Skill Set: Building Woodworking Low Horses |
- Skill Set: Building Woodworking Low Horses
- Hylas 1 completes testing, Europe's first broadband satellite to start serving customers next week
- Spout for iPhone Beautifies Your Feeds One Post at a Time [Video]
- Linux 2.6.38 Released
- Google's Updated iOS App Might Make You Use It Now [Video]
- Google Search for iPhone replaces Google Mobile app
- Verizon offers unlimited LTE data plan for HTC Thunderbolt, don't expect it to stick around
- Sony wants to hire hackers now?
- Steel Guitar in a Sink
- A Wailing Tribute To the Wah-Wah Pedal [Video]
| Skill Set: Building Woodworking Low Horses Posted: 15 Mar 2011 04:00 PM PDT
Here’s another wonderful woodworking project from Len Cullum. Editing this really makes me want to build a pair of these, and I don’t even do woodworking! (BTW: See links to all of Len’s articles at the bottom of this piece.) –Gareth
In this installment of my series of Woodworking Skill Set articles, I will be building shop furniture that sees even more action than the sawhorses — these are called “low horses.” Since most Japanese woodwork is done while sitting, it stands to reason that the sawhorses would be short enough to accommodate. And while I don’t do too much work on the floor, I do use the low horses all of the time. They are incredibly useful in general but where they really shine is in keeping whatever I’m working on above the ever-increasing splay of tools that accumulate on my bench. In the years since I made my first pair, I’ve been recommending them to all of my woodworker friends as essential what-did-I-do-before-I-had-these tools. But it isn’t until I make a pair for them that they agree and often go on to make more for themselves. Constructed using a two by four and a couple of hand tools they’re cheap and easy to build. I usually build them using hardwoods like oak or hickory, but anything will do. The pair pictured above are oak reclaimed from old church pews. For the ones I’m making here, I’ll be using a two by four. Okay, it is admittedly a fancy 2×4 (quarter-sawn hemlock) but a two by four nonetheless. Nothing but the best for the readers of the Make blog I say! As always, choose the clearest, straightest lumber you can find. As far as technique goes, this is mostly about connecting lines. Working both sides at an angle to create a peak in the center, and then gradually reducing the peak to a flat. This approach will give you much more control and cleaner, more accurate results. And that is what good joinery is all about. What I’m using:
Start by breaking the two by four down into its parts, which in this case, are four 8″ long legs and two 22″ long beams. These measurements aren’t critical, they were determined by what I could get out of those original oak boards and I’ve been using them ever since. If you’re cutting them by hand, take a look at the method I outlined in the workhorses article. Layout:
On the beams, mark a line 2″ in from either end and 1/2″ down either side. Place a leg against the line and mark its thickness. Transfer that line as well. Lastly, set the square for 1/2″ and connect all of the pairs of lines.
Saw:
Chisel:
Once all the bottoms have been flattened, it’s time to start the fitting. Letter or number each leg to a corresponding joint on the beams. This is important because each one will be trimmed to fit its own spot. Working one joint at a time, trim one side right to the line, but don’t trim the line away. This is called “saving the line.” Hold the end of the corresponding leg in place and check the layout line. If it doesn’t match up with the line you made redraw it. Trim to the line then repeat the process on the other half of the joint. When both halves of the cut are done, fit them together. The fit should be snug but shouldn’t require more than a couple of light taps with a hammer to seat it.
Make ‘em Pretty: I begin by making a pattern on a piece of card stock and then transferring it to both sides of each leg. If you have a bandsaw, scroll saw, or coping saw handy, now would be a good time to use it. Since I wanted to build these with a minimum of tools, I am using a regular handsaw to get rid of the waste and then chiseling away the rest.
Staying back from the pattern lines, saw out a notch to remove the bulk between the curves. Then make a cut across the points.
Using a (say it with me) sharp chisel, trim along the edges at an angle to the pattern lines. When both sides are trimmed, pare away the wood in-between, leaving just a bit of the angled edge intact. Clamping the leg to a bench is highly recommended. Be patient and take light shavings. This will save both your chisel and your hands.
When all of the legs are prettified, it’s time to make a relief in the bottom of each leg to create feet. I measured in 2″ from each end and about 1/4″ deep. This layout could be traced from the pattern, but I didn’t think of it until it was too late. Always learning… Using the same method as the half-laps, saw to the lines and chisel away the rest.
The last step before assembly is to use a chisel (or knife or sandpaper) to remove all of the sharp corners. Just avoid the areas near the joints.
The Glue-Up:
And there you have it! If you want to take them further still, sand them smooth and apply finish. Or, as I do with all of mine, using double stick tape, add a sacrificial strip of cedar to the top to protect them, and whatever I place on them, from damage. All that’s left now is to put them to use.
More: |
| Hylas 1 completes testing, Europe's first broadband satellite to start serving customers next week Posted: 15 Mar 2011 03:44 PM PDT  It hasn't exactly been all that long since Avanti Communications' Hylas 1 satellite blasted off at the end of November, but it's now almost ready to start spreading some wireless broadband across 16 countries in Europe. Avanti just announced today that the satellite's in-orbit testing phase has been a "complete success," and that it will go into service sometime next week with an initial test group of customers, before beginning a broader transition on April 4th. All told, over 60 operators have signed up to offer the satellite broadband service to customers, which promises to offer connections of up to 10Mbps to folks in even the most rural areas. It's also only just the beginning -- Avanti plans to launch Hylas 2 sometime in the second quarter of 2012, which will extend its coverage to Africa and the Middle East. [Thanks, Brett] Hylas 1 completes testing, Europe's first broadband satellite to start serving customers next week originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Mar 2011 18:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink  Stockopedia News | | Email this | Comments |
| Spout for iPhone Beautifies Your Feeds One Post at a Time [Video] Posted: 15 Mar 2011 03:40 PM PDT  |
| Posted: 15 Mar 2011 03:39 PM PDT darthcamaro writes "The new Linux 2.6.38 kernel is now out, and it's got a long list of performance improvements that should make Linux a whole lot faster. The kernel includes support for Transparent Huge Pages, Transmit Packet Steering (XPS), automatic process grouping, and a new RCU (Read/Copy/Update)-based path name lookup. '"This patch series was both controversial and experimental when it went in, but we're very hopeful of seeing speedups," James Bottomley, distinguished engineer at Novell said. "Just to set expectations correctly, the dcache/path lookup improvements really only impact workloads with large metadata modifications, so the big iron workloads (like databases) will likely see no change. However, stuff that critically involves metadata, like running a mail server (the postmark benchmark) should improve quite a bit."'"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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| Google's Updated iOS App Might Make You Use It Now [Video] Posted: 15 Mar 2011 03:30 PM PDT  |
| Google Search for iPhone replaces Google Mobile app Posted: 15 Mar 2011 03:30 PM PDT Google Mobile for iPhone has become Google Search for iPhone, and the new name comes with a new look and some additional features. There's a slick-looking new sidebar -- activated by swiping to the right -- where you can decide what kind of results you want to see, including news, images and all the other familiar Google search types. Google Search for iPhone replaces Google Mobile app originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 15 Mar 2011 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments |
| Verizon offers unlimited LTE data plan for HTC Thunderbolt, don't expect it to stick around Posted: 15 Mar 2011 03:15 PM PDT  Verizon offers unlimited LTE data plan for HTC Thunderbolt, don't expect it to stick around originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Mar 2011 18:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments |
| Sony wants to hire hackers now? Posted: 15 Mar 2011 03:02 PM PDT
Sony Offers a job to a hacker, Whilst Suing another via Reddit. A commenter on image sums it up nicely…
In my article (Sony's War on Makers, Hackers, and Innovators) I suggested Sony hire some of these amazing makers and innovators instead of suing them – it looks like they’re trying, but they should drop the geohot lawsuit first. |
| Posted: 15 Mar 2011 03:00 PM PDT Prolific MAKE contributor Andrew Lewis sent us this video of a guy who built a steel guitar into a steel sink top. Add a washboard bass and you’re ready to jam and do housework! |
| A Wailing Tribute To the Wah-Wah Pedal [Video] Posted: 15 Mar 2011 03:00 PM PDT  |
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