I just happened to stumble upon this thread just this morning....read thru it and wow!!!!! I don't know if many folks out there realize the work that goes into something like this...I don't mean the stock work, that is plenty. I am referring to all the photos and posting. Thanks for sharing. Anyone that does any kind of wood working can learn some new tricks from this thread.
I will add two things, first, anyone that works with wood routers should always take a minute every now and then to check for play in the spindle. I just had a Craftsman router blow up on me. It wasn't an expensive router, but I had it since back in the 80's and it worked perfect. I didn't really put a lot of hours on it, but at 25,000 rpm they can get some wear. I used it in a router table and I noticed the last time I used it that the spindle appeared to be going "blurry" when running with no load. Sure enough, the bearing was going bad and she blew. I was lucky to not get hurt...the armature came out from under the table and spun like a top all the way across the shop floor!!!! Make it a point to check for "wiggle" on the shaft each time you go to use your router fellas. Sure glad it was in a table...the new one should be here today.
Second, early on some guys mentioned "pinning" their lamination's together....I don't know if that is necessary. Plain old ordinary Elmer's wood glue is unbelievably strong. The Amish guy that mills all my logs builds more furniture than anyone I know and we had a conversation about "adding strength" when joining wood. I was interested in a biscuit joiner and he told me that all he ever used was dowels because " it doesn't make the joint any stronger". The other big question was the type of glue...Elmer's vs. Gorilla glue. From my experience Elmers's is better. It's just as strong, especially for laminates and it cleans up easier.
Joshb thanks again for posting all this!!!!!
I will add two things, first, anyone that works with wood routers should always take a minute every now and then to check for play in the spindle. I just had a Craftsman router blow up on me. It wasn't an expensive router, but I had it since back in the 80's and it worked perfect. I didn't really put a lot of hours on it, but at 25,000 rpm they can get some wear. I used it in a router table and I noticed the last time I used it that the spindle appeared to be going "blurry" when running with no load. Sure enough, the bearing was going bad and she blew. I was lucky to not get hurt...the armature came out from under the table and spun like a top all the way across the shop floor!!!! Make it a point to check for "wiggle" on the shaft each time you go to use your router fellas. Sure glad it was in a table...the new one should be here today.
Second, early on some guys mentioned "pinning" their lamination's together....I don't know if that is necessary. Plain old ordinary Elmer's wood glue is unbelievably strong. The Amish guy that mills all my logs builds more furniture than anyone I know and we had a conversation about "adding strength" when joining wood. I was interested in a biscuit joiner and he told me that all he ever used was dowels because " it doesn't make the joint any stronger". The other big question was the type of glue...Elmer's vs. Gorilla glue. From my experience Elmers's is better. It's just as strong, especially for laminates and it cleans up easier.
Joshb thanks again for posting all this!!!!!
Oh, and I hate Gorilla glue. I bought some, once. Used a little. Came back a couple weeks later to use some more and it was hard as a rock.
I never took a pic of my table saw after the blade caught my thumb, did I?
