Do you need a quick gift for that New Years Eve party? This balancing wine bottle holder is cool looking and easy to make. Pair it with a nice bottle of wine for a gift your hosts will enjoy.
This project is all about tweaking the angle until you get a good balance. Make the initial angle cut at 35 degrees and adjust from there. I made the first cut with the scroll saw tilted. You can make this cut any way that is convenient. A miter saw is the quickest but I did not have mine set up so I just used the scroll saw.
If you test the balance and it is off you need to tweak the angle. Just adjust about 1 degree at a time. If the bottle falls forward then increase the angle. If it falls back then decrease the angle. You should be able to get a balance within a couple tweaks.
Santa brought me what I asked for!
When I wrote to Santa this year one thing I asked for was new digital calipers. I use calipers a lot in my shop and the ones I have are pretty poor quality. My old ones did not have auto off so the battery was always dead.
You can spend hundreds of dollars on a high-quality set of Starrett calipers. Santa and I are not that good of friends so I needed something a little more reasonable. I did a little research and settled on these Aickar Digital Calipers. The reviews were good and they had the auto-off feature I needed.
I also use gauge blocks to set up tools so I thought I would test my new calipers on them. Before you start laughing about my 3D printed gauge blocks lets see how they do. I printed 1/8", 1/4", 3/8" and 1/2" blocks on my QIDI Tech 3D printer and have used them for over a year.
I set the calipers to fractions and started measuring. They can also be set to mm and inches. In fractions mode, I got 1/8". So far so good.
1/4" is good.
3/8" is good.
1/2" is good.
I put the 1/8" gauge back in the calipers and set the mode to in. As you can see I am off by .002". That's close enough for what I do so I'm happy with my DIY gauge blocks. But how do I like the Aickar Digital Calipers?
The construction of this caliper is pretty good for a $34 tool. There is very little plastic. My other calipers were mostly plastic. The fit and finish is above average for tools in this price range. One part that usually disappoints on less expensive calipers is the sliding action using the gnarled knob. This one is just okay. If you ever used a really nice set you get spoiled. I'm not blown away with the action but it is again good enough.
The LCD screen is very legible and just large enough. Larger would be better but it's good enough. The quality of the digital screen is crisp but no backlight is included.
I cannot test their accuracy because I don't have certified test blocks. My research showed a couple of people who did test for accuracy and said they were right on. Inexpensive tools are notorious for being inconsistent so your results may vary.
Here is the deal. I don't need measuring tools with .0005 accuracy as this tool claims. I need to measure the depth of holes maybe within a 1/32". I often check the diameter of a dowel rod or the thickness of a board. Most of the time close is good enough.
There are a few times when I need higher accuracy. When I am modeling a part to be printed on my 3D printer it needs decent accuracy. This set of calipers far exceeds what I need for accuracy.
If you are on a budget and don't have hundreds to spend on professional calipers then these are in my opinion a very good buy.
Thanks, Santa.
$12 per sheet of 12 coins plus $3.50 shipping
Inlay with a 1" Forstner Bit.
The perfect way to sign your work.
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Products for your consideration:
Scroll Saw Pattern Design Tutorial: DVD
Let me teach you to create a beautiful wooden portrait pattern. I will show you everything you need from start to finish. The video will show you the free software program you can download for Windows or Mac OS. I will show you how to install the program and configure it for best results.
Let me teach you to create a beautiful wooden portrait pattern. I will show you everything you need from start to finish. The video will show you the free software program you can download for Windows or Mac OS. I will show you how to install the program and configure it for best results.
Then I will show you the technique to take your photograph and make a pattern from it. When the pattern is complete we will go in the shop and cut it.
The DVD is $10 plus shipping. This is a data DVD that you will use on your computer to watch the video tutorial
Every Scrollsaw Workshop Pattern from 2007-2017 in DVD
Purchase the entire Scrollsaw Workshop pattern catalog for offline access.
This DVD has 2,300 patterns published from 2007 thru 2017.
The DVD is $20 plus shipping. Ships to 60 countries around the world.
The DVD is $20 plus shipping. Ships to 60 countries around the world.
If you use the DVD on a Windows PC there is a simple viewer program to browse through the patterns.
The DVD also works fine on a MAC. The viewer program is not MAC compatible but there is an included PDF with all the patterns shown as thumbnails for easy viewing.
Want to create beautiful wooden vases on the scroll saw?
My two "Wooden Vases on the Scroll Saw" books make it easy.
The books are $12 each and available for instant download after purchase. Click for Video Demonstration.
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