Working with OSMO Wood Finishing Products
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Finishing woodwork projects is the last step in a labor of love so it's critical that the finish show off the hard work, and the details of the wood . Add this to the fact that I have always tried to use products that are eco friendly and the list of finishing products starts to diminish signficantly. The only problem is that in many cases, the eco-friendly products I have tried have not given me anywhere near the kind of finish I wanted ... or expected ... until I discoverd OSMO.
If you have never heard of the word OSMO, don't be too alarmed. It is wood finishing product developed in Germany about 30 years ago. Sadly, it has taken many, many years to hit the North American markets.
One of the biggest advantages of OSMO is that it is eco friendly, and that is because it is made primarily from natural, renewable sunflower oil and plant waxes. In many countries in Europe, with their very high population density, their laws and restrictions on finishing products is quite advanced. OSMO is often a preferred product as it is so safe that it is even approved as a finish for children's toys! Originally created as a floor finishing product, OSMO has since been adapted for use in other ways, but knowing that it is used as floor finishing material helps to understand just how durable this product can be.
For woodworkers, the benefits are numerous, The product will not chip, flake, blister or peel, it has an enormous coverage which means it is not expensive to use. Best of all, it is easy to apply and makes a great finish, AND if it is being used in situations where "finish wear" is a concern, OSMO can be re-finished over top of it'self with only moderate sanding or roughing of the area to be re-finished. It reall is a remarkable product. OSMO comes in both an interior and exterior grade. The main difference with the exterior grade is the addition of UV inhibiting charcteristics.
IT IS VERY IMPORTANT to understand the OSMO is NOT applied to woodworking projects like many of the finishing products you may be accustomed to using. OSMO is NOT a product for the spray gun, nor is using it with most standard paint brushes recommended. OSMO must be applied with a very thin coat, which means it requires special application.
We were very lucky to know expert woodworker and finisher Phil Makin of Frameworks Services, who kindly took the time to explain OSMO to us and take us through the steps of finishing with OSMO. We wish to acknowledge Phil for his time and recommend him for your wood project requirements, sample of which are posted in the second part of this article.
OSMO Intro - Part 1
PLEASE CLICK THE "READ MORE" BELOW TO SEE PART 2
Making a One Piece Box on the Router Table
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Making boxes with the router is argueably one of the most fun things you can do with a router table. Not only that, you get to turn out objects that almost everybody loves and can use ... and it makes you look great. The other thing with boxes on the router table is by taking a design like this and modifying the sizes a little bit, you can make a whole range of different sizes, with or without hinged tops and all sorts of different and unique add-ons. Boxes are one of the most popular items for many people because they look great and are functional. They can be varied in so many different ways, different woods, contrasting woods, stains and dyes, final finishes, glossy, satin, matte, or by making them from laminated veneer woods and highlighting with contrasting wood, the variables are endless.
In this article we are making what we call the One Piece Box because it can be made from on piece of wood. The finished box is 4 inches square and if you can make it either with a routed lift off top as shown in the video, or you can leave the top on and cut it off on your table saw, then use hinges to open the lid. To make the 4 inch by 4 inch box, you need to start off with a board that is at least 26 inches long and 4 inches wide, by three-eighths of and inch thick.
In terms of tools, you will need a router and router table with a fence and you will also need a rabbeting bit that can be set for 3/8" (this is normally done by selecting the correct bearing on top) and you will need a spiral bit, you can use a 1/4" but will find that a 3/8" spiral bit is slightly more forgiving when it comes to cutting the top off the box. The 1/4" will work fine, just make sure you are absolutely correct with your cuts.
Touring of a Bit and Blade Sharpening Shop
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We often don't get the opportunity to see "behind the scenes" tours of businesses that we deal with on a regular basis, but today, we are making an exception. We have not only a behind the scenes look, but and actual guided tour of a bit and blade sharpening business called "The Edge". We get to see what the machinery looks like that sharpens our bits and blades and how it is use.
In this video you will get to see a variety of sharpening machinery and tools and in some cases we will get to see how they work and what they do. Our tour guide is sharpening expert and The Edge Owner, Tom Saxby, who has a remarkable sense of what it takes to provide sharp blades for specific needs at competitive prices. In this video we will get to see what a spiral sharpening machine looks like and how it work, we will see how blade sharpening machine for jointer planers works and including a variety of blade sharpening machinery.
There are two very fascinating machines that are particularly interesting. One is the CNC saw blade sharpener the other is a machine that actually makes shaper type blades.
Pattern Making with the Router
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Learning the tricks of how to use tools can make your woodworing life so - much - easier. The router is one of the perfect tools for making multiple, identical parts or components. Of course, you normally would need a router table with this as well, but depending on the part and the size, these can be done free hand, as long as the parts are held down firmly, and it's a great opportunity to use a "starter pin" to ease the wood into so that it makes a smoother transition.
In terms of a bit, a flush trim bit all that is needed. There are a few versions of these bits in both 1/4" and 1/2" shanks. You can get bits with bearing at the top of the bit, or at the bottom of the bit and you can even get some with bears at both top and bottom. The bits with the two bears are best because it gives you more options.
The actual template material that works best is 1/4" hardboard which is readily available at most hardware and wood supply stores. Although there is also a 1/8" version, which is also painted white on one side and is very nice for drawing your template outline on, the thinner version means more risk of running off the template which can ruin it, and your work piece.
The finished wood products from using this pattern making method are smooth well shaped products that are ready for the next step in the production of the finished product. Pattern making can be used for a variety of woodworking projects but one of the best uses is in making "blanK" inserts for your table saw.
Sharpening Drill Bits with Drill Doctor
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There is nothing more annoying than trying to drill some accurate holes in a project and having the holes all ragged, or even worse, having them off centre because the drill bit is dull. I'm always amazed at home many times we drill holes in things, no wonder manufacturers are always coming out with newer and better corded and cordless drills ( and drill presses too). Woodworkers are a lucky bunch, we can use almost any drill bit to drill wood and most will at least do an acceptable job ... that is ... if they are sharp.
Of course the most common drill bit is the simple twist bit. Certainly it is not the oldest type of bit, in fact it really only came along with the introduction of powered tools to drive a bit of this design. Prior to power drills we had to use braces and similar tools with auger and spoon bits to drill holes. But twist bits remain the most common, though not always the most ideal for the job ... but none the less, the most common because they can drill wood, metal and plastics. Other bits like auger bits, Brad point tipped bits and forstner bits are pretty much only for wood.
There have been tools and jigs around for many years that can be used to sharpen twist bits, but we have not found any that are easy and convenient to use. To sharpen twist bits you really need a dedicated machine, and thats precisely what Drill Doctor has done. They have introduced a line of sharpening tools that will sharpen a long list of twist bits and some Drill Doctor tools will even Masonry bits.
The Drill Doctors are easy to use and will produce consistent results of sharp drill bits. If you find that the diamond grinding grit wheel in your unit is becoming warn, it is easily replaced with either a 100 grit or 180 grit wheel for finer grinding points.
Ridgid Laminate Trim Router Review
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The Ridgid Laminate Trimmer is basically a small hand-held router and in many ways similar to the Bosch, Makita and other small 1/4 inch mini routers. The Ridgid Trim Router features a molded grip that makes the router easy to hold on to and seems to conform to your hand as you hold it, and when you think about it, a hand held router should feel good to hold onto, after all it IS a hand held unit.
The Ridgid trim router that we tested also comes with a nice canvas case and includes both a square and a circular base, and even and edge guide along with the chuck wrench for installing and uninstalling bits. This unit is one of the few laminate trimmers that also features variable speed. At the outset, having variable speed may seem like a small feature but if you are using the trimmer for a variety of jobs, you NEED variable speed because trimming different materials requires a different speeds, like trimming laminate or arborite uses a different speed than trimming burl wood veneers. The one thing we loved was the location and ease of changing speeds with this unit.
We found changing bits was a wee bit awkward as the base really needs to be removed altogether. To help facilitate this there is a quick release, but then there is also "stop" near the end that needs even more effort to get past. All in all, changing bits was not a big issue. just something we needed to get used to. We weren't thrilled with the off on switch which is a indented square block at the top (in fact we to really look to see where the off/on switch was). On the other hand we didn't know what we would do to improve this and we did appreciate that this design although not as easy to turn the trimmer on, is VERY easy to turn the trimmer off which is more important.
In using the router we came to like the micro adjustment that changes the height of the bit in relationship to the base. We found that we could some very accurate cuts and lock the position firmly and that it was positive and smooth to operate, but held firmly.
Laminate trimmers have been around for quite some time but have never been wildly popular and now that we have used this unit, we wonder why that is? These small hand held routers are convient, easy to use and have a multitude of uses such as ...
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