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Hey guys, uh... I'm trying to figure out what kind of wood I should use for a project because I don't really know what I'm doing... I'm want to make this thing:  It's four-legged base that converts to a caster wheel-y thing when you step on the lever (and when you release the lever, the wheels go up and it goes back to being a "normal" table/stool).  The end-goal is for me to put this thing on top:  ...so I can have an easier time moving it around, yet have it stable on the ground when I'm not trying to move it. I'm estimating that it's around 75 lbs when it's loaded up with all the stuff you see in the pic. Redwood and cherry were popular choices, but maybe it's better to use douglas fir? This is an ambitious beginner project so I feel like using nice wood would be kind of a waste. Douglas fir might be boring, but it's cheap, strong, and I'll probably paint the thing black anyway. Also I'm trying to do this all with a Japanese pull saw and a set of chisels in case that's important...
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Mar 22, 2023 20:21
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If you're just going to paint it, use the cheapest wood available.
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Mar 22, 2023 20:28
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Oh ok. That's simple. Thanks 👍
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Mar 22, 2023 20:38
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If I was trying to do that project with just hand tools. I would go to my local hardwood shop and ask them to rip poplar to required heights and widths.You could probably get out of there for less than $50 especially since you probably dig thought scrap pile since you don’t need anything very long. If you had access to table saw and some clamps you probably make the whole thing out a half sheet of plywood by gluing strips together like a Cosman Workbench.
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Mar 22, 2023 20:51
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yeah that looks like pine 2x4 and 4x4 territory to me! Also they make casters that do what you're doing, individual levers on each one though but it might save you a lot of time effort and money to just buy four of them: https://www.google.com/search?q=lifting+heavy+duty+casters
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Mar 22, 2023 20:52
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Douglas fir kind of sucks to work by hand, so if you can get spruce/pine/fir (often sold as ‘whitewood’) that may make your life easier
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Mar 22, 2023 21:47
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Calidus posted:If I was trying to do that project with just hand tools. I would go to my local hardwood shop and ask them to rip poplar to required heights and widths.You could probably get out of there for less than $50 especially since you probably dig thought scrap pile since you don’t need anything very long. Oh, huh, you made me realize that I was assuming that getting one big piece of wood would be cheaper than multiple smaller ones. I'm gonna go check the scrap pile. Leperflesh posted:yeah that looks like pine 2x4 and 4x4 territory to me! I thought about locking casters but I wanted the cool thing where they all lock/unlock from a single foot pedal. They'll be back on the table as an option when I start building this thing and it goes horrendously wrong though. Kaiser Schnitzel posted:Douglas fir kind of sucks to work by hand, so if you can get spruce/pine/fir (often sold as ‘whitewood’) that may make your life easier Aw sheeit, that's good to know. Thanks!
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Mar 22, 2023 22:00
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Cory Parsnipson posted:Oh, huh, you made me realize that I was assuming that getting one big piece of wood would be cheaper than multiple smaller ones. I'm gonna go check the scrap pile. Generally you can turn scrappy little lovely trees into a few 2x4s but large hunks of solid wood have to come from elderly, huge, proud, straight and true behemoths. For this reason small bits of wood can be cheaper than big bits of wood. The opposite can be true when you are talking about the retail markup on pen blanks or similar where there's so many cuts and so much waste involved that it's cheaper to cut down a larger piece than to buy lots of perfectly sized small ones. Maybe. But yeah you can't get much cheaper than the trashy 2x or 1x pile at the big box store.
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Mar 22, 2023 23:57
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Cory Parsnipson posted:Hey guys, uh... I'm trying to figure out what kind of wood I should use for a project because I don't really know what I'm doing... I see a couple potential problems with your design. The connection points where the dowel hooks to the lever are going to break or split if you use solid wood. Also, having the lever angled near the dowel seems like unnecessary extra work and a potential weak spot. Also, I don't see how it would lock into place with the wheels down. It looks to me like the wheels near the dowel would just close it right back up and drop the frame on the ground as soon as you take your foot off the dowel. If you are seriously interested in getting into woodworking, I guarantee you will learn a lot from making this project. If you just want a stand to hold your 3D printer, it would be worth analyzing the time/cost investment of building it from scratch vs. buying something that already does exactly what you need. https://www.homedepot.com/p/DEWALT-Mobile-Thickness-Planer-Stand-DW7350/203164088
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Mar 23, 2023 01:52
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Skunkduster posted:If you just want a stand to hold your 3D printer, it would be worth analyzing the time/cost investment of building it from scratch vs. buying something that already does exactly what you need. Do not attempt to reason with a man who made his own game console.
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Mar 23, 2023 02:17
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Slugworth posted:https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3947328&pagenumber=1&perpage=40 Where there's a will, there's a way.
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Mar 23, 2023 03:08
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Skunkduster posted:I see a couple potential problems with your design. The connection points where the dowel hooks to the lever are going to break or split if you use solid wood. Also, having the lever angled near the dowel seems like unnecessary extra work and a potential weak spot. Also, I don't see how it would lock into place with the wheels down. It looks to me like the wheels near the dowel would just close it right back up and drop the frame on the ground as soon as you take your foot off the dowel. If you are seriously interested in getting into woodworking, I guarantee you will learn a lot from making this project. If you just want a stand to hold your 3D printer, it would be worth analyzing the time/cost investment of building it from scratch vs. buying something that already does exactly what you need. lmfao this owns. let him build the complicated end table
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Mar 23, 2023 03:13
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Skunkduster posted:I see a couple potential problems with your design. The connection points where the dowel hooks to the lever are going to break or split if you use solid wood. Also, having the lever angled near the dowel seems like unnecessary extra work and a potential weak spot. Also, I don't see how it would lock into place with the wheels down. It looks to me like the wheels near the dowel would just close it right back up and drop the frame on the ground as soon as you take your foot off the dowel. If you are seriously interested in getting into woodworking, I guarantee you will learn a lot from making this project. If you just want a stand to hold your 3D printer, it would be worth analyzing the time/cost investment of building it from scratch vs. buying something that already does exactly what you need. I see, thanks for the tips. The lever is something I went back and forth on a lot and I just don't have enough experience to come up with something satisfactory. I think I need to experiment by building and then iterate until it works. Maybe I should just replace it with a 2x4... The angle was indeed unnecessary. I put it in because I want to keep the vertical height small, but yeah, it's a lot of extra work. The locking mechanism wasn't decided yet. Someone suggested a gate latch, but I couldn't fit it into the available space and orientation. Currently, I've decided to buy an airline seatbelt extender and screw it to the frame:   Slugworth posted:https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3947328&pagenumber=1&perpage=40 Ha! You're making it sound like some sort of legit thing instead of a high-school level electronics project. Slugworth left out the part where it doesn't turn on sometimes and it's the size of a toaster. But thanks, dude, I'm blown away at how much you believe in me. You rock!  Skunkduster posted:Where there's a will, there's a way. PokeJoe posted:lmfao this owns. let him build the complicated end table Overcomplicated and impractical is my middle name  Ok so, I don't want to clog up the thread, but I'll say that it looks like whitewood or softwood is my best bet. I will probably screw up a lot so having something cheap and easy to cut will help. I'll post back in here with pictures of this train wreck if I can manage to bash two pieces of wood together. Thanks for all the input!
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Mar 23, 2023 08:56
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Also the entirety of the downforce is on the 3 screws holding the hinge in the back. 75lbs is a decent amount of weight to be hinging up on those screws, I'd be surprised if those didn't loosen pretty quickly.
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Mar 23, 2023 16:24
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Cory Parsnipson posted:Overcomplicated and impractical is my middle name Might be worth taking a look at how they handle the locking wheel on that dewalt stand for some inspiration. It is a pretty simple idea and would be much easier to build. I may be able to get you some pictures and video of how it works - it depends on how things go at Home Depot this afternoon. I purchased that stand as a set with a planer and the planer showed up damaged, and I'm going through a bit of a hassle with them to get it exchanged or a refurnd, so I don't even know if that stand will be in my possession after today.
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Mar 23, 2023 18:40
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SouthShoreSamurai posted:Also the entirety of the downforce is on the 3 screws holding the hinge in the back. 75lbs is a decent amount of weight to be hinging up on those screws, I'd be surprised if those didn't loosen pretty quickly. Early on I was considering using nuts and bolts with washers to hold the back hinges in place. Do you think those would hold? Skunkduster posted:Might be worth taking a look at how they handle the locking wheel on that dewalt stand for some inspiration. It is a pretty simple idea and would be much easier to build. I may be able to get you some pictures and video of how it works - it depends on how things go at Home Depot this afternoon. I purchased that stand as a set with a planer and the planer showed up damaged, and I'm going through a bit of a hassle with them to get it exchanged or a refurnd, so I don't even know if that stand will be in my possession after today. It's hard to tell how it looks without a video. Looks like you step on the caster pedal and then wheel it around at a slight angle like a hand truck? I'm not sure how much I like that design...  vvv Ooooooooh 
Cory Parsnipson fucked around with this message at 02:00 on Mar 24, 2023 |
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Mar 23, 2023 19:36
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Cory Parsnipson posted:Early on I was considering using nuts and bolts with washers to hold the back hinges in place. Do you think those would hold? Here is a video showing a lot better detail. Keep in mind that while she does have the self leveling feet installed (rewind a minute or so before the timestamp to see that), they look like they are raised all the way up to the frame and haven't actually been adjusted to level the base. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Hl1B6SO1eQ&t=244s If you really want to over-engineer it, you could use the same method that 3D printers use to raise the Z-Axis gantry, but instead of raising the gantry, they would lower either the feet or the casters. You'd probably need a gear reducer or a strong motor to generate enough torque to lift the whole weight of the table+printer+stone block. Skunkduster fucked around with this message at 00:42 on Mar 24, 2023 |
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Mar 24, 2023 00:38
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@sockington all my dividers, I think I have another compass somewhere my wife's friend just gave us these old rapidograph set:  That little doohicky in the top right, turns out it's for use with special dividers/compasses that have a removable threaded leg, you can thread that thig on and then the clamp holds one of the pens!
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Mar 24, 2023 01:32
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Think I'm just too fussy for lathe work. Also are you supposed to sharpen the chisels every five minutes or just let them be dull or what, this sucks  
A Wizard of Goatse fucked around with this message at 03:56 on Mar 24, 2023 |
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Mar 24, 2023 03:47
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banging out some mortises by hand, jammed the chisel in a bit too hard, didn't realize as I yanked it out that the bolster has slightly separated proceeded to whack it while gripping in the small gap. gently caress
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Mar 24, 2023 06:30
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A Wizard of Goatse posted:Think I'm just too fussy for lathe work. Also are you supposed to sharpen the chisels every five minutes or just let them be dull or what, this sucks Yes, you sharpen constantly. Most turners keep a bench grinder right next to the lathe. I'll sharpen, get my rough turning done, sharpen again, make a finishing pass. What species of wood is that? Is it dry? Dry seasoned wood is much more difficult to turn and harder on your tools. Try to practice on green wood to get a feel for techniques and then start on dry stuff. Firewood is a great source of green hardwoods.
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Mar 24, 2023 11:45
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All the firewood I bought has been dried for 1-2 years after splitting so make sure you get fresh cut then.
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Mar 24, 2023 11:56
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A Wizard of Goatse posted:Think I'm just too fussy for lathe work. Also are you supposed to sharpen the chisels every five minutes or just let them be dull or what, this sucks
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Mar 24, 2023 13:27
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Oak is just miserable to work with using hand tools in general ime, I've never had it not split and I've never had that problem with any other species. Unfortunately everyone around me is obsessed with arts and crafts movement stuff which is all quartersawn white oak all the time. And this thing cause I picked up a log from the sidewalk to try the lathe out on and didn't look too hard at what it was first
A Wizard of Goatse fucked around with this message at 16:03 on Mar 24, 2023 |
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Mar 24, 2023 15:51
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I can't stand the sickly sweet smell of oak. It's expensive and not fun to work, and honestly, not very visually interesting either most of the time, so I only really use it for carving signs etc. that go outside.
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Mar 24, 2023 17:39
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Where do you people live that oak isn't trash wood?? Here in the Mid-Atlantic (red) oak is dirt cheap and works great with hand tools. White oak is very fashionable now and costs as much as walnut. If you can find it fresh cherry is beautiful turning wood. Like shaving a carrot.
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Mar 24, 2023 17:43
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I'm in California and we have like fifty species of oak and very few are used commercially. But I've worked with some coastal live oak pieces and... yes, they require patience and very sharp tools and a tolerance for throwing away a busted workpiece and starting over. But, the results can also be super nice, I love the way smooth polished flecked oak looks, no stain just the natural wood. It's lovely and hard and long-lasting. But start with something forgiving and cheap like poplar, even if that means spending money instead of using salvaged stuff. I mean in general, I'm not sure what's the best wood for turning since I've never turned.
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Mar 24, 2023 17:55
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European oak, at least as far as general furniture oak goes, which is mostly Quercus robur (European/English oak), or sometimes Quercus petrea (sessile oak) (because they're virtually indistinguishable and both in the white oak supergroup), is not cheap. Only temperate species that are more expensive are local Euro walnut (J. regia), and imported American walnut (J. nigra).
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Mar 24, 2023 18:08
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NomNomNom posted:Where do you people live that oak isn't trash wood?? Here in the Mid-Atlantic (red) oak is dirt cheap and works great with hand tools. White oak is very fashionable now and costs as much as walnut. At my latitude we got mainly pine, fir, arctic birch, aspen. Oak doesn't grow this far north. It's very exclusive. Hardier specimens can be planted and do survive here. But they haven't been able to reproduce on their own- Because of climate change I've seen wild oak saplings grow here in the last few years however so we might have oak forests in a century. There's also a planted ash forest (1930s) somewhere where I live that's isolated from the rest of the ash trees of the world. I think it might be one of the few places without the ash borer. But commercially, all oak has to be brought here from the south. E: Finland, latitude 63°5'45 His Divine Shadow fucked around with this message at 18:13 on Mar 24, 2023 |
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Mar 24, 2023 18:10
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NomNomNom posted:Where do you people live that oak isn't trash wood?? Here in the Mid-Atlantic (red) oak is dirt cheap and works great with hand tools. White oak is very fashionable now and costs as much as walnut. also mid-atlantic and lmao white oak is not rare at all, I just hate working with it. It's still considered 'fancy' furniture wood despite looking like poo poo and working like poo poo because I guess it's traditional or something, IDK the market on hardwoods seems totally arbitrary to me. Tell you what though I'll trade you, two lbf of white oak for every foot of walnut you've got lying around A Wizard of Goatse fucked around with this message at 18:29 on Mar 24, 2023 |
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Mar 24, 2023 18:24
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I've got a few really nice stain recipes I have come to love on oak, and tight grain red oak looks real similar to white oak under those recipes. I actually quite like oak-it's always seemed like a very honest wood to me. It's just as strong as it looks with none of that shimmer fancy grain to play tricks on you. I like hand planing it and usually do leave a tooled surface with oak rather than sanded because I think it looks better and the growth rings don't seem to catch stain as much. Dyes are really important imo to getting a nice finish on oak as pigment stain really collects in the super coarse grain of the growth rings and gives it that real grainy look that alot of people don't like in oak. And yeah, red oak here is $2.50/bf for 8/4 vs $6/bf for 8/4 white oak.
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Mar 24, 2023 18:28
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Oak is expensive in the northern prairies. We have burr oak which is a dense, hard, brittle closed pore oak. It's hard to work but it looks nice, even if it doesn't grow very large
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Mar 24, 2023 18:44
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Where my dad lives, white oak is cheap enough that he bought a bunch of rough-sawn stuff from the Amish to plane down and cut into slats and paint to rebuild some outdoor park benches.
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Mar 24, 2023 18:46
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NomNomNom posted:Where do you people live that oak isn't trash wood?? Iceland. 2" white oak is over 100$ a square meter.
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Mar 25, 2023 10:12
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I come to y'all with yet another stupid newbie question. I'm making an apron rack for my pantry and coat rack for my closet.   The above is the general idea but Im adding more layers to match the width of the space. The idea is I run a 5/16 dowel down all the parts and that will act as a hinge for the hanger bits (maple) to pivot on. The darker blocks are pretty much just walnut bricks, 2" thick in the direction the dowel would go. For both the maple and the walnut portions I've made sure my cuts are square as hell. For drilling the holes, I've set up a fence that datum A is held against and a dowel that datum B slides into. I also made sure with a machinist's square that my drill bit is square to the bed. However, when I drilled the walnut with a jobber length 5/16 (no pilot) regular multi use drill bit, the hole seems to have wondered off perpendicular. Im at a loss here. If I were drilling metal, I would have center drilled, pre drilled with a smaller bit and worked up to a 5/16. Woods soft as hell, I figured I could just go for it. How do I drill a good hole in wood? As an aside, I'm debating buying some drill rod to just be sure the runout and perpendicularity of my chuck is dead nuts on.
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Mar 25, 2023 18:45
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Sadi posted:I come to y'all with yet another stupid newbie question. I'm making an apron rack for my pantry and coat rack for my closet. Are you clamping your workpiece to the drill press bed? Is the bed nice and tight to the press? Do your press bearings have any play? Did you plow the hole through in one go or did you drill a little and back out repeatedly? Is your bit sharp? Like really sharp? Is it a standard jobber or a split point? Brad point? Drill bits can absolutely wander in wood just like in metal, sometimes more because wood isn't a homogeneous material. Pilot holes aren't a bad idea here. Even if you had dead nuts perfect drilling in all of the parts, it'll never be perfect. Its hard to tell but it looks like you didn't leave much clearance between any of the parts, so any tiny off-angle in the dowel holes will bind up the whole thing. You should redesign it slightly to leave some clearance on the sides of the rotating parts. Even just sticking washers over the dowel and in between each piece of wood would likely be enough. Also using a slightly undersized dowel or oversized hole would help.
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Mar 25, 2023 19:05
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Woodworking in general is not a discipline where you can just say "I'm going to measure and cut/drill everything super precisely, and that way it'll all fit together perfectly". I mean, there are people who do that, but they're in the distinct minority. Usually what you do instead is come up with designs that don't require perfection, and then sand/cut off the slop, or hide it with trim. For your design here, what I'd probably go for is a short dowel segment for each hinge, instead of a single dowel running the entire length of the piece. That way, much less of the piece needs to be aligned. I'd also oversize the dowel hole for the moving parts, because wood changes dimensions depending on ambient humidity, so if it's too tight, then at some times of the year, the piece may bind and not be movable. stealth edit: what you could do is make a stack of 3 pieces: the movable piece and the two on either side. Tape them together (or use a dab of superglue), then drill through the entire stack, all the way through. You'll get a hole that's guaranteed to line up later. Then repeat for however many hooks you want to have. Disassemble the stacks, install a rod for each stack, then glue the stacks together to make the complete assembly.
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Mar 25, 2023 19:18
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Thanks for the thoughts and ideas. It did make me go inspect my old 40s famco and sure enough there is some play in the quill. I haven’t looked at it closely in years. I’ll tune that up and look into ways of drilling with out a continuous bore.
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Mar 25, 2023 19:33
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Sadi posted:Thanks for the thoughts and ideas. It did make me go inspect my old 40s famco and sure enough there is some play in the quill. I haven’t looked at it closely in years. I’ll tune that up and look into ways of drilling with out a continuous bore.
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Mar 25, 2023 20:25
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Any recommendations on a decent brad point set? I either keep seeing them with terrible reviews or a crazy price I can't even consider.
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Mar 25, 2023 20:39
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