GET INLAID

That was the name of a film my brother had to watch in shop class when he was a youngster.  He is no longer a youngster; there are actual people in this world that call him "Dad," and it STILL blows my mind.  Anyway, he reminded me of that film when I told him that I’d gotten a band saw.  This band saw, as a matter of fact.  It is small, but I work on a small scale; it’s not like I’m trying to mill my own wood here, but resawing and cutting to size would be nice.  The circular saw is overkill for the latter task.

Truth is that although I’ve had the saw for 2 weeks, it’s still in the box.  I am afraid of what all goes into setting one up and getting it to play nice.  But in today’s mail, I got a flyer from Woodcraft, and wouldn’t you know it, but they have a beginning "Band Saw Techniques" class Thursday, January 3rd.  4 hours of orientation, which I can then supplement with my manual and my books as needed, for $75.  It’s worth it to me; I’d like to have the greatest chance of success, and competent use of tools is the top way to assure that, I’m thinking.  Plus, I’ve kind of grown used to having fingers, and would like to keep mine.  So I’ll put the saw together this weekend, and then next Thursday take a couple hours off work to head across town and take the class. I imagine I’ll be the only woman there; it wouldn’t be the first time.  I have it on good authority that chicks who use power tools are sexy.

This is the completed ornament, MOP in ebony, with an additional pendant that is symbolic.  I made the ornament in memory of Antiguo, who I think would be proud to know I’m using tools on wood, even as he would wince at how poorly I do so.  But it was a project of love, if not skill, and I know he’d appreciate that.

Click the photo for the enlarged version. 

I used black epoxy instead of CA glue this time, and that worked out really well for me, if you ignore the toxic stench of the stuff.  Just one tiny air bubble I found at the end, at the very edge of the cavity, and it was small enough that it could pass for grain, so I let it be, rather than risk doing this project a third time.  I really wanted to have this on the tree before Christmas. I see the errors in sawing that somehow were less apparent before it was all done.  But overall, I am pleased to have executed it as I wished to.

This is the first project I had my new LED lights for my OptiVisor, and the loupe.  We are Borg.  You will be assimilated.

The loupe is going back.  It was useless, unless my face was 3 mm from the work piece.  I haven’t decided if the lights are any good yet.  They aren’t much help when routing, but they did seem to help when I was sawing.  I’ll have to try them awhile longer while sawing on my dog project; if I still don’t love them, they’ll go back with the loupe and I’ll try one of their other options.  Got both at MicroMark.

I spent about 45 minutes out in the shop yesterday afternoon, sawed all 4 pieces anew, plus the oval ebony piece that will be the ground.  The pieces came out better than the first time, so that’s a plus, AND I only broke a single blade, on the 3rd letter, and by then it was already dull.  That, my friends, is sawing progress.  The pieces are glued to the ebony so I can scribe them today, and maybe I’ll rout the cavity, but then it will sit until the epoxy arrives.

I feel better having the pieces cut again; not so far behind. 

So I took time off from the dog design to work on a memorial ornament for Antiguo.  A simple design, just his monogram and an infinity symbol in MOP inlaid into ebony, which would later have a hole drilled into it to attach this pendant I bought at Etsy.com.  And it was going so well, too.  I didn’t break pieces while sawing them.  The cavity was fine.   But I continue to have a problem with the CA glue, and man, am I tired of it.  The air bubbles which I’d accepted as a part of the process are no longer acceptable.  Why?  Because I spent a week picking them out, adding more glue, waiting, and then resanding, only to find that other bubbles appear.  This went on day after day, and there’s really no reason I should be spending a week sanding a 2" project.

It got really bad Thursday night, when I realized that I’d sanded right through half the infinity symbol, and that my previously unmarred monogram letters now had the tiniest fractures in them, telling me I was about to go through them, too. 

That’s a full millimeter of shell, just gone, and STILL there were 2 air bubbles to be fixed and resanded.  I was so pissed.  I don’t know if it’s temperature thing, or what.  I let the piece cure vibrating on the air blower to try to shake loose any bubbles that form immediately, and it helps, but it is obviously not enough.  So now I have to start all over, but it won’t be with CA glue this time.  I’ve ordered epoxy, black and clear, from Stew-Mac, and will try that.  It’ll be a new challenge, but frankly, I’m sick of the old challenge.  Grit Laskin uses epoxy, as I recall.  The ‘C’ could’ve used some clean-up anyway, I see now, so perhaps it’s for the best, but at this rate, I don’t know if I’ll have this Christmas ornament on my Christmas tree before the holiday.

In other news, my new band saw from MicroMark arrived.  I’m a little scared to take it out of the box, and I haven’t really had time.  Plus, I may be moving my shop from the garage to a yet-to-be-built shed out back.   I need more light, a more inspirational view than a blank brick wall, I’m subject to the passing stares of everyone who walks by, and the room is too hard to effect reasonable climate control.  Plus, I keep bumping my rolling chair into my car.  The shed’s the only thing on my Christmas list, so I just need to get on ordering it.