Combining technologies - making ceramic patterns using my laser engraver

There is a lot of focus on water conservation when you live in the desert. Just watering your yard on the wrong day of the week can earn you a hefty fine. And since I've been doing a ton of ceramic work lately, I've found my bill creeping up. 

Sure, I usually have a rinse bucket in the sink outside, where I can rinse clay off on my hands without wasting gallons. But I decided I needed a sign near the sink to remind myself to conserve. I did a clip art search and found a design that I liked. 

And added some text. 

Here's there best part - combining technologies. I cut out a simple pattern in MDF of the artwork, using my laser engraver.

I even saved the small pieces that came out of the individual letters. (I'm sure those have a name.)

There are basically two types of ceramic pieces - pots that are thrown on the wheel, and pieces that are hand-built. 

I decided to hand-build a sign, so I grabbed some clay and rolled out an even, compressed slab. 

My slab roller is powered by a small motor, which saves a great deal of wear and tear on my back. So I rolled out a slab, 

 and then gave the pattern a quick coat of release, so that it wouldn't stick to the slab.  

Everything that touches the clay needs some sort of release sprayed on it, or it will stick to the clay. The release could be something like WD-40, or Pam cooking spray - anything that is greasy and non-stick-y.

With the pattern on the clay, I traced the outline with a knife and cut the final shape. 

Using a roller - it was easy to add a bit of fish scale texture using this texture mat. Again - this has to be sprayed or it will stick.

Then I took the tiny letter bits and added the final details to the letters. 

Here's the final piece - with lettering, a little fish-scale texture, and a hole at the top for hanging.

Once this is bone dry, it'll be bisque fired to around 1900˚. If there's any moisture in the piece at all, the buildup of steam can cause the piece to explode in the kiln. Luckily - in the heat here, the clay drys out fairly evenly and quickly. 

I'll experiment a bit with some appropriate colors, in greens or blues... you know - the colors of water. Glaze looks amazing when it pools around the textures on the clay, so this piece is going to be special.

With a little luck, it'll be glazed it and fired next week. Stay tuned!

 

Spring has arrived - so have the winds!

There isn't any particular reason that I'm posting this video below - I'm just up to my eyeballs in gardening and not doing much woodworking right now. 

Enjoy!

The SawStop saga continues...

One of my favorite sayings is - ask ten woodworkers and you'll get 11 opinions! So I'm not 100% sure I agree with what this fellow has to say about the future of tablesaws.  I know this - I had 3 of these saws in the school and they definitely saved fingers. 

Beyond that - their customer service is absolutely spot on. 

This is rare in the tool industry -  I have literally dealt with 4 other tool manufacturers that were absolute a$$hats when it came to customer support.  Which ones? 

I could give specifics about each interaction, but I won't. But let's just say that I'll never buy tools from those companies ever again. And when past students or friends ask me for advice about purchasing a tool from these four companies - I highly discourage them from dropping dollars to those manufacturers.

You can say what you want about SawStop saws - they're overpriced, the inventor was money-hungry, etc... but no one complains (or whines) about Festool this much. 

Amirite?

Four foot saw blade on the loose....

Holy hell - this got my attention!

Click here - I promise it's worth it!

Clay times!

How is it possible that I haven't posted here in almost a month!?! 

Some of you know that clay and ceramic work take up some of my work-week. I've been getting the studio in shape for making some tile for an upcoming project, and I finally have samples of all of the glazes that I make. 

That alone was a big project! There are 25 different glazes that I make, all with different formulas/recipes. Can you tell I'm a fan of earth tones? There are mostly greens/blues/browns. 

Whenever I have some extra room in the kiln, I fire bits and pieces of tile, all for future use. These shapes are for an upcoming mosaic I've been working on - 

 inspired by my (peacock) neighbor. 

He comes around almost every evening for a bit of birdseed and a visit. I asked the neighbor who takes care of him what his name is... she (aptly) named him FancyPants!

Living in Vegas is never boring!

 

SawStop to release patented technology to public

Well -  this is interesting! 

SawStops saws...

You either love them (when you can afford them) or you hate them (when you can't afford them) - which side are you on?

 Larry Adams wrote this article for Woodworking Industry News:

TUALATIN, Ore. — SawStop, manufacturers of one of the wood industry’s most widely used safety technologies, announced that one of its key patents will, in the future, be made open to the public.

The action, announced on Feb. 28, was taken in response to a proposed rule by the Consumer Product Safety Commission that would require all table saws sold in the U.S. to have active injury mitigation (AIM) technology to make them significantly safer.

In a Feb. 29 press conference, Matt Howard, CEO of SawStop said that the company has committed to dedicate its U.S. Patent 9,724,840 to the public upon the rule’s effective date. The rule is meant to prevent the thousands of amputations and hospitalizations that can occur during the cutting process without industry-wide action.

“We work to protect and inspire all woodworkers, from novice hobbyists to professional craftspeople. Opponents of the proposed rulemaking have identified this patent as their key obstacle to offering safer saws,” said Howard. “We invest heavily in safety innovation, and our patents have real value. Even so, we will not allow this patent to be an obstacle to a safer future. To that end, SawStop is prepared to dedicate this ‘840 patent to the public upon the effective date of a rule requiring active injury mitigation technology on all table saws. Although such a rule is likely many years away from an effective date, we at SawStop are determined to seek a win-win balance between our mission and our business responsibilities.”

According to the company's website, the SawStop works in four broad steps: detect, stop, drop, and reset.

The SawStop detects a small electrical signal that the blade carries. When skin contacts the blade, the signal changes because the human body is conductive. The hange to the signal activates the safety system.

An aluminum brake springs into the path of the blade. The blade comes to a complete stop and power to the motor is shut off. After the blade comes to a stop, the blade’s angular momentum drives it beneath the table, removing the risk of subsequent contact. All of this happens in less than 5 milliseconds.

Resetting the saw is easy, according to the website. Simply inspect the blade (and change if damaged) and replace the brake cartridge, and the saw is operational. The entire process takes 90 seconds and the user is back to work, according to the company.

Safety standards

On Nov. 1, 2023, the CPSC published a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking under the Consumer Product Safety Act proposing to issue a safety standard addressing blade-contact injuries on table saws. The proposed rule would require all table saws to “limit the depth of cut to no more than 3.5 mm” when a test probe, acting as a surrogate for a human finger or other body part, contact the spinning blade at a rate of 1 meter per second.

As the pioneer in safety technology for table saws, SawStop believes such a standard will radically improve the overall safety of all table saws sold in the United States. It will help prevent the tens of thousands of severe injuries annually that result in billions of dollars in corresponding healthcare, pain, and suffering costs for victims and society, the company said in a statement.

In the past, SawStop has vigorously defended its patents. Bosch was prevented from selling its REAXX saws in the United States after SawStop filed objections with the International Trade Commission. The Bosch saw used similar contact- sensing technology to SawStop, but used a gas cartridge system similar to an automotive airbag to move the blade out of the way.

More recently, major European manufacturers such as Altendorf and Felder have developed proximity sensing technology that does not rely on any blade contact to stop the blade before an injury can occur. Those systems also have the advantage of not damaging the saw blade when triggered or having to replace a cartridge or triggering mechanism, thus allowing for instant reset.

The SawStop company was purchased by TTS Tooltechnic Systems, which also owns Festool, in 2017.

William Sampson contributed to this report.

Here's another article that was just released in WoodShop News:

SawStop announced it will dedicate its patent to the public if a proposed rule regarding table saw safety becomes effective.

“Today, in response to proposed rulemaking regarding table saw safety by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, SawStop committed to dedicate U.S. Patent 9,724,840 to the public upon the rule’s effective date,” the saw manufacturer said in a Feb. 28 post. “The intent of the proposed rule is to prevent the thousands of amputations and hospitalizations that will continue to occur without industry-wide action.”

“We work to protect and inspire all woodworkers, from novice hobbyists to professional craftspeople. Opponents of the proposed rulemaking have identified this patent as their key obstacle to offering safer saws,” said Matt Howard, CEO of SawStop. “We invest heavily in safety innovation, and our patents have real value. Even so, we will not allow this patent to be an obstacle to a safer future. To that end, SawStop is prepared to dedicate this ‘840 patent to the public upon the effective date of a rule requiring active injury mitigation technology on all table saws. Although such a rule is likely many years away from an effective date, we at SawStop are determined to seek a win-win balance between our mission and our business responsibilities.”

   Which side are you on?  

There is a ton of arguing and animosity toward SawStop - but I'm a firm believer that their saws keep people very safe. I'm a fan - their tools are accurate and quality. Even if the saw didn't have this technology installed in it, I would still purchase one. 

Just.... 

 

Sending the beast on its way!

 It's been a minute, right? 

I finally finished this massive coffee table renewal - from attaching the legs, to retrofitting the skirting, to trimming out the top with metal. And more! 

This beast has been in my shop for a month. The owners (and I) couldn't decide on a proper patina for the metal trim on the corners and the top.  Matte black? Rusted rustic? 

We tried a variety of colors and chemical patinas, but in the end - they took it without a finish on the metal. They'll experiment on it until they come up with something that they can live with. 

This table took top a huge amount of real estate in my shop, so I'm happy to see it be on its way. If they send some pictures of the finished piece, I'll be sure to post them here.

Leveling up the table

If I had to guess, I'd say that there's not a single element of this window/gate that is square. 

It's been giving me fits, but nothing was more challenging than finally bolting the legs on, turning it upright (with the help of some strong friends!)  and learning that it wasn't level. 

Every leg was just slightly different in length, and when the table was finally upright, I could figure out just how much of a difference there was.  

I measured, did some calculations and put some shims under each leg, until it was level. Considering this table is a few hundred pounds, lifting and shimming was a challenge!

 After finding the longest leg, I figured out how much the shorter legs needed to be lengthened, planed some wood to those various thicknesses. And cut some filler blocks, mimicking the turned legs. 

It finally dawned on me that I had a car jack that would make this an easy operation, and proceeded to jack up each corner, making it easier to attach a filler at the bottom of each leg. 

(Brilliant, I must say!) And finally - a level table, ready for attaching the aprons and framing out the top. 

 

Upright and ready to bolt!

This table is finally starting to take shape!

It took four strong buddies to get this table on a couple of carts. This thing is ridiculously heavy and I've already had a wheel fail on one of the carts. 

Once I bolted the legs in place, it was time to turn my attention to the aprons. Notice that there's no simple, yet sturdy way to attach the aprons except at the corners, where they can be bolted to each leg. 

Since there isn't any support behind the aprons....hmmm... plan B.  I clamped them in place, and considered my options. 

I decided to bolt some 2x bracing on each side, so each apron could be firmly bolted into solid wood.  

The two shorter ends were fairly easy - the carcase of the table was solid, square and plumb on each end.

But holyhell - the two longs sides were a different story. Most of the wood was rotten and/or missing in some areas. This side (shown below) was so punky rotten, you could scrape it away with your fingernail. It was so uneven that I had to pull a string to simply see where I needed to build out the underside. 

And each of the sides had to be done differently, since none of the side dimensions were the same. 

 But I managed to find some solid wood down there, and bolted the 2x material to it. 

 Luckily, none of this will show, and it sure added a lot of strength to the table's structure.  

The next challenge will be attaching the old aprons in place.  I'll need to cut a little off of them, as they need to be a little narrower. 

That's going to be a challenge, as there are a ton of old nails in each board. I will probably put an old blade in the saw, and just cut right through the nails, instead of trying to pull them out - there are just too many! Oh - and since I'm cutting on a SawStop - the nails are liable to trip the blade. So I plan on bypassing the safety feature.

Wish me luck, and stay tuned!

 

A beast of a project

It started when a customer brought this piece to my shop, asking me to turn it into a coffee table.

I'm not even sure what to call this – from this view, which is the bottom of it, it looks like an old farmhouse door. Maybe something from a cellar, with numerous coats of paint, and some odd handwriting on the panels. The wood surrounding the doors is massive and heavy, and mostly rotted.

They also gave me a set of legs, and upon further inspection, these legs appear to be made from solid blocks of wood.  I can't identify the species, but I know the wood is heavy. 

Really heavy.

The skirting around this piece was in horrible shape, with old hardware attached to it, and dozens of nails in it. 

Most of them were bent over, and I pulled out this cut off wheel

 to get rid of the nails.

Did I mention some large cracks in the skirting? 

Luckily, I had a syringe that made it easy to get glue in all of the cracks. After clamping all of the repairs, the cracks mostly disappeared. 

The corner of one of the skirting boards that was missing. These boards have such a nice patina and distressing to them, that I decided to repair this corner. So I trimmed off the ragged edge, 

 and dug out a piece of wood to match it.

 It had to be planed down to the same thickness as the skirting board, and glued in place.

Then I trimmed it. I'm pretty sure I can blend the color with stain to match the older patina. 

When I turned my attention to the legs, I realized that the top part of each leg was out of square, and at different lengths. I have no idea how they made those legs work for this piece, but maybe these legs were from another project. 

 

One by one, I attached each leg to the corners, attaching them in place with perpendicular bolts. Drilling through the top of these legs felt like drilling through concrete. 

In some cases, the wood was so rotten that I had to add metal plates to provide stability. 

And finally, all four legs were bolted in place. 

I'll have to ask a few strong friends to help me get this upright on a cart.

Next up? 

The skirting... the boards are warped and gnarly, and I'll need to enlist Hugo, my metal artist, to make some corner brackets to hide the ends of these boards. A few of them look like a dog has chewed them.

Stay tuned!

 

Not-so-much Fun with Angles

Did you wonder how my four-foot picture frame turned out? 

Well, not as expected... at first glance, this looks fine, right? 

 Sure, it's a little narrower than I planned - I was hoping for a 2" wide ring, but a little chipping necessitated trimming it a little narrower than I wanted. 

See, that's the thing about trying to use up scrap wood... it's SCRAP for a reason. Maybe it had a hairline crack in it, or it was the end of a board, straight from the mill, with some checking on it. Either way, these scrap pieces were trimmed off for a reason... mostly unusable. 

And as mush as I inspected them for defects, I still encountered some problems once I started cutting the ring. 

Here - the whole side of this segment blew off. 

Same here.

And then - when trimming the ring a little narrower - the Dominos revealed themselves.

 Oy vey.

 So for now, it's leaning up against the wall, until I decide if it needs to go in the dumpster.  Yes, I could probably patch it, and paint it - but it's hardly what I envisioned when I was making it. 

The good news? I have virtually no cost invested in this, and just 2-3 hours of my time, so... what would I do differently? Probably use better lumber, for one thing.  Use wider pieces, too.... which would result in a wider ring. And finally - I would place the Dominos a little more carefully, so that they wouldn't be revealed when the finally shape was cut. 

Live and learn!