Stephen - please post a photo of lathing while standing in the kiddie pool.  It has been hot here in the SF Bay Area this week, and even a photo would make me feel better!

I would need to move the tools to the kiddie pool at our house.  The kids would never stop complaining if it were the other way around.  I'll just keep the RPMs down while the baby is near - no worries!

Great job on the puzzles, Peter!  Glad the v-notch work so well for you - yours look better by far than the ones I made.  I did end up making the coin banks a while back for the kids, but not sure if I ever took any photos...

I really like the 2-in-2 puzzles - great contrast in woods, and the joints on the frames came out perfect too.  I also like to bevel off the edges of cubes by hand with a sanding block.  It gives the puzzle a hand crafted look and feel for me, and it works better than using a router bit too.  The router tends to tear off the grain on exit when cutting across the grain, which is unavoidable most times.  When I do need to use the router for a bevel or round-over, I make sure to do the cross grain cuts first, then follow up with the with-the-grain cut to remove the frayed exit from the crosscut sides...

Anyhow - great job on the puzzles, thanks for the photos.  This inspires me to work more on puzzles!  And, I finally have the shop set-up and most of the move-in house tasks taken care of!

Jonas - welcome to Cubicdissection Forum! 

My brother went to school in Uppsala and married a fellow Swede!  Nice country - although the 2 hrs of darkness in the middle of summer were really weird.  I suppose further north of the Stockholm area, it may be light (or dark) all 24 hours in the summer (winter).

Coming in very late - I got the same answer as Jim supplied...

I was also shocked at the recent changes to USPS Priority shipping rates.  If the weight is even a hair over 1 lb - the rate goes form $4.XX to $8.30!  I'll be counting hairs next time I send something off, or else loading a flat rate box with lead to give the PO work in measure with their new rates <insert favorite explicative!>

If anyone receives a flat rate box with puzzles AND California rocks from me, you'll know why...

Wow - that is a full day of packing!

The sales seemed to go better yesterday than the previous 2 updates - which is good!

Looks great!

I have wondered about this idea (or similar) for a long time.  Trouble is when you tilt the saw...then the plexiglass inserts won't fit.  I have thought about making something like a rubber bellows that fits over the back. 

Of course, a piece of plywood across the bottom of the saw support will plug up that opening - put in a new dust port, and then you have a contractor turned cabinet saw!

Thanks for the link!

Thanks Kevin.  Do you have the FWW article by Stewart Coffin that outlines making the Pennyhedron? 

I make the Pennyhedron using 2 different jigs I made - one matches the crosscut jig described in Coffin's article and the second is one I created for better and safer final cutting to make all edges beveled at 30 deg.

Send me a PM with your e-mail address and I will forward the article.  I will also try to take some photos of the second jig and those along too.  There seems to be a renewed interest in the Pennyhedron lately - I already owe 3 people photos of my jigs!  We'll be away for the weekend, but I will try to take some photos when we return.

So, I jumped in and made a Matchbox also - thanks Peter for the plans. 

However, when it came time to cut the grooves across the edges I used a little different method.  I'll describe it here and maybe some of you guys can use it for yourselves - pretty simple.

  I tilted the blade in the tablesaw over about 45 deg, and then lowered the
blade down into the table until only 1/2 of the ATB teeth would barely make
contact with the wood.  This way, I get a tiny V-notch with the ATB teeth
which point to the right.  The teeth that point to the left are below the
table (on my saw which tilts left).  It worked out pretty well and one of
the photos shows the tiny V-notch.

  I made mine a little bigger - 18T across with T = 5.5 mm due to the luan plywood that I used on the internal plys.  The outside is made from Jatoba for this one.  I'm planning to use these for coin banks for the kids - but I can't seem to bring myself to cutting the coin slot in it now...

Peter - I use paste wax on my saw top, but Pledge will do also.  The wax not only keeps the rust away, but it also lets your jigs slide easier.

If you do get some rust on the top (hey, it happens!) - just use a fine synthetic wool pad and a palm orbital sander.  BE SURE TO TAKE THE SANDPAPER OFF OF YOUR SANDER FIRST (experience speaking  ), then put down the synthetic wool pad, place the sander on top of it, and turn it on.  This will take the rust off pretty well.  I even use this method to take down the build-up of wax after a while...

UHMW PE slick strips on the bottom of your jgs also helps them glide easier...

Definitely post some video links!  I bet a couple belt sanders could make an awesome tank!

How do you get out from the inside of an elephant?


You run around and around until you're all pooped out!


(I had a whole book of elephant jokes when I was a kid - lame, huh?)

Stephen - you made me look - again.

But, alas - it was a reindeer.  No trunk...



You know why elephants are not allowed at the beach?

The can't keep their trunks up!

Below is a photo of the jig I use for cross cutting cubes.  The view is from the front of the jig, rather than from behind it as you would see it from standing behind the saw to use it. 

I only use 2 toggle clamps, and this has worked well for me for quite a while  Note the carriage bolt - I use this for fine tuning the gage distance - and further finer tuning using feeler gages between the head of the carriage bolt and the spacer block (if needed).  I also back up the 2 faces on the stick where the saw exits the cut with UHMW PE plastic - this material works great for backing up an exit cut.

I have used a router to cut dados for burr-type puzzles.  I like the solid carbide spiral bits for this - it makes a nice smooth flat-bottomed dado and doesn't chew up figured woods.

I bought a non-ferrous metal blade from Amazon for around $50 if I remember correctly - and it was a Freud blade.  A blade for Al shouldn't cost you $200 - especially if aren't that picky about the cut quality.  Check Amazon - they have good deals and free shipping...