Dan's Hobbies » custom

Inserts wrap-up

Dan — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 01:33:07 +0000

Last night I finished up the inserts, by boring the through holes to the proper diameter. Since I had 3 blanks, I chose 1-1/2″, 2-1/4″, & 3″. After a few days of needing a jig to do everything, it was really nice to just throw the work piece in the 3 jaw, and start boring. It took about an hour to bore out the inserts, and chamfer all the edges. It was pleasurable, as nothing had to be precise.

This afternoon, I installed and leveled the 1-1/2″ insert, as it’s the one that I will probably use 95% of the time. and then as a test I cut a short sliding dovetail. It’s shoulder was perfect aside from some tear out. The plastic insert produced a wavy shoulder, because it would flex as the board passed over it.

Inserts & recycling

Dan — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 04:20:21 +0000

Today was day three of my inserts project, and I went “green” by recycling my face plate jig. I bored out the center of the jig, so that it was a tight fit around the shoulder on the bottom of the inserts.The new jig made drilling the mounting holes very simple after the initial set up, as it acted as a pore mans rotary table. Enjoy the pics, and check back tomorrow to see the finished inserts.

Custom Bench Dog lift inserts

Dan — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 02:05:14 +0000

I’ve had My Bench dog lift for a couple month now, and it has been a pleasure to use. The only disappointment, Ive had with the lift, is the quality of the inserts. I have a newer model lift, that was produced by bench dog after it was purchased by Rockler (can’t remember where I read this). The old version had stainless steel or aluminum inserts, that could be flushed with the top of the lift using set screws. The new inserts are made from some type of plastic, that doesn’t really seem stiff enough for the gap it spans.

Face plate centering jig.

Since my next project is going to involve working with some small boards, I decided now was the time to make some stout inserts. step one was to make a jig to fasten the blanks to the faceplate. To make the jig, I cut a piece of aluminum plate to size, and then taped it so it could be bolted to the faceplate. Next I faced 1/8″ off the surface, leaving a 1/2″ diameter nub in the center. The final step was to tap the nub for a 1/4-20 bold that would be used to hold the blanks to the jig.

Insert blanks turned to the proper diameter.

The blanks are exceptionally simple to make; all I had to do was cut some plate to slightly bigger than the diameter I needed, and then drill a 1/2″ hole threw the center. Then all that was left to do, was mount them to the jig and turn them to the proper diameter. Tomorrow night I’m going to turn the blanks to the proper thickness, and turn the lip on them.

It’s kind of a shame that I’m going to turn most of blanks into chips, but what the hell, the plate they’re made from was just taking up space in the shop anyway.

Custom Sanding Blocks

Dan — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 04:36:38 +0000

I have purchased several sanding blocks over the years, and I’ve never found one that I really liked. I had some extra maple laying around the shop, so I turned it into 2 sanding blocks. They are 6-1/2″ long & 2-3/8″ wide. The top and bottom halves are held together with a 1/4″-20 bolt, and a custom knurled nut. The most time consuming step was using the belt sander, to give the tops a gentle arch. The following are some pics of the model & a finished block.