I truly must stop reading Christopher Schwarz’s blog. First, it cost me $20 for the first copy of the EyeClops BioniCam (edited, to add the BioniCam part). Once I learned what a terrific “toy” it is, I bought another one (this one for $28, as the price went up) for use by our granddaughters.
But now I am glad I bought two copies of this very special toy!
Recent discussion on glue-ups, particularly the table top I have been working on, highlighted to me why it is important to wait to clean the glue until it has gelled well. If one rushes to clean, as I did due to anxiety (to measure table top flatness), the glue line is starved near the surface, as it shrinks.
This first photo shows what the glue line should look like, if one waits:
But, by cleaning the glue at the glue line, voids in the glue line develop – the glue shrinks as it dries and cures:
My woodworking friend “rhino”, on this thread on WoodNet, was 100% correct. Of course, I knew this was likely to happen, but anxiety does funny things in the heat of a critical glue-up.
While the EyeClops was in the shop I looked at other features on the table top surface. This one is a small crater, part of a tiny knot near one of the ends of the top:
The side grain on the quarter-sawn white oak looks like this:
Focusing is critical using the EyeClops. And it requires a steady hand, to get good photos. But, once this is learned, it is very easy to use:
Chris, thanks for finding this little treasure!
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About Al Navas
Boogers!
Just like The Schwarz suggests on his blog entry at http://blog.woodworking-magazine.com/blog/PermaLink,guid,c0e6858c-fe33-4491-94d9-5448a894c4fd.aspx .
They did comment that “…some of the photos are too dark…”
And, aren’t you going to share what your Granddaughters are taking pictures of with their Eye-Clops?