How to Joint Wood with your Planer
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New woodworkers are often confused by the difference between jointers and planers. I know this because I get asked what should I get first, a jointer or a planer, and my answer has not changed on that topic, in my opinion the jointer is probably the best choice for most people, and if you have planer, you will still need a jointer. I often wonder if one of the reasons for that is because we frequently call "thickness planers" the shortened term of "planer" and "jointer" terms is shortened from "surface jointer".
I have seen people trying to "plane" wood on a jointer and what happens most of the time is you end up with wood that is wedge shaped. Similarly, jointing on the planer, is possible in some instances but you need to know how to do it in order to get usable wood.
The best and safest woods to joint using a planer are thicker boards, that will need to be long enough to satisfy the safety aspects of your planer. Most planers need wood to be at least 14" - 16" long, otherwise you risk the wood getting turned around inside the planer and either damaging the machinery and or the user. Something well worth avoiding.
Working with Plastics to Build an Engraver Stand
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There are many things that plastics can help us out with in the workshop from creating certain jigs to making new throat plates for your table saws. The nice thing about working with plastics is that you can pretty much use all you existing woodworking tools to cut drill and shape it into the form you need. There are a few things to know about working with plastics, like what bits and blades to use, but other than that, it's not difficult at all.
For our part, we are building a stand for our laser engraver that will have a place above the engraver for a laptop computer to sit. This will save us a lot of space by stacking the units rather than having them side by side.
Working with plastics is fun and something different to do and for some projects, it's can be used to make special jigs or augment new or existing projects.
Building an Arrowhead Picture Frame
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Now everyone has the pleasure of having "family heirloms" that can be passed down in families ... sometimes you have to start somewhere with something that can be passed down, which is precisely what this Arrowhead Picture Frame project was to accomplish. Many of the arrowheads in this collection were broken, probably during their making. I'm sure with the rudimentary tools that were used in the making of flint arrowheads, a good portion were damaged or broken during their making.
The few, more-less complete arrowheads that survived have been granted a special picture frame that can be handed down family to family over the course of time and will become a coveted collection over time.
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Making a Standing Desk
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"What's new is old and what's old is new". I haven't heard that saying in a long time but I had forgotten how true it is. Standing desks have been around for decades that I know of and probably for centuries in one form or another, but all of a sudden, they are "new" and "trending".
The main reason of course that standing desks are becoming so popular is not because of where they are used but because of why they are used ... to get people standing in stead of sitting, which of course burns off more calories and helps to reduce our overweight society. Not a bad idea really.
Standing desks have, and are being used in many commercial and industrial situations. Shippers and warehouse people couldn't function with out them, they are always on the move but still need a place to fill out paperwork before they are on the move again. Architects and people in the art world, especially those working on larger pallets need these kinds of desks because they are moving around them in many cases, and the list goes on.
The neat thing about standing desks is that if you find your need to sit at them for s longer time, you just need to pull up a stool and now you have a place to sit, and the good things with stools, they still make the body work because they don't have back support so they still help us burn more calories while exercising our muscles.
More Tips, Jigs & Demos
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Not every video is in need of an article and this video is one of those ....
Laser Engraver in Woodworking
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Despite that fact that woodworking in one form or another has been around since the dawn of man, and word "traditional" is thrown around like mainstay in the industry, there are always new tools, techniques and ideas being introduced and adapted literally every week. Many years ago, when working in another industry I discovered that a company down the street from us could provide us with some promotional products, including some very cool clear glass coffee mugs with our logo engraved on them. When I went to place the order, they showed me the machine that would be used. It was of course a laser etcher and I had never seen one before. That year was around 1995 ... and I wanted one of those machines from the first time I ever saw it. They were, and still are expensive for the commercial versions and I could never really justify the expense ... but move forward 20 years and technology has changed and now there are "hobby" or "home" versions of laser engravers that are affordable for non-commercial use, and the one that I am using was provided by www.banggood.com
I received the engraver in large cardboard box, well packaged in plastic packing and all in pieces, which is what I expected. Because of such a large international customer base there are NO instructions in the box, you go to their website to watch the video for assembly and how to download and use the software that drives the etcher. Think it took me ...
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