Faux Bone

I must confess that I am in error when it comes to sawing. The Grobet saw frame is better to use because the frame is stiffer. It is, however, only for sawing smaller pieces, as a larger frame is needed to cut from the larger 8" x 8" stock. The No. 4 saw blade is fine for rounding off corners.

Robert's special blade clears away the crumbs better and there's less binding. So, apologies to Robert.

I continue to work with the material, and while I had hoped to have something to show, my bum hand gives out on me after about five minutes of work, so progress is slow. I think I will have a fairly decent piece to show once I get it finished. I shouldn't promise anything. I'm too slow at getting things finished.

Stump final, fully loaded

I believe this will be the last posting about the stump. To work on it, the stump is pulled out from it's little niche, then rotated to use the various pieces of equipment. The photo shows the Panavise to the left, steel bench block on sandbag pad, goldsmith's hammer, Foredom drill press, front right, and the Wolf sander in back, right. All the equipment is removable, so others can be installed. There are still minor refinements to be done, such as putting in holders for the various hex wrenches for the drill press and the sander. A vacuum will be hooked up to the sander when that is being used. I may need to include some sort of hanger arrangement for the flex-shaft motor.

In the meantime, I tried out a different saw and blade to cut Faux Bone. I find I have much more success using a Gorbet saw frame and a 4/0 Laser Gold (Rio Grande brand) blade. The difference between the German saw frame with Robert Danzig special blade installed and the other is remarkable. I have more control over the cutting. That problem solved, I'll move onto the next, getting nice clean scribe marks sort of etched into the material to receive color. The material by itself without some enhancement is pretty much blah.

The enormous Rio Grande catalog has arrived and of course, all work stops in order to peruse the contents. Then an e-mail announcing special sale, and there's page after page of that to go through.

I will try again this weekend to show something I've managed to finish using Faux Bone.

Bone Wars

Well folks, Im sorry I have nothing to show for my experiments working with Faux Bone. The material is proving to be a bit more difficult than I had anticipated. I will persevere and not allow the material to get the better of me. So there! In fact, I'm going to order some more of it, so when I do get the hang of working with it, I will have a sufficient supply on hand.

In the meantime, more work got done on the stump. Finished an app for the Foredom drill press. I still have to figure out an app for the Wolf sander. Just to clarify things, not all apps will be present on the stump. There has to be room for using the disc cutter, the dapping tools, anvils and bench blocks, so nothing is ever permanently placed on the stump. Then, there will be finding a place for a small vacuum to take care of the dust when any sanding is to be done. Faux Bone does create a lot of debris. I also need to figure out some kind of a vacuum attachment for the bench pin area on the bench.

Also did maintenance on the Pana Vise. Over the years some debris had built up on the inside of the rotating base making it hard to move. Took that apart and re-lubed it with some lithium grease. Works fine, now.

All for now, thanks for visiting!

The big search.

After moving my Mt. Everest of stuff and junk, after two days of searching, I finally found my scribers, shading plates, and heat gun. All were very carefully put away so I would know exactly where to find them when I needed them.. Ha. ha. Not so. Chalk it up to short term memory loss. The one thing that was really bothersome was the heat gun being in plain sight! I simply didn't remember putting it right there, on a shelf, where it could be found. So now, they are all found, and this time carefully put way in one of the drawers in the tool chest in my little hole in the wall studio. And there they will stay until they are needed.

Tomorrow, I will do some more experimentation with Faux Bone, and hopefully I will be able to post something at the end of the week. I have this idea in my head and I want to try to get something done with it. Wish me success, I need it.

More supplies arrived today. There's still more to order, wire and I think I'll get some more faux bone.

Stump semi-final stage

The Stump with application of the Pana-vise. The vise is attached to a removable pad. If need be, the vise can be moved to a different location on the stump. Several identical pads have been made for future equipment applications. The top of the stump is removable. Necessary to put in T-nuts which are a part of the holding system for the equipment pads. I like to think of the pads as apps. There will be an app for the jump ringer, an app for etc., etc.

Some changes were made to the original stump. I decided it would be a good idea to raise the stump up by putting on some feet, thus allowing space under the stump for toes. Adding the shelf was a pretty good idea as it provides much needed storage space.

The stump is just heavy enough to stay in place, yet can be easily moved in and out of its storage spot.

It isn't real pretty, but its functional. And that's really all that matters.

Faux Bone

Faux Bone from Robert Danzig has arrived, along with the special saw blades. Cut off a couple pieces to play with. The saw blade works pretty good, but it will take some getting used to using it. Edges are pretty rough. Now, I know the value of the swivel head cutter he recommends. So, I will have to get one. The material is not exactly what I expected it to be, but I think I can master it sooner or later.

REALLY BIG ANNOUNCEMENT! Tomorrow is "S" Day! "S" standing for STUMP! Yes, I will post a photo of the Stump with an attachment! Hooray!

I finally broke down and bought one of the lithium battery powered hand drills. Sprung for a DeWalt. What a joy to use! Plenty of power to drive long screws into tough wood. Now, I kick myself for not getting one earlier.

Later, gator!

Got Phi?

The above is an illustration of the Front and Back sides of a new rule I found at Lee Valley Tools.
This is an illustration how to use the Phi rule. Illustrations courtesy Lee Valley.

Phi, also known as the "Golden Ratio," or the "Golden Mean," has a value of approximately 1.618. Named after Phidias, the lead sculptor of the Parthenon in Greece, who is said to have employed it. Phi is used to proportion objects, buildings, furniture and art, for greater aesthetic appeal.

The rule eliminates the complex calculations when applying the golden ration to designs.

I thought it looked interesting. so I bought a six inch one, the smallest, to try and use it is some jewelry designs. Don't know if it will work, but worth a try. Comes in a plastic case with full instructions, easy to use. You'll need a pair of chain nose pliers to free the rule from the case!

Lee Valley does have some other things which have a potential use by jewelry makers. The is a selection of capped plastic tubes for storage, such as needle files and saw blades, plus other small storage containers, a variety of magnets which can be employed to hold small tools in place. There are magnets to hold pencils, or possibly a scriber. Magnifiers, safety items, masks, wet and dry sandpapers, etc. There is also a very nice bound logbook for you to keep your design ideas from being lost. Might be worth your while to take a look. The tubes are nice, I ordered some, as well as magnets. The magnets are powerful.

http://www.leevalleytools.com

Ordered some pieces of "faux bone" from Robert Danzig to experiment with. I think I shall have fun playing with this material. I'm going to try texturing the material by heating and pressing in some old mimeograph stencil texturing plates left over from yesteryear. Might be able to employ some of the styli we used to use. Some of you probably haven't a clue what I'm referring to when I say "mimeograph!"

Ordered more metal in various gauges and types, tubes and mesh, etc.

Very cold here for Arkansas, too cold to work in the garage, so the stump is still on hold. I will, sooner or later, finish it.

Now, I have still more projects on hold. Bought a interesting shaped, old anvil on Ebay. Man, is it ever going to take a lot of work to shape up for jewelry work. Rust removal, plus a lot of sanding. I hope it will be worth the effort! That job will have to wait for warm weather.

Hope you haven't suffered too much bad weather. We missed a bullet the other day.

Saw a video on Ganoskin where a guy attempted to polish chain with a buff on a polishing machine. Guy was extremely lucky not to have lost a finger! Destroyed part of his chain. Never attempt such a thing! Polishing machines are incredibly dangerous when used improperly! As is most machinery when misused.

Have fun, be well, do good work and check back once in a while.

Sorry, no posts for awhile. I hope to have something interesting by the end of next week.

Stump update

Today, the middle shelf was installed! Hooray! A place for the dapping set, the disc cutter, small anvils. Also, mounting pads for a couple pieces of equipment, cut and drilled. Awaiting ordered Forstner bits to complete installation of the mounting pads. Amazingly, I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and a bit of clear space on the bench top!

Hope everyone has a great new year, get a lot accomplished.