The writing on the wall...

[Roy Martin]

Thanks, Odie, for suggesting the above thoughts. If I had any vacant wall space in my little shop I would add some of these to my walls. It's great to know that turners not only have gifted hands, but gifted minds as well. Thanks to all for these coments.

 

[Jeff Scott]

This comes from a coffee shop in Bentonville, Arkansas, but it applies to me in my shop:
"Don't settle for "Good Enough"!

 

[Bill Boehme]

Before somebody stole it, I had an OSHA warning sign on my tablesaw that read, "This machine eats fingers and is looking at yours. Quick, hide them in your pocket". BTW, the "it" that was stolen was the sign, not the tablesaw.

 

[John Hicks]

This is not a human

 

[Tim Starliper]

I forgot I do have a few things hanging on the wall above the door.



I do not own a SawStop (yet.....) but was able to get the blade from a demo. Mounted it to the base and turned it into a clock. Other than where the stopping block fused itself to the blade, the cartridge it not attached. I think I will swing it back into place and tack it down with hot clue or something. I also need to change the batteries in the clock - it has been stopped for a few months now....

 

[odie]

I do not own a SawStop (yet.....) but was able to get the blade from a demo.

Thanks for showing us your clock, Tim.....

It made me curious about how a SawStop works, and I found a couple videos that explained the mechanism. The second vid is a little longer, but goes into a little more depth...

View: https://youtu.be/ynEdke5dzIU

View: https://youtu.be/SYLAi4jwXcs


-----odie-----

 

[Tim Starliper]

It is a pretty neat thing. The cartridges are not cheap. Not sure if they still do, but at one time, SawStop would replace the cartridge for free if it fired due to actual skin contact. They can misfire if you cut anything conductive, so you have to be careful. There is a bypass to disable to mechanism when you are cutting things that might have moisture in them such as pressure treated lumber and such. There is a video out there somewhere of high speed footage where someone (the inventor, possibly) uses his thumb to trigger the mechanism.

When I got the one I used for my clock, I looked as closely at it as I could. Looks like when the sensing circuit detects the change in the signal on the blade, it dumps a lot of power into a metal link, causing part of the link to vaporize releasing the mechanism. The spring releases its tension driving the mechanism up and into the blade. The link blowing open (pretty much like a fuse when there is a short circuit) is the flash in the videos. The aluminum stopping arm is held back by the link, compressing the spring. And that is a seriously heavy spring.

I also liked the fact that on the cartridge I have, the DE-9 connector was made by the company I work for. I like seeing our products out in the world. We are one of those companies that many never heard of, but many use our products on a daily basis - we make parts that go into the electrical and electronic devices and products you buy, and these days that seems to be just about everything not consumable!

 

[Steve Doerr]

My walls are covered with tools and pictures of shapes of different hollow forms. It helps me to focus on shapes and curves.

 

[Tom Albrecht]

My seven year old granddaughter made my favorite for me:

 

[Kirk Amidon]

@Tim Starliper - that must be a challenging time for a clock to stop - if one is waiting for "5 o'clock somewhere"

Cool use of a fired cartridge, however.

 

[GRJensen]

Had one (accidental) activation on my SawStop 10 years ago ... made this to serve as a constant reminder to pay attention to the position of my aluminum miter gauge fence!

 

[Tom Albrecht]

Had one (accidental) activation on my SawStop 10 years ago ... made this to serve as a constant reminder to pay attention to the position of my aluminum miter gauge fence!
View attachment 44050

So is the blade ruined and permanently fastened to the brake?

 

[GRJensen]

So is the blade ruined and permanently fastened to the brake?

This was the stock, factory-installed blade and I didn't try to salvage it ... I had a new Freud blade that I installed and got on with business. In many instances (I am told) the blade can be refurbished for further use.

 

[Tim Starliper]

Every one I have seen has the blade pretty thoroughly fused with the aluminum brake. Even with an expensive blade, still rather be out the cost of a pricey blade than out the cost of the ER trip and possible loss of fingers or worse.

I have heard they can be separated and the blade refurbished, but I wonder if it would be worth it. Just how much stress did the blade withstand to go from full speed to stopped by the teeth completely in milliseconds - and what sort of performance can I look to in the future from that blade.

 

[Tim Starliper]

@Tim Starliper - that must be a challenging time for a clock to stop - if one is waiting for "5 o'clock somewhere"

Cool use of a fired cartridge, however.

Remember....it's ALWAYS 5 o'clock somewhere. At least, that is what I heard from a very wise man.

 

[George Kuipers]

Safety first.

 

[Gary Beasley]

As Mike Rowe would say Safety second. Engage brain first!

 

[Dennis Weiner]

Difference between genius and stupidity?
. . .
Genius has limits……. . . . . .

Stuart Batty (At Saratoga Springs Totally turning 2022)

 

[robo hippy]

A good saw shop can replace damaged teeth. They can also tell you if the blade got warped and is no longer good.

It was Albert Einstein who said, "The difference between intelligence and stupidity is that intelligence has limits."

robo hippy

 

[Bill Boehme]

A good saw shop can replace damaged teeth. They can also tell you if the blade got warped and is no longer good.

It was Albert Einstein who said, "The difference between intelligence and stupidity is that intelligence has limits."

robo hippy

I vote for Yogi Berra.

 

[Tim Starliper]

I vote for Yogi Berra.

Isn't he the one that said he didn't say half the things he said?

 

[Tim Starliper]

While watching some YouTube videos and reading about a rather interesting person, I came across some quotes that may be applied in many circumstances:

"The most damaging phrase in the language is: 'It's always been done that way.'"
"One accurate measurement is worth a thousand expert opinions."
"It is often easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission."
"The glass is neither half empty nor half full. It's simply larger than it needs to be. It is easier to get forgiveness than permission."
"Life was simple before World War II. After that, we had systems."

- Admiral Grace Hopper

Another quote of hers was "I seem to do an awful lot of retiring." She was a professor before she joined the Navy. In her 30s. She retired from the Navy 3 times, if I recall correctly - the last with a rank of Rear Admiral. If you have the time, search for videos of her on YouTube. I loved her 1983 lecture at MIT (the almost hour and a half runtime of that one seemed to fly by). She was also a guest on Letterman, and there are a number of other clips of her. She was someone who I think I would have gotten along with. At one point (in the Navy) she was given and office and a couple of assistants. No budget. No furnishings. Nothing but a couple of desks and the space. She provided direction to those under her, and soon after she had a nicely furnished office. Apparently, while a table was being carried to her office, she was asked about it and responded something to the effect of 'it wasn't bolted down'.

Admiral Grace Hopper is credited with a lot of firsts in the computer world. She wrote the book on the first computer (literally) in the Navy - the Mark 1 - that was used for calculating trajectories. As she tells it, she was told to write the manual for the computer. She responded that she had never written a manual before and did not know much about the computer yet. The response was 'You are in the Navy now.' In the interview or lecture (forget which) she said after that 'So, I wrote a manual'. While there is a misattribution of her finding the first real computer bug (a moth that had been beaten to death by relay contacts in the Mark 1), she is responsible for calling computer problems bugs from that point on. The moth, taped into the record book for the system, is still there. I know at one point it was on display at a Boston Museum, but I have not dug to see if it still is.

Edited to add: As far as we know, she is the only Naval officer to ever fly the Jolly Roger. She had been given the flag at one point, and hung it in her office.

 

[J. Paul Fennell]

How about?

“If you hold a cat by its tail, you will learn things you cannot learn any other way” (Mark Twain)

 

[robo hippy]

One of my favorite Yogi Berra quotes is "it is 90% mental and 10% in your head".

robo hippy

 

[Tim Starliper]

One of my favorite Yogi Berra quotes is "it is 90% mental and 10% in your head".

robo hippy

Yogi certainly had plenty of them. There are also plenty that sound like his, but are not.

A former job I had was working with our town's highway/property department. We maintained the streets in town, along with properties owned by the town. We would hire 'casual workers' (as the contract called them). There was an older man that used to live in town, had some learning issues and was mentally limited. He was able to live by himself and care for himself, but not much more. We brought him on to help out one summer, as handling a shovel or a lawn mower is not too difficult (not one of the tractors, a regular push mower). He told the boss he needed three days off. When asked what for, he was going to clean his basement. The first half one day, the second half the next day, and the last half the 3rd day. He was definitely a character.

 

[John Snow]

So is the blade ruined and permanently fastened to the brake?

My local shop "dissolved" my trashed SawStop cartridge from my expensive blade, fixed some teeth, and re-sharpened it for less than a new blade. I think they use lye, which attacks the aluminum brake, but not the steel/carbide blade. I've had three triggers with my saw, two because I was not careful enough with a metal miter gauge, and one because some invisible embedded metal in a piece of wood. Now I use a different miter gauge and have a metal detector.

 

[Ric Williams]

There are two types of people in the world:
1) Those who can extrapolate from incomplete data.

 

[Steve Worcester]

My cabinets in my shop have a dry erase board insert in the center panel. Actually it is a thin sheet of steel with dry erase vinyl over it. Great for taking note or adding inspirational quotes.

 

[odie]

Do it now

I have decided "do it now" is the most important thing I've ever written in my shop somewhere......and, there are many!

There are so many things that never would have happened, if I hadn't stopped to do this......fix that......or try something new.

It's also the very first thing I wrote on the wall some 20, or so years ago.....and, it's still there!

-----odie-----

 

[Stephen Blalock]

The cucumber is bitter? Then throw it out.

There are brambles in the path? Then go around them.

Marcus Aurelius

 

[RichColvin]

Tom...... This quote from Aristotle, reminds me of those turners who worry about getting an exact degree measurement on their gouge angles......when, in reality, this is a prime example of "close is good enough"!

-----odie-----

Odie,

I often say the same, only adding

1. keeping a consistent angle when resharpening is key to ease of use, and
2. frequent resharpening matters far more than the angle.

 

[odie]

Odie,

I often say the same, only adding

1. keeping a consistent angle when resharpening is key to ease of use, and
2. frequent resharpening matters far more than the angle.

Hi Rich.....

I agree with #2

As for #1......I also agree, with the following notation: There is more than one way to do it. The great majority of turners will have prescribed angles, according to how their sharpening jig is set-up. I agree with the philosophy of this method, because it works.....as long as all the gouges that have this prescribed angle and grind shape are using an identical jig setup, and sharpened in the same manner.

What I've been doing, is to match the angle that pre-exists on any one gouge to the grinding wheel.....(and, since I'm still using friable grinding wheels, this method is of great interest to those who do.....even though this is not the primary reason for doing so.) If I want to change the gouge angle, and sometimes that's the case.....I can make small incremental adjustments to the jig angle, according to my needs. This also works very well.....however, I feel I'm in a very small minority of turners who sets up their grinding jig in this manner.

I feel I'm also in a very small minority that started turning some 40 years ago, using conventional gouge grinds. I then converted to the vari-grind Wolverine jig to take advantage of the very popular "swept back" grinds......and, because I felt the conventional grind is a superior grind with better capabilities and overall usefulness, I then converted back to using the conventional grind almost exclusively.......but, that's a whole 'nuther story!

Most turners who've started turning in the past 30 years, or so......are likely not even aware of the traditional grind.....or, it's value. It seems to be absent from all the educational materials that are available to us these days. This is unfortunate, IMHO.

-----odie-----

 

[Doug Rasmussen]

Not on the wall so much as in the back of my mind and a guiding principle of my life.

"We're surrounded by insurmountable opportunity"

 

[Will Armstrong]

I will take this opportunity Odie to humbly ask maybe you could share your insights into the advantages of the conventional grind! As a novice turner it would be great to learn about it, and I would bet I am not alone. You could write "Odie's Ode to the bygone days of the conventionally ground gouge"

 

[odie]

I will take this opportunity Odie to humbly ask maybe you could share your insights into the advantages of the conventional grind! As a novice turner it would be great to learn about it, and I would bet I am not alone. You could write "Odie's Ode to the bygone days of the conventionally ground gouge"

As a newbie, I started turning with a conventional grind, and I used it for a time, before I bought the Wolverine jig. This was around 1990+/-, when most turners were converting to the swept back grinds that Ellsworth was pioneering. Back then, I was not experienced enough to realize how to take full advantage of the different shape of the ground gouge.....conventional vs swept back. After I converted to the swept back grinds via the Wolverine + the vari-grind jig, it took me awhile to realize there were certain transitional cuts I was having difficulty with.....especially for the interiors of extreme inward slanted walls on bowls.....the traditional grind made those transitional interior cuts easier. Not only that, but as my experience developed, I began creating exterior details that were easier to accomplish with the traditional grind. My experience was gaining, and because of that, the realization that I could do some things with the traditional grind that I couldn't do with the swept back grinds was coming into focus. At that point, I began a gradual transition back to the traditional grind.....and, I've never looked back!

With a word of caution......the most cleanly made cut (assuming sharp tools and good presentation) is a cut that sometimes takes place very close to having a catch. New turners should stay away from that "danger zone" until they learn good tool control. Experienced turners can negotiate that danger zone with the knowledge that only comes with time in the saddle.....

My advice would be for a new turner to experiment with both types of grinds, and as you gain experience, the difference between these two basic types of grinds may have better focus.....and if that happens, you may gain a greater understanding. Most turners never really advance beyond a simple shaped bowl that is easily power sanded, and for those, there may never be the kind of realization I feel I was lucky enough to have.

For those who don't know what a traditional grind is, it's by using the v-arm of the Wolverine. Instead of swinging the gouge from side to side like with the vari-grind jig.....you rotate the gouge on it's longitudinal axis to create the grind shape you want. There is a technique to it, and having nice curved wings that smoothly transition to the nose is what you're looking to get.

-----odie-----

 

[Will Armstrong]

That's great Odie! Thanks for taking the time to elaborate on your perspective!

 

[Doug Freeman]

@odie could you post some pics of your traditional grinds, with bevel angle noted? Also flute type. It sounds like you use 2 or more angles. A description of situations where you use each would be helpful. I’m always open to understanding how others do things, and experimenting to see how it works for me.

It might be better to make it a new thread vs burying it in this one.

 

[odie]

@odie could you post some pics of your traditional grinds, with bevel angle noted? Also flute type. It sounds like you use 2 or more angles. A description of situations where you use each would be helpful. I’m always open to understanding how others do things, and experimenting to see how it works for me.

It might be better to make it a new thread vs burying it in this one.

Hi Doug......

The traditional grind is absent from all the current resources I've seen.

Photo 1 is a good view.....note that the bevel can be lengthened or shortened as needed.
Photo 2 is looking from the side to match the existing bevel to the grinding wheel by adjusting the extension of the V-arm. Note that the bevel is a bit longer on this gouge, than in photo #1. (I don't measure my bevel angles.....it's all done by visual.....and, it doesn't need to be exact. All you need to know, is you want it longer, or shorter!)
Photo 3 shows the gouge revolving on the longitudinal axis to create the traditional grind, using the Wolverine V-arm.

I mostly use a standard deep flute bowl gouge, but the traditional grind is useful for any flute shape.

The traditional grind is a very simple shape, but it's very versatile in use.

-----odie-----

 

[odie]

I have so many notes, that my walls are looking like the inside of a well used phone booth......(for those of you who even remember what a phone booth is! )

Some of my latest scribblings on my shop walls are:



"If the notes don't make sense....make them make sense."

"Keep moving!"

"Use it, or lose it" (borrowed from something I wrote on one of my exercise machines, but can be easily applied to woodturning, too!

"Read your notes, you dummy!"

"Embrace the art of puttering"

"Drone on"



-o-

 

[Pat Wisniewski]

As one of eight siblings there was always a lot to be done to keep our busy home clean and running smoothly.
Even when we were quite young my Mother would expect us to participate in fairly complex 'chores' for our age.
If one of us complained "I can't do that" her typical response was:

"Saying you can't is just saying you won't"


When our five were young and still home and said, "I can't do that" I would quote Richard Bach from his book "Illusions":

"Argue for your limitations, and surely they are yours".


A friend who was a crane operator and welder liked to quote Navjot Singh Sidhu:

"Experience is like a comb that life gives you when you are bald."
(yes, he was almost entirely bald).


When I started working as a hospice nurse the cubicle I moved into at the office had a strip of paper taped to the edge of the bookshelf wth this on it:

"The More You Live, The Less You Die"


And my personal favorite:

"90% of being able to accomplish doing something is not being afraid to try"