Dremel's Got New Grit
What would we hobbyists do without Dremel? Yes, there are cheap knock-off products that, I guess, could take their place. But in my limited experience, we’d be buying our tools over and over again. By contrast, I’ve got an old Dremel 261 moto-tool that I’ve used since the 70s and while it’s not as nice as the modern Dremel tools, it still spins a bit after almost four decades of use.
But without all the ‘accessories’ that we chuck up in our Dremel tools, our moto-tools wouldn’t be very useful and Dremel just keeps coming up with new, useful accessories for their products. Recently, on Twitter, Dremel ran some “contests” which really amounted to them graciously giving sets of their new “abrasive brushes” to those of us who were interested. I was surprised, when mine arrived in the mail, as they sent an example of each of the 3 brushes they’re just released, in 36, 120, and 220 grit.
Those of us who work small often have a hard time sanding and buffing our work and this is where some of these newer Dremel accessories become very useful. These new brushes will be particularly because they work like a gentle, micro flap wheel. If you’re unfamiliar with flap wheels, sanding mops and their various incarnations in the full-size woodworking world, these tools present spinning abrasives to your work in a very soft, loose fashion. This results in a less aggressive, more generalized sanding effect. For instance, if you’re trying to sand miniature moldings, you can use an abrasive brush and it’ll smooth the surfaces without chewing up the cross-sections of your moldings. They’ll be great for removing the fuzzies from miniature carvings.
Another of my favorite Dremel accessories are their “abrasive buffs.“ These have been around for a while and I use them constantly. These are like little ScotchBrite pads only you can stuff them in your Dremel tool and buff anything that you’d use a ScotchBrite pad or steel wool on. Like the abrasive brushes, they come in 3 “grits.” I apologize for the somewhat ratty look of the two buffs in my photo. Seems my stock is running low and these are the only two I have left. Better order more.
Lastly, just to be complete, the other ‘loose’ sanding device that Dremel sells in a couple sizes and grits is their mini flap wheel. I used these a lot. They’re more aggressive than buffs and brushes, of course, but far less aggressive than Dremel’s sanding drum accessories because of the ‘flap’ feature of these wheels.
Cheers — Larry
Accuracy vs Precision
Cyberspace dialog can teach us much. One of the things it can teach us is what concepts some people think they understand but don’t. The third encounter with discussions of measuring devices and such have convinced me that a quick post about accuracy vs precision might be useful.
The typical way these two concepts are presented is with a target analogy. Bullets grouped tightly together but not near the bulls-eye is the graphic associated with precision while bullets scattered around the bulls-eye show you the concept of accuracy. Though this is a great way to illustrate the concepts, somehow, something gets lost in translation when people walk into their shops.
I’m here to tell you that having high precision is far more important than being accurate in almost all cases in woodworking. This is the reason people recommend story sticks rather than measuring each piece, “building relative” which amounts to cutting your parts relative to one another rather than measuring each one, and other concepts that good cabinetmakers do and teach.
Rather than targets and bullets, how about we use a woodworking example instead. Let’s build two sets of 4, 26″ high table legs. In each group we’ll allow a total error across the 4 legs to be 1/4″ and let’s limit the error in cutting any one leg to be no more than 1/16″. I know, you can be more accurate than that, but stick with me for a second.
When we cut the first group we will mark our measurement on a story stick and mark/cut each leg according to that story stick. We use a dandy cross-cut table with a stop block when cutting them on our megabuck table saw. For whatever reasons, our story stick is actually marked to 26 1/16″ and so all four of our legs are 1/16″ too long. These legs exhibit high precision as they’re all identical but they’re not cut accurately.
In our second group, we measure one leg using our retractable measuring tape, a second using a long metal carpenter scale, another using a second measuring tape, and we cut one by simply setting our cross-cut stop block to 26″. Notice that each of these approaches yield a different level of accuracy because of the device in use and how well we can use each. There are a significant number of possible results but let’s say that the four legs are 25 15/16″, 26″, 26 1/16″ and 26″. Here, the average leg length is closer to the desired length and thus this set is more accurately cut.
But I ask you, which legs do you want on your table? The first group is the group with the highest precision. All the legs are exactly the same but none of them are accurately cut. By contrast, the second group has two legs cut exactly, there is and there less total error. They are more accurately cut.
I think you can see that precision is more important here. And it’s easy to be smug and say “I’m both precise and accurate.” but the veracity of the statement requires more than how much you squint when you assess your results (grin). Proper, good quality tools generally improve accuracy. How you use them affects considerably the degree of precision in your results, though you can affect accuracy as well.
For instance, carpentry-quality measuring devices are simply not accurate enough for good cabinetry. If you’re framing a wall and a stud is 1/16″ off the carpenter doesn’t even blink. Table legs are different. I used the 1/16″ error in my example because this reflects the expectations of those for which retractable measuring tapes were designed. Retractable measuring tapes vary in both how accurately the little end ‘thingie’ and the actual divisions work and they vary between tapes. If you drop one, that end thingie will change its adjustment. Get out all your measuring devices and compare them. You will find differences. Notice how some have thicker lines than others – affecting accuracy of the device. Try lining up the scales and you’ll find general inaccuracies as well.
Using several different measuring devices on a project without knowing (by measuring) that they are identical in their markings can cause problems. It’s humorous to listen to people talk about using digital calipers to measure some things and in the same breath hear them talk about setting their table saw fence using the scale on the slide. The accuracy differences here are significant.
Measuring multiple conponents separately will introduce precision errors as well, particularly when using pencil marks from .7mm or .9mm (1/32″) thick mechanical pencils for marking. In short, measuring induces errors. If you make your measuring and marking device choices and technique with an eye towards precision, you’ll create better cabinets, and your chair and table legs will all hit the ground.
Cheers — Larry
Dancing a Jig Over MicroJig's New Thin Leg
I don’t know if I should admit this but what are you if you can’t laugh at yourself? You know you’re a woodworker when you’re more interested in the platter the dessert sits on than the dessert itself. And maybe, just maybe you know you’re a woodworker when you’ve just gotten out of surgery and you’re standing in front of your table saw, with catheter bag hooked over the fence slide bar and you’re playing with your new MicroJig accessory. Sad, I know and I’ll spare you photos of that.
But I have a defense for my actions. We miniaturists are always trying to cut thin strips. One of the limitations on using the MicroJig Grr-ripper in that process is the standard, “thin” (1/4″) leg as this limits how close you can cut to the saw fence without cutting through the leg itself. It’s problematic cutting thin strips between blade and fence as unless you’re holding it down, it can become a bullet aimed at you, or you’ve properly placed yourself, at least aimed under your arm at the wall behind you.
But MicroJig put up a YouTube video of their newly-released a 1/8″ leg that you add to the Grr-ripper. I ordered one immediately. They’re on Twitter so I asked and they graciously supplied me with this PDF file that shows you, better than I can, how cool this addition to the Grr-ripper really is.
Mine showed up while doctors were using their cutting tools on me but even with a catheter bag hanging off the saw, it works great! I’ve talked about the Grr-ripper before and I highly recommend it for ripping short stock and this new accessory makes it even more useful. Of course it would be silly to pay attention to my recommendation so I’m going to make you drool. Watch this:
Cheers — Larry
larry@woodnbits.com
Tiny Magnets To Hold Tiny Objects
I was discussing roomboxes with one of my miniatures buddies and I mentioned seed magnets as a useful way of holding things in place. Her response was “What be seed magnets” and since I don’t often see miniaturists using them I thought I’d mention them here.
Here you see six of them sticking to the end of a common mechanical pencil. These happen to be 1.5mm in diameter but they come in a variety of sizes and shapes. As they’re rare earth magnets, they’re also quite strong. Best of all, they’re quite inexpensive and available from a number of suppliers. The Super Magnet Man is one such source. If you scan their product listings you’ll see what I mean.
Using them is very easy. To attach a painting to a wall, drill a tiny hole in the wall, imbed a magnet in the wall, do the same thing to the painting and voila, instant attachment. Best of all, you can remove the object any time you want.
Cheers — Larry
Scrollsaw Blades for Miniatures
It’s probably heresy to say so but if there was one thing a miniaturist could learn that would improve many aspects of their craft it would be that home building centers and mass-market craft outlets are often NOT the best place to buy the tools and materials they use. I know, I know… how could I be so silly?
But it’s true. There are two reasons for this. The first is that these places are serving different customers than those specializing in the creation of miniatures. The tools, finishes, and materials used to work on your home, or to do scrapbooking are often not ideal for creating miniatures. The other reason is that these large outlets serve customers who are very sensitive to price point and thus they often have ‘less than’ quality products. I don’t mean this to be perjorative as often they’re ‘good enough’ but sometimes they’re not. In almost all cases there are better tools and materials available elsewhere, which is why you won’t find those making fine furniture buying their stuff at the local ‘big box’ store. If you know about the alternatives, and know the differences, and still find that you don’t need ‘best’, then fine. But if you don’t even know that better alternatives exist, you’ll often find yourself wondering how others get better results than you do.
A good example of this is scrollsaw blade choices. The two blades on the left of the photo above are the sort you’ll find being sold in the home centers. They are “pinned” blades, meaning they have pins on each end that hook into the scrollsaw. The blades on the right are “unpinned” blades and these are clamped into the scrollsaw. If we zoom into this photo we see this:
Notice a couple things. First, the teeth of the blades on the right are much smaller and there are more of them. The blades are also thinner both in depth and in cross-section. One thing you can’t see is that these blades can be had for less money than the ones on the left. The blades on the left are sold to people who think that 1/4″ thick wood is “thin.” Even then these blades are akin to cutting toothpicks with a hatchet but when you start cutting 1/16″ and 1/8″ thick wood, they are simply innappropriate.
I buy my blades from Mike’s Workshop because he sells Flying Dutchman blades and I like them. I don’t really know Mike but I’m sure I’d like him too as he provides prompt service any time I order from him. His website is also a wealth of information.
Flying Dutchman blades sell for $2-3 per dozen and come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. For myself, I’ve found the “scroll reverse” blades are ideal for general miniatures work. The name refers to the fact that the bottom few teeth are actually reversed from the others so that they enter the wood from the bottom during the upstroke. This eliminates the fuzzies that you get normally when using a blade with all the teeth pointed in the same direction. Other blades I like a lot are their “Superior Puzzle” blades. These are VERY thin and have a very high tooth count. They are ideal when cutting fine details as they leave a very smooth edge and take very little kerf.
The scroll reverse blades come in a variety of sizes. I use #5R blades for most general cutting (of the 3 unpinned blades in the photo, it’s the left-most blade). Other blades I use regularly are #2R and #2/0R blades, as well as the puzzle blades.
I admit, however, to have tried lots of different blades and have a LOT of tubes full of blades. I like to experiment. But the truth is, it’s probably better to pick a few and learn how to use them well.
Here’s my “collection.” The tubes, by the way, come from Lee Valley. They’re 1/2″ diameter and ideal for blade storage. Lots of folks use PVC pipe for this and I did too but I prefer clear tubes as I can simply cut the data off of Mike’s labels, stuff it into the tube and I can quickly know what blades are in the tube and how many I have left.
Cheers — Larry
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