Just an Update

Hey folks. Just a quick update to let you know what’s going on. Since my classes at William Ng, I have yet to get my crap in order. We had a last-minute trip to OH last week and now my computer is in the “shop”. I am way behind on posts here at the site and this coming Saturday, I am doing some demos at the local Woodcraft store. So I need to get some prep work done for that. We also have a big charity event in the works and I’ll share the details of that with you soon. So bear with me as I try to keep the shop afloat. I never expected January and February to be my busiest months of the year!! Thanks as always for your support!

Winner of the Super FMT

The winner of the new Super FMT is Izzy! The choice was random, but here’s why Izzy said he works with wood:

Wood it can last for generations. It tells a person a lot about me. It reminds me about life and the things I hold dear enjoy doing the most. (Camping in the woods, going to the beach and most of all building things with my dad).

There’s no other hobby that allows your imagination to be your hands on inspiration. Wood is the end result of a beautiful journey. I just toured Sam Maloofs residence, I create my wood working expierence.

Why not other hobbies?
With wood working your always first up to bat, in the pilots seat, sometimes in harms way, as close to success as you are to failure, creating art and learning about people places and things, the past and improving the future. And the toys! (I mean tools)

With the Super FMT and a plunge router, every woodworker can easily produce perfect mortise and tenon joints with unmatched accuracy and speed. The Super FMT’s design is based on the original and incomparable FMT. The same great features produce the same great joints. Learn more!

So congrats to Izzy and I hope he enjoys this incredible new “toy” err… uhh… tool! Thanks to Leigh Jigs for supply this great prize!

Fishing Reel Seat Inserts – Viewer Project

I love featuring unique stuff like this on the site. My grandpa used to own a fishing tackle store back in Jersey, so I know my way around a tackle box, although I never got into fly fishing. I did, however, pack my share of nightcrawlers! Jeff makes some beautiful reel seat inserts, but is also looking for some input on finishing. Let’s see what he has to say:

I turn wood cylinders known as reel seat inserts. These inserts are installed into nickel silver hardware and installed on fly fishing rods. The reel seat holds the fly reel on the base of the fly rod. I start with “blanks” that are ideally 7/8″ square by about five inches (as little as 3.5″ is acceptable, but after turning it helps if you can select the best grain for the exposed barrel). On the lathe I bore a 3/8″ hole lengthwise and mount the blank on a mandrel. The mandrel is locked into a four jaw chuck on the headstock, and the other end of the mandrel is mounted onto a 60 degree live center mounted into the tailstock. Conventional turning tools and sandpaper are used to turn the wood down to a specified diameter. A parting tool is used to make a square cut down to the #4 diameter.

Note that I didn’t mention the diameter the barrel is turned to. This is because I’ve been using techniques where I build up finish with successive coats of CA, moisture cure urethane (MCU), spar urethane, specific epoxy, etc. So I turn well beyond the #2 diameter, then wet sand and polish back down to #2 diameter.

Rod building component companies sell the nickel hardware in the photos. They also sell wooden inserts made from various woods. The standard wood inserts are around $8 and up. My problem with OEM inserts is that they’re sometimes bland, and their finishes mar easily when reels are put on and taken off of the reel seat, and they don’t repel water especially well. Thus the desire to make my own. Though there are quite a few people doing this, there doesn’t seem to be a “best” finish technique. I’m a bit of a perfectionist, so I seek a process that is attractive, and very durable. I want the rod to wear out before my woodworking does. And I want the finish to repel water very well.

Problems encountered:
With CA, any inadvertent introduction of moisture causes blushing. CA sands and polishes very nicely, but its hardness can be a problem. With moisture cure urethane (MCU), any failure to remove all bubbles results in tiny white craters when sanded, but MCU remains somewhat flexible.

Initially I made the #3 cut prior to doing any finishing. This worked fairly well, but getting a even finish buildup at the cut was difficult. Then I tried finishing the entire length of the turned piece, then cut the #3 cut. With softer finishes a clean #3 cut was difficult as the finish heated easily and sometimes separated from the exposed surface. Not desirable. Even making the final length cut with a parting tool left a bad edge. Ideally the finish would tolerate cutting the #3 edge after the finish is applied and finish sanded.

While I have some very acceptable inserts on my fly rods, I can’t say that I’ve developed what I feel is a foolproof, fairly easily repeatable finishing technique. My goal is a finish that doesn’t show grain dimples when I’m finished, has a nice square #3 shoulder cut, doesn’t scuff easily and won’t crack if the wood changes shape (as in adding or losing moisture). As you will see in the images, finishes continue (even CA) shrinking after final shaping even though I generally wait at least five days after finishes are applied.

So folks, what do you think? Any opinions to help Jeff find an option that will work for him?

Born Again Southern Pine – Viewer Project

Johnny submitted a couple of great projects made from recycled timber! I envy folks who live in areas that have the option to recycle. Its environmentally friendly, its cheap, and the wood itself brings a sense of age and maturity that can’t be achieved with stain or dye. And for anyone who isn’t familiar with Southern Pine, its worth looking into. This isn’t the same knotty pine shelf stock you see at the big box stores. Its incredibly strong and durable for a softwood and it happens to be relatively cheap. A great material for workbenches too. Just ask The Schwarz. If you want more information on Southern Pine, check this out. And without further delay, let’s hear Johnny’s story:

Not sure if this qualifies as a Viewer Project but I have a different twist on woodworking. Instead of going to the lumber yard, about 80% of my projects are from recycled wood. I live in Plano Texas and I drive around on country roads looking for old vacant homes that where built in the early 1900’s. Once I find one, I start knocking on doors until I find who owns the land and home and get their permission to take some wood. Most of the wood is old growth southern pine. It’s a lot of work cleaning up the boards because in the early days, they used small tacks to hang the cheesecloth wallpaper, but it adds that distressed look that looks pretty cool.

The bed and end tables where made about 10 years ago. The dresser/entertainment/bookshelf I just now completed to match the other bedroom furniture. The cool thing about this wood is the tight grain pattern and patina (because of the large amount of rosin) for pine. You just can’t find pine like this today.

Now here is the interesting thing about the piece I just completed. I designed it for the bookshelves to be on each side of the large piece, as you can see in the photo. When I put it in the room, my wife said “it looks great…but, I want the center piece angled in the corner and put the two bookshelves together”. I told her that is not the way I designed it and she said, “I know but that is the way I like it”. Now I did what any successfully married man of 23 years would do. I stood up tall, bowed out my chest, folded my arms and said, “Yes Dear!” I hope you enjoy.

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