Matthew Simmons

Nice! I may have to pick up a bottle. I think I've finally gotten the wings figured out, and can see why others have skipped them: 1/16" material: I don't have a thickness sander, and doing it on the planer seems like a recipe for explodey bits, so I did it on the table saw. I made 2" x 6" pieces of walnut and cherry. I won't describe how, because honestly I'm surprised I still have fingers after all that. Cutting the wings part 1: My first attempt was to scroll cut the entire wing, but that's just madness. The blade is waay too aggressive on 1/16" material, and the wings are too small. So the first pass was cutting out finger-shaped wing pieces (imagine the nail is the wing). The only line I worried about was the lower edge of the wing (the part that that doesn't align with the bird's back). And even then I cut wide and used the strip sander to finish it up. Cutting out whole-finger-sized (or at least up to the 2nd knuckle) pieces let me keep control of the work. Cutting the wings part 2: With the lower edge correct, and no more need for a giant handle I cut the finger way back. I cut a straight line for easy control, maybe a quarter of an inch away from the highest part of the top edge of the wing. Note that during all this the pattern is still attached to the wing pieces. Attaching the wings: I glued the wing to the body, using the pattern to help with alignment. The wing piece sticks up above the bird's back. Cutting the wings part 3: I put bird+wing in the vice, and used a Dremel + sanding drum to bring the top of the wing down flush with the bird's back. Remove the wing pattern. Final touch up. Steps 5 and 6 can be swapped so you don't have bits of paper flying off when you sand. I don't have pictures yet because I'm still between steps 6 and 7, waiting for the mineral spirits to dry.

Charlie, could you explain a bit how you added color? I assume it's paint vs some sort of stain? Please use small words, as if explaining to a small child who's only ever used spray lacquer.

Nice job! Nobody loves the wings on those birds (from the pattern). Working on the same project, also inspired by @dgman's post, but I'm going to do the wings even if it kills me.

The solution to this is not to regret the bandsaw, but to see in it the opportunity to get another bandsaw. I picked up a Laguna for resawing and other large work, but kept my dinky Craftsman with the shallow blade for small stuff.

It's a really nice shop, but there seems to be a fatal flaw... How do you get drinks out of that fridge?

I mean... if you're going to stir the pot I'm going to stir it right back.

I gave those some serious thought, but the original arches were meant for candles, so I aimed for lighting in the spirit of that. That meant individual LEDs in candle-like places and with candle-flame-like plastic hats on the LEDs. It turns out that the people who sell the tea light LEDs have figured out how to source flickering LEDs that are brighter than anything I've been able to buy individually. And I've tried! So my current "best" way to get flickering LEDs is to buy a 12-count of tea lights (the ones without remote control) and rip them apart. I keep the LED, the flame-shaped hat, and the battery (because who doesn't need more 2032s), and toss the rest. The waste makes me sad, but the dimness of the flickering LEDs I can buy by themselves makes me sadder.

'Tis true. I didn't think about it until much later. It would be interesting to see numbers on what's cheaper for my use case -- keeping the entire slab at 45-50ish degrees or running the heat pump a bit harder those weeks when I do need it to make up for loss through the slab. And of course the heated slab would be of zero use the other half of the year where the heat pump's job is to keep the temperature below 80-85.

I also built a new shop -- mine in downstate NY. Well insulated, has a heat pump, but also has an exposed concrete floor (which I'm assuming acts like a heat vacuum). I've had various expensive disagreements with the heat pump over keeping the shop at a minimum temperature. I want 40-45, Fujitsu claims to have a minimum temp setting of 50, but if I don't perform the ritual sacrifices just right I end up with 60. In practice it's insulated well enough (spray foam) that it won't go below freezing except on really really cold days. That happens maybe once or twice a year. For that week or two I leave the heat pump at 60, but leave it off the rest of the year. I go to all that effort for basically the reason you gave -- I don't want to have to haul finishes and glues back and forth.

Here's a screenshot from a Volker Arnold pattern book. Note the scalloping (right word?) on the roof. This pattern book was released in 2018, which I think was before engraving lasers became as accessible as they are today. Any idea how they made the roof pattern without a laser? I will admit to a bias against laser cutters/engravers. I enjoy the scroll saw cutting process, and get annoyed at the thought that someone will look at the result and think it's like five minutes of lasering and then some assembly/finishing. Basically the part I like becomes trivial, and the part I'm not terribly fond of becomes the focus. I know, I know, it shouldn't matter what other people think, and yet. Perhaps I'm the only one who feels this way? Matt

The cutting proved to me (as if I needed more proof) that I need to refine my technique on sharp corners. Even with a #1 UR I'll chip off a little bit of the top ply far more often than I'd like. I *think* this means I'm pushing the work into the blade such that the blade rubs against (and lifts off) the top ply on the part I want to keep. The lights were .. thrilling. I started by thinking I wanted to put the LEDs in sockets, so I spent a bunch of time trying to drill the perfect angled holes, then mounting the sockets... Eventually I gave up and soldered them in. Future me isn't going to enjoy swapping them out, but I've never liked that guy anyway.

Thanks! This was my first try at something anywhere near this elaborate (and my first lit thing). I learned (hopefully) a bunch about tight corners and free-form wiring. The original plans are old enough to call for incandescent lighting, and are in German which I assume means 240V! Which, in an application like this, I don't even...

It took approximately 300 years, but I made my first candle arch. So. Much. Trial. And. Error. Debated painting vs spray lacquer up until the very end. Finally laziness won out, and they got the lacquer. I'm pretty sure the base is cherry. More photos Pattern: Regu https://www.ebay.ca/itm/262775400771

Ultra reverse?

As I understand it you can't buy 95% Everclear in California either.