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oscarl48
05-20-2014, 08:37 PM
Very new to CW so still feeling my way out on what and how I can use it. My wife asked me to do a chest for my step daughter so I thought a nice cedar chest would go nicely in her room. She is really into beach stuff so I thought to add a few decorative carvings on the lid. Realize now after the fact I should have scaled up the carvings a lot further. The wife loved it and I hope the child appreciates it later. This was not fine woodworking. I used screws and slapped it together in about 8 hours but still really like how it came out. I love to apply the poly and see what Santa brought me in the color of the grain. Solid cedar construction through out.

By the way...thanks to all the artists that provided the carvings in the pattern trade section. Still figuring how to do good patterns but will reciprocate.

Capt Bruce
05-20-2014, 08:48 PM
That's a nicely made chest and I'm sure she will love it. Well done

fwharris
05-20-2014, 09:36 PM
Real nice work for a first furniture job. Cedar always looks great for projects. I am sure she will be very please to have a home made chest.

Chip
05-20-2014, 09:45 PM
Beautiful work. I'm afraid furniture building is not in my blood. Gave up trying years ago.

Mikewiz
05-21-2014, 05:16 AM
Very nice work, doesn't look slapped together at all.

Canemaker
05-21-2014, 04:49 PM
If you put this together in 8 hours, you should see some of my work. Even after 8 hours I'm still in the cutting phase. It looks great
and you should be very proud of your work, I know she will love it.

oscarl48
06-03-2014, 03:30 PM
Starting to get a better feel for the machine. Was more comfortable in using some of my good wood. Small chest made out of purple heart lumber. Top and sides are carved flowers and legs have carved rosettes. Copper nails for decoration. Thank you to the carvewright family for the rosette pattern. I love working with padauk, purple heart and black walnut. I was worried it would have problems with carving into the purple heart but absolutely no issues. The flowers are 2d photos post processed with Corel photopaint and imported to carvewright designer. Very pleased with the outcome. When you don't have a plan and just start cutting, you always get a surprise present in the end. I had an idea in my head when I started and this is nothing like it. lol.

My next surprise present to myself is a mantel clock in purple heart with carvings for the top and sides. Still haven't made the designs but it will be different. I am thinking steam punk.

SharonB
06-04-2014, 12:13 AM
Very nice box. Steam Punk for a clock.... that should be quite different. Look forward to seeing what you come up with.

dbemus
06-04-2014, 03:54 PM
Both projects you have posted are outstanding. You are clearly a gifted person. Looking forward to seeing the finished clock.

oscarl48
06-21-2014, 09:08 PM
Just a quick update on my steam punk clock project. Ordered the mechanical clock mechanism and chime rods and when they arrived realized I forgot to order the hands for it. That and a lot of work have slowed down my hobby productivity. :) But I dedicated all of today to carving all the pieces I wanted and very pleased with the results. I messed up on the circular cut since I didn't use a sled and rushed it. I will have to figure out how to do cuts correctly in the future. Had a small scare as i kept getting clear board sensor error after two cuts. After a detail cleaning and messing with it noticed some of the connections had come loose. Pushed the connectors back in and back to cutting. I will start assembling tomorrow. I don't have the very cool rotary tool but I have a 4 ft lathe so will be turning the front posts tomorrow morning. My hope is to have it half completed by tomorrow (main wood construction portion). I will still have some bling to add to it. I want to add some leather highlights. I bought several packages of brass and copper tacks for interest. I am looking forward to see the final clock. It is always a surprise when I finish a piece. I usually start with a rough plan and improvise when things invariably go south. You never know what will come out but it also usually comes out cool. Only occasionally do I create extra fire wood.

A big thanks to whoever built the chaos symbol I got from the forum repository. It will take the center piece of the clock.

Chip, hope you get back into furniture building. It has provided a lot of interesting opportunities for me to grow and to expand my tool selection. I only own a piece or two I have built but my kids, family and friends have pieces that will remind them of me hopefully long after I am gone. Though I am keeping this one. They can get it after I am gone. :D

I'll post the finished piece when complete. Happy sawdust making.

SteveNelson46
06-21-2014, 09:48 PM
The wood looks like Purple Heart. It produces a great finished product but, very difficult to work with. Hard on the tools also.

oscarl48
06-21-2014, 11:59 PM
You have a good eye. It is purple heart. And you are so right about it being hard on the tools. Its also really brittle so you need shallow cuts which for some reason I always forget. My favorite is padouk but purple heart is my next favorite. Both are really tough on tools but when the poly is applied they really shine. I am lucky to have a local shop that can order the lumber for me. It usually takes a few weeks but well worth the wait. I was originally going to make a another grandfather clock but changed my mind so have enough for another project. Still haven't decided what that will be but I am sure the wife will let me know. :)

SteveNelson46
06-22-2014, 12:31 AM
You have a good eye. It is purple heart. And you are so right about it being hard on the tools. Its also really brittle so you need shallow cuts which for some reason I always forget. My favorite is padouk but purple heart is my next favorite. Both are really tough on tools but when the poly is applied they really shine. I am lucky to have a local shop that can order the lumber for me. It usually takes a few weeks but well worth the wait. I was originally going to make a another grandfather clock but changed my mind so have enough for another project. Still haven't decided what that will be but I am sure the wife will let me know. :)

I have also had trouble with the brass roller when carving Purple Heart. It is so hard the teeth wouldn't "dig in" so I had a few tracking errors before discovering that masking tape along the edge was really necessary. At least it was for me.

oscarl48
06-24-2014, 09:03 PM
Again a big thanks to whoever created the chaos symbol. It became the center piece of my steam punk inspired mantel clock. I am incredibly happy with the results. Not perfect but definitely one of a kind. As you can tell I messed up the circular cut in the front. I did not use a sled and I didn't keep it under the rollers which due to the density of the wood the piece moved while cutting. At some point in the future I will fix that but I don't think it will be anytime soon. Also when I turned the front columns I failed to measure twice and cut once. As a result I had to cut a quarter inch off all the other pieces. So overall not as tall as originally planned. As my wife likes to yell at me I like to measure by eye and don't use a tape measure as often as I should. I could have turned two other columns but I took the easy way out. I believe it adds character to the piece. I am using a Hermle 1050-020 mechanical movement and I will add some stained glass on either end on the back to further add interest and make it more steam punk'ish in some far future (my other hobby and it will only be a single strip for accent). You can really see the color pop from the purple heart lumber. It has two coats of poly and that is it. Another project mostly complete...did I mention I ordered the wrong hands. :mad:

blhutchens
06-25-2014, 07:54 AM
great job!! I have made my own hands out of maple. I am sure purple heart would work nicely too.

mtylerfl
06-25-2014, 09:15 AM
That's really cool!

oscarl48
06-25-2014, 06:04 PM
blhutchens,

Impressive. I am pretty much sucky at small delicate things. If its big and bulky or really sturdy I'm okay with it. My rule is what ever I build has to support my weight. I literally stand on everything I build to prove that it was built by me. lol. I think that may be a sign of crazy or stupid. I broke a plant holder I built once that way but I still am convinced the wood had a flaw that you couldn't see. The first wife was a little miffed until I built her another one. The second wife was really unhappy when she saw me standing inside the little chest I built her (project before this one) but it didn't even cry a little bit. She won't let me near it anymore. She didn't see me stand on this one but its mine so its okay. I called dibs first before she did.

Maybe she'll let me buy another clock.

Regards,
Oscar

oscarl48
06-25-2014, 06:12 PM
mtylerfl,

Thanks. I am very pleased how it turned out. My planning is not great (though I design my plans) but I improvise a lot so a lot of times its a surprise to me what finally turns up. I agree with you though. This is one of the coolest things that I have turned out. I wanted to build a somewhat of a resonance chamber and it turned out well. You can hear the chimes to the other side of the house. The kids are complaining about it but it makes me sleep better. With enough clocks going it may force them to move out. :)

I have two cuckoo clock (didn't build those but where my inspiration), a grandfather clock (solid black walnut I did build), and now this mantel clock.
Regards,
Oscar

oscarl48
07-02-2014, 07:49 PM
Earlier in the post I mentioned I wanted to do another grandfather clock. Well I am finally on the last steps to finish my first grandfather clock. Done in solid black walnut and highlighted in purple heart and stained glass panes. Started with a rough plan and messed up the chime/hammer placement. I ended up making a makeshift shelf which really reduced the resonance potential of the chimes. In other words its not very loud. You can hear it clearly in a quite house or in the same room but nowhere near where I am happy with it. At some point I will make another one but for now I will make do. Otherwise, I am pleased with the over all look of the piece. My second one will have some CW carving integral to the design. In the near future I will add some applique figures to the piece. I want to add a dragon or mythical animal to the inside of the case so when you open it you will get wow'ed again. Have a four day weekend so will have something to show for it by the Sunday. Hope you like the piece. Grandfather clocks are not as hard as I thought they would be to build but definitely some points to know/consider when building one.

P.S. The flowers are the spousal contributions and I had no say in the matter.

CW-HAL9000
07-02-2014, 11:56 PM
really nice project, did you make the stained glass? Where did you get the clock parts?

oscarl48
07-03-2014, 09:10 AM
I did make the stained glass panes. One of the many reasons this took way longer than it should have (way too many projects going on at the same time). The clock parts I purchased from a website named klockit (under mechanical movements). They have been a great resource for me and their support staff have answered several questions for me. Having said that there are several online companies out there that have great products. It is not a cheap process though. I bought their economy model which ran several hundred. The top end models are in the several thousands. Another option is to go with an electronic clock mechanism which, still relatively expensive, is much cheaper than the mechanical versions.

blhutchens
07-03-2014, 09:37 AM
Great job! I look forward to seeing your next project.
I have been to that site and decided I would stick to the wooden clock works that I can make.
I spent 2 weeks on one I got from sketch up and never got a tick tock out of it. it looks cool though
I decided I needed better software before attempting it again.
Got the software just not the time to attempt another.

oscarl48
07-04-2014, 04:23 PM
Thanks. Far from perfect but happy for my first attempt at one.

I am impressed you jumped in on a wooden clock. I guess I am a little intimidated by them. I have been researching for about two weeks on my free time on wooden clock designs/theory and I am just now starting to figure it out. My old brain isn't as spry as it used to be. I picked up a small panel of birch plywood and will be trying to cut some gears this weekend. Also promised the wife a music box this weekend. We'll have to see how far I get. All I really want to do is grab a beer and vegetate but things to do, stuff to build.

blhutchens
07-04-2014, 07:45 PM
I bought and built the Mystery clock from the CW store and built it and just sparked an interest.
found a source for brass tubing and started playing.
I did find that for some of the smaller gears you need a 1/16 inch cutting bit.

oscarl48
07-05-2014, 06:13 PM
Thanks for the info. The Mystery clock is gorgeous. I know it would be easy to just order it or one of the many patterns that are out there but I got the idea I could design my own. I've read the theory and it seems somewhat straight forward; Minimum three gears with three pinions and an escapement system for the pendulum and a weight for the battery. I am going to initially do a four gear clock (maybe) to reduce the number of teeth required.

I am very lucky that I have most materials available locally. We have a hobby lobby (mega store) down the road that carries a wide assortment of brass rods so I think I am covered. My wood shop carries all the normal hardwoods and can special order most of the exotics.

Okay. The CW did a beautiful job carving out the little music box I am building the wife. Cut the segments to length on the table saw and ready for glue up. I have to pick up either a piano hinge or decorative hinge tomorrow morning and it will be done. Quick and simple and with CW a piece of art.

Now I got to cutting some gears. I am so frustrated. I set the cut path with three tabs minimum and when I cut there are no tabs. Had to stop the cut in fear the cut piece would jam up the bit. I've tried twice now and no luck. I have to figure out what I am doing wrong or I am going to have to build a sled and tape the entire piece down to get what I want. On the positive side the piece/parts that were cut looked pretty good. I bought the gear template generator and it works great.

What I am currently doing: I port the gear jpg into Coreldraw. I cut out the gear with no background and re-save as a gif. Import to CW Designer which picks it up as a clean line clip art. I then trace the design onto the project with outline pattern toggle. I then use cut path on the outline to set tabs and cut depth. The cut depth works great but no tabs.

Might step away for the afternoon and start reading some of the forum inputs. It looks like several people have had the same issue but so far nothing that answers the mail for me though I am sure its in there somewhere.

fwharris
07-05-2014, 06:57 PM
You might try setting the tab heights to 1/4". Some times if left to low they easily break out like they are not even there.

blhutchens
07-05-2014, 07:09 PM
You may have to set your own tabs as well
so they hit on the top of a tooth instead of the valley

oscarl48
07-05-2014, 07:14 PM
Thanks to all. I've read most of the forum inputs and the tips and tricks and wasn't sure what I was doing wrong but have a feeling that low tabs might be my issue (I hope). I will try that next. Starting to get late here and I'm sure the neighbors would not like all the noise so will try tomorrow morning.

oscarl48
07-06-2014, 07:05 PM
Thanks again to all. It has been a frustrating but eventually good day. Started the CW first thing this morning and started with a clear board sensor error. After an hour of cleaning and fiddling with the machine, unplugged it and stepped away to finish the music box. Came back to the machine, plugged it in and reset the stock and magically the error was no longer there. The CW has now cut my first gear. woohoo. On the down side it did chop off one tooth on the back end. Not sure what I did to cause the cut but not a huge deal since this was more proof of concept. But I am now sure I can cut gears and can start learning how to make the right gears I need.

Pics of the music box enclosed. Nothing fancy but it sounds good. Carved all the pieces on one board and then cut parts out with table saw. Used simple glue joints since not a lot of stress on this little box (yes it was able to take my weight anyway). Copper nails for interest. Very quick project. Probably only 3 hours total including the carving time.

P.S. I reset the tabs to 1/4 inch for the gears and it worked perfectly this time.

oscarl48
07-12-2014, 07:33 PM
Another quick project for the weekend. Another music box but this time for my daughter. Caught her staring at the music box I made for my wife and when she opened the lid and the music started she jumped ten feet. So of course I started laughing. Feeling nostalgic and wanted to give her something that will remind her of her mother and me. She joined the Navy last week and I'm still a little sad about it. I managed to talk her out of it once but the bug was planted. Probably all my talks about the adventures I had in the USAF. Nothing wrong with the military but I wish she would have finished college first. The cherry blossoms on the lid represent me and my wife, the medical symbols is the job she got (corpsman), the sunflower in the front is her, and the daisies on the side are her best friend. I'll rip first thing tomorrow morning on the table saw and assemble. Final pictures of the music box to follow. :D

oscarl48
08-03-2014, 07:13 PM
Again, I want to thank all the artists who were generous to share their designs on the forum. I had a fast turn around for some very quick little projects for donations for a fund raiser. Two days to build everything. I built a little niknak box and some little carved figures. I did not have time to create the carving designs so again went into the repository of awesome designs you have all shared. In addition to the wood projects I did two stained glass butterflies in pink to highlight cancer awareness. All were rushed and not perfect but they should hopefully add to the fund raiser a little bit. Again in purple heart lumber. The stuff carves wonderfully though I am sure it is slowly dulling the bit (or not so slowly). The angel in particular looks fantastic. But again thank you all.

Warm regards,
Oscar

mtylerfl
08-03-2014, 07:26 PM
Oscar, those all turned out great! In only two days? - you're awesome!

SharonB
08-03-2014, 09:50 PM
An excellent assortment of projects for a worthy program. I know they will be appreciated by those that receive them.

oscarl48
10-31-2014, 06:38 PM
I have been without a carving bit for a little while and it finally arrived today so back in action for the weekend. While I was without my beloved bit though I received a small request from my helicopter buddies to do a whiskey drinking glass tray for a gift. So using the 1/8 cutting bit I carved out some squares on a board, one to include their favored quote, and walla a serving tray. I only had an afternoon to complete so not very complex but I think it came out okay. If I ever do another, and I fear I will have other requests because it seemed to be a hit, I will add some carrying handles and little bit more carvings even if its a small rosette in the middle.

Capt Bruce
11-03-2014, 07:54 AM
Beautiful job Oscarl48 and especially for a spot of the moment project. I'm sure you will have several requests. I owe a lot to Huey pilots and that lift out at just the right time. Great project.

oscarl48
12-28-2014, 06:46 PM
It has been raining nonstop for the last three days which meant no wood working for me. My shop is my outside patio.:(

I had planned to do a challenge coin holder this weekend but that fell through thanks to the weather.

So I decided to finally finish the steam punk mantel clock. I added some metal legs, some leather belts, and added some bling with crosses and a hygrometer. I am the first to admit its not a traditional design but I am very pleased on how it came out. One thing...its loud. lol. I was incredibly disappointed with my grandfather clock because it is so quite so I designed this with the chamber in mind to project outward.

TerryT
12-28-2014, 08:14 PM
Ok, that is just cool. I guess I'm kind of a steam punk guy. Nice work.