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gtriever

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Apr 23, 2017
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1,135
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Paducah, Kentucky
While searching the Woodturningz site this evening I came across some little gold-plated bookmark kits. Looks like an interesting way to use some of those blank cutoffs that find their way into a big box in the shop. Do these sell, or do they just take up space in your inventory?
 
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1080Wayne

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Feb 5, 2006
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Brownfield, Alberta, Canada.
You are making a small thin disk , 18mm (0.7 in) diameter is what Berea`s website suggests (I prefer 20 mm , although that requires a larger chamfer on the underside to allow it to seat ) , with a thickness of 30-50 thou at the center , tapering to 5-10 at the edge . That usually requires stabilized or CA hardened wood especially if cross grain , or plastic . It also doesn`t allow much room for error when using typical pen blank cutoffs .


There are 3 ways that I know of to make them . The first is to use a 3 or 4 jaw chuck to hold a square or round or irregular full size blank , turn to the desired diameter , shape the end as you wish , sand the end , part off the disc , and repeat . Some parts will end up in your scrap bin . Overall conversion efficiency depends on your skill , size of parting tool , tool sharpness , and luck .



The second way is to take your small pieces , cut them about 0.1 inch thick with a thin kerf saw , sand one side a bit , attach it to a face plate with 2 sided tape , and carefully turn it down to size . The tape does not hold well if it gets too hot , and thin wood does not have a lot of heat holding capacity . Both turning and sanding can generate quite a bit of heat .



The third way is to take a small piece as above , attach it with 2 sided tape to a dop stick of the desired finished diameter , shape the piece on a face grinder (watch the heat) , then finish sand by hand with the piece still on the stick .



Wouldn`t bother with the tiny little chisel . Regular tools , but SHARP .
 

1080Wayne

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Joined
Feb 5, 2006
Messages
3,340
Location
Brownfield, Alberta, Canada.
Thanks for the tips - now a silly question : do you have better results with CA or Epoxy for gluing these to the hardware?


Don`t really like CA for that unless it is very thick (like molasses) , but then have to use accelerator and if any squeezes out it can be hard to remove . Don`t like 5 minute epoxy any more because the manufacturers know they will sell more of it when they only sell it in a dual tube squeeze package , which is guaranteed to leak in any drawer you store it in , causing you to throw out something you didn`t want to . Plus , it has some colour , and squeeze out isn`t easily removable .



Therefore , My last resort is clear Dow Corning RTV sealant , but I`m sure any clear silicone would work . It bonds well to wood . I do rough the gluing surface of the bookmark with a diamond burr to get some mechanical bond . Any squeeze out is fairly easily removed with a sharp pointed knife . Just make sure the disc is still centered a few minutes after setting it in place , because it can walk a bit due to the elastic nature of the silicone .
 
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