tomsteve

the top ring is 8" and they stand about 3 1/2" high. im thinkin on the next one to enlarge the pattern a bit.

the drill speed comes into play,too. not the feed speed but the rpm of the drill.i run about 1800rpm's for drilling 1/4" and smaller with brad points and speed up to about 2500 for twist drills.

i use medium CA glue. a dab on every other contact point around the perimeter

they seem to be pretty stable to me.

finally got around to getting these done yesterday. first time doing these type of bowls and they arent too bad to do. 2 from 1/4" BB ply and 1 from 1/4" solid red oak. the pics may show how 1/4" BB ply isnt always 1/4" and NOW i see i had a little burning!LOLOLOL

this does wonders for figured woods. my favorite is figured/curly/flame maple and this really gives it depth. a little more depth achieved by using an analine die prior to the BLO, then wet sanding with 600 grit with the BLO, then topcoat.

i always sand the wood before cutting with 220. after cutting it doesnt take much sanding with 220 to get rid of any little fuzzies. ive never sanded edges after cutting. the blades leave a smooth surface. there have been times ive had to stop and restart a cut and a little edge is left. in those situations i used the blade still in the saw to file/sand/cut that part smooth. as for staining, when i do decide to stain a piece i dont use the prestain conditioner. i find it a waste of money. first things first,though- i use oil based stains so my pre stain conditioner is mineral spirits. ill lay the piece on a cookie sheet and either spray or pour some MS on the piece. let it soak in for about 30 seconds to a minute, then take out ,set on rags.paper towel, and blow it off. then set it in a pan and use a brush and brush the stain on the piece. it usually ends up with all interior cuts filled to the top with stain. then take it out, set it on rags or paper towel, wipe down and blow out, then let it dry. i have a board with a couple nails in it i usually hang the piece on to dry. for the most part,though, i only used boiled linseed oil. no conditioning required but i use the same method as i do for stain.

you should notice a difference with the FD blades. i can get pretty tight turned with the 1's and 3's.

is the upper arm parallel with the table?

is it in yer shop yet?? those saws were about a grand out of the box. as kevin mentioned, that table doesnt look used much. id say take 650,pull out 600 and see if he'll take that but plan on 650.

personally i say john and only because when he was asked what he thought about ringo being one of the greatest drummers in the beatles, john replied," ringo isnt even one of the greatest drummers in the beatles." as for which pattern is the best- all of them.

i found the pattern on etsy. https://www.etsy.com/shop/AlexFoxUA?ref=l2-shopheader-name he has some pretty awesome patterns. good news this morning: i didnt knock anything off the walls when i woke up- YAY ME!!!

closer up pic.

got em done! these are pretty sweet and should make nice christmas presents. and gave myself a repair job- knocked this off the wall today. must wake up before trying stairs.

or massive wildfires. im ready for about 4" of ice to get out fishin!

i found alex fox patterns on etsy . pretty awesome pattern makers. found these layered bells and thought of a couple people that may like em for christmas. soooo- there i go! making them with 1/8" BB ply, i THOUGHT:' i want to make 3 of these. 4 layers=12 pieces. lets see if i can stack all 12. cut the bottom layer,remove 3, cut the next, and so on." that worked for about 1 1/2" of cut.apparently no blades i have care for 1 1/2" of 1/8" ply to cut. that only about 36 ply! pulled 3 off the bottom so only 9 layers of 1/8". made it to where the last set of 3 and isnt cut and conceded that 9 is too much for me. todays project- get them last 3 cut then do something i very,very rarely do with scrollsaw work- paint. all in all, these are some pretty nice patterns and easy to cut-just not in 36 ply.

i havent had a problem using ca after stain. not sure about an oil finish,though

ray, something i suggest ya do is use some ca on some scrap pieces and see what ya think. i have pieces glued with ca that have taken a fall. the joint didnt fail but the piece still broke. heres a good explainaition of the differences in the titebond glues https://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/articles/differences-between-titebond-glues/

ray, ive been using bob smith ca for years now and have yet to use an accelerator. ive read they work great at speeding up the acceleration time but i find patience works good,too. basically,one side is sprayed with the accelator and the ca is applied to the other ive read its possible to make a DIY accelerator,too.however i think it would be wise to keep glue and accelator brands from the same company. oh- and if you have an rc car,plane,boat,etc type hobby shop, you can probably find them there.

hhhhmmm....welp,kev, i think id suggest a wooden wood. personally i think id use maple- add some contrast

only you can say whether youre too picky or not. as for the uneven sheen, that could be the finish soaking in to different areas a bit. ive had that happen and just needed a few more coats. when im sanding i dont bother sanding between coats. just spray the next coat when the last coat is tacky. let that dry,sand with 400-600 just enough to denib, then topcoat. one other thing- on something like that i spray with it laying flat. one other thing: satin finishes do wonders. they can hide little defects in the finish. gloss amplifies them.

absolutely! i have never heard anyone say something like: 'i shoulda built my shop smaller" or "i should have insulated less" or "i should have got a smaller heater" or "i should have bought less lumber" or ......... although an ex girlfriend once said,"do you need all that lumber?" which contributed to the 'ex' part.

lookin good! and progress is awesome! glad you've kept at it.

i noticed that when i go above 4 at a time the blades dont seem to last as long- they dull out quicker. could just be me,though trying to be super fast super sawer.

in my opinion, and from experience with my type 2, changing brands is a good thing here. santa brought me an EX 16 4 years ago. dc induction motor- cant be beat.although i dont think excalibur is the name of the saws any more( i think its king,seyco, and/or some other name), it it well worth the extra money. its been a workhorse. had a problem recently with the VS control and the thumbscrew finally stripped out, but thats a wear part i would expect to wear out eventually. its still been worth the money. some day im gonna use the tilting head and do some compound cutting.