laminate oops

[alamocdc]

In spite of our best efforts we sometimes foul up. This pen is one of those situations. I had a few small pieces (3/4" - 1" square) of walnut, mahogony and birch left over from various woodworking projects so I decided to cut them up for laminations. Not wanting to waste much wood I decided to use my BS. Besides, cutting stock this small on a big TS can be very hazardous, even when using a sled. I even have a high dollar thin kerf blade, but with stock this small I wouldn't be left with much. The problem with BSs is that you sometimes get a little more drift than you expect. I used my BS sled with the stop block in place and the blade still drifted on me and I had the blade tension set almost at resaw point. The problem is that I didn't notice any of this until I got the blanks turned. They all glued up dead square. You can see what I mean by looking at the joints at circles labeled "A". You can also see that the blanks are square toward the nib side of "A" and return to square at or before the circles labeled "B".

The distortion on each laminate can't be more than 1/32", but it certainly shows up after turning. Such is life. We can't all afford INCRA jigs and fences, but I'd sure like to be able to. In the mean time it's try, try again.

 

[JimGo]

Looks pretty good to me Billy! I see what you mean, but only once you point it out.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Nothing said, I believe most observers would figure that is what you intended. Interesting effect.

 

[wdcav1952]

Hell, I wish I could be as accurate as what you consider errors!! Now I am depressed. []

 

[Tom McMillan]

Overall---I'm impressed---that's a nice looking pen!!![]

 

[ctEaglesc]

I gave up using a bandsaw for accurate cut because of reasons like this.
I now use the tablesaw with a dedicated sled, 7&1/4 thin kerf blade.
The accuracy gained plus the time saved not having to sand each cut is well worth it.

 

[hobby_dale]

Well I couldn't have seen it, unless you pointed it out to me. There is a saying that the devil [}] is in the details. Okay, so if it is, let's just not look and we won't find it...[] I think the pen looks great and those little things (and I mean little) don't distract from it. Heck, for all they know you intended to make it that way! []

 

[bigvoots44]

have you tried a cheap jig saw (scroll ).they are used for some real fancy intarsia, one of the may give you the accuracy you need.

 

[ctEaglesc]

Another thing you might try is to cut, drill and mill the scraps and "stack" them on the tube.This would insure a more"Parallel" segment.
You may have to hold the pieces with forceps for milling or glue to a waste block.
There are always ways around everything, or settle with the "design feature" explanation.
I have used both.

 

[alamocdc]

I never thought about using my scroll saw. I have one, just never thought about it. Thanks for the input![] I'll give it a try next time I need to use up some small scraps.

 

[jwoodwright]

I like it. []

 

[esheffield]

Interesting! A little "busy" for my taste, but I really appreciate the craftsmanship in it! As for the laminations, I've done a few accent rings and center bands using the cut/drill/mill technique described by eagle and it works great.

Not sure about using the scroll saw. Haven't done a lot of scrolling, but for me I've always had better luck cutting intricate curves than straight lines. []

 

[atvrules1]

Billy, what glaringly obvious mistakes, those are awful. You better send that pen to me.[}][] Actually that is one neat pen, I love the different woods together. I know how frustrating that BS drift can be, especially when you are working on a very small piece, but I still think that is one very nice looking pen. Thanks for showing us.