Hi everyone. This is my first post on this forum. I’ve been woodworking about 17 years or so as a hobby.
If anyone has a use for wooden gears, I have a simple method of making them. It’s easy to do really, and I use an Excel spreadsheet for calculating dimensions of any gear I want. Visit my site at www.stevengarrison.com for more information.
Thanks,
Steve
Replies
Welcome, Steven! I don't see many gears in my woodworking future, but the Tiger Maple shell on your home page is gorgeous!
Thank you! The shells seem to be the most popular things I make. I sure like that tiger maple wood, it's expensive but sure is pretty. I'm actually getting started writing a (different) magazine article about my shells.
Steve
http://www.stevengarrison.com
Hi Steve,
Welcome to the forum.
Your Website is one of the most fascinating I have seen.
I'm posting this in the few seconds I have before rushing off to work this morning. I'll contact you later about making gears and shells!
I look forward to your posts here.
Rich
Steve, I can't possibly imagine what I might need wooden gears for, but no matter! Your website is really interesting and out of the ordinary.
Welcome to Knots.
David Ring
http://www.touchwood.co.il/?id=1&lang=e
Wonderful work! A fascinating site.
Frosty
"I sometimes think we consider the good fortune of the early bird and overlook the bad fortune of the early worm." FDR - 1922
Fabulous work and the website is fun also. I love the shells, absolutely my favorite. I'd like to see an article on how you make them. Maybe something for a future addition to your website. Keep it up. Welcome to the forum, I'm sure your obvious expertise will be of help to many of us.
Chuck
Thanks to everyone for the responses! I try hard to do things that are unique and off the beaten path.
Surely there is something crafty that could utilize gears? I haven't come up with much either, but have thought about models of engines or other mechanical movements, window blinds, wind turbines, and who knows what else? If anyone has ideas then let me know. They are just too cool and easy to make to not have a good use for them.Steve
http://www.stevengarrison.com
Steve,
Clocks. There was an article in FWW, back in the day.
Ray
Steven,
Welcome! That curly maple shell is amazing. I share your love for figured maple.
Cheers,
Lee
You need to look at John McNab's spiral turnings in http://www.woodwork-mag.com Issue 90 Dec ’04
Yeah, I think I saw that a few years ago. Pretty neat! He's the guy with the tall vertical axis lathe with a chair attached to the tool holder so he can ride it up and down. My method isn't as fun and doesn't require a lathe except to make a cylinder to start with.
Clocks - already thought of that. I couldn't get excited enough about them to make my own, and the guys that do seem hung up on their traditional cycloidal tooth profiles and mine are involute. I think they are a little behind the times (pun intended).Steve
http://www.stevengarrison.com
Very very cool. That speed multiplier is pretty amazing and reminds me very much of hand cranked ice cream makers.
If you build it he will come.
Dang, you gave me an great idea!
Haven't got any tiger but have some really nice small pieces of curly maple. Think I'll try my hand at carving a curly maple shell, or mebbe a fan.
Welcome to Knots and your shell is drooling material. That finish just pops the tiger in yer tank!
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Edited 10/28/2008 9:27 pm ET by KiddervilleAcres
Steve,
Welcome to the forum. It looks like you bring expertise of a different form to the forum. Gears are necessary for clocks, but I'd compare them to these sterling engines sold by Garrett Wade. They are just neat to have and play with!
Chris @ www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
Thanks everyone for the positive feedback! Looks like the shells are my most popular items. I am constantly improving upon them to make them look better and with more possibilities for the final outcome of the overall shape. The part I have most difficulty with is shaping and sanding the interior, imagine sanding the inside of half a ball without gouging it with the edge of a disc or drum sander. It helps to sand a quarter turn of segments before adding it to the rest of the shell, but then you have to clean up the seam. Does anyone have suggestions? I could just add segments one or two at a time so the seam isn't so deep inside, but that is a lot more time consuming. There must be a method better than what I have been using.
Steve
http://www.stevengarrison.com
Steven,
I am an editor at Fine Woodworking and I just checked out your website via your post. I am amazed by your creativity! The gears are really spectacular and all the work is so innovative.
Have you considered posting images of your work to The New Gallery?
Here is a link to that area on our site: http://finewoodworking.taunton.com/gallery
It is free and all you have to do is make a profile and start posting.
Incidentally, you can also use the gallery as a marketing tool for your work by linking to your site.
If you need any help getting started, feel free to contact me at [email protected]
Well, glad I stumbled upon your work!
Sincerely,
Gerald
Thank you for the compliments and information. I have been staying busy in the workshop working on my latest shell and haven't been doing much on the computer lately. After I get through with this project I will take some pictures and post them along with some others.Steve
http://www.stevengarrison.com
Great! Look forward to seeing them. They will be well appreciated in the Gallery.Best,
Gerald
I have posted a picture of my most recent project in the new gallery. It is my new red cedar shell sculpture.
http://finewoodworking.taunton.com/assets/uploads/posts/3998/12inchcedar_xl.JPG
Steve
http://www.stevengarrison.com
I just gave it a thumbs up!
Is it hand carved or routed?
Best,
g
Well it's definately NOT routed. I use a rotary power carving tool to shape the interior followed up with a home-made ball sander. The exterior is sanded by hand because any kind of power sanding will inevitably create dips in the convex surface - especially in soft eastern red cedar.Steve
http://www.stevengarrison.com
Happy Holidays, Yup I'm NEW. Just decided to log in this mornin' Sweet sculpture Nice finish and tight photography A+ . I'm a woodworker and sculptor in Brooklyn yet still no website. I'm trying hard to get along with computers recently since it's such a great way to meet others in my field. Double Bravo on your work and nice website!
Patrick Miles
43909.23 in reply to 43909.20
Thanks! Welcome to the forum. I am self-taught at woodworking, but I wish I had help with the finish aspect. The finish will either make or break a project, and screwing it up is VERY frustrating and time consuming. I'm also learning a little about photography the same way - trial and error lol. Thankfully they both turned out for me this time and I will remember how I did it next time :) Happy New Year!Steve
http://www.stevengarrison.com
Steven..
How did you dip that Shell in molten Glass without burning the wood?
I use a thinned mixture of tung oil varnish and mineral spirits applied with a foam brush. Rather than fighting drips and runs I encourage them. Mixed at about 2 parts tung oil varnish to 1 part thinner, it runs very easily to the low spot without leaving a trail behind the drip. After applying a coat I catch the drips at the bottom and soak up the puddles in the interior using the foam brush. This works better than anything else I have tried - and it's also the cheapest way to go.Steve
http://www.stevengarrison.com
Paddy,
I'm a woodworker from Brookly.
Where's your studio? I work out of 3rd Ward.
I also have a blog about the wood/furniture scene in Brooklyn: brooklynmodern.com
-W
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