Too poor for DIY

Latest Articles

Too poor for DIY
Page Previous 1, 2

Downsizer Forum Index -> Make Your Own/DIY

Author

Message

Lorrainelovesplants

Joined: 13 Oct 2006
Posts: 6521
Location: Dordogne

Posted: Thu Apr 26, 12 6:37 am Post subject:

The point is,apart from bragging about my brilliant boy (who is a nice lad actually) is that there are a lot of skilled people out there who love to help others. We were lucky finding a group of retired or semi retired guys who were organised and keen to share.
This club now has free premisesfor as long as they need them, paying only for leccy at a farm where the boy also is a member of the club.
Its such a cool group now, that not only woodturning is taking place, but the youngsters also help each other out at school (the oldest boy is 16)with homework or projects or stuff and they are looking at doing car maintenance over the summer

.

I think if you can find someone who has perhaps retired as a cabinetmaker who would be willing to mentor you, you'd do well. Or offer your services occassionally for free in exchange for some tuition or advice.

I wish you the best of luck - I think its a great idea.

Rusticwood

Joined: 01 Dec 2009
Posts: 2155
Location: All over the South West

Posted: Thu Apr 26, 12 7:08 am Post subject:
As said above, you just need a few hand tools to start;- Crosscut and rip saw Dovetail saw set of chisel Plane ( No 4 smoothing and possibly block ) Try square Mortice marking Guage Adjustable bevel You don't have to spend a fortune on these but don't get the cheapest

Jb

Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 7761
Location: 91ï¿½ N

Posted: Thu Apr 26, 12 9:17 am Post subject:

Well I have most of those but could probably do with better saws. I'd also like a fixed try square, I've got one of the adjustable combination squares but because it's adjustable I never trust it to be square. I looked in my local tool store for a proper one and found everything they had was a steel blade in a plastic handle and I really wouldn't trust that to stay square for very long.

There are a few hand power tools I use as well but it's the same argument about is it square. A router is great for making grooves and channels and I know a table router would be much more accurate and usable but that's a couple of hundred quid that I can't really justify. A drill is great for drilling but a pillar drill is even better for drilling holes that are straight, that's another hundred pounds. I know I can do without them it's just the assumption that seems to exist that if you're going to do woodwork then of course you have two grands worth of reciprocating widget turners and vertically mounted arse scratchers in your workshop.

What I should get, I suspect, that I don't have already are a decent set of saws and an accurate mitre saw (not a power one). What I can see a use for but really couldn't afford would be a thicknesser / planer. If I want to start with, for example a piece of cherrywood / maple / whatever then before I start I want to get that stock to be true and, for a box side, thin. With "proper" kit I could just run it through one of those pieces of kit and know that after a few passes all the warps and bows have been taken out and it is now pretty much guaranteed to be 6 mill thick and square on all corners. Without that the question is how do I thickness and true stock by hand or where can I buy trued hardwoods in small quantites. My local merchants either sell cheap constructional timber (used plenty of that in the past and to build an outhouse it's perfectly adequate) or hardwoods in such quantities that I'm not their customer.

Rusticwood

Joined: 01 Dec 2009
Posts: 2155
Location: All over the South West

Posted: Thu Apr 26, 12 9:46 am Post subject:

Try square
Mitre saw
For getting wood level by hand check it with a Try square mark high areas with a pencil and plane off the pencil marks,
check again and repeat as needed. The length can be checked with a long straight rule or similar ( spirit level etc )
(Practice this on some scrap wood a few times to get the hang of it)
As was said above see if anyone local to you does woodwork and get to
know them

or see if there is a club locally Some turners also have other power tools besides lathes

Its all adictive

They would be able to give ideas of wood suppliers in the area

Jb

Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 7761
Location: 91ï¿½ N

Posted: Thu Apr 26, 12 9:53 am Post subject:
Coincidentally I'd just been looking at those. The reviews on the try squares suggest they're not even close to square and while there are no reviews for that mitre saw there are for the next one up they do which suggest it has exactly the same problem.

Rusticwood

Joined: 01 Dec 2009
Posts: 2155
Location: All over the South West

Posted: Thu Apr 26, 12 9:59 am Post subject:
They are the entry level, they also do more expensive ones

boisdevie1

Joined: 11 Aug 2006
Posts: 3897
Location: Lancaster

Posted: Thu Apr 26, 12 10:41 am Post subject:

JB wrote:

I know a table router would be much more accurate and usable but that's a couple of hundred quid that I can't really justify.

Not if you make one yourself.

JB wrote:

A drill is great for drilling but a pillar drill is even better for drilling holes that are straight, that's another hundred pounds.

You can buy holders to take a bog ordinary drill that converts it into a pillar drill and they're not expensive.

JB wrote:

Without that the question is how do I thickness and true stock by hand or where can I buy trued hardwoods in small quantites.

You don't bother. You veneer onto MDF

Jb

Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 7761
Location: 91ï¿½ N

Posted: Thu Apr 26, 12 10:53 am Post subject:

MDF is the work of the devil!

I've tried some things with MDF in the past and while initially it looked OK I've found that it ended up being incredible unstable. Far too prone to absorbing moisture and warping horrendously. I'm willing to try it again, particularly as a trial piece, but in the long run I like the idea of the pieces being made from real wood, ply for the bases perhaps because that would be more stable.

I can also see problems with the veneer approach when it comes to the edges of fine work, either you see the end grain (insofar as it has one) of the MDF or the veneer runs in the wrong direction, both give away the fact that the piece is in some way fake. Also my experience of veneer in the past was that it can be prone to damage which shows up the fact that it's cheap MDF underneath.

It has its place but I'm not convinced that's a long term solution for what I want.

Nick

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford

Posted: Thu Apr 26, 12 12:52 pm Post subject:
Make friends with a local woodworking business. I know a window maker and I've been offered the use of his thicknesser and planer, to do what you need. My advice would be to go to the pub and strike up conversations with people until you find such a person. Move pubs and repeat until successful.

Rich.h

Joined: 26 Jun 2011
Posts: 29

Posted: Sat Apr 28, 12 6:54 pm Post subject:
If you get hold of some good carpentry books from pre 80's many will show you how to make a mitre block yourself using a square. Not only will you save yourself the price of a good quality square doing this, but you also end up with a piece of kit that will probably outlast any plastic you can buy, and learn some very valuble basic joinery skills to boot.

madcat

Joined: 24 May 2008
Posts: 1265
Location: worcester

Posted: Sun Apr 29, 12 10:01 am Post subject:
with regard to wood theresa lot of old furniture about that has real wood in it as well as weetabix,keep an eye on skips and suchlike and see what your neighbours are getting rid of.

Nick

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford

Posted: Sun Apr 29, 12 11:15 am Post subject:

madcat wrote:

with regard to wood theresa lot of old furniture about that has real wood in it as well as weetabix,keep an eye on skips and suchlike and see what your neighbours are getting rid of.

This is a great point. Whoever Theresa is.

Jb

Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 7761
Location: 91ï¿½ N

Posted: Sun Apr 29, 12 1:35 pm Post subject:

For some woods, e.g. stuff covered by CITES it's pretty much the only source now. e.g. I read a classical guitar and luthier forum (for the classical music bit I'm not a luthier) and there they have ongoing discussions about alternatives for some woods, particularly brazilian rosewood which is not only available from old stock, reclaimed materials or the stumps of trees that have already been felled.

Jb

Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 7761
Location: 91ï¿½ N

Posted: Sun Apr 29, 12 8:55 pm Post subject:
On the other hand maybe power tools are cheaper. I just had a look for some good saws at some of the stores I know; toolman https://www.axminster.co.uk/lie-nielsen-lie-nielsen-crosscut-panel-saw-prod811239/

vickersdc

Joined: 07 May 2006
Posts: 247
Location: Surrey / Hampshire Border.

Posted: Mon May 28, 12 9:33 am Post subject:

Hi JB... where are you located? I only ask as I'm very lucky to have a pretty well stocked workshop (well half of the garage!) and if you happen to be close to the Surrey / Hampshire border could probably help you out with some tools to use.

I have to say that I love my planer / thicknesser - it means that I can buy sawn timber (not planed), resaw it to what I need and then plane / thickness it as required. For me, it's possibly one of the best investments I ever made!

	Downsizer Forum Index -> Make Your Own/DIY	All times are GMT Page Previous 1, 2
Page 2 of 2

View Latest Posts