slicing the face of laminate blanks to flatten

[elizabeth]

Hi, guys! I've successfully made a laminated blank! That's the good news. Have learned some things so far on making laminate strips and blanks to use for inlays and other.... Nothing to show yet cause I've come up against a few dilemmas. One being that the table insert for my band-saw had buckled and I have spent several days making a replacement. Finished it today and it works just fine. A big accomplishment for me!

Now I want to slice (re-saw) my blank into two pieces 1/8 and 1/4 thick respectfully. I've watched the video several times that Cody suggested. woodtreks.com/ The man uses a push stick with a lip at the end to slice his blanks to 1/16" thick on his table saw, using a thin kerf blade. This operation scares the dickens out of me because my blank is 1 1/2 " tall and 1/2" thick. I also don't have a 1/16th blade.

Today, I tried belt sanding my blank to clean it up and get a flat face but ended with a distorted piece. No matter how I held it, it still bounced all over preventing a flat face. I wanted to use the band-saw to straighten and re-saw, but I can't get an even cut cause the blade wiggles. So, I started making the type of push-stick I saw in the video. It works except that when I bear down on my workpiece to run it though the blade on the TBS it moves away from the fence at the bottom. Now I have an angled face and not much more wood to work with (1/2").

What I'm trying to make is a "board", like the one in the link that Joe suggested
www.woodworkstuff.net/Klam.html
so that I can then miter it to make the sides of a tiny box. The box will be 1" square and I don't need the sides any thicker than 1/8th - 1/4". I'll be gluing a bottom and making a pull up top.

I'm hoping to make another laminate in the design Tim drew out for me to use for the top. I'm running short of time since I want to give this box to my Mom for her 75th on Feb.11. I have a nice little pin to enclose in the box.

Stupid question your way

Should I just go ahead and miter the face of my blank at the 45 angle, glue it up, and then worry about re-sawing/flattening and squaring?

Sorry for the wordiness.

Thanks!

[TDHofstetter]

Heya, 'Lizabeth!

Ok, let's start with flattening your piece of wood. THAT MUST be done before we do anything else, including the miter.

How long a workpiece is it? Is it short enough to flatten by hand, on sandpaper stuck down to a very flat surface like your table saw's top or your band saw's table? If so, that's how ta' do it at this point; it'd be wickedly spooky to run it through a jointer, and difficult to hand-plane, and a bandsaw - while it will do the resawing - will leave a rough surface that you'll need to flatten again.

Assuming we can flatten by hand-sanding on a super-flat surface, start by sanding ACROSS the grain with paper coarse enough to cut fairly quickly - say 80 grit. Sand across the grain until you've got the piece JUST NEARLY flattened but not quite, then switch up to 120 grit and start sanding WITH the grain. Stop often to examine your work; you'll see rapid progress as the 120 cleans up the 80-grit scratch marks. Just about the time the 80-grit scratches are gone, the 120 should have finished flattening the piece, too... and it's time to clean up the other surface the same way.

Now, after cleaning up both surfaces, you can switch up again to about 180-grit. Again, sand with the grain with your 180. It'll greatly improve your surface and change the color of the wood a little.

THEN it's time to think about resawing.

If the workpiece is too long to hand-sand effectively, it's probably best to flatten it with the table saw... but you'll want a pair of featherboards to hold it snug against the fence while you run it through with your push stick. You'll first adjust the fence so the sawblade JUST SKIMS the surface. Next, set the first featherboard just SHORT of the blade, in a position where it'll push the workpiece tight to the fence JUST BEFORE it touches the blade. The second featherboard will go BEHIND the blade in this case (since there's no cutoff, in which case you must NOT use a second featherboard). It's purpose is to keep the already-flattened piece against the fence AFTER the blade.

Let's talk about that bandsaw next. The blade moves side-to-side as it's running? It sounds like you have a lumpy tire, and it ALSO sounds like your guides aren't adjusted correctly. There should be very little visible fluctuation in the blade. It's even possible that your blade is kinked and/or not under enough tension. It may be time for another blade, and it's almost certainly time for some bandsaw adjustments.

[Ruffnek]

If the box you are making will only be 1" square, then the piece you are working with is probably small enough to flatten by hand. If it isn't, then cut it in two pieces to make it so.

I keep a sheet of 80 grit sandpaper double-stick taped to the R/H extension wing on my tablesaw. When I need to flatten a small piece or a box bottom or whatever, I just place it flat on the sheet of sandpaper and rub back and forth until it is flat. It doesn't take long.

BTW, if you are intent on doing a lot of laminated inlay, you might consider getting a drum sander for flattening the pieces. A Performax 10-20 would be perfect for doing that sort of thing.

[elizabeth]

Thanks, guys! Sorry I couldn't get back to you sooner.

I was able to spend the day in the shop today and flattened the side of my workpiece with a drum sander attached to the drill press. I have the "Luthier's friend" for this purpose. The technique you mentioned with the sandpaper on the table top wouldn't have worked in this case because I already had one face flat and needed to make the other parallel to it. When I ran that face through the saw it came away from the fence and cut it in a wedge. If I'd sanded that face I would have just had a thinner piece in the same angle since the sanding would register only to the table top and not to the other face. Having said this, feather boards would have prevented this problem completely. I don't have feather boards. I'm loathe to stop everything again to make some!

I made adjustments on the band saw and it's now running true. I think. I re-sawed a test piece and got to within .012" difference in the two edges. I can get the difference "mostly" cleaned up with the robo-sander. Is this variance anything to worry about for the inlay work you've started me on? (The 64th difference in thickness on two edges of my puzzle box contributed to the ill fit with the lock miter.)

I'd like to be able to re-saw my 1/2" thick X 6" long X 1 1/2" high workpiece, and after getting both faces flat, cut it in slices at a 45 degree angle with the band-saw. Then glue up and cut the sides for the box. Because it's a little workpiece and fragile I would prefer doing it on the band-saw. Is it the right tool to use in this application? TBS and small pieces really scare me.

I have the Jet 10-20 drum sander. It needs adjustment. It cuts more on one side than another. I spend more time futzing with these blanquety-blank machines than getting my work done! It's really discouraging. I didn't have the stomach for it today. It took forever to set up the "luthiers friend" because the drill press table won't square to the chuck. For these reasons I had hoped to to it all with the TBS.

Sorry for the diatribe. I love my shop, but I'm a nincompoop with setups. I just learned it's genetic from reading my father's book on our family.

Thanks again. I hope to have something to show you soon....

[admin]

Good idea to adjust the saw if it's cutting wedges. Saves a lot of headaches alogn the way to make things just right. Fortunately ,at least with the Table Saw I have, the settings don't get shifted too often, I hope your bandsaw has the same benefit! .012 is actually quite good. Little bit less than 1/64th" That's a whole lot better than most!

Don't feel too bad about having to futz with the settings, as most of the time, it's time spent towards the end goal, even if it's not making shavings. I spent the largest part of three days just getting my table saw setup just right, diddling the little settings and getting it all on the money. But, now I know that, providing I set my miter back to 90 degrees, when I crosscut, it's going to be 90 degrees. Stuff like that will save time over the long haul.

Generally, if the idea of doing something scares you, it's wise to allow that fear to protect your fingers! There's a number of ways to do most any job, you may even come up with something of a sled hold the pieces in place while you band saw them to keep the fingers well away from the blade. As a last resot, you might even have to cut the pieces by hand if the pieces are too small to cut safely on the powered machines. (I could show you pics of my right hand, yesterday I needed to cut a bunch of small pieces off a long strip, so the table saw popped to mind, the first one I cut off touched the teeth on the backside of the blade, lifted, and bruised the SNOT out of my right hand. I was lucky it hit my flat instead of on it's edge, I'd have some broken bones in my hand if the edge had been what hit first!) If the little voice in the back of your head says "Oh, I don't like this at ALL" then you'd be a fool not to listen. I didn't listen to mine, got whacked good and hard on the back of the hand, and THEN got to cut the pieces by hand anyways... What some may label as cowardice is better termed caution.

I'm no machine set-up wizard, but the following helped me, might help you.

1. Try to determine how far out of adjustment the machine is. Try to do that using dimensions that you can easily work with (if you think in fractions of an inch, then don't mess with .blah, if you work best with .blah, then stay out of fractions.)

2. Make an initial adjustment HALF to a THIRD as much as the machine is out. It's not always easy to guess how much half the adjustment will be, but if you suspect it'd take three fourths of a turn on a screw to get there, break it down to say, 1/4s. After the first adjust, cut a scrap piece and figure out how much it moved. Then readjust and test again. Big wholesale adjustments serve to frustrate; sneaking up on the final setting is slow, but it's usually a lot faster than having to undo a major adjustment when you've gone past the desired setting! Take it slow and don't let it get you mad, otherwise, your temper will get you doing stupid stuff; making full turns on adjustment screws, etc. Calm, it works. ;D

3. 3/8" Plywood, the cheapest stuff at the big box store, is a big friend to setup. You can mark on it what is a true 90 or 45 and then keep working on the setting without running through 'real' wood, or wood you'd earmarked for a project later on. If I'm testing a method, making adjustments, or just trying out a new way of doing something, I try to test it on plywood instead of my good wood. Plus, the little pieces (chittled up scrap) come in handy as a stir-stick if you need to make a sawdust/glue paste, etc. Waste not, want not!

4. If you get flustered, take 10 for yourself. If you smoke, now's the time for a smoke. If you don't smoke, go outside and breath some fresh air. 90% of the solutions I've had have come while I was sitting outside my shop thinking over a solution. Getting away from the blasted thing gives you a chance to actually think about what it's doing or not doing, and thus, a chance to let your mind process what it knows.

Stay focused, and if all else fails, take photos of the adjustments as well as what it's not doing right, post them for us, and we'll see what the collective mind can come up with! I'd be safe to say we've all had machines in our shops that were not perfect out of the box, you never know, one of this group might have already crossed the bridge you're on and discovered the solution. (I would say something about never underestimating fools in large groups, but that doesn't flatter this group much!) ;D ;D

TJ.

[elizabeth]

Thanks, T.J.

I'm so glad you weren't hurt! That must have been scary Friend of mine recently lost his fingertips on the TBS in the same way you describe your mishap. And, thanks for the tips on how to approach my blasted machines. I'll follow that lead. It is aggravating I need to learn to do some things by hand. It's the safest way.

As to dimensional thinking... I'm a disaster . I don't know the language. Just yesterday, I had to ask Neil how to say .012" so I could write you all. Never learned the multiplication tables. Have been learning what a dimension is by looking at the ruler. I've gotten by with one of the best gifts God gave man: Calculators! It's a miracle I was able to do that puzzle box at all!

But, I actually made some progress today. Was able to re-saw my inlay blank on the band-saw, sanded it almost parallel to the flat face with the "Luthier's Friend" (to within .003), finished flattening the scuffed face with the technique Tim and Cody mentioned (it worked wonders!), and I then cut my blank into 1/2" slices at 22.5 degrees with the TBS. It looks very pretty!

Two things I didn't anticipate: angle and saw kerf. The result is that I didn't make my blank long enough to actually make a 1" box out of it!

Oh, well! I have the other re-sawed section (thinner) and I was thinking of treating it the same way as the first, gluing both sections together, and then sanding down the thicker of the two until I get a longer, flat piece. I may be able to salvage the project.

Thank you for your continued support and excellent advice!

[Joe Lyddon]

I'm looking forward to seeing a 1" box with laminations glued to it! ;D

That should one sight to behold! ;D

[elizabeth]

you're a tweedy!