Sandal Woods - Fine Woodworking & Cabinetry

 

My wife Sandy is the woodturner. In 2007 she had an incident at the lathe, just minutes after I left the shop to prepare a quick sandwich lunch. Here is the story, in her own words: 

Oh, Woodturners, exercise caution . . . 

. . . I wish I had thought of that about 2 o’clock this afternoon. Here’s the scenario - I had turned the back of a bowl yesterday evening and left it on the lathe, worm screw in place. This morning I took it off (worm screw still in the bowl) and turned a new longer handle for my bowl gouge. After I had it all put back together, I put the worm screw back on the headstock. About that time my husband reminded me we hadn’t eaten lunch and, because I’d been having so much fun, he offered to run to the house and fix a sandwich.

Why can’t I remember that screws go in clockwise and come out counter-clockwise? My first attempt, needless to say, was the WRONG way, thus tightening the screw instead of loosening it. I turned the correct way and removed the bowl, stopped the headstock and tried to remove the worm screw . . . and it would not come off. What would you do? Funny, I only have these short Tomy bars and instead of getting something to put on extra leverage, I threw my weight into it. When it came loose, the Tomy bar came out, my hands were left holding air, and I lunged forward, striking my head and glasses on the lathe ways. Did you know that cast iron hurts when your skull cracks it?

I managed to steady myself - knowing that I was alone - and reached the phone (about 4 foot away). I kept dialing our home phone number and couldn’t understand why the line was busy . . . before realizing that the only way I could reach Al to get help was by calling his cell phone. No lacerations, no bleeding, but a huge goose egg showed by the time he reached me. He rushed me to Urgent Care and they, in turn, called an ambulance and sent me to the hospital for care - CT scan, etc. After 4 1/2 hours they released me with cautions and a horrendous headache.

This was NOT the exciting afternoon I had planned in the shop. I ruined a brand new pair of glasses (thank you polycarbonate lenses), have a headache to break all my past records, and look like half a raccoon. Caution out there, guys and gals.

Background:

1. How many times have you wished you had a dedicated sharpening area / station in your shop, close to your work area?
2. And how many times do you wish that, if you needed to, you would be able to move it around at will, either on a temporary or permanent basis?
3. Or better yet, you have so many gouges, chisels, plane blades, etc., that need sharpening, and you don’t want to lay down all those tools just anywhere, away from the grinder and sharpening jig(s)?

I hope that the design of this workstation might be of use to others. I used eCabinet Systems software and came up with the following design:

Dimensions:
1. “About” 38 inches wide
2. 34-1/2 inches tall, plus 4 inches for the casters - THIS one was critical, as I had to ensure it was not TOO high, or the sharpening experience becomes uncomfortable, i.e., the equipment is too high.
3. “Around” 20 inches deepMaterials, construction, and finish:
1. Face frames are 3/4-inch red oak
2. The rest is 3/4-inch cabinet-grade oak plywood - for purpose of the design drawing above, I used different wood for the drawers and doors, to better highlight edges
3. Construction: Tongue & groove and pocket holes
4. The finish was Minwax Special Walnut wiped on, followed by two coats of Target Coatings’ waterborne shellac, and 2-4 coats of their Superclear 9000 waterborne polyurethane (a polyester-based urethane)The cabinet will have the Wolverine grinding system on it, mounted with a dual-speed Delta grinder. In addition, it will be used to store some larger things she uses on the lathe, such as a bowl steady. The principal user, my wife and LOML (Love Of My Life), brainstormed function to some extent - then she gave me control of implementation and construction.Now for the design features:

1. Top left: Drawer
2. Bottom left: Adjustable shelf, with glass door, to allow viewing the contents, i.e., the large stuff, such as bowl steadies for the lathe, etc..
3. Top right: Shelf, with door, for jig parts
4. Right - middle and bottom drawers: Other sharpening supplies
5. The casters are by Tente Casters, Inc. They provided the 3D drawing, converted to STL file format, ready for import into eCabinet Systems.
6. The Wolverine system will be on the left-hand side of the cabinet top, while gouges and other supplies will be at the ready on the right-hand side, closest to the lathe.The cart rides on casters, for easy transportability between lathe (gouges, etc.) and workbench (chisels, plane irons, etc.).

This project:I think I have accomplished our goals, with the completion of this project.As many of you already know, LOML is the wood turner, and needs sharp gouges and chisels, etc. During her turning episodes, she might just barely touch up an edge, or hone it. But, from to time, she also must sharpen during her wood turning, to get good results on the lathe. As a result, the sharpening station remains close to her, and to the lathe.On my end, I have a need to keep chisels sharp, and the hand plane irons, too. For the most part, I use the Scary Sharp technique. But, to quickly get the steel edges ready for scary sharp, especially on many of the older tools laying around, I prefer to use a grinder and a suitable jig.For the most part, this sharpening station will remain close to the lathe. But (I hope) that, if I ever have the need to use it for an extended period, say an hour or two, I can roll the entire thing closer to me .

From WIP (Work-In-Progress), to completed:

Now in its place - notice I changed the drawer front design, to better match existing cabinets in the shop: I had to show you the cabinet with the door and drawers open. I still have to install the knobs and pulls; and, to allow for some minimal clamping, I used a laminated top a good friend gave me for free:

This is the old “sharpening station”: An old typing stand, modified to hold the Wolverine jig:

I am glad this is done - now LOML can use this nifty little sharpening station, as needed. BUT, what about a good way to hold all the chisels, gouges, etc., just to the right of the Wolverine jig? She designed and built the round holder seen in the photos - maybe it can be mounted on something with bearings, so it rotates easily? Shhhh… I may just surprise her….

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—— Al