Monthly Archives: May 2018

Dovetail Transfer Jig

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I have quite a few dovetails to cut in the upcoming months.  One part of the process I always felt very weak was in the transfer of markings from one piece to another.  Whether you do tails first or pints first, at some point you need to clamp the to parts together and do a transfer.

I have seen a few different variations on this idea, this is just my take.  Essentially the two boards need to be held at right angles, and up against a fence that references two sides of the boards as co-planar.  I don’t normally keep around extra big plywood because I don’t have the room to store it.  I found out lowe’s has 1/4 sheets of “lauan grade” plywood.  Not as good or as pretty as birch, but it looks stable enough for jigs, and was much cheaper.

I started by using pocket holes to join the base. together.  I relieved the edges up against the fence with a plane to make sure no dust would keep the aligned boards from interfacing with the fence.  A 90 degree cut of plywood made a fence/reference surface for the boards.  I made sure the base was good and square before nailing in the fence.  The fence only protrudes enough to act as a reliable alignment surface.

This might have been good enough, but I wanted additional assurance that it was square, and a little help lifting it up off the table.  These blocks do both as well as stiffen the jig.

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To demonstrate the use of this jig I have a (admittedly poorly cut) dovetail that needs transferring.  The jig sits on the bench top, or could be clamped down.  Adjust the two boards to be jointed until they are lined up.  When set, transfer the edges of the cut dovetail to the pin board as shown.  Because the jig hangs out over the edge, a really tall board could be dovetailed without issue.

This simple easy jig should be helpful in the months to come.  Hopefully I reference it soon with high praises.

Hurricane Season Start

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Hurricane season hasn’t started yet, but we already have our first named storm of the year.  Happy hurricane season everyone!  As of writing this it is still subtropical (I guess for specific weather nerd reasons it isn’t called a tropical depression), but expected to become a tropical storm.  As a wise guide once stated, it is never too early to start thinking about getting yourself ready for the storm.

I went around and found a few minor issues that could be a big problem if a storm were to hit.  These are easy to do now when I have free time, but would be stressful to complete when a storm is coming.

First up on the list, my screened in porch is getting old and one of the vertical supports broke loose.  It doesn’t hold the roof up, there are 4×4 posts for that, but buffeting winds would do a lot more damage with this part flapping around.  A few right angle brackets and metal screws secured it in place.

Second, I have a set of areca palms that have gotten too close to the house.  I probably shouldn’t have planted them that close in the first place, and might cut them out completely when they start pushing out the fence.  For now, I like them, but need them to be away from the house.  Again, under normal storms they aren’t a problem, but heavy winds could whip those fronds around enough to do real damage to the corner of the roof.

Last but not least my poor fence had another post shear off.  Not sure why they all happen on just this one side, but they do.  The left picture shows a distinct bend.  As it turns out the most bent post is actually rock solid, just not straight.  The one closer to the camera has broken off at the ground.  I left the broken post in place and sank another one next to it.  Everything is much more solid.  Thats it for now.  Time to enjoy a margarita and hope we have quiet season.

Printer Upgrade Part 2

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Last we left our printer saga, everything was quite broken, and I was waiting on parts.  The 625z bearings came in and I put the extruder motor back together.  When I could easily turn it by hand, I knew my extruder problems were solved.  Sure enough, I can extrude PETG at high speeds and no jams.  The hot end was not to blame.  I did develop a new problem though.

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That is the status of my end stops.  The printer thinks the inductive sensor is touching the bed even though it is nowhere close.  I had an occasional issue with the inductive sensor reading poorly.  That has become constant now, all my messing with the cables finished off my probe.  I can’t start a print without that probe.  I massaged the cable and found a spot that flipped the 1 to a 0.  Time to troubleshoot.

Ok, so the cable is pretty well shot.  I opened the jacket where the issues was, but couldn’t figure out the exact problem.  They used very thin wire, it could be a break within the jacket.  I just cut most of the cable and redid the wiring.  That got me back up and running.  I printed everything I needed for the upgrade plus spares in both PETG and PLA.

I double checked all the instructions to make sure I wasn’t missing anything and started with the tear down.  On the plus side I am really good at disassembling the whole hot end/extruder!  It looks so naked.

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I only ran into one small snag.  The part that holds the x-belt wasn’t accepting the belt on the right hand side.  I printed 3 different versions, and they all had the same issue.  I took that part off and worked around the groove with a hobby knife.  It eventually relented and let the belt seat fully.

After that, the extruder assembly was pretty straight forward.

The bed assembly was a breeze.  I like most of the changes they made to the cable management, and think this will be more robust.  How the rats nest gets handled in the controller box could be a little better though.  Maybe just a bigger box.

I went through the calibration wizard, did some nozzle height testing, then printed a smart looking benchy.  Dimensionally it is great, but course settings mean it isn’t cosmetically the best.

I am thrilled to be over the failures, and proud of myself for solving all the issues.  Given that is almost exactly the 1 year anniversary of getting this printer, I decided to share a few stats.

Printer Stats:

  • 380 successful prints (more than a few failures, especially these last 2 weeks)
  • 44.7 days spent printing (12% of its life)
  • 6.3km of filament