[sras]

Convert random scraps into end grain boards (cut first - design later)

OK. This blog stuff is new to me. I've got a couple projects going where I am forcing myself to leave the large stock alone and work with material that ends up getting burned after I have too much of it.

I have been using CBdesigner from jayman7. He posted a project on this here. I have searched through blog entries and I think I am using this in a little different way. Another big resource for me has been dewoodwork's blog on how to make an end grain cutting board.

Clearly, a lot of people have been making some great looking end grain boards here. I've looked at several project postings. Originally, I used CBdesigner to come up with interesting board designs. But when I would go to the wood pile, I ended up looking at my boards that were fairly wide. They can be used for lots of projects. I kept looking at my rip cutoffs and wanting to use those. These are the pieces left over after ripping stock. They are usually 4/4 to 6/4 in thickness and anywhere from 1/16" to an inch or so wide.

It took a while to get it through my head that the design process needed to be in two steps. This two step design process is what seems to be a new contribution (if not - oh well, at least I have done my first blog!)

Prior to design, I select a bunch of stock that looks like good cutting board material. For me that is hardwood of a decent length. Also I limited myself to the rip cutoffs.



You notice that I have a piece of hardwood flooring in there as well. Collect the stock into a group of similar lengths.

This is where I make a first pass with CBdesigner. This one is just for sizing purposes and checking for a good balance of different colors. Make a list of which woods you have and estimate their final width. Also determine what the common thickness will be. If you have a mix of 4/4, 5/4 and 6/4 stock, it will end up being all around 3/4" thick. Now fire up CBdesigner and verify you have enough wood to create a board of a reasonable size. That is the only necessary step at this point! But I end up playing with the colors and sizes to see what I might end up with. I had a mixture of cherry, walnut red oak and white oak. My first board had an initial design that looked like this.



Next step is to get all the stock to a common thickness and trim each piece to a consistent width. I use my thickness planer for this. I set each piece's width to as wide as possible.



Now I carefully measure the thickness of each piece and make another trip to CBdesigner. I use a dial calipers. This time is about getting the order of the strips right. I check for good contrast of the colors and reasonable transitions between the pieces. Here is where I ended up. Notice how the design is very different from the first one.



Once the design is laid out, I make sure to get the order correct for the glue up. Then glue the stips together. Notice how the strips are numbered.



The rest of the process is taken from dewoodworker's blog. I used Behlen's Salad Bowl finish, buffed with 0000 steel wool and coated with mineral oil. Here is what the final board looks like.



Well, that's all for now. I would love to hear any comments. The next post will be for using four thin pieces of cherry that were left over from an earlier project. They have been gathering dust for about 15 years now …

Here is an update, in case some of you have not found it, here is a project posting for this and two other boards.

 

[DonDA]

Convert random scraps into end grain boards (cut first - design later)

OK. This blog stuff is new to me. I've got a couple projects going where I am forcing myself to leave the large stock alone and work with material that ends up getting burned after I have too much of it.

I have been using CBdesigner from jayman7. He posted a project on this here. I have searched through blog entries and I think I am using this in a little different way. Another big resource for me has been dewoodwork's blog on how to make an end grain cutting board.

Clearly, a lot of people have been making some great looking end grain boards here. I've looked at several project postings. Originally, I used CBdesigner to come up with interesting board designs. But when I would go to the wood pile, I ended up looking at my boards that were fairly wide. They can be used for lots of projects. I kept looking at my rip cutoffs and wanting to use those. These are the pieces left over after ripping stock. They are usually 4/4 to 6/4 in thickness and anywhere from 1/16" to an inch or so wide.

It took a while to get it through my head that the design process needed to be in two steps. This two step design process is what seems to be a new contribution (if not - oh well, at least I have done my first blog!)

Prior to design, I select a bunch of stock that looks like good cutting board material. For me that is hardwood of a decent length. Also I limited myself to the rip cutoffs.



You notice that I have a piece of hardwood flooring in there as well. Collect the stock into a group of similar lengths.

This is where I make a first pass with CBdesigner. This one is just for sizing purposes and checking for a good balance of different colors. Make a list of which woods you have and estimate their final width. Also determine what the common thickness will be. If you have a mix of 4/4, 5/4 and 6/4 stock, it will end up being all around 3/4" thick. Now fire up CBdesigner and verify you have enough wood to create a board of a reasonable size. That is the only necessary step at this point! But I end up playing with the colors and sizes to see what I might end up with. I had a mixture of cherry, walnut red oak and white oak. My first board had an initial design that looked like this.



Next step is to get all the stock to a common thickness and trim each piece to a consistent width. I use my thickness planer for this. I set each piece's width to as wide as possible.



Now I carefully measure the thickness of each piece and make another trip to CBdesigner. I use a dial calipers. This time is about getting the order of the strips right. I check for good contrast of the colors and reasonable transitions between the pieces. Here is where I ended up. Notice how the design is very different from the first one.



Once the design is laid out, I make sure to get the order correct for the glue up. Then glue the stips together. Notice how the strips are numbered.



The rest of the process is taken from dewoodworker's blog. I used Behlen's Salad Bowl finish, buffed with 0000 steel wool and coated with mineral oil. Here is what the final board looks like.



Well, that's all for now. I would love to hear any comments. The next post will be for using four thin pieces of cherry that were left over from an earlier project. They have been gathering dust for about 15 years now …

Here is an update, in case some of you have not found it, here is a project posting for this and two other boards.

Very nice! And to think this wood almost went to the fire and was wasted.

 

[sras]

Convert random scraps into end grain boards (cut first - design later)

OK. This blog stuff is new to me. I've got a couple projects going where I am forcing myself to leave the large stock alone and work with material that ends up getting burned after I have too much of it.

I have been using CBdesigner from jayman7. He posted a project on this here. I have searched through blog entries and I think I am using this in a little different way. Another big resource for me has been dewoodwork's blog on how to make an end grain cutting board.

Clearly, a lot of people have been making some great looking end grain boards here. I've looked at several project postings. Originally, I used CBdesigner to come up with interesting board designs. But when I would go to the wood pile, I ended up looking at my boards that were fairly wide. They can be used for lots of projects. I kept looking at my rip cutoffs and wanting to use those. These are the pieces left over after ripping stock. They are usually 4/4 to 6/4 in thickness and anywhere from 1/16" to an inch or so wide.

It took a while to get it through my head that the design process needed to be in two steps. This two step design process is what seems to be a new contribution (if not - oh well, at least I have done my first blog!)

Prior to design, I select a bunch of stock that looks like good cutting board material. For me that is hardwood of a decent length. Also I limited myself to the rip cutoffs.



You notice that I have a piece of hardwood flooring in there as well. Collect the stock into a group of similar lengths.

This is where I make a first pass with CBdesigner. This one is just for sizing purposes and checking for a good balance of different colors. Make a list of which woods you have and estimate their final width. Also determine what the common thickness will be. If you have a mix of 4/4, 5/4 and 6/4 stock, it will end up being all around 3/4" thick. Now fire up CBdesigner and verify you have enough wood to create a board of a reasonable size. That is the only necessary step at this point! But I end up playing with the colors and sizes to see what I might end up with. I had a mixture of cherry, walnut red oak and white oak. My first board had an initial design that looked like this.



Next step is to get all the stock to a common thickness and trim each piece to a consistent width. I use my thickness planer for this. I set each piece's width to as wide as possible.



Now I carefully measure the thickness of each piece and make another trip to CBdesigner. I use a dial calipers. This time is about getting the order of the strips right. I check for good contrast of the colors and reasonable transitions between the pieces. Here is where I ended up. Notice how the design is very different from the first one.



Once the design is laid out, I make sure to get the order correct for the glue up. Then glue the stips together. Notice how the strips are numbered.



The rest of the process is taken from dewoodworker's blog. I used Behlen's Salad Bowl finish, buffed with 0000 steel wool and coated with mineral oil. Here is what the final board looks like.



Well, that's all for now. I would love to hear any comments. The next post will be for using four thin pieces of cherry that were left over from an earlier project. They have been gathering dust for about 15 years now …

Here is an update, in case some of you have not found it, here is a project posting for this and two other boards.

Thanks! I have to credit LJ for the save. I never could figure out what to do with those long thin strips!

 

[Paul2274]

Convert random scraps into end grain boards (cut first - design later)

OK. This blog stuff is new to me. I've got a couple projects going where I am forcing myself to leave the large stock alone and work with material that ends up getting burned after I have too much of it.

I have been using CBdesigner from jayman7. He posted a project on this here. I have searched through blog entries and I think I am using this in a little different way. Another big resource for me has been dewoodwork's blog on how to make an end grain cutting board.

Clearly, a lot of people have been making some great looking end grain boards here. I've looked at several project postings. Originally, I used CBdesigner to come up with interesting board designs. But when I would go to the wood pile, I ended up looking at my boards that were fairly wide. They can be used for lots of projects. I kept looking at my rip cutoffs and wanting to use those. These are the pieces left over after ripping stock. They are usually 4/4 to 6/4 in thickness and anywhere from 1/16" to an inch or so wide.

It took a while to get it through my head that the design process needed to be in two steps. This two step design process is what seems to be a new contribution (if not - oh well, at least I have done my first blog!)

Prior to design, I select a bunch of stock that looks like good cutting board material. For me that is hardwood of a decent length. Also I limited myself to the rip cutoffs.



You notice that I have a piece of hardwood flooring in there as well. Collect the stock into a group of similar lengths.

This is where I make a first pass with CBdesigner. This one is just for sizing purposes and checking for a good balance of different colors. Make a list of which woods you have and estimate their final width. Also determine what the common thickness will be. If you have a mix of 4/4, 5/4 and 6/4 stock, it will end up being all around 3/4" thick. Now fire up CBdesigner and verify you have enough wood to create a board of a reasonable size. That is the only necessary step at this point! But I end up playing with the colors and sizes to see what I might end up with. I had a mixture of cherry, walnut red oak and white oak. My first board had an initial design that looked like this.



Next step is to get all the stock to a common thickness and trim each piece to a consistent width. I use my thickness planer for this. I set each piece's width to as wide as possible.



Now I carefully measure the thickness of each piece and make another trip to CBdesigner. I use a dial calipers. This time is about getting the order of the strips right. I check for good contrast of the colors and reasonable transitions between the pieces. Here is where I ended up. Notice how the design is very different from the first one.



Once the design is laid out, I make sure to get the order correct for the glue up. Then glue the stips together. Notice how the strips are numbered.



The rest of the process is taken from dewoodworker's blog. I used Behlen's Salad Bowl finish, buffed with 0000 steel wool and coated with mineral oil. Here is what the final board looks like.



Well, that's all for now. I would love to hear any comments. The next post will be for using four thin pieces of cherry that were left over from an earlier project. They have been gathering dust for about 15 years now …

Here is an update, in case some of you have not found it, here is a project posting for this and two other boards.

Great project… Love the pattern… and it's a functional way to recycle.

 

[Dennisgrosen]

Convert random scraps into end grain boards (cut first - design later)

OK. This blog stuff is new to me. I've got a couple projects going where I am forcing myself to leave the large stock alone and work with material that ends up getting burned after I have too much of it.

I have been using CBdesigner from jayman7. He posted a project on this here. I have searched through blog entries and I think I am using this in a little different way. Another big resource for me has been dewoodwork's blog on how to make an end grain cutting board.

Clearly, a lot of people have been making some great looking end grain boards here. I've looked at several project postings. Originally, I used CBdesigner to come up with interesting board designs. But when I would go to the wood pile, I ended up looking at my boards that were fairly wide. They can be used for lots of projects. I kept looking at my rip cutoffs and wanting to use those. These are the pieces left over after ripping stock. They are usually 4/4 to 6/4 in thickness and anywhere from 1/16" to an inch or so wide.

It took a while to get it through my head that the design process needed to be in two steps. This two step design process is what seems to be a new contribution (if not - oh well, at least I have done my first blog!)

Prior to design, I select a bunch of stock that looks like good cutting board material. For me that is hardwood of a decent length. Also I limited myself to the rip cutoffs.



You notice that I have a piece of hardwood flooring in there as well. Collect the stock into a group of similar lengths.

This is where I make a first pass with CBdesigner. This one is just for sizing purposes and checking for a good balance of different colors. Make a list of which woods you have and estimate their final width. Also determine what the common thickness will be. If you have a mix of 4/4, 5/4 and 6/4 stock, it will end up being all around 3/4" thick. Now fire up CBdesigner and verify you have enough wood to create a board of a reasonable size. That is the only necessary step at this point! But I end up playing with the colors and sizes to see what I might end up with. I had a mixture of cherry, walnut red oak and white oak. My first board had an initial design that looked like this.



Next step is to get all the stock to a common thickness and trim each piece to a consistent width. I use my thickness planer for this. I set each piece's width to as wide as possible.



Now I carefully measure the thickness of each piece and make another trip to CBdesigner. I use a dial calipers. This time is about getting the order of the strips right. I check for good contrast of the colors and reasonable transitions between the pieces. Here is where I ended up. Notice how the design is very different from the first one.



Once the design is laid out, I make sure to get the order correct for the glue up. Then glue the stips together. Notice how the strips are numbered.



The rest of the process is taken from dewoodworker's blog. I used Behlen's Salad Bowl finish, buffed with 0000 steel wool and coated with mineral oil. Here is what the final board looks like.



Well, that's all for now. I would love to hear any comments. The next post will be for using four thin pieces of cherry that were left over from an earlier project. They have been gathering dust for about 15 years now …

Here is an update, in case some of you have not found it, here is a project posting for this and two other boards.

Recycle ,save from burner , save from dumster , converting other thing´s in to something useful and even mabey for a present always give a thump op

bye ther way that piece ain´t looking too bad ( read well done )
it will keep an reminder to the owner to make good food for the table

Dennis

 

[sras]

Arched Candle Holder

I changed the title of this series since this next entry uses wood I don't think I could ever throw away (it used to say "burn bucket" instead of "scrap pile"). I have had these this planks of cherry for a long time. They are about 24"x3.25"x1/8". This is another case where I do not have a design, but I'll figure it out as I go…



I had cut them for a project that didn't work out and they have sat ever since. I decided to make an arched votive candle holder. I have looked at a couple examples at galleries and here on LumberJocks and I liked the idea. At first I thought I would need a form for clamping the strips. Then it occured to me that this was not part of a larger project and I did not need to match an exact curve. Just bending the planks over a piece of wood should do the trick. So I grabbed a peice of scrap about 1.5" thick and played with it.



The cherry bent easily - no heating, soaking or steaming would be needed. The next step was to come up with a clamping method. If I were to do an arch, I would not want to change the shape at the ends. But wait! The cherry bent very easily and a "camel back" arch would look pretty cool. Now I could clamp the ends parallel to the workbench. Time to glue it up and use lots of clamps.



At this point, I'm pretty pleased. I have a unique shape, no fancy forms and I think the final design should be pretty good. After waiting a full day, I took the clamps off. There was no perceptible springback. The shape looks pretty good!



Closer inspection shows some gaps. Rats! I probably needed to use stronger clamps and work out from the center and let the ends slide more. It's not the first time I've done a clamp up like this and I should have done better.



That's enough for now, the next step will be trimming the sides and hoping the gaps get trimmed off. If not I'll have to come up with a plan to hide the gaps. Luckily I have some more thin cherry to work with. All part of designing as you go…

 

[zlatanv]

Arched Candle Holder

I changed the title of this series since this next entry uses wood I don't think I could ever throw away (it used to say "burn bucket" instead of "scrap pile"). I have had these this planks of cherry for a long time. They are about 24"x3.25"x1/8". This is another case where I do not have a design, but I'll figure it out as I go…



I had cut them for a project that didn't work out and they have sat ever since. I decided to make an arched votive candle holder. I have looked at a couple examples at galleries and here on LumberJocks and I liked the idea. At first I thought I would need a form for clamping the strips. Then it occured to me that this was not part of a larger project and I did not need to match an exact curve. Just bending the planks over a piece of wood should do the trick. So I grabbed a peice of scrap about 1.5" thick and played with it.



The cherry bent easily - no heating, soaking or steaming would be needed. The next step was to come up with a clamping method. If I were to do an arch, I would not want to change the shape at the ends. But wait! The cherry bent very easily and a "camel back" arch would look pretty cool. Now I could clamp the ends parallel to the workbench. Time to glue it up and use lots of clamps.



At this point, I'm pretty pleased. I have a unique shape, no fancy forms and I think the final design should be pretty good. After waiting a full day, I took the clamps off. There was no perceptible springback. The shape looks pretty good!



Closer inspection shows some gaps. Rats! I probably needed to use stronger clamps and work out from the center and let the ends slide more. It's not the first time I've done a clamp up like this and I should have done better.



That's enough for now, the next step will be trimming the sides and hoping the gaps get trimmed off. If not I'll have to come up with a plan to hide the gaps. Luckily I have some more thin cherry to work with. All part of designing as you go…

I'm a big fan of design as you go, only used a written plan one time, (Norm, adirondack chair), most everything is dictated by wood on hand. Less frustrating if it doesn't come out like the plan. I finally started using up scraps, the collection has been getting to big, saved the hardwoods and started to burn the scraps of pine and a bunch of oak flooring to short to plane. Need the room. Looking forward to the finished product.

 

[sras]

Arched Candle Holder

I changed the title of this series since this next entry uses wood I don't think I could ever throw away (it used to say "burn bucket" instead of "scrap pile"). I have had these this planks of cherry for a long time. They are about 24"x3.25"x1/8". This is another case where I do not have a design, but I'll figure it out as I go…



I had cut them for a project that didn't work out and they have sat ever since. I decided to make an arched votive candle holder. I have looked at a couple examples at galleries and here on LumberJocks and I liked the idea. At first I thought I would need a form for clamping the strips. Then it occured to me that this was not part of a larger project and I did not need to match an exact curve. Just bending the planks over a piece of wood should do the trick. So I grabbed a peice of scrap about 1.5" thick and played with it.



The cherry bent easily - no heating, soaking or steaming would be needed. The next step was to come up with a clamping method. If I were to do an arch, I would not want to change the shape at the ends. But wait! The cherry bent very easily and a "camel back" arch would look pretty cool. Now I could clamp the ends parallel to the workbench. Time to glue it up and use lots of clamps.



At this point, I'm pretty pleased. I have a unique shape, no fancy forms and I think the final design should be pretty good. After waiting a full day, I took the clamps off. There was no perceptible springback. The shape looks pretty good!



Closer inspection shows some gaps. Rats! I probably needed to use stronger clamps and work out from the center and let the ends slide more. It's not the first time I've done a clamp up like this and I should have done better.



That's enough for now, the next step will be trimming the sides and hoping the gaps get trimmed off. If not I'll have to come up with a plan to hide the gaps. Luckily I have some more thin cherry to work with. All part of designing as you go…

Thanks Z,

I am little ahead of the blog, so I should be able to get to an update pretty soon. Still have some features to figure out …

Steve

 

[OhValleyWoodandWool]

Arched Candle Holder

I changed the title of this series since this next entry uses wood I don't think I could ever throw away (it used to say "burn bucket" instead of "scrap pile"). I have had these this planks of cherry for a long time. They are about 24"x3.25"x1/8". This is another case where I do not have a design, but I'll figure it out as I go…



I had cut them for a project that didn't work out and they have sat ever since. I decided to make an arched votive candle holder. I have looked at a couple examples at galleries and here on LumberJocks and I liked the idea. At first I thought I would need a form for clamping the strips. Then it occured to me that this was not part of a larger project and I did not need to match an exact curve. Just bending the planks over a piece of wood should do the trick. So I grabbed a peice of scrap about 1.5" thick and played with it.



The cherry bent easily - no heating, soaking or steaming would be needed. The next step was to come up with a clamping method. If I were to do an arch, I would not want to change the shape at the ends. But wait! The cherry bent very easily and a "camel back" arch would look pretty cool. Now I could clamp the ends parallel to the workbench. Time to glue it up and use lots of clamps.



At this point, I'm pretty pleased. I have a unique shape, no fancy forms and I think the final design should be pretty good. After waiting a full day, I took the clamps off. There was no perceptible springback. The shape looks pretty good!



Closer inspection shows some gaps. Rats! I probably needed to use stronger clamps and work out from the center and let the ends slide more. It's not the first time I've done a clamp up like this and I should have done better.



That's enough for now, the next step will be trimming the sides and hoping the gaps get trimmed off. If not I'll have to come up with a plan to hide the gaps. Luckily I have some more thin cherry to work with. All part of designing as you go…

Can't wait to see the finished piece

 

[stefang]

Arched Candle Holder

I changed the title of this series since this next entry uses wood I don't think I could ever throw away (it used to say "burn bucket" instead of "scrap pile"). I have had these this planks of cherry for a long time. They are about 24"x3.25"x1/8". This is another case where I do not have a design, but I'll figure it out as I go…



I had cut them for a project that didn't work out and they have sat ever since. I decided to make an arched votive candle holder. I have looked at a couple examples at galleries and here on LumberJocks and I liked the idea. At first I thought I would need a form for clamping the strips. Then it occured to me that this was not part of a larger project and I did not need to match an exact curve. Just bending the planks over a piece of wood should do the trick. So I grabbed a peice of scrap about 1.5" thick and played with it.



The cherry bent easily - no heating, soaking or steaming would be needed. The next step was to come up with a clamping method. If I were to do an arch, I would not want to change the shape at the ends. But wait! The cherry bent very easily and a "camel back" arch would look pretty cool. Now I could clamp the ends parallel to the workbench. Time to glue it up and use lots of clamps.



At this point, I'm pretty pleased. I have a unique shape, no fancy forms and I think the final design should be pretty good. After waiting a full day, I took the clamps off. There was no perceptible springback. The shape looks pretty good!



Closer inspection shows some gaps. Rats! I probably needed to use stronger clamps and work out from the center and let the ends slide more. It's not the first time I've done a clamp up like this and I should have done better.



That's enough for now, the next step will be trimming the sides and hoping the gaps get trimmed off. If not I'll have to come up with a plan to hide the gaps. Luckily I have some more thin cherry to work with. All part of designing as you go…

This type of design-as-you-go woodworking is a lot of fun. Enjoying your blog. Looking forward to the next one.

 

[sras]

Arched Candle Holder - It's all about adapting

Well, trimming up the sides removed the gaps I showed in the previous post. BUT the trimming exposed other gaps! Definitely needed to do a better job of clamping! Time to adapt.



Time to go back to the shrinking scrap pile. As luck would have it, I had two strips of cherry from an even older project. If I remember right, these strips are from the first cherry boards I ever bought (19 years ago). Both strips are long enough and one of them has enough length to cover the ends as well.



The only issue is that the strips are not wide enough to cover the arch. Time to adapt again.



I can remedy that by cutting the (future) waste from the bottom of the arch and transferring it to the top. A pass thorugh the bandsaw, dry fit and then glue & clamp.



After the glue is dry, I clean up the faces. First I use a chisel to remove most of the squeeze out. Then I make a few passes through a thickness sanding jig I made. It is a simple setup. Just clamp the jig to the fence of my Shopsmith and use the disc sander. I move the disc a little closer on each pass until both sides are clean. This same idea can be used with a conventional sander by clamping a fence to the table and using shims to narrow the gap on each pass.



Now the pieces are mitered to length. I glued up one piece of side trim and then glued the next 3 pieces on.



Now I need to trim the waste. My plan is to use a flush trim bit on my router table. I know from past experience that this works best if there is only a small amount of waste to remove. So I first remove most of the waste with the bandsaw. I leave around 1/8" to clean up with the router. Any time I use the router, I try to think through the process. It only takes a small slip up to create a lot of damage. I can see there are areas where I need to be careful as the grain is not going in a favorable direction. I need to make several light passes - even though I only need to trim off 1/8". Well, APARRENTLY I wasn't careful enough. There was one nasty spot where the router grabbed the wood and split it. This happened at the same spot on each side! The first time a chunk of wood was torn out. I managed to find the piece. Time to adapt again…



After the glue dried, I hand filed the edges flush. After a little sanding to smooth everything out, I think I have an arched form that will work.



I'll finish this post off with a closeup on my repair job. This is a classic example of where I can see the glue line from 5 feet away and no one else will ever see it.



Next I need to cut the pockets for the candles and add some type of foot to raise it up…

 

[OhValleyWoodandWool]

Arched Candle Holder - It's all about adapting

Well, trimming up the sides removed the gaps I showed in the previous post. BUT the trimming exposed other gaps! Definitely needed to do a better job of clamping! Time to adapt.



Time to go back to the shrinking scrap pile. As luck would have it, I had two strips of cherry from an even older project. If I remember right, these strips are from the first cherry boards I ever bought (19 years ago). Both strips are long enough and one of them has enough length to cover the ends as well.



The only issue is that the strips are not wide enough to cover the arch. Time to adapt again.



I can remedy that by cutting the (future) waste from the bottom of the arch and transferring it to the top. A pass thorugh the bandsaw, dry fit and then glue & clamp.



After the glue is dry, I clean up the faces. First I use a chisel to remove most of the squeeze out. Then I make a few passes through a thickness sanding jig I made. It is a simple setup. Just clamp the jig to the fence of my Shopsmith and use the disc sander. I move the disc a little closer on each pass until both sides are clean. This same idea can be used with a conventional sander by clamping a fence to the table and using shims to narrow the gap on each pass.



Now the pieces are mitered to length. I glued up one piece of side trim and then glued the next 3 pieces on.



Now I need to trim the waste. My plan is to use a flush trim bit on my router table. I know from past experience that this works best if there is only a small amount of waste to remove. So I first remove most of the waste with the bandsaw. I leave around 1/8" to clean up with the router. Any time I use the router, I try to think through the process. It only takes a small slip up to create a lot of damage. I can see there are areas where I need to be careful as the grain is not going in a favorable direction. I need to make several light passes - even though I only need to trim off 1/8". Well, APARRENTLY I wasn't careful enough. There was one nasty spot where the router grabbed the wood and split it. This happened at the same spot on each side! The first time a chunk of wood was torn out. I managed to find the piece. Time to adapt again…



After the glue dried, I hand filed the edges flush. After a little sanding to smooth everything out, I think I have an arched form that will work.



I'll finish this post off with a closeup on my repair job. This is a classic example of where I can see the glue line from 5 feet away and no one else will ever see it.



Next I need to cut the pockets for the candles and add some type of foot to raise it up…

That is going to be a very nice candle holder

 

[sbryan55]

Arched Candle Holder - It's all about adapting

Well, trimming up the sides removed the gaps I showed in the previous post. BUT the trimming exposed other gaps! Definitely needed to do a better job of clamping! Time to adapt.



Time to go back to the shrinking scrap pile. As luck would have it, I had two strips of cherry from an even older project. If I remember right, these strips are from the first cherry boards I ever bought (19 years ago). Both strips are long enough and one of them has enough length to cover the ends as well.



The only issue is that the strips are not wide enough to cover the arch. Time to adapt again.



I can remedy that by cutting the (future) waste from the bottom of the arch and transferring it to the top. A pass thorugh the bandsaw, dry fit and then glue & clamp.



After the glue is dry, I clean up the faces. First I use a chisel to remove most of the squeeze out. Then I make a few passes through a thickness sanding jig I made. It is a simple setup. Just clamp the jig to the fence of my Shopsmith and use the disc sander. I move the disc a little closer on each pass until both sides are clean. This same idea can be used with a conventional sander by clamping a fence to the table and using shims to narrow the gap on each pass.



Now the pieces are mitered to length. I glued up one piece of side trim and then glued the next 3 pieces on.



Now I need to trim the waste. My plan is to use a flush trim bit on my router table. I know from past experience that this works best if there is only a small amount of waste to remove. So I first remove most of the waste with the bandsaw. I leave around 1/8" to clean up with the router. Any time I use the router, I try to think through the process. It only takes a small slip up to create a lot of damage. I can see there are areas where I need to be careful as the grain is not going in a favorable direction. I need to make several light passes - even though I only need to trim off 1/8". Well, APARRENTLY I wasn't careful enough. There was one nasty spot where the router grabbed the wood and split it. This happened at the same spot on each side! The first time a chunk of wood was torn out. I managed to find the piece. Time to adapt again…



After the glue dried, I hand filed the edges flush. After a little sanding to smooth everything out, I think I have an arched form that will work.



I'll finish this post off with a closeup on my repair job. This is a classic example of where I can see the glue line from 5 feet away and no one else will ever see it.



Next I need to cut the pockets for the candles and add some type of foot to raise it up…

This is a pretty interesting blog. You have detailed the "repair" well enough for even me to understand what is going on.

And you are right about the glue line. I always have this trouble with cherry when I laminate pieces together. But I can't see the glue line in the last pictures. I know it is there but it blends in well with the grain. And thanks for showing how to fix the gaps in the laminations as well. I have some pieces sitting in my shop right now that I decided not to use because of gaps when I needed some 8/4 cherry for a project. I couldn't bear to get rid of them but could not use them because of the gaps. Now I see the fix.

 

[stefang]

Arched Candle Holder - It's all about adapting

Well, trimming up the sides removed the gaps I showed in the previous post. BUT the trimming exposed other gaps! Definitely needed to do a better job of clamping! Time to adapt.



Time to go back to the shrinking scrap pile. As luck would have it, I had two strips of cherry from an even older project. If I remember right, these strips are from the first cherry boards I ever bought (19 years ago). Both strips are long enough and one of them has enough length to cover the ends as well.



The only issue is that the strips are not wide enough to cover the arch. Time to adapt again.



I can remedy that by cutting the (future) waste from the bottom of the arch and transferring it to the top. A pass thorugh the bandsaw, dry fit and then glue & clamp.



After the glue is dry, I clean up the faces. First I use a chisel to remove most of the squeeze out. Then I make a few passes through a thickness sanding jig I made. It is a simple setup. Just clamp the jig to the fence of my Shopsmith and use the disc sander. I move the disc a little closer on each pass until both sides are clean. This same idea can be used with a conventional sander by clamping a fence to the table and using shims to narrow the gap on each pass.



Now the pieces are mitered to length. I glued up one piece of side trim and then glued the next 3 pieces on.



Now I need to trim the waste. My plan is to use a flush trim bit on my router table. I know from past experience that this works best if there is only a small amount of waste to remove. So I first remove most of the waste with the bandsaw. I leave around 1/8" to clean up with the router. Any time I use the router, I try to think through the process. It only takes a small slip up to create a lot of damage. I can see there are areas where I need to be careful as the grain is not going in a favorable direction. I need to make several light passes - even though I only need to trim off 1/8". Well, APARRENTLY I wasn't careful enough. There was one nasty spot where the router grabbed the wood and split it. This happened at the same spot on each side! The first time a chunk of wood was torn out. I managed to find the piece. Time to adapt again…



After the glue dried, I hand filed the edges flush. After a little sanding to smooth everything out, I think I have an arched form that will work.



I'll finish this post off with a closeup on my repair job. This is a classic example of where I can see the glue line from 5 feet away and no one else will ever see it.



Next I need to cut the pockets for the candles and add some type of foot to raise it up…

I love the way you work and how you take into stride the mishaps that plague all of us. I loved your fix-up too. I had to make a similar one on one of my breadbaskets and like you say I am very aware of it, but it's really not noticeable unless you are drawn to it like a magnet, as in my case. I also want to thank you for showing the sanding jig. I recently bought a 12" disk sander and wondered how I could do thickness sanding with it and not just end grain work. I imagined some kind of fence arrangement, but I didn't think about using a single point fence which I think is simpler and more importantly much safer. Now I'm looking forward to the next installment of your great blog. Thanks for posting!

 

[sras]

Arched Candle Holder - It's all about adapting

Well, trimming up the sides removed the gaps I showed in the previous post. BUT the trimming exposed other gaps! Definitely needed to do a better job of clamping! Time to adapt.



Time to go back to the shrinking scrap pile. As luck would have it, I had two strips of cherry from an even older project. If I remember right, these strips are from the first cherry boards I ever bought (19 years ago). Both strips are long enough and one of them has enough length to cover the ends as well.



The only issue is that the strips are not wide enough to cover the arch. Time to adapt again.



I can remedy that by cutting the (future) waste from the bottom of the arch and transferring it to the top. A pass thorugh the bandsaw, dry fit and then glue & clamp.



After the glue is dry, I clean up the faces. First I use a chisel to remove most of the squeeze out. Then I make a few passes through a thickness sanding jig I made. It is a simple setup. Just clamp the jig to the fence of my Shopsmith and use the disc sander. I move the disc a little closer on each pass until both sides are clean. This same idea can be used with a conventional sander by clamping a fence to the table and using shims to narrow the gap on each pass.



Now the pieces are mitered to length. I glued up one piece of side trim and then glued the next 3 pieces on.



Now I need to trim the waste. My plan is to use a flush trim bit on my router table. I know from past experience that this works best if there is only a small amount of waste to remove. So I first remove most of the waste with the bandsaw. I leave around 1/8" to clean up with the router. Any time I use the router, I try to think through the process. It only takes a small slip up to create a lot of damage. I can see there are areas where I need to be careful as the grain is not going in a favorable direction. I need to make several light passes - even though I only need to trim off 1/8". Well, APARRENTLY I wasn't careful enough. There was one nasty spot where the router grabbed the wood and split it. This happened at the same spot on each side! The first time a chunk of wood was torn out. I managed to find the piece. Time to adapt again…



After the glue dried, I hand filed the edges flush. After a little sanding to smooth everything out, I think I have an arched form that will work.



I'll finish this post off with a closeup on my repair job. This is a classic example of where I can see the glue line from 5 feet away and no one else will ever see it.



Next I need to cut the pockets for the candles and add some type of foot to raise it up…

OhVlyArtisan - Thanks! I'm getting interested to see how it turns out. I might have to make another

Scott - Glad this helped you out. I am going to resist the temptation to show you the glue line in any more detail. I am always tempted to make sure everyone sees every "defect" in a piece and there is just no reason to do that!

Mike - Thanks for the compliment. I have been using the thickness sanding trick for several years now. A couple of things to watch for: It is easy to start and finish a strip with a taper if you angle the strip at the beginning or end. Don't let the strip rub the edge of the disc or you will need to make the strip thinner! It is a balancing act to feed the strip as straight as possible. I have been thinking about posting a separate blog on this…

 

[stefang]

Arched Candle Holder - It's all about adapting

Well, trimming up the sides removed the gaps I showed in the previous post. BUT the trimming exposed other gaps! Definitely needed to do a better job of clamping! Time to adapt.



Time to go back to the shrinking scrap pile. As luck would have it, I had two strips of cherry from an even older project. If I remember right, these strips are from the first cherry boards I ever bought (19 years ago). Both strips are long enough and one of them has enough length to cover the ends as well.



The only issue is that the strips are not wide enough to cover the arch. Time to adapt again.



I can remedy that by cutting the (future) waste from the bottom of the arch and transferring it to the top. A pass thorugh the bandsaw, dry fit and then glue & clamp.



After the glue is dry, I clean up the faces. First I use a chisel to remove most of the squeeze out. Then I make a few passes through a thickness sanding jig I made. It is a simple setup. Just clamp the jig to the fence of my Shopsmith and use the disc sander. I move the disc a little closer on each pass until both sides are clean. This same idea can be used with a conventional sander by clamping a fence to the table and using shims to narrow the gap on each pass.



Now the pieces are mitered to length. I glued up one piece of side trim and then glued the next 3 pieces on.



Now I need to trim the waste. My plan is to use a flush trim bit on my router table. I know from past experience that this works best if there is only a small amount of waste to remove. So I first remove most of the waste with the bandsaw. I leave around 1/8" to clean up with the router. Any time I use the router, I try to think through the process. It only takes a small slip up to create a lot of damage. I can see there are areas where I need to be careful as the grain is not going in a favorable direction. I need to make several light passes - even though I only need to trim off 1/8". Well, APARRENTLY I wasn't careful enough. There was one nasty spot where the router grabbed the wood and split it. This happened at the same spot on each side! The first time a chunk of wood was torn out. I managed to find the piece. Time to adapt again…



After the glue dried, I hand filed the edges flush. After a little sanding to smooth everything out, I think I have an arched form that will work.



I'll finish this post off with a closeup on my repair job. This is a classic example of where I can see the glue line from 5 feet away and no one else will ever see it.



Next I need to cut the pockets for the candles and add some type of foot to raise it up…

Thanks for the tips sras. A blog on this would be good.

 

[sras]

Arched Candle Holder - gettin' jiggy

Now, it's time to cut the recesses for the candles. I had originally thought of using a Forstner bit, but it does not leave a smooth flat bottom to the recess. Instead, I used the Forstner bit to cut a pattern for use with my router. I plan to use a pattern bit with a bearing. Looks like it is time to build a jig! Since I am only building one of these, I'll build a temporary jig. The same elements can be used to create a smaller, but permanent jig.



I have two hole sizes so I can figure out which to use. I'm going with the 1 7/8" size. Now I need a way to position the pattern in an accurate, consistent and rigid manner. My plan is to use a fixed position jig and move the arched piece. I need to start with a reference edge. I found a fairly large piece of MDF in my sheet stock inventory (that's fancy talk for a pile of plywood and stuff).



To this I added a reference to keep the pattern perpendicular to the reference edge.



The next step is to add blocking to set the pattern at the right height. Then add a stop block to center the pattern over the arched piece.



You can also see I have blocks against the sides of the arch to hold the piece against the reference edge and at each end.

You can see a piece of oak under the block that holds the pattern up at the near end. There is another one under the other end of the pattern. As I get near the end of the arch, I need to lower the pattern to get my router bit to reach. I'll remove these pieces of oak when that time comes.

I need to figure out a resonable number of candles and a spacing. I know I want one candle at the center so that means an odd number. After playing with numbers for a while, I take a detour into the house and fire up Excel. A couple of equations and I come up with 9 candles and a center-to-center spacing of 3.18" (a little less than 3 3/16")



I cut a spacing block to this dimension. After I cut the center pocket, I release the right hand end block. Then I slide the arch to the right and put the spacer block in.



I then push the arch against the block and re-clamp the right end block. Next I pull out the spacing block and reposition the left end block and the side blocks. After I cut the next pocket, I flip the piece end for end to cut the same pocekt on the opposite end.

Here is the end result. Nine evenly spaced pockets with smooth flat bottoms!



That's all for now. Next up is making some feet to raise it up a bit…

 

[stefang]

Arched Candle Holder - gettin' jiggy

Now, it's time to cut the recesses for the candles. I had originally thought of using a Forstner bit, but it does not leave a smooth flat bottom to the recess. Instead, I used the Forstner bit to cut a pattern for use with my router. I plan to use a pattern bit with a bearing. Looks like it is time to build a jig! Since I am only building one of these, I'll build a temporary jig. The same elements can be used to create a smaller, but permanent jig.



I have two hole sizes so I can figure out which to use. I'm going with the 1 7/8" size. Now I need a way to position the pattern in an accurate, consistent and rigid manner. My plan is to use a fixed position jig and move the arched piece. I need to start with a reference edge. I found a fairly large piece of MDF in my sheet stock inventory (that's fancy talk for a pile of plywood and stuff).



To this I added a reference to keep the pattern perpendicular to the reference edge.



The next step is to add blocking to set the pattern at the right height. Then add a stop block to center the pattern over the arched piece.



You can also see I have blocks against the sides of the arch to hold the piece against the reference edge and at each end.

You can see a piece of oak under the block that holds the pattern up at the near end. There is another one under the other end of the pattern. As I get near the end of the arch, I need to lower the pattern to get my router bit to reach. I'll remove these pieces of oak when that time comes.

I need to figure out a resonable number of candles and a spacing. I know I want one candle at the center so that means an odd number. After playing with numbers for a while, I take a detour into the house and fire up Excel. A couple of equations and I come up with 9 candles and a center-to-center spacing of 3.18" (a little less than 3 3/16")



I cut a spacing block to this dimension. After I cut the center pocket, I release the right hand end block. Then I slide the arch to the right and put the spacer block in.



I then push the arch against the block and re-clamp the right end block. Next I pull out the spacing block and reposition the left end block and the side blocks. After I cut the next pocket, I flip the piece end for end to cut the same pocekt on the opposite end.

Here is the end result. Nine evenly spaced pockets with smooth flat bottoms!



That's all for now. Next up is making some feet to raise it up a bit…

Great blog and a solution applicable to a lot of different types of tasks. This was great. Thanks

 

[Dusty56]

Arched Candle Holder - gettin' jiggy

Now, it's time to cut the recesses for the candles. I had originally thought of using a Forstner bit, but it does not leave a smooth flat bottom to the recess. Instead, I used the Forstner bit to cut a pattern for use with my router. I plan to use a pattern bit with a bearing. Looks like it is time to build a jig! Since I am only building one of these, I'll build a temporary jig. The same elements can be used to create a smaller, but permanent jig.



I have two hole sizes so I can figure out which to use. I'm going with the 1 7/8" size. Now I need a way to position the pattern in an accurate, consistent and rigid manner. My plan is to use a fixed position jig and move the arched piece. I need to start with a reference edge. I found a fairly large piece of MDF in my sheet stock inventory (that's fancy talk for a pile of plywood and stuff).



To this I added a reference to keep the pattern perpendicular to the reference edge.



The next step is to add blocking to set the pattern at the right height. Then add a stop block to center the pattern over the arched piece.



You can also see I have blocks against the sides of the arch to hold the piece against the reference edge and at each end.

You can see a piece of oak under the block that holds the pattern up at the near end. There is another one under the other end of the pattern. As I get near the end of the arch, I need to lower the pattern to get my router bit to reach. I'll remove these pieces of oak when that time comes.

I need to figure out a resonable number of candles and a spacing. I know I want one candle at the center so that means an odd number. After playing with numbers for a while, I take a detour into the house and fire up Excel. A couple of equations and I come up with 9 candles and a center-to-center spacing of 3.18" (a little less than 3 3/16")



I cut a spacing block to this dimension. After I cut the center pocket, I release the right hand end block. Then I slide the arch to the right and put the spacer block in.



I then push the arch against the block and re-clamp the right end block. Next I pull out the spacing block and reposition the left end block and the side blocks. After I cut the next pocket, I flip the piece end for end to cut the same pocekt on the opposite end.

Here is the end result. Nine evenly spaced pockets with smooth flat bottoms!



That's all for now. Next up is making some feet to raise it up a bit…

Thank you for all of this very helpful information : )

 

[bigike]

Arched Candle Holder - gettin' jiggy

Now, it's time to cut the recesses for the candles. I had originally thought of using a Forstner bit, but it does not leave a smooth flat bottom to the recess. Instead, I used the Forstner bit to cut a pattern for use with my router. I plan to use a pattern bit with a bearing. Looks like it is time to build a jig! Since I am only building one of these, I'll build a temporary jig. The same elements can be used to create a smaller, but permanent jig.



I have two hole sizes so I can figure out which to use. I'm going with the 1 7/8" size. Now I need a way to position the pattern in an accurate, consistent and rigid manner. My plan is to use a fixed position jig and move the arched piece. I need to start with a reference edge. I found a fairly large piece of MDF in my sheet stock inventory (that's fancy talk for a pile of plywood and stuff).



To this I added a reference to keep the pattern perpendicular to the reference edge.



The next step is to add blocking to set the pattern at the right height. Then add a stop block to center the pattern over the arched piece.



You can also see I have blocks against the sides of the arch to hold the piece against the reference edge and at each end.

You can see a piece of oak under the block that holds the pattern up at the near end. There is another one under the other end of the pattern. As I get near the end of the arch, I need to lower the pattern to get my router bit to reach. I'll remove these pieces of oak when that time comes.

I need to figure out a resonable number of candles and a spacing. I know I want one candle at the center so that means an odd number. After playing with numbers for a while, I take a detour into the house and fire up Excel. A couple of equations and I come up with 9 candles and a center-to-center spacing of 3.18" (a little less than 3 3/16")



I cut a spacing block to this dimension. After I cut the center pocket, I release the right hand end block. Then I slide the arch to the right and put the spacer block in.



I then push the arch against the block and re-clamp the right end block. Next I pull out the spacing block and reposition the left end block and the side blocks. After I cut the next pocket, I flip the piece end for end to cut the same pocekt on the opposite end.

Here is the end result. Nine evenly spaced pockets with smooth flat bottoms!



That's all for now. Next up is making some feet to raise it up a bit…

sweet pics of a very nice project