wind
New Member
Posts: 2
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Post by wind on Nov 27, 2008 21:25:44 GMT
 , Hi Guys. Adam from Brighton here.. i've joined the forum as i'm new to woodwork but have been inspired & am hard at work making several geodomes. Got a couple of questions that have come up.. firstly.. when it comes to ash struts from a coppice, what techniques would be used to get them up to a high standard of finish? so far i've been skinning the bark off them & then giving two coats (first one cut with turps) of boiled linseed oil.. but i'm looking for a much smoother finish. i've tried a "mouse" sander but it appears to be fairly useless for this purpose. secondly, i've set myself the tast of making many ash spheres (more details on them here ) So if you've looked that far you'll see the conundrum i find myself in. how best to turn blocks of ash into spheres? how best to measure & what tools & techniques would be needed to drill the holes right so that the ash struts would fit into them? how big are they going to need to be..? any advice appreciated & my gratitude for your time Adam
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Post by andy on Nov 27, 2008 22:03:08 GMT
Welcome Adam
Your link didn't work but I think I've fixed it
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wind
New Member
Posts: 2
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Post by wind on Nov 27, 2008 22:24:57 GMT
cheers dude  |
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Post by agbagb on Nov 28, 2008 13:24:06 GMT
The dome ideas look really interesting. It's got me think where I could use one. I see you are searching far and wide for some suggestions on this. Here's my low-tec solution - A home made router lathe. You would need a frame to turn the log, by hand and a router set up on frame underneath with an adjustable radius arm. Turn the log slowly against the router cutter. If you work out the frame right you should get mots of the sphere cut. re mounting the log at 90 degrees would do the rest. Similarish to how I made large newel post. picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/CnITXp6SnMMKQuWSe-RnswAnd as you are in to bodging my version of a pole lathe crossed with the router. can't suss the picture post malarky picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/X4cKDTOR9FQL6poITrcOEA |
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Post by jfc on Nov 28, 2008 17:42:42 GMT
Sounds like you could both use the Legacy  |
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Post by dom on Nov 28, 2008 18:36:46 GMT
Sounds like green timber would twist and wind all over the place.
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Post by mrspanton on Dec 2, 2008 22:59:56 GMT
First you need to dry your poles, take at least a year and dont force them, or else you will get longitudinal cracks if the outside surfaces dry too fast and the centre is still loaded. Then I would rip the bark off next, with a sharp drawknife and the poles held in a shaving horse. Then use a spoke shave (sharp as you like) or even (if you can find one) a curved shave like what hurdle makers or rakke makers used to do round poles, to refine the surface. That should give a velvety smooth surface but with tiny flat facets. If you want a rounded appearance, then I would use a scraper (with a concave profile) If the wood is dry all this will be easy, even if you sand them the paper wont clog up. I suspect the poles you used wer still wet? Try using elm for those hubs.
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, Hi Guys.
