I have a mental vision of what this project is supposed to look like, nothing on paper and especially nothing with CAD or even Sketchup. So I guess this is a firm commitment to build. Hopefully I finish.
First image: 1/2ā copper slip type pipe cap and a switch boot. Some raw parts
I need a hole drilled in the center for the boot to fit through. Filed a bit and center punched
The drill setup. A wood block clamp to hold the round cap. A step drill in the drill press.
The hole came out more or less nicely centered so this one is a go. This is the second one as the first was off center enough to look āwrongā. The burr from drilling has been cleaned a little with a file.
The boot fits! (not the sharpest image, I guess I moved)
That is all for right now. Next Iāll clean the copper edges up and make it look nicer.
I completed the first stage of my wall of bookshelving and have a couple afternoons free before getting back to that home project, so I got back to this light project today.
Here is that first part I made and the section of wood I will cut the next part from.
Iāll be using about 6 inches of this if I only have to cut once. This piece has slowly been getting smaller since I bought it about 25 years ago. Then it was about as long as I am tall, a few inches under 6 feet.
Iāll be making a hole with this drill. 3.25ā (about 8.25 cm)
The clamp makes a decent safe handle
LOTS and lots of shavings!
Drilling takes a while as I stop and let the bit cool every half inch or so. Canāt use a water or lubricant bath as with metal. Pity. The bit needs a sharpening as it is also making a lot of dust as well as shavings.
For the curiousā¦ this is the base board I used under the padauk block to prevent tearout as well as to keep the bit from hitting the cast iron drill press platformā¦ The drill cuts shavings between 0.4 to 0.5 mm thick.
If you ground/sanded a taper toward the shank on that hole saw boring bit you have there (Iād like to know what itās actually called) you will get rid of most of the heat issues. HSS really doesnāt like heat, for wood you could try wax as a lubricant. Also peck drill and high rpm.
The drill bit is a Forstner bit, invented about 150 years ago by a Benjamin Forstner. Usually they do not have a toothed rim like this one, just a circular rim. They are meant to cut/drill a flat bottomed hole. The flat bottom holes have a slight dimple in the center where the centering spur protrudes slightly. This one was specifically sold as a clock making bitā¦ drilling a recess in a wood blank for a small battery powered analog clock movement. With a drill press you can drill overlapping holes, even drill at an angle if the work piece is clamped down to the table.
3/4 of the bookshelves project done. 1/4 to go as a corner cabinet to the left. Then Iāll be free to do the waiting flashlight stuff unimpeded till the next (inevitable) project.
If it was my own, probably. But Iām building them for our sonās place. FYI, they will end up with sliding Japanese Shoji doors. They look a little like a window with a lattice framework. Instead of transparent glass traditionally they use translucent paper. We will be using a laminated paper for greater longevity. LED strip lighting will be run behind the lip of each shelf. They will be dimmable.
There will be real books. Who knows what else? Maybe a Q8 if I can bring myself to give one of mine away. :person_facepalming:
Back to this years contest entryā¦.
More holes neededā¦
After drilling those three holes I sliced off a slab with the table saw. Then drilled out the holes in the block and pressed some aluminum threaded inserts into place.
Another view of the block and plate. When completed the plate will be mounted back onto the block face.
I need a round copper disc, 3/4 inch in diameter for a cell contact. Using aviation snips I cut one from a scrap of 0.020ā copper. This is the rough blank.
A file was used to remove the excess and round it off
That is a piece of 3/4ā walnut dowel used to check roundness and size. Looks okay to me.