We have just been honored with a sticky, my friends! A first for The Workshop!! Keep the great info coming!

~michael

When sanding moulds or intricate carved work during finishing,use a scotchbrite
scouring pad rather than wire wool.Less mess and easier to handle.
They can also be used for bare metal to achieve a brushed finish.
Available in a variety of different grades,from fine to extra coarse.
http://www.vikingtapes.co.uk/Abrasives/3......rite.htm
(UK link)
Ray.

Michael, great idea for a thread and congrats on coming up with a sticky!

I don't have a tip, but rather a question that will probably require a tip from someone reading through this thread. This isn't really a workshop question, but I tried posting it elsewhere in the Workshop forum and it hasn't gotten any response, so perhaps I can try it here. Here goes....

I'm restoring a old MAK French Wrist Chopper. It's old and rickety and the last time I tested it before a performance, one of the spacer shims fell off and rendered the trick useless so I axed it for the performance. I was actually going to throw it in the garbage because MAK doesn't make a quality chopper; at least this one isn't.

My wife convinced me that I should look it over before trashing it, and I did. I took the whole thing apart, and found that all it really needed was some new glue and tightening up. However, in my test failure, the blade got stuck and jammed in the bottom, marring the surface pretty badly. I took some emery cloth and a file to the aluminum blade dings and realized I would have to put a lot of elbow work into re polishnig the blade, and the effect just isn't worth that much labor to me.

So I thought, why not age the blade? Rough it up a bit and stain it somehow so that it gives the appearance of old blood stains on it. It is after all an old prop I purchased from someone for about $75 and I only used it twice. I introduce it as an old device anyway, that might be "well, a little rusty in some places." So aging the blade might add to the effect.

Any ideas on how to make that blade look old, worn and bloody without the blood?

If this isn't the appropriate place, perhaps a suggestion on where to post? Thanks folks.

Hi Bob,

I was going to reference this thread.

http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......forum=26

But, it seems you have already found it. I am not an expert working with metal, although I suspect your techniques will be based on whether the blade is steel or aluminum (I don't know which MAK uses for their chopper).

~michael

Hi Michael, it's aluminum. I'll play around with it a little.

I might just not put a band-aid on my finger or whatever, the next time I bleed a little in my shop. That happens a lot, so I'll just keep letting the blood stains pile up! I'm sure after playing around with it I'll find the right reactive agent that will help it all along. It's not major on my to-do list. I don't like the quality of the thing to begin with. I've already changed the drop bag from the original cheap felt that's stapled in place and made a nice black satin drape. It actually looks a lot better and does a better job of hiding the rubber hand I keep in there for the climax.

Anyway, thanks for getting back! Best, Bob

Nice thread! I am a hobbiest woodworker and just recently got into learning magic. So far its been a blast and when I saw this thread I felt right at home. A couple of recommendations as I have done everything from small puzzle boxes to lathe work and I even built my own CNC. For small pieces you are trying to cut I highly recommend using a combination of a sliding sled, like the one pictured a few posts back, and a Micro Jig GRR Riper. Whats nice about it is you can span across the blade with pieces as small as 1/8 inch. Then if you combo this with a riving knife (if your table saw supports it) its a breeze to make each cut. I was making puzzle boxes out of 1/8" plywood and it was a snap. The other recommendation I would make would be to pick up some double sided pressure or turner's tape. Its great for holding pieces while you work on them and I have used it to secure bowls while turning them on a lathe. The stuff is very strong and great with small parts.

One final tip, I can't remember if you posted it with your straw idea from earlier, but when doling any glue up, if you wait about 30 minutes or so after you have clamped everything together the glue starts to congeal. It is still plyable but is hard enough to easily remove with your weapon of choice. I personally use an old cheap sharpened chisel but the straw idea will work just as well.

Hope this helps.


Shane

Hi Shane,

Welcome to The Magic Café, and welcome to the workshop!

Thanks for your tips! I'm taking the liberty of posting a link to the Micro Jig GRR Riper. I had not seen that before, but it looks like a great device!

Regarding the straw to scrape up glue squeeze-out, the best use for that is when working with hardwoods that will have any penetrating finish that leaves the grain visible. The advantage is that the excess glue goes up inside the straw, rather than possibly being spread into the wood grain, where it would affect the finish.

For general glue scrape-ups, I keep most of the trimmings from my metal cutter. Those little scraps of brass, aluminum and steel make handy scrapers, and can be cut to a variety of lengths, widths, and angles. They're also disposable, and save the time of cleaning tools!

Thanks Michael for posting the link. I do not yet know of all the rules surrounding posting of links etc. I like your straw idea as well. I was only pointing that if you wait until the glue is a little dry it is easy to manage and remove without affecting the future stain. That being said most of the glue ups I have done are large enough projects that by the time I have all the clamps applied (you can imagine how many clamps) the glue is just perfect to get up.

Thanks for the welcome!

Shane

Yes, I understood, Shane. Maybe down the road we'll have enough combined info to start a completely new thread just on joinery! Ha! There are entire books dedicated to the subject.

Ok, in order to stay true to this thread, let me offer a tip for more shop tips...

Each of us likely won't have the same programming, but my local PBS station runs "The Woodsmith Shop" on Saturday afternoons. It's really a very informative show, but even if you don't have this on your local programming, I'll suggest you go to their website, and sign up for the email shop tips.

http://www.woodsmithshop.com/

Here is a wood filling/gluing tip that I use on all of my hardwood projects. It may seem a bit laborious but it is well worth the effort. It kind of kills two birds with one stone.
This method prevents the glue from getting into the wood grain which sometimes ruins the staining process as the glue will resist stain even if you think you have wiped it away.
Apply strips of easy release Blue Tape on all surfaces right on each edge of the joint where the glue would typically squeeze out. Glue and clamp as usual and take a lightly moist paper towel to wipe off seeping glue.
Peel the tape off after the glue has dried.
This same method can be used when using wood fillers. Mask off the area to be filled. Apply filler and sand down level. Remove tape and finish sand. This not only minimizes the filler exposure but ti also protects the wood from over sanding.

One last tip.
When you need to set a depth on your drill bit, use a Whit Out Pen to make your depth mark on the bit. These pens are available at any office supply store. The white paint/ink dries fast on the bit and stays on long enough to get thru any job. The pens have a ball point tip and a shaker/mixing ball in them. They are about 3" long and blue with a white label. These pens also work awesome on to make indicator marks or lines on dark surfaces. You will find a lot of places to use them once you have one. Plus they do NOT dry out.

Hope this helps. I will drop in more tips as they come to mind.
Chance

A great finish for hardwood Is Antique oil in the red can. Tabman turned me on to this stuff years ago. It leaves a wonderful rich satin finish that looks old. The best part is how easy it is to put on. Just brush on and let it dry for 10 min then rub it off. It only takes three or for coats to get good results. This stuff is so easy to use even if you let it dry to much you can just put more oil on and it will desolve the mistake. The can tells you to let it dry 24hrs but if you let the first coat dry that long the other coats can be put on 8 hours apart. It has no smell and clean up is a breeze.

A couple of acrylic fabrication tips.

Sometimes you need to drill holes at specific locations in acrylic tubes, for example every 90 degrees. One good method is to use two L shaped framing squares on a flat surface and to place the cylinder in between two right angles and slide them together. This makes it easy to mark holes on opposite sides of the tube.

I have had some luck making acrylic shapes look like brass. Use the type of glue with suspended acrylic particles, looks like model glue. Fill in any gaps with extra glue and let dry completely. Then sand the item with some rough sand paper to round the edges and leave some deep scratches. Then use a polish wheel to clean up. Paint with brass colored spray paint, and then cover with black shoe polish and wipe clean. This really looks like old cast brass with some scratches left over from the mold. Bulges of acrylic glue left in a seam looks like welding artifacts.

My 12 inch chop saw will not cleanly cut a 5 or 6 inch tube. So make two cuts on the tube and then sand the face flat by holding the tube down on a piece of sandpaper with a polishing movement.

Sometimes I need a washer shaped piece of acrylic: a disk with a perfect hole inside that fits something else. Mark the disk inside and out with a sharpie. Sand the outside to shape with a drum sander on your drill press. Make an initial cut inside and then use the drum sander to smooth out the interior space. Keep checking against the interior and exterior size needed and you can get an exact fit.

A great compliment to acrylic is the use of cut neoprene sheet. It comes in all different thicknesses and hardnesses. Use contact cement and the neoprene can be used as a gasket or bumper as needed. Sometimes I include a suede leather surface on the neoprene or just on the acrylic. This can make one tube slide into another or act as a way to make two parts pressure fit together nicely. The contact cement works great for leather, neoprene, and acrylic.

Bill,

Those are really good tips! I do very little work with acrylic, Plexiglass, etc., but always appreciate learning something. Thanks!

This is nothing grand, but, when using those cheap sponge brushes with the wooden handles on a one-time basis, don't throw them away. Let the sponge dry. It may be peeled off/removed to reveal a flexible plastic piece underneath. This makes an excellent small "spatula" with which to apply glue, etc., to small parts, and, may be trimmed to any convenient shape. Some glue residues will be easily removed from the plastic after drying, and so, the "spatula" may be re-used.

Hope this is a helper!

Michael

Good idea, Michael! I throw away a ton of foam brushes. I use them for applying sanding sealer. A friend once gave me several cases of them, but I am starting to run out. Some of them came with replaceable heads!

Maybe you're like me? I keep a number of small bottles of touch-up paints around here. The tiny Testors and Model Master colors are great for dabbing in a quick spot of paint, when and where you need it. The problem is, paint that accumulates on the little cardboard seal and the rim of the bottle will very often become a very strong glue that locks the cap permanently on the bottle. Unsticking these lids often results in damaging the lid, the bottle, and your emotions in the process.

I usually make an effort to wipe the parts clean before screwing the cap back on the bottle, but that doesn't always work.

Considering that these little bottles typically cost more than a couple bucks each, throwing them out in frustration is nonsense.

Solution: A light smear of Vaseline on the rim and threads of the bottle prevents the two surfaces from bonding. Voila!

And although I haven't really been able to document this, the Vaseline may also serve as an air tight seal, preventing those expensive bottles from drying up over time, which will happen when dried paint inhibits a good seal.

This will also work on those screw cap tubes of glue that manage to glue themselves shut.

Ok, here's an example of how different saw blades can make better or worse cuts:

I have an older Craftsman 8" direct drive table saw, so my blade choices are somewhat limited. I have to use 7 1/4" blades, usually designed for hand-held circular saws.

The photo below shows two saw cuts across the grain of a piece of 1/4" Baltic Birch plywood (same sheet).

One of these cuts was made using a new Irwin plywood blade, hollow ground, 140 teeth. The other cut was made using a very worn Black & Decker Piranha 40 tooth carbide-tipped blade.

Obviously, it pays to use a good blade, right?

Not necessarily. The ragged-ass cut with all the tear-out was made by the new Irwin blade. Similar bad cut results happened with a Vermont American plywood blade, too. Ya never know...



For what it's worth, the B&D blade comes as a dual pack set at Wal Mart for cheap. The other blade included is a plywood blade, which cuts real good, but they burn up pretty fast.

I'm starting on a new project, so I indulged and bought a Freud Premier Fusion thin-kerf 10" blade. The name sounds like one of those new-fangled Gillette shavers (and I was wondering if it had a USB port), but it cuts beautifully. 1/2" hardwood ply, rip and cross-cut, the edges feel like they were sanded. And this is on an inexpensive Jet contractor-style saw which hasn't been made for like ten years. It also seems quieter than my old generic carbide blade; it's hard to tell, but it doesn't have that same "grinding in your ears" noise.

And I got it on sale at Woodcraft!

Yeah, that goes to the heart of my problem. It's easy to find really good blades for a 10" saw... but not an 8". I guess I should buy a new table saw, but I'd have to put it in my bedroom. No more room in the garage. Ha!

Fortunately, I have to route rabbets along those cut edges, so I can cover most of the sins that way.

Have you looked at amazon.com? They have several Diablo and Freud 7.25" blades:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?u......2+blades