What's In The Newsletter?

• Presidents Report
• Slab Flattening With A Router
• Chris Haycox Work Shop
• Incredible Longest Band Saw Manufacturing Process
• Guild Projects

Presidents Report ...

 Our guild is beginning to come out of hibernation.  We went through a period at the beginning of the pandemic when we did not meet at all, then started meeting virtually, and this past year we started offering both an in-person and virtual option for our members.  In fact, our January meeting had over 25 people attend in person.  The meeting dealt with safety and was well received by everyone.  Our plans for meetings this year will be very interesting for woodworkers of all skill levels.  We meet every 4th Monday starting at 7:00pm and end no later than 9:00pm.  If you have never thought about attending one of our meetings, I am inviting you to come and see what we are all about.  

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Fran Foster

President TWWWG

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Slab Flatting With A Router

I recently had to have a red oak tree taken down in our back yard because it was rotting out at the top.  As the tree came down there was this slab of wood at the base of the tree that was exposed before the stump grinder made history of the last remaining part of the tree.  When I saw the beautiful color of the wood in the slab I rescued it from the pulverizing machine.  The slab was about 8" thick and somewhere around 45” in diameter and weighed a ton!  It was cut with a chain saw and had about 10 or 15 degree slope.  I wanted to flatten it out to make a table top for a future project. 

Slab After First Pass With Router

I have seen router flatting jigs available as a manufactured product and also plans to build the jig out of wood in your shop.  After watching a You Tube video from Infinity Tools on the construction of such a jig I jumped at the challenge.  You can view this video by clicking on this link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmUloHQjvOw

The jig plans were modified to fit my slab size and I was able to get all of the pieces out of one sheet of ¾” MDF board.  I used some brown packing paper on one side of the sled to reduce the amount of saw dust being spewed into the air.  I also mounted a piece of UHMW plastic to the base of the plunge router to make it slide easily in the sled.  The router bit was purchased from Woodcraft and it is called a CNC spoilboard surfacing bit.  It can cut a swath up to 2” in diameter but I never pushed the router to that limit. Because of the sled thickness (3/4”) and the ¼” piece of UHMW I had to use a collet bit extender. 

 Slab Cutting Jig & Plunge Router With UHMW Plate And Spoilboard Router Bit

Slab Flatting Jig In Operation

Did the flattening jig work like the video?  YES

Did the router bit do a good of flattening the slab?  YES

Was the process fast?  NO

Did it make a big sawdust mess in my shop? YES.  It took days to clean up the saw dust mess.

Would I try this process again for a future project?  Probably

Interestingly enough, at press time I received an e-mail from Chris Zuchristian doing the exact same thing with his router and his jig.  I will feature his jig and process in the March newsletter.

Gary Stephens

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Chris Haycox Workshop

 Chris’s shop is a 20' x 28' free standing garage that he and his father in law built in his backyard 30 years ago. No AC, heated by a ceiling mounted electric heater from Northern tool and a couple of electric oil filled space heaters. All of his finishing is done by hand with the occasional rattle can of shellac or lacquer. 

Chris has an affinity for old machinery. When he began woodworking, he inherited a 1948 Delta 24" scroll saw and a 1948 Delta 10" tilt top table saw with 6" jointer combo unit that his grandfather purchased new from The Henry Walke Co. Over the years, he has searched the old Tidewater Trading Post and now Craigslist for old machinery. 

 A View Inside Of Chris’s Shop

 At present, his shop consists of a 1992 Delta UNISAW and a Delta 43-355 wood shaper that he purchased new from The Henry Walke Co.  He has two Delta 24” scroll saws,  a 1948 Delta 24" scroll saw, another Delta 24" scroll saw vintage 1935 that he purchased solely for the retirement lamp.

 1935 Delta Scroll Saw With Retirement Lamp

1948 Delta Scroll Saw from the Henry Walke Company in Norfolk, VA.  Note the lack of OSHA safety requirements back then!

Delta 12 Speed Lathe & Mortiser (left), Delta Unisaw (right)

Chris also has a 1948 Delta 12-speed wood lathe that was from the Franklin City Schools (purchased from Harry Waters of Blue Ridge Hardwoods), a 1949 Wysong & Miles model 321 hollow chisel mortiser that was from the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard (also purchased from Harry Waters), a 1990 Delta 14" bandsaw and a 1990 Delta drill press purchased from John Perkins (one of the owners of Henry Walke), a 1964 Delta-Rockwell 37-315 eight inch jointer and a Makita LS1019 sliding compound miter saw. The dust collection is a Penn State cyclone that he purchased from H&H Engraving when they upgraded their system and a Jet air filtration system that he purchased from Woodcraft.

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Incredible Longest Band Saw Blade Manufacturing Process

 I get my live TV via a streaming service on You Tube.  Last week as I was moving through all of the You Tube menus to get to live streaming I stumbled across a You Tube video of two men standing on the INSIDE of this giant band saw blade.  I never knew there were such big blades so I thought I would pass along the link on You Tube to view how these giant band saw blades are made.  When you click on the link, pause before running the video to see how big this band saw blade was.

Huge Band Saw Blades

Interesting enough I discovered that these band saw blades are made by Olson Saw Technology right here in York, PA.  The photo at the top of this article was taken from their web page.  I encourage you to look at the video and the technology used in the production of these massive saw blades.

Editor

Guild Projects

 Our first projects come from Chris Haycox who has really been busy in his shop.

African Mahogany inlayed end tables made from a single 8/4 x 15" x 10ft board.

The finish is 1 to 1 cut of orange shellac with General Finishes satin clear gel varnish.

Memorial flag box for my cousin Michael's flag. Mahogany from my Great Great Uncle Charlie's shop. Engraving by H&H Engraving.  You can see the engraving detail in this Mahogany flag case on the right.

Memorial flag box for a friend's brother in laws flag. Curly Cherry. Engraving by H&H Engraving (right)

Different looks at Mahogany, birds eye maple and curly maple Seymour Style Ladies Tambour Secretaries with shop made inlay bandings. Used my grandfather's measured drawings he made in the 1950's. The finish is 1 to 1 cut of orange shellac with General Finishes satin clear gel varnish.

Close up of the leg showing stringing and shop made banding on one of the secretaries (left).  Exploded view of walnut and maple checkerboard banding (right).

Complete banding pack (mahogany and maple) with one banding strip sliced off.

Our next project comes from Karl Bogot

First completed project of the new year, 22-1. This is a complete rebuild of the sign that has stood in front of our home for more than 25 years. This time, I think I built it better, using dowels and screws into pressure treated lumber, sealed, painted with three coats and over sprayed with a clear sealant. There are sixteen separate hanging plaques, that we change for holidays or seasons. This one is for Valentine's Day (doh!), although the snowflake might be hanging outside on the old sign, in honor of this morning's 19F temperature. Natalie did the painting, supervised by Grandma.