Design your puzzle and build it too!

Woodturning, as a whole, encompasses many different styles and avenues of approach. Turners can make writing pens one day and great big salad bowls the next. I have seen exquisite floor lamps where even the shade was turned from wood. There are peppermills of all sizes, vases, western hats, and an infinite number of projects to be turned. Often, I have come across a piece of work that makes me scratch my head and wonder, “How did they turn that?” 

 Full sized, wearable cowboy hat turned from cherry by 

Kevin Felderhoff 

For more turned Cowboy hats see his gallery at: 
Turned Cowboy Hats

Parlor Kaildescope - Artist Unknown. 

If you know who made this let me know.

While all of these spark my curiosity as a jot them down into my “future projects” list, nothing captures my attention more than Segment Turning. It combines the fundamentals of woodworking with the art of turning. The results, for those with the patience and attention to detail, can be quite exhilarating or absolutely frustrating.

 This closed segment piece was turned by Dennis Vallianos. See more of his turnings here

As with any project, segment turners start with a plan. However, unlike a drawing which clearly depicts the finished product, a segment plan looks more like an accountant’s spreadsheet. Each sheet is an organized jumble of columns, rows with a stream of numbers representing angles and distance for every single piece. The number of pieces used can be quite impressive alone. The bowl pictured at the top of the page, used 8 segments per ring and 8 rings for a total of 64 plus the base. I have seen others of equal size that encompassed over 250 segments. It is not uncommon for larger bowls to have thousands of pieces.

Often times, the segment turner will spend several hours or even days cutting, sanding, and gluing the wood before they ever think about the lathe. Each piece will pass across the table saw at least 2 times as a precise angle cuts are made. There is no rounding off numbers here. The pieces must fit together perfectly. Thus, the angles are often calculated down to the one, one thousandths (0.001). Then segments are glued together to form quarters, halves, and then full rings. The rings are planed and then stacked. All of this is done to create a rough blank which must be mounted on the lathe and turned to perfection. Though if you talk to a true segment turner, they can always relay a story or ten about how they glued up the perfect piece only to watch it explode on the lathe.

While segment turning predates the industrial revolution, many segment turners credit Ray Allen with shining a spotlight on Segment Turning. Ray brought the art to the front stage by creating a variety of wooden vessels ranging in size from a dime to one which he could sit inside of. After his death a biography of his work was written which not only showed his work but demonstrated his techniques and provided plans for beginners to start with. No Segment turners (and anyone with an eye for art) should not go without a copy of his book: Woodturning with Ray Allen: A Master's Design & Techniques for Segmented Bowls and Vessels

See Ray Allen’s  work in this 4 minute video:

 Meanwhile, Malcolm Tibbetts has a knack for creating pieces that make all who see them wonder, “How did he do that?” Malcolm published a book called, The Art of Segment Turning: A Step by Step Guide which also serves as a primary reference guide in my library (right next to Ray Allen’s book). No segment turner’s library would be complete without either Ray Allen or Malcolm Tibbett’s books. A gallery of Malcom's impressive pieces can be found here

A few years ago, Malcolm Tibbetts produced the following video which explains the process of Segment Turning.

Do you want to explore the art of Segment Turning? Then click and join us at the Segmented WoodTurner’s Guild

Should Government regulate your workshop?

Most woodworkers have probably heard of the Ryobi Table Saw lawsuit (March 2010) in which the plaintiff was awarded 1.5 million dollars. The premise of the lawsuit is that Stephen Gass, inventor of Sawstop, had offered a technology to Ryobi in 2002, which would have prevented the injury. Ryobi, for whatever reason, declined it (click here for the full article). thus making them liable for accidents which could have been prevented by the technology.

On February 3^, 2011, USA Today reported that the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is considering regulations requiring all table saws to have this technology (full article here). 

For those not familiar with Sawstop and the flesh detecting technology, take a look at the video below:

First, let me say that I like the flesh detecting technology that Sawstop offers and I do not argue that Sawstop could and does prevent some injuries. I have never met someone who saw a demonstration of the product and said, “that’s a horrible idea.” I do, however, have several reservations about statements made by both Sawstop and the CPSC.

The CPSC states that ten people per day loose fingers to tablesaws. That means over 3600 people per year or 36,000 every ten years are loosing their fingers. The National Limb Loss Center reports that 133,725 people per year loose a limb(s). Of that, 97.5 percent are due to medical issues leaving 3,343 people per year. Furthermore, they report that 82 percent of those are lower limb amputations. That leaves 602 people per year, in the U.S.; loose an upper limb due to traumatic causes. Yet the CPSC statistic is 5 times that and is actually higher than all traumatic amputations combined! The math just does not add up.

Looking further into Sawstops information, I began to notice a trend. All they talk about is the safety of the saw. What about performance? After reading through various woodworker reviews including Wood Magazine, Woodworkers Guild of America, and Consumer Reports, the vote is unanimous that Sawstop performs at a five star rating making its performance comparable with other high end tablesaws (see the WWGOA review here). However, its price is far from comparable. Looking at the contractor’s table saw, the Sawstop model retails between $1600 and $1750 per unit. Meanwhile, other contractor tablesaws with similar ratings retail between $350 and $550.

Researching this, I found several times where Mr. Gass stated, “the price is nothing compared with the cost and lifelong pain of hand injuries”. While there is merit in that statement, it only goes so far. Commentators in support of Sawstop are quick to point out that when airbags were introduced, car prices increased. However, the difference in price between a Sawstop contractor’s saw and its performance equivalent is about $1100 dollars or a 300 percent increase. That would be like trying to justify selling a Honda Accord for $90,000 dollars just because it has an airbag! The market will not bear a three hundred percent increase in price of any product regardless of the safety ratings.

Currently, the Sawstop technology damages (often destroys) the blade. Along with the blade, one must also replace the brake cartridge. This combined cost is approximately $95 - $200 (depending on the blade quality). Now do not get me wrong. Most people would gladly pay that versus risking loosing their fingers. Keep in mind though, that cost is incurred every time the system activates. Sawstop admits that cutting green wood or metals may activate the system. Around the internet there are various reports of false activations. Given the already expensive price, can the home woodworker afford one or more false activations over the life of the saw?

With all the hype on the safety aspect of Sawstop, one may assume that their mission is to prevent injury. So the question that should be asked of Mr. Gass is, “Is it better have a high profit margin and a low sales volume or to have a high sales volume and a low profit margin?” I believe Wal-Mart has proven the later.

 If the mission is to prevent as many injuries as possible I would think Sawstop would want to price their product line to be affordable to the woodworking community thus increasing the potential to prevent injuries and possibly save lives through volume selling. Instead they spend their resources justifying their prices against the cost of injuries (sawstop).

I find it interesting that Mr. Gass testified in the Ryobi case and petitioned the CPSC to regulate the industry. It is as if he is frustrated that no one wants to pay his prices and so he runs to the government in an attempt to force the woodworker into buying. It reminds me a lot of a child who is angry because nobody will play with him.

What is done is done. If the CPSC begins to enforce a safety mandate to the power tool manufacturers then I sincerely hope they are reverse engineering the Sawstop technology in hopes of developing their own versions. Given the recent Ryobi case and the hundreds of similar cases which have been filed since, I don’t think they have much of a choice in this matter. Should the US government begin regulating tablesaws manufacturing in the name of safety, either Mr. Gass’s greed will finally be fulfilled or he will be crushed by the competition as similar technology is introduced at lower prices.

The laws of supply and demand dictate pricing. It is probable that prices would come down as volume increases (much like flat screen TV’s). However if the bigger manufacturers do not give Mr Gass a reality check through development of their own technology, it is more likely that Mr. Gass will be in a position to dictate pricing of a proprietary technology. If you doubt that, just try to find a two hundred dollar I-Pad.

Flesh detecting technology has the potential to prevent significant injuries. I do not doubt that nor argue that point. My concern lies within the pricing the consumer is expected to pay and the manner in which Mr. Gass is attempting to force consumers to buy from him. I would think that he could make a stronger case for his product by approaching the insurance industry. After all, if a cabinet maker could reduce liability insurance by purchasing Sawstop, would that not be a significant benefit? Possibly one that would allow a recovery of the greed laden price he or she was forced to pay in the first place!

Until next time, I’ll be in the Vortex…

Kevin

What are your thoughts? What do you think of the technology? Do you own a Sawstop? If so, has it ever activated? If government mandates this technology, will you be able to purchase it?

The Steampunk Quest

A few months ago, my wife asked me to design and build a Steampunk pen. While I have made several pens over the years, in both wood and acrylics, I had not yet taken on such a complicated challenge. So much like the knitting needles that started this whole woodworking adventure I said, “Sure, I can do that.” 

The quest began with research. I had a vague understanding of Steampunk so I needed to start there. Wikipedia defines Steampunk as, “ a literary genre which involves an era or world where steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century and often Victorian era Britain—that incorporates prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy.  “

Well that didn’t help much. So I began searching the net for all things Steampunk. First I went to Etsy, where I found lots of examples of Steampunk jewelry such as those made by Antige

Next I took a looked at the EPBOT blog. While I did not find any examples of pens, Jen has lots of examples of Steampunk themed homes and décor such as this. Soon I was seeing all kinds of steampunk themed projects such as:

A Computer Keyboard created by Jake Von Slatt. For more info click here

A Steampunk wheelchair built by Daniel Valdez

All these items provided great inspiration for a variety of Steampunk projects other than pens. So I asked the folks over at Penturner’s Paradise for some ideas. At that time there was not anything out there.

Like many projects, this one has rules:

1.       1. No Acrylics

2.       2.  Must combine wood and brass

3.       3. Material must have been available during the Victorian age

4.       4. Must have gears and filigree.

5.       5. The pen must work and feel good in the hand.

This was posing a greater challenge than I thought. Days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months as I still had not come up with a design, let alone a prototype for the elusive Steampunk Pen. Then one day Marla, and Brandon at Penturner’s Paradise posted their masterpiece:

Finally, Inspiration is upon me! The masters have shown me the way. Their products are outstanding and functional works of art. However, there was one issue. They chose to work in acrylics which for my quest would not work.

Their process and their end products are superb and have provided me a foundation on which to build upon. The creative juices began to flow as I devised a plan for Holly’s Steampunk pen. I have the plan. I gathered the parts. Then, shoulder surgery reared its head. So the quest is unfinished. As I type this, my left arm is in a sling. The pen will have to wait a few more weeks. But the process has already begun.

So, in a couple of weeks my arm will no longer be tied to my body and the quest can be finished at last. Stay tuned for the results. In the meantime, check out Marla’s blog at here

Have you made a steampunk project? Are you planning one? Leave a comment and tell us about it.

Kevin

For those who still do not understand Steampunk, take a look at Ben Lovett’s music video which epitomizes Steampunk.