A Non-Traditional Tree of Life

[rafairchild2]

I have not been in the workshop for a month, it's just been too darn hot (95+ with 105+ heat index for weeks)and my little window a/c could not shed the heat.  Even on days that the temps dropped a little I just could not find the motivation.  Well, we are finally in the 80s, and I forced myself to work in the shop, 30 minutes at a time, getting back to an hour, then 90 minutes.  It's a forcing function. But the heat this summer broke me mentally.

Here is a tree of life (no roots though) that is a little nontraditional, but I think it came out pretty nice. 100% inside cuts, even the perimeter.

I used Bloodwood, which is hard as heck and I went through blades about every 20-30 minutes.  Used Flying Dutchman Ultra Reverse.  #5 for the smaller details on the right, #7 for the larger on the left, and #9 for the perimeter. Cut on a 30" Pegas, with Pegas chuck.

Here are a few images.  The finished piece, a closeup through my lighted magnifying glass, and the pan under the saw, I throw the waste wood and dead blades.  It is magnetized, so I do keep blades that have a little life left stuck to the back.

Edited August 11 by rafairchild2

[rjweb]

Excellent cutting, RJ

[FrankEV]

Very nice abd very nice clean cuts.

Quick questions about the big yellow nozzle.  I'm assuming that is suction from the the big hose I see in the bot pic. How and where is it connected to the vac hose?  And does it lift with the arm like the air tube does?  Where did you get it?  You can message me your reply if you don't want to take this post off topic.

Thanks

[rafairchild2]

1 hour ago, FrankEV said:

Very nice abd very nice clean cuts.

Quick questions about the big yellow nozzle.  I'm assuming that is suction from the the big hose I see in the bot pic. How and where is it connected to the vac hose?  And does it lift with the arm like the air tube does? 

It's a 3/4-inch lock line from Amazon. (2 sets)  Connected via a sleeve with a wooden insert RTV'd into place.  I used two blast gates, one for the bottom vac, and one for the top so I could throttle the suction to the way I like. As you can see because of the flex hosing behind, raising and lowering the arm does not affect the top vac at all.  It will go back into the proper position.

Here's what it looks like from the side.  This is just before trimming everything up and replacing the Excalibur in the background. And you can see I built the same top vac on the Excal too!

2nd photo shows it in place.  30" Pegas.  

Edited August 11 by rafairchild2

[preprius]

Nice cutting. The bloodwood is really hard.  That does look like 3/4" thick.  Thanks for saying 20 to 30 min per blade. 

What protective finish did you will do on the "bloodwood"? 

Shop question: Did the insulated garage door help?  

My door face south and they are not insulated. 

 

Me.

Mark Eason.

[rafairchild2]

1 hour ago, preprius said:

Nice cutting. The bloodwood is really hard.  That does look like 3/4" thick.  Thanks for saying 20 to 30 min per blade. 

What protective finish did you will do on the "bloodwood"? 

Shop question: Did the insulated garage door help?  

 

1. Actually, it is only 1/2".  If it was 3/4, I would have only gotten 15 minutes on a blade!  It's the heat/friction that makes the blade wear faster. You can see the discoloration as it heats and turns blueish.  I think it loses it tempering with all that heat, thus the tracking of the blade goes wonky, then you have to push harder.
2. Nothing yet on the wood other than a tack cloth wipe.  I will finish with a raw linseed oil dip.
3. Yes, that thin insulation really does help as the sun beats on that door from 11 AM to sunset.  Probably helps another 10-15+ degrees.

[wombatie]

Beautiful cutting.
Do you mind telling me where you got the tray from?  Terrific idea.

Marg

[rafairchild2]

1 hour ago, wombatie said:

Do you mind telling me where you got the tray from?  Terrific idea.

The tray is an accessory item from US General (Buy at Harbor Freight), just like the drink cup holder you see in 2nd photo above, it is magnetized.  I also have the paper towel holder too.  They are reasonably priced.

[rafairchild2]

Here's the finished product after being dipped in raw linseed oil and hand-wiped.  The red in the bloodwood pops now.