Mini Engine Model

This little model engine was the Final Project from Machining class.

We used brass, aluminum, and steel. Class training involved both a metal lathe and Bridgeport milling machines with DROs to get parts to within .005” of tolerance.

We also got to train on how use edge finders and dial indicators to mill surfaces flat and square up rough cut pieces as well as taping holes for small screws by hand and by machine assistance.

Once assembled, we polished and sanded parts for smooth movement. Afterwards we ran oil through the whole set-up with air to lubricate in between the parts and test for weak connections.

And here is the finished product! Normally the surface is better polished but Covid so…here we are.

Spoon Carving pt 1 - Sketching and Basic Form

HELLO! I wanted to try carving out of a more exotic and harder wood than most spoon carving samples so I cut down a piece of Koa wood so I would have enough for another try should I mess this piece up.

I found a design on Instagram that I really liked. (credit here). After milling down the piece I drew out where I wanted the bowl and handle. The edge of the wood was close to the bark line and was soft so I tried to be aware of that as I cut the depth of the bowl later.

Began carving out the bowl first so I would be able to carve the handle without the fear of snapping the neck of the bowl and because holding the handle while carving the bowl would be awfully awkward to attempt. This also allowed me to establish the center of the spoon as I worked down to the handle and kept symmetry.

I used several bent gouges and decided on a rather flat bowl depth to match the design.

At this point in order to save time I used a band saw to cut out the basic shape of the spoon.

Spoon Carving pt 2. - Bowl Carving and Filing

With some trepidation my next step of negotiating the end of the bowl and width of the handle. I wanted to keep it looking consistent in surface widths and frankly I was worried of chiseling away too much by mistake and messing up the look of the piece.

This step also involved some sanding experiments to see how I looked finished surfaces.

Sanding and chiseling the curve of the bowl. I had to imagine how the outside of the bowl finishes and went with something slim and smooth, which will be more obvious in other progression photos. I didn’t want the bowl part of the spoon to be too heavy as well so I tested handling as I sanded down for a more balanced feel.

Now that the bowl is basically in its final shape minus sanding finish, I went to work on the neck and handle. I was nervous again about taking away too much material and having a weak neck that could snap under use but I also wanted it to look elegant so this process was time consuming. Then when I felt the look matched the strength I went to chiseling more aggressively and sanding down the handle to the drawn lines.

Spoon Carving pt. 3 - Final Shaping and Sanding

At this stage I am sanding and filing the handle and scraping the bowl to remove deep gauges from bigger files, sanding pads, etc. I also put the bevel on the handle which took some time to make it even on both sides and thin it out into the neck of the spoon.

Another step not shown is carving the heart at the end of the handle. I initially was going to use a fret saw to cut out the shape but struggled to keep the blade straight and instead just drilled holes big enough to fit round thin files and slowly filed out the shape.

Finally I used a really smooth file to put a nice sheen in the wood surface which you can really see in this photo.

Et Voila! I put some food grade oil on the spoon and it got DARK. It turned out really nice, weight feels good and I’m excited to show it to the world.

Finished Product

Things I didn’t anticipate:

The quality of the hinges was poor, so upon taking the weight of door they bent a little, but just enough to make closing the door difficult.

I didn’t consider how I was going to attach the hinges to the steel frame, I could not bolt them, and the bugle head of a tek screw would not seat well in hinge flaps. I ended up threading holes the thin tube steel to try to allow the screw to catch and not just spin in space. It worked but the I had to pre-drill holes for the hinges and placement proved critical to how the door would close. I had to move the hinges around and re-drill holes because of it wouldn’t close. After some desperate attempts, I finally was able to place them correctly. I will definitely consider this hangup in the future with other projects.

The shelves were very sticky and putting them back together after shellacing them proved to be nightmare. So much so that I had to screw and hammer pieces into place. Another future consideration.

Things I was happy with:

The color of the cherry door treated with oil turned out pretty well. It was so nice and gave it such a nice shine and contrast that I decided not to shellac it.

The steel frame took the hammered texture spray paint very well and the color of the maple and cherry complimented the dark paint.

The shellac treatment after sanding felt smooth and looked fined all things considered.

Bringing It Together

Here I fit in the top wood piece! The wood I used was .5” maple plywood.

Next Phase:

At this phase I was also able to start ordering things like the Hammered Brown spray paint, door knob, and hinges and tiny machine screws. While I waited for things to arrive in the mail….

I measured the frame for actual wood cutout measurements and started to hesitantly cut pieces to fit. It was time consuming because of how out of square each opening was, but I was able to let go of the idea that it wouldnt fit in snugly on each side. I cut everything down so it would be about a 1/16” smaller even with it being out of square. This phase required a lot of sanding. I also sanded down the corners of the pieces to account for the fillet welds.

Not Shown:

After cutting and fitting all the wood pieces I shifted to finishing them. I used Polyurethane that you paint on. I liked the shine it gave the wood and didn’t want it yellowing over time like shellac does. So after wiping down with a damp rag I applied one coat to one side, waited two hours then lightly sanded the whole surface with anything over 250 grit that I could get my hands on. I sanded in the direction of the wood. After wiping down with a dry rag, I put on another coat. I repeated the process for three poly coats on each side.

Locker Beginnings

Locker Project:

For my first year of grad school we have the project of building lockers that we will use during our stay there. We have the option of designing from the example given to us but it has to fit the dimensions. The standard locker is made of wood and plywood.

For the sake of saving time and not taking up wood shop space, I chose to weld my frame instead making it out of wood. This allowed me leave some wood for mistakes cuts and have a locker that stands out a bit. The frame will still be capped with the .5” maple plywood given to us. I plan on welding on steel triangle pieces with small holes drilled in them to screw the plywood onto. to hold the shelves I will tac weld 1/8"x1”x1” angle iron that is inset so the shelves wont run into the capped pieces. Because of the radius of the inner corner of the angle iron, one corner of shelves will need to be rounded off to sit on it correctly. I will drill holes on angle iron on both legs to suck in the capped side pieces and into the bottom of the shelves.

Locker Overview

WELDED: I should have drilled the holes in the angle iron that would be used to screw into the side cap pieces A BIT higher so that the thickness of the single shelves doesn’t interfere.

I didnt pace myself when welding this, and the fame warped a bit and is now 1/8” out of square in some areas. UGH. I tried correcting it with a slew of pipe clamps, to no avail. It still sits on the ground without rocking so I am just going to run with it. Looks good from my house.