Using the Wixey on aluminum or non-metallic surfaces

I think I forgot to post this useful tip I discovered quite by accident, so better late than never.

My Jet belt-disc sander has only one cast iron table, and I use that with the disc sander.  The table for the belt sander is probably aluminum, and has no angle guide for tilting.  While this seems inconvenient, the trade-off is that as you tilt the table, you can also adjust it to keep a very small space between the table and the belt.

This is essential for the type of sanding that I do, which often involves tiny or very thin pieces that could easily get caught in a wider space. However, sometimes I need to set the table angle accurately, and holding the Wixey in place is very awkward.

My "aha" moment came when I realized that the miter gauge that comes with the saw and fits into the table slot will hold the Wixey securely.  I usually don't use the miter gauge, so this never occurred to me before.  Such an easy solution, and it was there all the time!

The glued-up bowl, completed

Thought you might like to see the results of the glue-up featured in the prior blog post.  This basket-weave bowl required two different blanks, rings stacked alternately, to get the gradually sloping sides.

I gave it a wax finish, which I think worked well, and was practical since I only spray outdoors, and certainly can't do that in sub-freezing temperatures.

Some tips for better gluing-ups

In working on a new bowl lamination, I realized that I now do some things automatically that are important in obtaining a good glue-up. Here's a video that contains some tips that you might find helpful.

The Blooming Petal Bowl

Just in case you were wondering, here's the project whose leftovers are used for the bonus box.  It's not "quick and easy", but if you take your time, you should be able to produce a bowl that will be the envy of your wood-turning friends!

The Bonus Box instructions

If you make the open petal bowl featured in the Spring, 2015 issue of SSWC, you might want to use the centers left over from cutting the middle and upper rings to make this cute little box.  Since it is made almost completely from scrap, I call it a "bonus box".

The pattern and instructions are too long to post directly on the blog, but if you're interested, email me at scrollsawbowls@yahoo.com and I'll set you a set of instructions with process photos, and a pattern for the lid.

The Heart Cupcake Box

The last cupcake in this series features "candy" hearts.  Here's the inspiration:

And here's the version as a wooden box:

The lid was cut from ¾” thick zebrawood, and the hearts cut from 1/8” yellowheart and purpleheart, and also from maple, veneered with pink and red dyed veneer.  The sides of the veneered hearts were painted to match the tops.  The piping was done with MUD, a compound that pipes from a pastry bag and dries hard like wood.  For the tiny letters, I used a #0 piping tip.

Here are the patterns for the hearts.  You will probably have to resize them to fit, or just draw your own.

Hope you've enjoyed these additions to the cupcake project featured in the Spring, 2015 issue of SSWC, and are inspired to create your own delicious variations!

The Flower Cupcake Box

Next up is a cupcake decorated with a wooden flower.  The inspiration for this design were these cupcakes:

The wooden version looks like this:

To make the lid, I used 1/4” thick yellow heart and decorated it with petals cut individually with the grain from 3/16” thick padauk, shaped by sanding.  You could also cut the petals as a segmentation, but you'd lose the grain effect.  For the center, I drilled a hole ½” in diameter in the middle of the petals, and cut a matching plug, which was sanded and covered with fabric paint dots.

Here's the pattern for the flower:

The Baseball Cupcake Box

The second in this series of cupcake lids looks like a baseball.  Here's a picture of a cake I made several years ago with a baseball theme.

Here's a picture of actual baseball cupcakes.

And here's a picture of the baseball cupcake box.

The lid is cut from ¾” thick aspen lid, and the markings made from red fabric paint.  Since aspen is porous, seal it well with shellac or lacquer before you add the decoration so you can remove any paint mishaps easily.

To position the "stitching", cut two equal sections of the ring from the cupcake base pattern and use them as a guide to mark the location for the "stitches".  

The Rainbow Cupcake Box

For all cupcake variations, use the instructions that appear in the Spring, 2015 issue of SSWC for the base and lid, then add the decorations.

The first of the variations I'll be posting is the rainbow cupcake.  Here's a picture of the real thing, and my version in wood.

I used ½” thick purple heart for the lid, and a ½” thick lamination of veneer and colored wood for the rainbow which was cut into a 2” diameter half-circle.  For the cloud, I used 3/8” thick aspen with this pattern.

Stay tuned for the rest of the cupcake toppers, or just forge ahead and create your own!

Cupcake box and variations

I've always loved the cupcake box that was featured on the cover of my box book.  However, I knew there was more that could be done and proposed a different kind of cupcake box to Mindy, one of the editors of SSWC.

I started with the iconic "Hostess" cupcake, using fabric paint for the icing, and searched out photos of actual cupcakes that could be translated into wood.  Because of space constraints, only the instructions for the "Hostess" cupcake, lid and base, appear in the Spring, 2015 issue of SSWC.  Since their new website is not yet up and running, it was agreed that I'd post instructions for the variations on my blog.

To avoid a long and unwieldy blog post, I'm planning to use a series of entries, each giving instructions for a different top, and will have all of them out long before you receive your issue.  They all fit on the base that's featured in the article.

Here's the lot of them, along with the coffee cup that you may recognize from the box book.  They definitely look good enough to eat!