Alignment?

[Russknan]

This morning I spent a few minutes again looking at the PITH LeviBlue made for 76winger and the "disposable" and keeper Dave made for Kevin. Looked like "Exchange of the Titans" to me! Anyway, there have been several people whose work has encouraged me to dabble in the world of aluminum pins and longitudinal segmenting. So yesterday I grabbed an African Blackwood blank, cut it to size for an ultra cigar, lined things up as carefully as I could, and drilled a couple 1/4" holes straight through the cap blank so I could insert some pieces of 1/4" aluminum rod. When I got done, I discovered that the two holes were not exactly in line with the axis of the blank. Does anybody have a trick for hitting exactly dead center? Guess the same would go for wanting to have parallel strips of aluminum equidistant from the center axis. TIA. Russ

 

[plantman]

This morning I spent a few minutes again looking at the PITH LeviBlue made for 76winger and the "disposable" and keeper Dave made for Kevin. Looked like "Exchange of the Titans" to me! Anyway, there have been several people whose work has encouraged me to dabble in the world of aluminum pins and longitudinal segmenting. So yesterday I grabbed an African Blackwood blank, cut it to size for an ultra cigar, lined things up as carefully as I could, and drilled a couple 1/4" holes straight through the cap blank so I could insert some pieces of 1/4" aluminum rod. When I got done, I discovered that the two holes were not exactly in line with the axis of the blank. Does anybody have a trick for hitting exactly dead center? Guess the same would go for wanting to have parallel strips of aluminum equidistant from the center axis. TIA. Russ

On what machine did you drill the holes ? Your blank must be held dead center and tight when you drill. Alignment, alighment, alignment !!! Even then, the drill may follow the grain of the wood. Start to drill your hole with the smallest drill bit you have, and work your way up. Jim S

 

[Russknan]

Well, there IS a back story. Don't want to mention WHO decided to take a scrap piece of oak moulding in the shape of a "U", place the blank in the recess up against one edge of the U so it couldn't turn, eyeball the bullet bit to hit one of the dents I had put in with an awl, and let 'er rip. Went fine until I started to back the bit out of the wood and it yanked the wood up above the lip. The resultant "propellor blade" nicked the top of my thumb, cutting a shallow arc across it. Wasn't too hard to control the bleeding after washing it, but my pride and sense of self-stupidity is still in a sling. Good lesson, with only a small loss of hide. Finished drilling by using my Rockler pen blank drilling jig securely clamped to my Shopsmith in drill press configuration, and finished drilling without incident. But still, my remaining problem was with layout of the holes. I'm thinking that some kind of dowel layout jig and a tight-fitting prick punch of some sort might help, but am not sure whether that would be small enough for the length of an individual pen blank. And, as to the longitudinal problem with strips of aluminum, I figure that, in a 3 segment pen, getting the sides as parallel as possible and making two rip cuts would produce the center section pretty easily. But when it comes time to rip the outside strips and have them be the same size, that might be a little harder. Or would making sure to drill the tube holes EXACTLY in the center take care of that? Sorry for what may be some low-level questions to more experienced folks here. Russ

 

[jttheclockman]

Russ, sorry about your injury. I mentioned being very careful when I started this forum and segmentation. It is imperative to use jigs and clamps and anything else to keep fingers from spinning blades of any kind.

I will be as brief as I can in my explanation. First let me say the use of the jig I shown, to me has been as full proof as I can make it. But with that said without making the jig and using my method I will try to explain a few things you may want to try.

The segmentation of lenghtwise pieces is done by slicing the blank on a tablesaw or bandsaw and inserting any materials as you se fit such as aluminum strips, veneers, or pickguards. Now the only way to insert the tube is to be able to drill dead center of the segmented blank. If off center the design will vary thus throwing off the look. A good pen vise will help if all is set up properly in that the bit is parallel to the blank exactly. the blank is held perfectly 90 degrees to the bit and your drill press drills perfect holes.


Now for drilling dots or holes for inlays. Again a jig is needed to hold the blank perfectly still and 90 degrees to the bit. Usually some sort of Vee block is made with a method to clamp the blank on both ends. This Vee block is now placed against a fence on the drill press so that the bit enters dead center of the blank. Now if multiple holes are needed along the blank all you have to do is slide the jig up or down the fence. Of course the layout is now dependant on your use of a ruler or layout marks. You should be able to clamp the jig down also to keep from moving when bit enters. There are many ways of doing this. Yes grain can take and veer the bit off so this is why you do not drill all the way through the blank even though you want the same layout on the opposite side. You can have one hole veered off or maybe a couple. It is better to drill each hole seperately. Here again when drilling for the tube, you must be dead center of your blank. Insert the tube before inserting any dots or inlays. This will keep you from having to drill through these materials when drilling for the tube which could cause a blowup of the blank especially if the bit getrs a catch on an aluminum piece.

Good luck and look forward to seeing what you come up with.

I highly suggest thinking about my jig for doing this kind of work though.

 

[Leviblue]

Russ,
Sorry about your injury. This is supposed to be fun safe stuff working around power tools that spin sharp objects at the speed of sound.
I drill blanks that I need to be as close to center as possible on the lathe. I use spigot jaws to hold the blank for the most supported length as possible. Set the lathe at the lowest drilling speed to keep the heat down. Otherwise it can break the glue joint, but it doesn't go any where while in the jaws DAMHIKT.
It helps to have the blank as close to square as well, but there are a few tricks that can be had to make it work if it's off a little.
For the pins on the side of the blank, I used jewelry aluminum that's used for bracelets or whatever found at AC Moores. This is softer than what the big box sells but is still firm enough for accents.
I went through several blanks before even getting close to the finished one. The table saw was throwing all kinds of stuff at me. There's a reason I don't use it much, especially for close work to my fingers. I really need to make shop jigs this winter.
Any way let me know if I can help.

Kevin

 

[Russknan]

Thanks to all for the great suggestions. You definitely have me thinking differently about jigs and techniques. And it's clear that you've saved me from what would certainly have been other "learning opportunities" such as trying to drill through aluminum when drilling the center hole. Professionally, I'm basically a "word guy" and not particularly great at "thinking outside the box". So, for example, it would never have occurred to me to drill from each side of the blank in order to keep insertions lined up. I'm thinking of making up an oak jig based on a piece of pegboard (for registration purposes), into which I could place a peg for spacing of holes, and using my Shopsmith in horizontal boring mode to do the drilling for insertions. Putting those features in AFTER drilling the hole for the blank makes great sense. John, I really like your jig design - and particularly the results! - but I don't have indexing capabilities on my machine. Maybe after I buy a dedicated lathe.

As to safety, this was an aberration for me. Fortunately, prior to this, the only accidents I've had in my shop over the years have involved losing a tiny bit of hide, compliments of a light touch from the sanding disc. But I agree with the quote that, "Life is hard. It's even harder when you're stupid." I plan to do more with the table saw function on my Shopsmith in the near future. What has helped encourage that was my successful Christmas "hinting" for a jig called the GRR-Ripper push block system. Looks like a way to rip small pieces and keep all your fingers.

Thanks again for being so kind as to share your techniques, guys! Russ

 

[jttheclockman]

Russ

Good luck. This is what I wanted to see in this forum. I want to see people discussing segmenting and their methods and asking questions about doing these typ things. There are so many possibilities and designs when it comes to segmenting. I want to be pushed myself and would love to see something new come through here so that I can give it a try also. I have a few blanks that I need to get done in the near future to maybe stimulate some more conversation and give more examples of what can be done very simply and the use of a wood lathe.

Just be careful everyone and have some fun.