We learnt so much at our regular meeting for May!
Some essential handouts on Table Design from Chris, and Brian demonstrated many great techniques on the workcentre, including constructing a mitred joint with a longitudinal spline, as well as making a round stock with a hand plane.
Members, please Login for videos of the meeting.
At our regular April meeting, members were treated to a great presentation by Graham and Ray from the Woodcraft Guild on all aspects of table building.
Members, please Login for videos of the meeting.
At our regular meeting for March Chris and Brian demonstrated edge straightening on the workcentre.
Members, please Login for videos of the meeting.
Chris gave a couple of very useful and informative presentations after the AGM at our November meeting.
(Members, please login to see the President’s Report on the Member’s page.)
Chris first presented a session on card scrapers, including two videos. The first demonstrated four uses of a scraper, while the second demonstrated how to sharpen one.
He also showed an alternative sharpening tool from his own collection.
Chris then presented an overview of clamp storage methods, drawn from the web and his workshop.
Enjoy your woodworking – Christmas is not far away!
Ron introduced the teams making the bird boxes at the meeting. All the makers enjoyed the opportunity to work with other club members in making the boxes. When there were problems, or things did not turn out as they hoped, the common catch cry of all groups was…”its only a bird box!!”.
The teams were;
Congratulations and thanks to all who participated!
The boxes were presented to Mick wearing his Landcare hat. The following video shows Mick giving a bit more information about the group (and a little bit about a local woodworking club!)
A certificate of appreciation was presented to Debbie from Bunnings for supplying all the materials for the project. She and her husband (another Mick) were pleased with the outcome and enjoyed seeing how Bunnings donations were making a valuable contribution to the community.
Lindsay From COTA gave a short presentation on the Silver in Gold Expo. Sadly the Expo has been postponed, but when it’s finally held the Club will hopefully be running a stand at the Expo, and Lindsay will organise for the Landcare group to have an adjoining stand to highlight the work being done by TOCACT in the Community.
The evening was rounded off with some great demonstrations on board making.
The router – connected to Brian’s cyclonic dust extractor and the vacuum cleaner (no dust in the face tonight) – was in full use for demonstrations of tongue and groove cuts and biscuit joining to make wide boards for table tops etc.
The techniques used by Brian and Ron could be performed on any router table and were not specific to Triton, although Brian did show us the Triton biscuit joiner.
Tonight’s meeting was on making the frame for drawers.
Ron demonstrated the Gifkins dovetail jig for making drawers. A little help from Brian’s sledge hammer and we had a nice tight fit!
Check out another demonstration of the jig below.
If you are looking at drawer lock bits, the small diameter upright bits (the blue type in John’s slide presentation) may be safer and easier to use. The gap between the fences on the router table are narrower. There is less opportunity for the wood pieces to slip into the gap between the fences. The downside is that there is limited scope for integrated fascia boards with the smaller diameter bits.
The smaller diameter bits can also be operated at higher speeds. Many routers only have a single high speed. The Triton router was one of the first to bring in variable speeds.
We also learned the importance of doing lots of test cuts – not just to make sure the depth of the cut is right but also to develop a safe reliable technique for these awkward cuts. A high temporary fence is recommended by John to provide stability, especially with larger drawers.
Click on the Torquata drawer lock bit below for more information by Timbecon. John found their video demonstration particularly useful as the bit did not come with any instructions. John has written instructions for his future reference on test cut pieces which he keeps with his high fence. It is worth searching out U-Tube videos demonstrating other drawer lock router bits.
And these are the Timbecon demonstrations.
Members might also find the following site useful.
Chris brought in and demonstrated a range of jigs that he has made and uses in his workshop.
These were:
There was strong interest in these jigs and Chris offered to provide details and plans on request.
 L-Jig |
 Panel Clamps |
 Router Mortising Jig |
After the break Chris showed a video on workshop storage systems including vertical drawers.
Chris gave a great presentation to members on sharpening. Here it is for those who couldn’t make it to the meeting, but try to come next time if you can – you learn so much more being there!
Now you can get working on those Christmas presents with nice sharp tools!
A couple of great items from members for our first meeting back.
Mick shared his experience how his dust control project grew after talking to fellow Tritoners. Mick’s next presentation aims to share his further experience in progressing this project referencing ‘Dust Control Made Simple’ by Sandor Nagyszalanczy.
John W then presented the results of his investigative work on building a Biesemyer style rip fence for the Triton 2000. He believes it can also apply to an MK3.
Happy woodworking!