How to Make A Galaxy 6 Smart Phone Case
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I am always intrigued by what kinds of things can be made from wood ... such as a wooden case for a smart phone. Some of you may recall I made a case for another smart phone a few years ago. It was really a prototype to see if it could be done and what it would look like. The case was a bit on the thick side, but other than that, it worked well and looked great, but most of all, you get to learn things when you actually go about making things, I learned lots when making that first case.
With the knowledge that my next case needed to be thinner, I decided that the best way to do this would be to make my own very thin plywood back, by gluing together veneers. Before I started this whole process I decided that the workshop and workbench was not the safest place for my phone. In all the handling that would be needed to be done, I thought it would be just like me to drop it on the floor or drop a tool on it and break the glass ... so I made wooden blank of the phone, exactly the same size and thickness. This way I wouldn't have to worry that some calamity would happen to in the process.
To be honest, I tried a few different kinds of veneers that I had on hand, but that one that worked best for this application was some Phenolic Backed veneer that came from Oakwood Veneer Company. I sandwiched the Oakwood veneer between some plain, tight grain veneer I had on hand. The process is shown in the video. Once the back was made, the next process ...
Cutting Your Own Spalted Lumber From Logs
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Woodworking on it's own is a joy, but when you can work with different kinds of woods, it makes the woodworking even more pleasurable. There are all sorts of different kinds of "figured woods" available like burl, tiger and curly woods, swirls from knots and branches, fiddle back and quilting, birds-eye and much more. Typically these woods are much more expensive than plain wood because they are much more rare so they are used on smaller pieces like special boxes for keepsakes and jewelry, musical instruments like guitars and banjos as well as for around picture frames and other smaller type wooden objects.
Another kind of ornamental wood is something called spalted wood which occurs when the wood is allowed to become wet for a somewhat long period of time and fungus invades the wood and begins a rotting process. In this rotting process the the wood and the fungus combine to often make different colorations inside the wood that is called spalting. In it's early stages the spalting can produce an amazing color with the wood, in it's later stages the fungus can affect the wood so much it that it can become too far rotted and unusable.
In this video we have left the logs to dry slowly for several months and now that they are down to 14% moisture content it's time to cut them into usable planks and let them finish their drying process ...
Cutting Board Finishes
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There are as many different opinions of what kind of coating should go on a cutting board as there are different kinds of cutting boards. The purpose of this article is not to suggest what can be used but to provide information on a wide number of products that could be used.
It is up to the woodworker to make the final decision based on where the the cutting board will be used.
In the end, the best coating for a cutting board is no coating or finish at all.
If we look at the life of most wooden cutting boards, they begin as new wood with some sort of a coating on them, usually some sort of oil-type coating. During their use they are either used to cut meat, or they are designated to cut other things like fruits, vegetables, breads and other common cutting items. In either case the cutting boards are cleaned regularly with warm soapy water, dried off then left to air dry. This process of constantly washing a drying, in a short period of time will wash off any coating that was originally put on the cutting board.
Since most cutting boards are seldom, or never re-coated after they begin use, what happens is the cutting board develops it's own patina or look that in some cases is similar to what the board was originally coated with. This is now most cutting boards live their life, which can go on for years and years. Cutting boards should be disposed of if they develop any kind of a crack in the wood, or if during their use they subjected to some very deep cuts. These kinds of cuts and cracks can harbor bacteria and pathogens that could cause illness so it is best to eliminate these threats.
Before we get into what are some of the finishes you can use on cutting boards, lets look at the short list of what you should not use, or at least be very cautious in using ....
Making 3 Simple Cutting Boards
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Making cutting boards continues to be a very popular project. The nice thing with making cutting boards is you can can use almost any hardwood available and even if you only have cutting left they can often still be re-fabricated into a usable cutting board. Cutting boards are a popular items at swap meets, country markets and garden markets. They are available in many different kinds of woods, shapes, sizes and grain patterns. In some parts of the country they can command a fair dollar, which make they popular among hobbyist woodworkers who can use up their cutting to help support their hobby. A great way to make a few dollars to help offset the cost of wood.
Woods to Use for Cutting Boards
I am often asked what woods can be used for cutting boards? My answer is that from what I know almost any hardwood can be use. Most woods are considered toxic as far as inhaling sawdust but in terms of being used for cutting boards I am not aware or any wood that could not be used. Some people do have some allergies to some of the oils found in some woods. These are very rare and random, and the most common one I have heard of is Cedar, which should not be used for cutting boards mainly because it is such a soft wood and doesn't hold up well at all. The only other other woods that should not be used are spalted wood, these woods are colored the way they are because they have begun to rot, which is not an ideal for cutting boards. Boards with "live" or natural edges should also not be used. With edges like this they are hard to clean and could harbor food particles and bacteria. Cutting boards need to be flat and smooth on all sides.
Some people suggest that Oak and similar open pore woods should not be used for cutting boards. The choice is up to you, but personally I like oaks because the the tannin contained in oak wood helps to kill off bacteria. Some argue that the porous wood harbors food and bacteria but even a nice smooth wood like maple, after a few weeks of cutting will have slice marks in it equal or bigger that what would be seen in oak. I leave the decision on what to use for woods up to you now that you have the information to make your own choices.
In terms of size and shape, that is totally up to the maker. I have seen cutting boards as thinner that half an inch and as thick as 2 inches. I have seen the outside dimensions as small as 6 inches by 9 inches and as large as 20 inches by 30 inches. Cutting boards can be constructed in many different ways ....
Circular Saws: Using and Safety
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The Circular Saw w
as invented way back in the early 1920s by a company that later changed it name to Skil. The tool was SO POPULAR that for decades people referred to every circular saw as as "skil saw", which is the same kind of thing that happened with Hoover. The company name became synonymous with what it did. Even today I hear people sometimes calling circular saws "Skil Saws" and if you tell someone you need to do some "hoovering" they know you really mean vacuum cleaning. Funny how that goes ... but I digress. The circular saw is arguably one of the most popular power tools on the planet. The only thing that might bump it would be the power drill.
Sadly, circular saws have created a TONS of injuries over the years and thanks to a number of people who have looked at these injuries and come up with good ways to help prevent them in the future, we now have a pretty good guidelines on circular saw safety. I am happy to report that these guidelines and best practices are being taught to our carpenter and woodworking students in trade schools and colleges and we know what they are learning is working because we can monitor the positive results.
To watch this video on YouTube, click here - https://youtu.be/dRau7aaR2c4
Many, many years ago the first blades I ever used on circular saws were old hardened steel blades and they didn't stay sharp very long. You had lots of choices back then too, you get a blade with 20 or 24 teeth depending on what manufacturer you wanted to purchase from. The good news was that you got pretty good a sharpening your own blades with rusty old file ...
Building a Hand Plane Wall Rack
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There is a reason that the image of a hand plane is on so many business cards for woodworkers and business that do woodworking. The hand plane has become a symbol of woodworking and is recognized around the world as such. For me, moving them to a wall mount rack wasn't about the woodworkers spirit moving me to do so, it was all about freeing up more room in my woodworking cabinet.
For some reason I seem to have accumulated a few more tools over the past few years and finding a place to put them is at a premium. Storing hand planes on their side, in a drawer is fine, if you don't need the room for other things ... which I did. I felt the only reasonable alternative would be move them out of the drawer where they really were taking up much more space than needed, and moving them on to a wall rack would make good sense.
This was not a complex build but because you everyone has different planes and different numbers of them it's pretty hard to work from plans. And so, another "build it on the fly" project began ...
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