I want to make a couple of dozen OAK shim/wedges just like those cheap pine
packs you pick up for door shimming. These need to stay hard, and bear with
a little pounding. They will be disposable.
I have seen a device that worked with, or replaced a fence on a table saw,
and it had adjustable angles. For cutting larger triangular pieces.
Where can I look to find such an item or instructions? I want to keep it
cheap, safe to use, and be able to make repeatable finished shims.
Finished shim would be 1.5" w, and 8" long, or about the same as common
softwood shims.
Steve
On Feb 26, 10:06=A0pm, Greg Guarino <[email protected]> wrote:
> On one such evening I passed a business named Norwegian Wood. They
> apparently install hardwood flooring. There were some workers outside
> who looked a shade or two darker than most Norwegians, so perhaps the
> boss is simply a Beatles fan.
OK... that made me laugh out loud! Maybe they were from the coastal
areas...
> They were barbecuing on one of those big
> "half of an oil drum" grills and I could smell the steak and chicken a
> block away. I got a better look as I walked past. The fuel? Cutoff
> ends of solid tongue and groove oak.
Not much better wood to do that with, either. That clean stuff lights
easy and goes to coals very nicely a lot faster than an oak branch
with bark attached. Also, in the pit you don't get an off flavors
from wet bark, fungus under the bark, and you know for sure the wood
isn't green.
When I was a house framer about 100 years ago, we found ourselves well
out of the way of any fast food restaurants to eat at when lunch came
around. We started packing out food and meat to the job and preparing
it there, taking a little longer for lunch than the accepted 30
minutes.
We built a site grill with three layers of concrete mesh lined up to
make the holes small, and this was later changed out to an old metal
refrigerator rack. We built a three cornered square pit with the rack
in it by stacking leftover bricks. We cooked sausage mostly as it was
easy, but toasted bread, heated up beans and some guys even heated up
their lunch (tacos around this part of South Texas) on a daily basis.
Nothing like a fresh hot meal at lunch when you are in the middle of
nowhere. Construction workers are natural born scroungers, and I
think there are some guys that can make just about anything out of
about just about nothing. Our little pit went with us from house to
house for a while, and was easily rebuilt as needed.
Robert
"Steve B" wrote:
>I want to make a couple of dozen OAK shim/wedges just like those
>cheap pine packs you pick up for door shimming. These need to stay
>hard, and bear with a little pounding. They will be disposable.
>
> I have seen a device that worked with, or replaced a fence on a
> table saw, and it had adjustable angles. For cutting larger
> triangular pieces.
------------------------------------------------------
This is not a job for a table saw IMHO.
Rather you want either a hand power planer or a router with
a 1" straight bit.
Mount a piece of 1/2" x 6" x 24" ply to the router base with a
couple of 3/4" x 3/4" 6" cleats to limit lateral movement.
Build a "U" shaped shoe that has sloped sides to match desired
taper, say 8:1 or 12:1.
Opps, hit <send> to quick.
-----------------------------------------------------
> "Steve B" wrote:
>
>>I want to make a couple of dozen OAK shim/wedges just like those
>>cheap pine packs you pick up for door shimming. These need to stay
>>hard, and bear with a little pounding. They will be disposable.
>>
>> I have seen a device that worked with, or replaced a fence on a
>> table saw, and it had adjustable angles. For cutting larger
>> triangular pieces.
> ------------------------------------------------------
> This is not a job for a table saw IMHO.
>
> Rather you want either a hand power planer or a router with
> a 1" straight bit.
>
> Mount a piece of 1/2" x 6" x 24" ply to the router base with a
> couple of 3/4" x 3/4" 6" cleats to limit lateral movement.
>
> Build a "U" shaped shoe that has sloped sides to match desired
> taper, say 8:1 or 12:1, and a flat bottom.
==============================================
Rest of info.
Clamp shoe in vice and part into shoe.
Cut taper then cross cut to length with a chop saw.
I used a power planer to make about 100 ,16:1 scarf's
in 5/8" x 1-1/2" x 24 ft splines which when glued together
made 72' long splines for a boat mold I built.
Have fun.
Lew
On Wed, 27 Feb 2013 15:22:57 -0600, Swingman <[email protected]> wrote:
>On 2/27/2013 3:02 PM, [email protected] wrote:
>
>> Nothing like a fresh hot meal at lunch when you are in the middle of
>> nowhere. Construction workers are natural born scroungers, and I
>> think there are some guys that can make just about anything out of
>> about just about nothing. Our little pit went with us from house to
>> house for a while, and was easily rebuilt as needed.
>
>My painters, and tile guys/gals, all bring microwaves onsite.
>
>Sitting on paint buckets in the shade, and heating up homemade tacos and
>burritos at noon, then onto a piece of cardboard from the dumpster for a
>siesta, is daily SOP.
>
>Smells so good sometimes I have to go find a Mexican joint, instead of
>my usual fruit lunch ...
My last job was running a boom truck for an electrical contractor so
never knew where I would end up at lunch time, and if there was
something hanging from the boom I wasn't moving. The truck had a
welder generator on it so I had a small microwave in one of the tool
boxes. Never did care for fast food so it worked well in the wet NW
winters.
Mike M
"Doug Miller" <[email protected]> wrote
>
> Got a bandsaw? That's how I make mine, with this simple jig:
>
> http://milmac.com/ShopPhotos/TaperedShimJig.jpg
>
> Approximate dimensions:
> Front to back 8-1/4"
> Left to right at the end with the stop: 4-3/4"
> Left to right at the other end: 5-1/16"
>
> There's nothing magic about the specific dimensions, I just happened to
> have a piece of
> scrap 5-1/16 x 8-1/4" when I made this. The only really important
> dimensions are the length
> (needs to be approximately the same length as the length of shims you want
> to make) and the
> difference in width between the front and rear ends (needs to be about
> 1/4" to 5/16" to get the
> proper taper on an 8" shim).
>
I like it. I particularly like the complete instructions written on the jig
itself. Nothing to remember or get confused about. It is all there, in
plain view. I have written things on jigs before, but not in that complete
detail. Good job there Doug.
On Feb 26, 9:55=A0pm, "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
wrote:
> On Feb 26, 6:00=A0pm, Swingman <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > Too bad you're not here ... I have three perfect, red oak wedges left
> > over from tapering four chair legs this afternoon. :)
>
> > Hate to toss them ... you never know when a shim will come in handy.
>
> Red oak is perfect for smoking meats. =A0As is my custom, the nice clean
> hardwood scraps from my projects go into my smoking woods bag for
> later use.
>
> Talk about tight fisted..... =A0;^)
>
> Robert
I took up walking almost two years ago. I recommend it, but it gets
boring sometimes. My walking time is during my morning and evening
workday commute, so I retrace the same collection of routes pretty
often. Sometimes I really change it up and walk in an entirely
different direction.
On one such evening I passed a business named Norwegian Wood. They
apparently install hardwood flooring. There were some workers outside
who looked a shade or two darker than most Norwegians, so perhaps the
boss is simply a Beatles fan. They were barbecuing on one of those big
"half of an oil drum" grills and I could smell the steak and chicken a
block away. I got a better look as I walked past. The fuel? Cutoff
ends of solid tongue and groove oak.
On 2/27/2013 3:02 PM, [email protected] wrote:
> Nothing like a fresh hot meal at lunch when you are in the middle of
> nowhere. Construction workers are natural born scroungers, and I
> think there are some guys that can make just about anything out of
> about just about nothing. Our little pit went with us from house to
> house for a while, and was easily rebuilt as needed.
My painters, and tile guys/gals, all bring microwaves onsite.
Sitting on paint buckets in the shade, and heating up homemade tacos and
burritos at noon, then onto a piece of cardboard from the dumpster for a
siesta, is daily SOP.
Smells so good sometimes I have to go find a Mexican joint, instead of
my usual fruit lunch ...
--
eWoodShop: www.eWoodShop.com
Wood Shop: www.e-WoodShop.net
https://plus.google.com/114902129577517371552/posts
http://www.custommade.com/by/ewoodshop/
KarlCaillouet@ (the obvious)
On 2/26/2013 8:55 PM, [email protected] wrote:
> On Feb 26, 6:00 pm, Swingman <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Too bad you're not here ... I have three perfect, red oak wedges left
>> over from tapering four chair legs this afternoon. :)
>>
>> Hate to toss them ... you never know when a shim will come in handy.
>
> Red oak is perfect for smoking meats. As is my custom, the nice clean
> hardwood scraps from my projects go into my smoking woods bag for
> later use.
>
> Talk about tight fisted..... ;^)
>
> Robert
>
That is what a majority of my hard wood scraps is for, at least they
make starting the fire easier.
"Steve B" <[email protected]> wrote in news:[email protected]:
> I want to make a couple of dozen OAK shim/wedges just like those cheap pine
> packs you pick up for door shimming. These need to stay hard, and bear with
> a little pounding. They will be disposable.
>
> I have seen a device that worked with, or replaced a fence on a table saw,
> and it had adjustable angles. For cutting larger triangular pieces.
Not really very safe for cutting skinny triangular pieces, though....
> Where can I look to find such an item or instructions? I want to keep it
> cheap, safe to use, and be able to make repeatable finished shims.
Got a bandsaw? That's how I make mine, with this simple jig:
http://milmac.com/ShopPhotos/TaperedShimJig.jpg
Approximate dimensions:
Front to back 8-1/4"
Left to right at the end with the stop: 4-3/4"
Left to right at the other end: 5-1/16"
There's nothing magic about the specific dimensions, I just happened to have a piece of
scrap 5-1/16 x 8-1/4" when I made this. The only really important dimensions are the length
(needs to be approximately the same length as the length of shims you want to make) and the
difference in width between the front and rear ends (needs to be about 1/4" to 5/16" to get the
proper taper on an 8" shim).
> Finished shim would be 1.5" w, and 8" long, or about the same as common
> softwood shims.
Yep.
On 2/25/2013 8:19 AM, Doug Miller wrote:
> "Steve B"<[email protected]> wrote in news:[email protected]:
>
>> I want to make a couple of dozen OAK shim/wedges just like those cheap pine
>> packs you pick up for door shimming. These need to stay hard, and bear with
>> a little pounding. They will be disposable.
>>
>> I have seen a device that worked with, or replaced a fence on a table saw,
>> and it had adjustable angles. For cutting larger triangular pieces.
>
> Not really very safe for cutting skinny triangular pieces, though....
>
>> Where can I look to find such an item or instructions? I want to keep it
>> cheap, safe to use, and be able to make repeatable finished shims.
>
> Got a bandsaw? That's how I make mine, with this simple jig:
>
> http://milmac.com/ShopPhotos/TaperedShimJig.jpg
>
> Approximate dimensions:
> Front to back 8-1/4"
> Left to right at the end with the stop: 4-3/4"
> Left to right at the other end: 5-1/16"
>
> There's nothing magic about the specific dimensions, I just happened to have a piece of
> scrap 5-1/16 x 8-1/4" when I made this. The only really important dimensions are the length
> (needs to be approximately the same length as the length of shims you want to make) and the
> difference in width between the front and rear ends (needs to be about 1/4" to 5/16" to get the
> proper taper on an 8" shim).
>
>> Finished shim would be 1.5" w, and 8" long, or about the same as common
>> softwood shims.
>
> Yep.
That's a keeper. I ripped off the picture. Thanks!
--
GW Ross
The world owes you nothing. It was
here first. -- Twain
On Feb 26, 6:00=A0pm, Swingman <[email protected]> wrote:
> Too bad you're not here ... I have three perfect, red oak wedges left
> over from tapering four chair legs this afternoon. :)
>
> Hate to toss them ... you never know when a shim will come in handy.
Red oak is perfect for smoking meats. As is my custom, the nice clean
hardwood scraps from my projects go into my smoking woods bag for
later use.
Talk about tight fisted..... ;^)
Robert
On Feb 27, 7:44=A0am, Leon <lcb11211@swbelldotnet> wrote:
> That is what a majority of my hard wood scraps is for, at least they
> make starting the fire easier.
I got in that habit more and more when I was learning to turn wood.
Projects and objects d' art seem to quickly turn to scrap and even fly
apart at 3000 rpm.
Plus, after working all afternoon on piece only to have it crack, warp
or break in the final stages pissed me off. I get a weird
satisfaction out of burning up a broken bowl or cracked Christmas
ornament. I feel like I am getting even.
Robert
Steve - this is a true 2 minute drill. Lay a 2X4 flat across your
table/sawhorses and saw away with your circular saw.
Every time I hand doors, shim cabinets, adjust siding/trims and the
multitude of other tasks that need or can benefit from a wedge shaped
shim, I cut them with my circular saw.
I cut the first shim at an angle from about 1/4" to nothing, about 8"
long. The next cut is straight, giving you another wedge. Alternate
your angles back and forth with a straight cut. When you finish
across the width of the board, it should have several shims that are
ready to trim off the board as the thicker side will remain. Cut
those and you are finished.
No kidding.. give it a try. It is honestly about 2 minutes to get 25
wedges. Also, when I need different sizes, I just vary the width of
cut as I go and have a handful of 1/4", 3/8", and a couple of 1/2".
You can cut as many as you want, the size and length you want in
seconds out of 2X4 scrap..
Robert
Steve B wrote:
> I want to make a couple of dozen OAK shim/wedges just like those
> cheap pine packs you pick up for door shimming. These need to stay
> hard, and bear with a little pounding. They will be disposable.
>
> I have seen a device that worked with, or replaced a fence on a table
> saw, and it had adjustable angles. For cutting larger triangular
> pieces.
> Where can I look to find such an item or instructions? I want to
> keep it cheap, safe to use, and be able to make repeatable finished
> shims.
> Finished shim would be 1.5" w, and 8" long, or about the same as
> common softwood shims.
1. make some pieces 8" long and as wide as possible
2. set miter gauge so that you'll get pieces 1 1/2" wide
3. rip off both sides
4. set miter gauge to give you a normal cross cut
5. rip off both sides
6. goto #2
--
dadiOH
____________________________
Winters getting colder? Tired of the rat race?
Taxes out of hand? Maybe just ready for a change?
Check it out... http://www.floridaloghouse.net
http://www.finewoodworking.com/workshop/tip/cutting-wedges.aspx
http://www.finehomebuilding.com/item/9935/video-shim-cutting-jig-for-the-tablesaw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=988NttsgvYc
--
Better to be stuck up in a tree than tied to one.
Larry Wasserman - Baltimore Maryland - lwasserm(a)sdf. lonestar.org
<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Steve - this is a true 2 minute drill. Lay a 2X4 flat across your
> table/sawhorses and saw away with your circular saw.
>
> Every time I hand doors, shim cabinets, adjust siding/trims and the
> multitude of other tasks that need or can benefit from a wedge shaped
> shim, I cut them with my circular saw.
>
> I cut the first shim at an angle from about 1/4" to nothing, about 8"
> long. The next cut is straight, giving you another wedge. Alternate
> your angles back and forth with a straight cut. When you finish
> across the width of the board, it should have several shims that are
> ready to trim off the board as the thicker side will remain. Cut
> those and you are finished.
>
> No kidding.. give it a try. It is honestly about 2 minutes to get 25
> wedges. Also, when I need different sizes, I just vary the width of
> cut as I go and have a handful of 1/4", 3/8", and a couple of 1/2".
> You can cut as many as you want, the size and length you want in
> seconds out of 2X4 scrap..
>
> Robert
I NEED it to be built of a hardwood, as it will be the shim under a pecan
that is about to be cracked. The cracker works by the principle of
compressing the nut from both ends at the same moment with the same force.
I need the shim to slide under the bottom plate so that the top of the nut
sticks out just so far. Each nut will be different, so I will have to move
it a lot, and with multiple strikes, a pine 2 x 4 would be too soft of a
wood to withstand the beating.
This is total experimentation, so just trying ideas until I get it right,
then I can look towards mechanized higher output.
Steve
"Swingman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On 2/26/2013 5:56 PM, Steve B wrote:
>
>> I NEED it to be built of a hardwood, as it will be the shim under a pecan
>> that is about to be cracked.
>
> Too bad you're not here ... I have three perfect, red oak wedges left over
> from tapering four chair legs this afternoon. :)
>
> Hate to toss them ... you never know when a shim will come in handy.
>
I have so many small pieces of "stuff", plus other various "stuff". If I
toss it, I generally need it within 72 hours, no matter if I have had it
laying around here for ten years.
I have even considered having these made of steel.
Steve
On 2/26/2013 5:56 PM, Steve B wrote:
> I NEED it to be built of a hardwood, as it will be the shim under a pecan
> that is about to be cracked.
Too bad you're not here ... I have three perfect, red oak wedges left
over from tapering four chair legs this afternoon. :)
Hate to toss them ... you never know when a shim will come in handy.
--
eWoodShop: www.eWoodShop.com
Wood Shop: www.e-WoodShop.net
https://plus.google.com/114902129577517371552/posts
http://www.custommade.com/by/ewoodshop/
KarlCaillouet@ (the obvious)