Lesson Learned: Electronic Calipers

[geargnasher]

I think I will choose to ignore that.
Apparently you do not know what extents it takes to achieve accuracy in woodworking equipment.
I also machine and weld and fabricate.
That's it, I'm out of pee.

Actually, I DO know quite a bit about the "extents" it takes to achieve accuracy with woodworking equipment.

I just told Mrs Gearnasher about your comment, I'm pretty sure the wrath is brewing, she's running around the house right now with her EOS taking pictures of a few things I made......this ought to be good!

Gear

[Mrs.Geargnasher]

I've included the last picture because you can see how the corner of our kitchen counter isn't mitered, it's staggered. The 'L' counter is all one large piece, it's 9 1/2 feet by 51 inches. That and he made the rose.

All of the woodwork in the pictures was done by Geargnasher and is only a small sample. All of the wood, excluding the Henry rifle buttstock, is solid Pecan. Also, the upper doors of our cabinets have not been teak oiled yet.

[mpbarry1]

You're a lucky man gear....

[Centaur 1]

On top of the calipers there should be 2 small adjusting screws, there used to take up any slack or looseness in the gibs, try turning the screws in until there snug then back off about 1/16 turn. The amount of tension needs to be the same on both screws.

Ding ding ding, we have a winner. It amazes me how many guys will talk badly about calipers. There's a place for every tool in a machine shop. No they're not AS accurate as a micrometer, but a good machinist will recognize when he needs to be accurate, or when close enough is good enough. That's why they put tolerances on a blueprint. I also use a pair of Starrett 721 digital calipers and I'd put it up against an untrained person using a micrometer with a ratchet stop. I also keep a cheap 4" harbor freight digital caliper on my loading bench. It works great for checking overall length of pistol boolits, when they start shrinking in length I know that it's time to remove and clean the seating screw. There's no need to put wear and tear on a $200 caliper when you only need to be within a few thousandths. For the guys who prefer using vernier caliper; they're no more accurate, but they do teach a guy the proper feel when using any caliper. They have that extra part which you lock to the beam, then use the adjustment screw to close the caliper until you just feel contact with the piece being measured. Learning the proper feel is invaluable when learning how to measure accurately.

[taminsong]

WOOOOW! Gear your a lucky guy!

I just wish I can have my future furniture made by you!

[Sonnypie]

Nice work Gear.
So you should know better'n to make a comment like that.
It suffices to say we are both true Craftsman. I bought my calipers to proof a jig for making M&T joints. (Where you measure the tennon and the mortice. So you need outside and inside. Capish? )

Give your Mrs. an Italian Pinch.
Tell her "That dirty old man" said to.
(That's what my WW Friend in Roseberg's wife said, "Tell him he's a "dirty old man". That's a burb of Houston.)

And tell her to be careful. We might be related.
I have ancestry at the Alamo.

Boys will be boys.
:takinWiz:

[cbrick]

Question for Gear . . .

Is your house for sale?

Rick

[geargnasher]

Question for Gear . . .

Is your house for sale?

Rick

If I ever get it finished, I don't plan on leaving, too much sweat equity! Besides, it's made to fit me and the Mrs. We like our 2x6 walls, 12' ceilings and 39-1/2" countertops, full extension slides on everything, and the fact everything was planned for practicality. Now I guess I have to oil those cabinet doors and etch the glass panels now that she's on the rampage.

I used to have a dovetail machine, that's why I keep my electronic calipers in the wood shop, but I have better luck using a jig and shaper table than the dedicated dovetail setup. I do use "very-nears" in the reloading room for COAL measurements and quick checks, but I challenge anyone to wear our a quality micrometer so I'm not skeered to get my money's worth out of mine.

Gear

[Mrs.Geargnasher]

Now I guess I have to oil those cabinet doors and etch the glass panels now that she's on the rampage.

Hey! I am not!



.....yet.

[Sonnypie]

Hell hath no fury.... Comes to mind.

[Centaur 1]

Gear, I keep going back to the pictures of the cabinet doors and the room door. I've never seen anyone around here work with pecan and the wood you used has a lot of character. Is pecan something that's available where you live, or do you have to order it special? There isn't much if any wood harvesting done here in the land of palm trees and scrub oak. Unless I were to order something online, I limited to red oak or poplar from Home Depot. I'm going to look into buying some pecan the next time I order wood for a project. Mrs. Gear mentioned teak oil, is that what you mostly use for finishing your projects? I've been using Minwax antique oil for about a year now and I like it a lot better than linseed or tung oil. I use their technique where you wait 5 minutes after applying it, then wipe it back off. It gives a satin finish that's really smooth.

[geargnasher]

Centaur, I like the pecan because of its color and pattern, and it's tough, fine grain. It is widely available from suppliers and costs just a little more than white oak. The patterns make it look too "busy" for cabinet doors if made in traditional raised-panel, 5-piece configuration, so I opted for flat slab style doors. Obviously, the walk-through doors all had to be made the traditional way, mortise/tenon stiles/rails with floating flat panels, and yes, the square pegs in the corners are real and pass through the tenons. I order pecan rough-cut and not straightlined from a hardwood supplier, for example the door and our bed is made from 2" -thick lumber that I plane and straightline myself. The rest is 1" stuff that I plane to thickness and run through the drum sander. No stain required, I use Watco teak oil because it will penetrate and harden in the surface rather than on it, and is more durable than any laquer or urethane surface because the wood itself IS the surface, and pecan is very hard, especially when sanded to 400-grit. This only works with tight-grained hardwoods. Two coats of teak oil, flood the surface, let soak for 30 minutes, touch up dry spots, let penetrate another 15 minutes or so, then wipe off and let dry overnight. Retouch every year or so, clean with Murphy's Oil Soap as required.

Check with your local custom cabinet shops and see where their local wholesale hardwood supplier is, you should be able to get them to order anything you want for a small markup+tax if they can add it so existing stock orders and save freight, even doing that you will pay less than half what HD wants for their red oak. Pecan runs about $5-7 per board foot around here through Blue Linx.

Gear

[Centaur 1]

I don't have the equipment to make large projects like you, but after a lifetime of working with tool steel I enjoy working with wood. I can see myself getting some pecan and making a pair of pistol grips.

I have a can of Watco Danish oil, but I never tried the teak oil. It's thinner than the antique oil that I like using. On most projects I use 2 or 3 coats of the Danish oil first since it soaks in so well, then I follow up with 8 or more coats of Antique oil. I refinish a lot of gun stocks so I like the protection that I get from using extra coats. It's hard to talk people into wiping the finish off like we do, but the extra work of building up the finish "in" the wood versus on top of the wood makes for a great look. The antique oil is probably either thicker or has an extra drying ingredient because it's ready to wipe off in only 5 to 10 minutes. When it's used on a walnut stock it will fill the grain without building up on the outside of the stock. I know what you mean when you say the wood is the surface, the wood not only hardens but it makes the grain stand out so much better than with those shiny poly-razzmataz coatings.

[Idaho Sharpshooter]

By time you get to age 62 and wear tri-focals you will find the digital much easier to read.

Rich