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18" Walnut Lazy Susan

7K views 54 replies 20 participants last post by  comp56 
#1 ·
I just started this project but thought I'd post a couple of photos before it is finished. This will be a round end grain Black Walnut cutting board about 18" diameter and 1.5" thick. I cut and milled all the stock yesterday and today and tonight we glued up the sticks. Before we started glueing I drew a layout in CorelDraw so I wouldn't waste any precious Walnut.

This is the board for the project - 4/4 rough, 12" wide, a bit over 8' long. The specification is for all heartwood so the little bit of sapwood on this board will go on other cutting boards or projects -


Here's the layout -


All the pieces glued up for the night. We used Titebond III even though it isn't a cutting board, just a Lazy Susan, mainly for the longer open working time. That's a lot of sticks to glue up if they start tacking right away!


And I had an opportunity to take an artsy shot prior to glueing the sticks together and I don't like to pass those up -


I probably won't have time tomorrow - busy day at church - but next I'll take these out of the clamps, surface lightly on the drum sander, then cut into strips about 1.6875" which should allow me a nice 1.5" finished thickness.

More later!
Davd
 
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#4 ·
Fantastic! We've got a new Worship Pastor in view of a call and he's really, really good! Leads choir and band like he knows what he's doing... I think it's because he does. Sings pretty nice, too. Almost like a David Phelps clone if that were to ever be possible. Got another full day today with him so the Lazy Susan will get picked back up tomorrow.
 
#5 ·
I kinda of like to focus on furniture type projects for the design and execution challenges they tend to provide. BUT....about 6 weeks ago, the wife and kid talked me into doing some cutting boards and lazy susans' to sell. I have to say, after having done about 18 or so of em, so far. I've found it quite enjoyable. The level to which one can push the design and execution challenge is really unlimited. Even a simple, straightforward cutting board, when done well has quite an appealing quality. I look at these kind of projects with a much more appreciative eye now.

Not to mention that B/W picture is simply outstanding!!

Nice goin' David!
 
#6 ·
I love it when folks give a running account of the projects they're doing. Some of us don't readily absorb a large amount of information in one sitting, and it's nice to be able to contemplate each step before being presented with a new installment.

I really like your ideas for this project, and it was very nice of you to include the cutting diagram. Thanks.
 
#8 ·
Had a few minutes before heading back to church and cut the boards into strips. We just set them sort of in order how they came off the saw but we'll probably move them around, flip some 180°, etc. Also, I decided to cut them first and then run through the drum sander. It's a lot easier handling a bunch of small strips than trying to get a really large panel flat. We might get a chance to sand them after church tonight.

 
#11 ·
Glued up, sanded to 120, ready for the CNC to cut the recess for the Lazy Susan turntable and the outer profile.

Using the full width of the drum sander -


Sanded and smooth -
 
#17 ·
Well, I sort of forgot I started this thread so here's the update - it's finished!! I used the CNC to cut the profile and a 1/32" recess for the outer race of the Lazy Susan bearing. I could have just used some thin washers under the inner race but it was easy to just cut the recess for the outer race.

Having a wide drum sander is really nice but the finest grit I have is 120 and that leaves noticeable straight line scratches. These scratches take a LONG time to get out with my DeWalt ROS so I broke out my 'old iron', an air operated 1/3 sheet orbital. This will seriously hog some material. A side note on the dust is that I used the downdraft sanding box we just built and even though the 1/3 sheet sander doesn't have any dust collection but creates a lot of dust, the downdraft box caught almost all of the dust this sander was kicking up and that was pretty nice.

The last cutting boards we did were only about 12" x 12" and took a solid hour of sanding with 120 grit on the ROS with about 5 changes of sanding pads. The 1/3 sheet sander with 120 grit did the entire top in 5 minutes - a significant difference, for sure. I sanded about 2 minutes, changed paper although the first sheet was probably ok, and then let my compressor catch up. After a short compressor rest I sanded the top again and then a quick pass on the underside. I followed up with the ROS for a few minutes and then hand sanded for a few minutes with 220 grit and it was glassy smooth.

It has a couple of coats of mineral oil followed by our mixture of Beeswax and mineral oil and then hand polished.

On the CNC (dust shoe removed so I could video and that will be posted soon) -


Straight line scratches -


The two sanders -


In process -


Underside with bearing -


Finished top side -


The 'glamour' shot - LOL!


When I finish the video I'll post it here - enjoy!
David
 
#23 ·
Thanks, Jon! I vacuumed the sanding dust off the dry wood and then used the air compressor to blow any dust out of the tiny areas that vacuuming wouldn't get. From there all I did was pour mineral oil on and rub it in for a minute. Overnight that soaked in and I did a second coat. When that soaked in I used my Beeswax and mineral oil mixture, about 10% Beeswax to mineral oil, and rubbed that in for a minute. Then I heated the oven to 170°, which is the lowest setting our oven will go to, turned the oven off and set the board in. My thinking is that the Beeswax will further penetrate the cells if it is slightly warm so I just apply it at room temp and warm the entire board with the finish. It's not hot enough to affect the glue or warp the wood and I just leave it in for an hour or so to cool with the oven (which happens in probably 10 minutes but I still leave it in a while). When I pull it out of the oven there's always Beeswax standing in some places so I use a soft rag and wipe that in by just rubbing the entire surface. After a few hours you can handle the board without getting the mixture on your hands and I rub it out a few more times.

Is that helpful?
David
 
#24 ·
@diflakner:

Very helpful indeed David, thanks. I've used that same cleaning approach on boxes etc and it seems to work well.

Did you have to melt the beeswax (I've only seen it in block form) or did it basically dissolve in the mineral oil?

Intersting approach with the oven, appreciate the idea.

Thanks again.
 
#25 ·
@JFPNCM

Jon - not sure what process David used to mix his beeswax/mineral oil, but for some cutting boards I made recently, I put some mineral oil in a small pot and heated it over low heat. I bought my beeswax in block form and cut/broke it up into small pieces, then added it to the pot of mineral oil and continued over low heat, stirring until the beeswax melted. I mixed up enough to put into some small canning jars and gave one jar to each of the recipients of the cutting boards for Christmas. There are various instructions on the internet about using double boilers, etc. and warning of flair up but I used very low heat, stirring constantly to avoid spilling the mixture (we have a gas stove). I allowed the mixture to cool before applying it to the cutting boards by rubbing it on, then buffing it out after it dried for a while. I should have stated that I rubbed on two coats of straight mineral oil, first, allowing it to soak into the boards, then wiped the excess.
 
#27 ·
That is exactly how we did it, Vince. And all this time I thought it was a secret formula! Oh, well, there goes my mailbox money... :wink:

I put the mixture with Beeswax in a Tupperware container and dip into it after the two coats of mineral oil, as well, and then buff out later. It's an easy, albeit messy, finish to apply. I tell people to just pick up a small bottle of mineral oil at the pharmacy and reapply a few times each year depending on how often they use the board. If they want the Beeswax solution I'll give them a slice of Beeswax but so far, out of the 35-40 boards we've built, none have wanted to mess with it.
 
#30 ·
I like that sander, Dan! And only 2 cfm? Wow! I have a 2 HP compressor, a Craftsman about 45 years old, and about 40 years ago the motor was damaged but I had a 1.5 HP motor and have been running that ever since. It does ok but this 1/3 sheet sander will bring that compressor to its knees in about 2 minutes. I may have to get one of those pneumatic random orbital sanders.
 
#31 ·
OK --- explain to this dummy the differences and advantages of going with the air over my Dewalt electric ROS. Besides one uses electricity and the other uses air.
 
#32 ·
John; you're definitely no dummy!
The air powered sander has very high operating sped, no brushes, and basically not very much that can go wrong with it.
If you've already got a decent compressor with at least 20gal. tank capacity this particular sander works well...the 2 cfm is the key! Most air powered RO sanders need more air than that, more like 6 cfm.
This particular one is very light weight and the vacuum system is a nice design.

Sorry, David; didn't mean to change the subject...that finished board is gorgeous!!!
 
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