Turning Cigar Pens

I bought ten Woodcraft #147158 cigar pen kits to make for Christmas presents. I have completed seven and have three to go. Each pen is from a different type of wood so the pens take on a very different look even though they are all the same shape.

I had one failure due to attaching the pen pieces in the wrong order. The first six successful pens are pictured at the left. The woods from left to right are walnut, yellowheart, purpleheart, koa, rosewood, and sugi.

The kits appear to be quality pieces with a gold finish. The instructions leave a little to be desired. Woodcraft encloses generic instructions for pen turning and then a sheet specifically for the cigar pen with instructions for mounting the bushings on the mandrel and then for assembling the various components. Some specific diagrams would be helpful since some of the generic diagrams are confusing.

I'll finish the last three pens and then return to bowl turning. My inventory of bowl blanks has mushroomed with the addition of the recent cherry green wood.

British firm repairs my mistakes

I took my three skews and one Sorby Spindlemaster to a sharpening class at Woodcraft. Sharpening is, admittedly, something I knew nothing about. And it seems that as I try to learn how to sharpen, I am discovering that I was making all kinds of mistakes.

I had these three skews but had never learned to properly sharpen or use them. After learning how to set up the skew attachment for the Wolverine Sharpening System, I was able to get a good edge on all three. We also spent some time in using the skews. So I think I can safely use and sharpen the skews in my shop.

The Sorby Spindlemaster was a different story. I had used the tool successfully and tried to sharpen it. Unfortunately, it is a tool that is not to be ground, but honed only. I essentially was taking away all the good attributes of the tool by what I did. The sharpening class instructor said, "The best thing to do is see if Sorby will repair it."

So, I found the email address for Sorby, a British company, and sent them an inquiry yesterday - a Sunday afternoon. Later that same day I received an email from "Clive" at Sorby offering to repair my tool. They said, "We are happy to re-hone your Spindlemaster free of charge as a service to you. All we ask is you cover the cost of shipping both ways.
If you can package it very securely with the cutting edge well guarded and ship to our address and for the attention of Lindsey Reynolds."

Robert Sorby
Athol road
Sheffield
England
S8 0PA

What a nice gesture on their part.

So my class was a success: I learned to sharpen skews, I had a lessen in their use, I learned to not grind on a Spindlemaster, and I learned there is a charitable maker of quality lathe tools. Not a bad learning experience.

Tic-tac-toe and Last Man Games

One of my older, half done projects was a group of games and puzzles. I had made several "Cube in a cube" puzzles from American Woodworker magazine, September 2007. They were completed and ready to be given as gifts.

I also had several items from Rockler to make "Tic-tac-toe" and "Last Man" games using marbles. I had templates to guide a drill bit to drill the depressions for the marbles for each game as well as templates to add the lines.

As I used the drill bit I felt the depressions became less clean. By the time I got to making two Last Man games on pieces of cherry, the depressions were really looking sloppy. I was disappointed in the quality of the bit.

Instead of using a pencil to mark the lines for Tic-tac-toe using the Rockler template, I routed a small groove in the wood, painted it black, and sanded the edges for a clean line. The three Tic-tac-toe boards that I did in walnut looked the best of all the games.

I would have to say I was generally disappointed with the Rockler projects. The appearance of the finished project truly depends upon the quality of the depressions made by the Rockler bit and, in this project, those depressions went from just OK to poor. At a cost of $20 for the bit and $32.00 for the drilling and drawing templates, it is a real disappointment.

Wine Bottle Stoppers

I took a class on making wine bottle stoppers this last fall at the Cleveland Woodcraft store. Of course, Woodcraft sells the kits to make the stoppers.
The kits include the mandrel to hold the wood for turning, a drill bit to create the hole to attach the wood to the bottom, and four of the metal lower sections, and the plastic washers to seal the bottle. The metal stoppers offer the advantage that they will not pick up the taste or odor from other wines. You furnish the wood and turn it to whatever shape to become the top, decorative part of the stopper.
The class was helpful with several hints to improve the chances of successfully turning the decorative wood top. The kit is set up for you to drill a hole in the wood, thread the wood onto the mandrel and then turn the wood. Once done, unscrew the turned top from the mandrel and thread onto the metal post of the stopper bottom.
The class suggested drilling the wood blank to accept a 1/4"x20 threaded, brass insert and using CA glue to assure the bond between the insert and wood. This eliminates the chance that a "catch" while turning would strip the threads in the wood and make it difficult to finish turning or to attach the top to the threaded lower section. That suggestion alone was worth the trip to Cleveland and the cost of the class.
I was disappointed, however, when I left the class to buy the kit. They were out of the kits. I actually ended up buying the kit in Columbus when I was visiting there a week or so later.
I have had mixed outcomes mostly because I used some push-in brass inserts instead of the threaded inserts. The deal I got on the push-ins was totally wiped out by the wasted wood when the inserts broke loose and spun in the wood (but refused to dislodge completed!). The stopper on the left is cherry while the one on the left is bubinga. This is one of my 2007 "Unfinished Projects." One down, a lengthy list to go.
Our only problem with the wine bottle stoppers is that we almost always finish a bottle once it is opened - so why do we need one of these stoppers?

My first experience with milk paint

I just assembled a graduated set of Shaker boxes that were made of maple instead of my usual cherry wood. My intent was to try painting them to have a finish that looked old, faded, and distressed. So I was drawn to milk paint. I wanted to apply this as an exterior finish but keep the interior of the boxes unfinished to prevent any odor contamination with the future contents.

The paint I chose came from Woodcraft and is made by The Old Fashioned Milk Paint Co. in Groton, MA. Real milk paint comes as a powder and the size package that I bought makes a pint of liquid paint. It's like no other paint I have ever used. I don't know if I mixed it incorrectly but it was thick, dried almost too quickly to be easily spread, and had a grainy, rough texture. I believe the texture is part of the allure of milk paint. It was supposed to dry and be ready for a second coat in one hour!

And it truly was dry and workable at the end of an hour. As I sanded to prepare for a second coat, I decided that I did not even need the second coat. I had a dusty, "Lexington Green" coat with plenty of "wear and tear" marks from the sanding. It really had been an easy application to this point.

The directions that come with the paint suggest that protecting the milk paint is not necessary but would add some protection to the finish. I decided to use tung oil. The first coat of tung oil reduced the dusty look of the finish but it heightened the intensity of the color. Again, one coat seemed to be enough.

All in all, a very easy experience and I got the type of look that I wanted to try. If you're into the distressed, antique look, this would be an excellent choice. The paint gives the boxes a utilitarian look. Although I'm glad I tried this type of finish, I still like the look of the clear finish on cherry for the Shaker boxes.

I will use these boxes as the containers for other Christmas presents for my wife.

Auxiliary Jaw Liners for a Wilson Bench Vice

I had installed a Wilson bench vise on a workbench about a year ago. It works beautifully - glides easily in and out to adjust the gross positions of the jaws. The outer jaw adjusts for odd-angled pieces, and the vise is sturdy when tightened down.
The only drawback was that the tightened cast iron jaws would imprint into wood and their surface was too slippery to hold some smaller items. I tried adding baltic birch jaw liners from an idea I had seen in an older wood working magazine.
The liners have 1/2" grooves routed vertically and laterally which help in holding odd-shaped items. The wood liners are less likely to imprint on any wood clamped in the vise and the surface of the unfinished plywood helps hold slippery items. I added two 3/4" rare earth magnets to the back of each liner to help hold it in place on the jaw face. So far I like the addition to the vise.

Rockler in Columbus = Wood Werks

I had to go to Columbus for an errand and decided to stop at Rockler. Well, it wasn't where it used to be and wasn't anywhere close to the same store! The old store had closed and been incorporated into another woodworking supply store, WoodWerks Supply Inc., 1181 Claycraft Road, Columbus (614-575-2400). Since my errand was at the Columbus airport it was an easy drive around to the east side of the airport.
What a difference! The old Rockler store was crowded and carried only a smattering of larger items such as power tools and lumber. The new store has the most extensive display of wood working tools that I have encountered. Accessories and add-ons are displayed near the power equipment to facilitate finding what you need. They displayed Jet, Delta, Powermatic, and several other brands.
In a separate room was a large supply of wood. Common types, poplar, cherry, and walnut were available in packs of 100 to 500 board feet. Many more varieties were available in single boards in several thicknesses. There was an extensive selection of exotic woods for turning as well as a lot of basswood for carving.
Finally, in another room with a Rockler banner over the door, were the typical small items for which Rockler is sometimes the only source. Pen supplies, small box hardware, drawer glides, hinges, and router bits were nicely displayed. This section had a much neater appearance than most corporate Rockler stores. The overall store should match about any need a woodworker could have. On a later visit I will try to be compare prices for wood and equipment with other northeast Ohio vendors.
This was a nice way to turn an errand into a new discovery.

Tool Review: Milescraft SignCrafter

I bought the Milescraft SignCrafter at Keim Lumber and waited until this week to assemble and test it. I immediately discovered that one nut in the end assemblies was missing. This allowed the aluminum bars to flex enough that, no matter how tightly the clamps were set, the bars flexed and allowed letters to drop out of the channels and ruin the work. I called the factory (the most negative comment about this product really relates to the lousy phone system at Milescraft when calling for a replacement part. Better to write them at P O Box 737, 270 N State Street, Hampshire IL 60140).

Once I received the missing part I was able to place letters in the aluminum bars and they stayed rigid throughout the routing process. The instructions are complete enough to assemble the unit and to set up the router. There could have been more instructions or suggestions relating to using the unit and adjusting it to different work needs.

My first project was routing initials onto the end panels of beer carriers. The carriers are only 10" wide while the shortest aluminum bars are 18" long. As the picture above shows, I needed to use filler strips on each side in order to fill in the width difference. I completed a placement jig by installing a filler strip above the unit so that the letters were centered right-left and top-bottom. The picture shows the initials "SS" for routing. You have to use other letters to fill in the space on the aluminum bars. A little bit of forethought and practice are essential.

The number of pieces that come with this kit creates a need for extra storage. You get two sets of large and two sets of small letters and numbers, two bushings, a router bit, a centering tool, bar extensions, four aluminum bars, a router base, and two end units. I moved all the smaller items to a small plastic tool box. The top section houses all the smaller items and the bottom section houses all the letters and numbers. I put in a couple hardboard dividers to help keep the letters and numbers in order. Hopefully, this organization will make it easier to keep track of parts and find the letters I need. I still use the original packing box for the aluminum bars, router base plate, and the two end units.

I have no experience with any similar product so I cannot compare the SignCrafter to any other system. It seems as though the product is well-made and performs simple letter/number routing quite adequately. At a little under $40 it becomes a rather expensive investment for just one project. I hope to find other uses for it.

One hint I found on the Amazon.com web page for this item suggested blackening in the letters to create a starker contrast with the wood. I tried this and liked the results. It added to the clarity of the letters and also covered up the router bit burns in the cherry wood.

A really thorough tool review is available at OnLine Tool Reviews.com. It is full of pictures which help in the learning process.