What did you do in your shop today?

djg said:
Is there any/much distortion upon drying since you're turning it green? Of course that may make it look like a real basket.
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Getting little distortion was one goal I had with these. There is a little bit, but not as much as you might expect. Kind of wish there was just a little bit more.

Black locust is among those woods with a lower tangential:radial ratio which means less distortion than a lot of common native species.
Looking at a 2 dimensional picture you can't see it, holding it in your hand it is obvious. On one that I measured, the mouth varied only 1/16" from 1 11/16" - 1 3/4".

Here's one pic looking straight down on the last form.

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I got inspired when I found that piece of end grain teak in my box from Mr. Peet. So started a new box project today. Got all the pieces squared up, sanded flat, and got the lid roughed together. Ebony from @Chemistry Fan .

lid and sides roughed together.jpg
 
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In between working on that ebony box, I made this.
jig exploded view.webp

This is probably the next "pet rock", 3M sticky note, make-me-rich idea. My guitar coach gave me a box with hundred of abalone strips. But they're cut with pinking shears on one side, so those saw teeth have to be sanded off in order to use the abalone as inlay strips. My fingers paid the price trying to hold a tiny 1/8" wide strip.

So now my fingers are happy.
jig ready to use.webp

rough abalone with jig.webp

abalone in jig.webp

jig with finished abalone strip.webp

Takes seconds to sand a strip smooth. Added advantage is if I pay attention, all the strips come out the same width, which will make it easier to inlay.
 
Wildthings said:
Put two together and interlock the teeth
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Brilliant minds think alike - I actually tried that with a few strips but they aren't uniform at all. The zig zag joint was way too visible to make wider strips that way. Could possibly use epoxy to join them (inlay them) and let the epoxy fill the joint and sand smooth and it wouldn't be quite as noticeable.
 
I figured out what these cutoff strips are from. When you buy abalone strips for rosettes for a guitar or ukulele, you get approx 1 - 1.5" long strips that have a slight curve to them. Like this:
abalone.jpg

Now picture a piece of abalone that is roughly 6 -7" long by 1.5" wide. Lay these little curved sections into the V's of the cutoff strip, with the short end nestled into the V. Use a CNC mill with a very small bit to cut them out. You'd minimize waste and get 30-35 curved pieces from a 6 inch long blank of abalone. And the left over cutoff would look just like the ones I have. So not pinking shears at all, and also explains why the serrated strips aren't exact matches if I try to nest two together. I'm such a clever lad. We now return you to your regular viewing program.
 
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Got the back to my grandson's high chair smoothed down and ready to be cut to size and shape.

Walnut with a Caragana center design, and snakewoood snake outlines in maple.

Been slow going this MN winter w/o a heated shop.

Finally getting back in.

God bless,

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Well now that's awesome looking. Can't wait to see the finished product! I think this section would look good with a darker wood so that the design stands out more 1000021367.webp
 
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DLJeffs said:
I don't know the answer to that. I need to ask my guitar guy. It's possible the abalone wasn't from a luthier but some other craft. All I know is I have a couple hundred strips like that.
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I was told as a kid, it cracks with straight shears while pinking shears constantly change pressure direction and reduces such risks when using longer pieces. No clue if it holds true, might of been a line to shut up a questioning kid.
 
That's going to be a very impressive high chair Matt.

We had a high of 64 degrees today so it was perfect for washing windows... not too hot so the washwater dries before I can squeegee it, but nice enough to work in a t shirt. So that's what I did. Oh, and made holly splines to install in that ebony box I'm working on.
 
Well, turned a few rough blocks into samples. Top left to right: Spalted American Hornbeam, 1/4 sawn Hop-hornbeam with figure, 1/4 sawn Machiche. Bottom row left to right: King Billy Pine, Bird's eye red oak, Tasmanian oak with gum pockets, Goldenball lead tree and two tone Chechen. Thanks to a few of you WB members for suppling. Steven kind of talked me into using the two tone Chechen from Paul's wood. King Billy, Tas oak and Machiche were from Eric who we lost last fall. Rob supplied the Red oak with adventitious buds and Jim supplied the Goldenball lead tree. He turned a small bowl of it 3 years ago, think in this forums just a "few" pages back....

@JR Parks @rob3232 @SA-Motors

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DLJeffs said:
Mark - do you put any finish on those? Or does that screw up the quality for ID'ing?
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Both.....I live in the house my grandfather built 80 some years ago. I have Silverfish and book lice in the house. As a precaution, I coat with clear Lundmark carnauba paste wax. Samples are gently warmed in an oven set at 170F for about 5 minutes. Most of these woods were kiln before this process so core temps not really an issue. I put on a light coating. This can skew endgrain images and could complicate things, but rarely has. After a few weeks, the wood takes on a pretty natural look and holds it a good bit of time. Woods are stored in a filing cabinet, so UV light is minimized. Trade shows and teaching places expose them the most.

So pictured is shortly after the oven and being waxed. This basically shows what the wood looks like wet. As said, it dulls down and looks more natural in time. If need be, I can always sand the end for a fresh view.
 
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