 120 grit for a trial run, and was so impressed that I ordered both coarser and finer grits in the 2" size.  Here's what it looks like, chucked into the drill press, sanding an open segmented bowl.  I still have to test out the other grits for a more complete understanding of when and how to use this new tool, and will keep you updated on my findings.