jwilliamsen

It's fascinating that your students didn't find anything off-putting about the characters you mentioned ... perhaps it IS a generational thing. After all, young people today grew up with all manner of CGI - much of it guilty of the "uncanny valley" (at least to my eye). Even with all of the horsepower and talent behind Hollywood movies, characters like Thanos (from Avengers:Endgame) still don't quite sell as "real."As a professional CGI artist who has done a lot of character work, the interesting thing about the uncanny valley is that the closer you get to realistic, the worse it gets. The more detail you add, the more detail the eye expects, so it can become a vicious cycle: miss some detail, and suddenly it looks "off." Modern modeling/sculpting/textu...

It's fascinating that your students didn't find anything off-putting about the characters you mentioned ... perhaps it IS a generational thing. After all, young people today grew up with all manner of CGI - much of it guilty of the "uncanny valley" (at least to my eye). Even with all of the horsepower and talent behind Hollywood movies, characters like Thanos (from Avengers:Endgame) still don't quite sell as "real."As a professional CGI artist who has done a lot of character work, the interesting thing about the uncanny valley is that the closer you get to realistic, the worse it gets. The more detail you add, the more detail the eye expects, so it can become a vicious cycle: miss some detail, and suddenly it looks "off." Modern modeling/sculpting/texturing techniques and vast improvements in rendering technology have made a huge difference in believability, but until robots and CGI can reliably reproduce all of the micro-expressions we're used to seeing as humans, stylization is going to be the way to go IMO.

Not a thing (except for added complexity). I have several firearms with folding stocks, and I've built a folding stock for an M1A, and when you need something compact and maneuverable, folding stocks are hard to beat. This rifle, however, is more of a target rifle, so a folding stock would be overkill.

VERY cool. My first thought ... after soaking up the amazing attention to detail is: How do you keep it from getting dusty? lol I'd have that thing hermetically sealed.

Thanks! I'm glad you like them!

I have to wonder what the effect of an aluminum alloy has on the overall properties of the finished DIY Aluminum Bronze. It's pretty hard to find pure aluminum - most of what's out there is an alloy (7075, 6061, 2036, etc, etc). Still, a very interesting project :)A better test of brittleness might be to see if you can bend it without breaking it. Clamp it in a vise and see if you can bend it (or break it) with an adjustable wrench as a handle :)

Barring some kind of disaster - natural or otherwise - that bench should be around longer than you (or me).An idea for dealing with squeeze out: 1) Dry assemble/align your joint, 2) apply wide masking or painter's tape across the seam, 3) slit the tape with a razor blade along the seam - separating the parts 4) wet-assemble your joints and clamp. The tape will keep the squeeze-out from bonding to the wood along the seams, and make whatever does squeeze out easier to clean up. That way, you don't have to worry about glue-starving your joints to prevent a mess ;)You might also consider polyurethane glue (like Gorilla Glue) as it doesn't repel stain like aliphatic resins (yellow glues), and tends to be stronger and not prone to swelling or creep.

Good stuff. Projects are all about learning - making mistakes is part of the mix (no pun intended). For a parting compound, wax would work better (like a Johnson's Paste Wax or even Paraffin). Also, whenever you have a deep mold like that, you're going to want to add at least a *little* draft angle to make removing the mold a lot easier and less risky. You did a good job getting the mold out without breaking the sink - but it didn't look like fun at all ;)

Probably the easiest way to make a wooden chair that's comfortable to sit on - lots of curves. That's a great use for an old barrel.

Hi Patricia,Iodized salt (as well as non-iodized salt) will work.

In regards to your breadboard ends: You might be able to get away with what you did depending on how dramatic the humidity difference between seasons is in your area, but in the future, you might want to elongate your dowel holes in the tongue of the joint - all but the center hole. Specifically, you want to put a pin in the center of the table end (no hole elongation) and then elongate the holes on either side - maybe 1/16" to each side of center (it's OK to glue the center like you did). This allows the center pin to keep the board centered (duh) and then allows the table top to grow and shrink across it's width without putting undue stress on the breadboard ends. This is important because wood expands/contracts across it's grain significantly more than it does along it's len...

In regards to your breadboard ends: You might be able to get away with what you did depending on how dramatic the humidity difference between seasons is in your area, but in the future, you might want to elongate your dowel holes in the tongue of the joint - all but the center hole. Specifically, you want to put a pin in the center of the table end (no hole elongation) and then elongate the holes on either side - maybe 1/16" to each side of center (it's OK to glue the center like you did). This allows the center pin to keep the board centered (duh) and then allows the table top to grow and shrink across it's width without putting undue stress on the breadboard ends. This is important because wood expands/contracts across it's grain significantly more than it does along it's length, so when you have a joint where end grain meets side grain (as in your breadboard ends) NOT taking this into account can mean that your project disassembles itself - or at least becomes "rickety" as the expansion/contraction cycle loosens the joint. The amount of growth you can expect is determined by wood species, initial moisture content of the wood, and humidity change across seasons. There are online references you can check to see how much you would want to elongate those holes.In regards to flattening the top, another technique would be take a pencil (soft lead) and lightly draw some big lazy squiggles across the top - enough so that there is a line every few inches. Then, use either a jointer plane or a belt sander to flatten the top until the squiggles are gone. The lines give you a reference to what is high and what is low - and when you are finished in a particular area. With the jointer plane, you want to stroke at about 45 degrees to the grain of the wood, and with a belt sander, you want to keep the sander flat on it's platen (don't let it tilt and dig in) and use wide, arcing, sideways sweeps with very light pressure - again at about 45 degrees to the grain of the wood - never let the sander start or stop when in contact with the surface. In both cases, finish with light sanding with either a belt sander, linear sander, or by hand, stroking in the direction of the grain. Palm sanders can leave swirls.When finishing (staining) softwoods, you will get better results by "conditioning" the wood before using the stain. Softwoods are like sponges - irregular sponges - and will have areas that totally suck up stain (like end-grain) and other areas that don't take it well at all. This leads to a "blotchy" finish instead of a nice overall color. Conditioning solutions can be purchased or home-made - I've had good results with both - and they are definitely worth the time and effort. Remember: Few people notice a perfect finish - only the imperfect finish stands out ;)Finally, a word on glues: You might want to do some experimenting with polyurethane glue instead of aliphatic resin (wood) glue. Polyurethane glues require a slightly different work flow, but since switching to polyurethane about 15 years ago, I can't see going back. I use aliphatic glues for some things (like biscuit joints) - but not very often. Polyurethane glues actually harden (aliphatic resins remain "liquid"), poly takes stain like wood (no bright areas where the stain wouldn't bond to the glue lines), poly doesn't dull tools or gum up sandpaper, poly is waterproof and can fill minor gaps. My favorite brand, so far, is Gorilla Glue.At any rate, I really appreciate your willingness to share your hard-earned lessons. I KNOW how much effort goes into making videos like that - so kudos for that. Woodworking is a journey, not a destination - we are all students - and it's awesome when we share what we know to help everyone on the same path get better at doing what we love.

Agreed. Unfortunately, I came to the same conclusion when looking at the design (i.e. it's probably going to disassemble itself). The one possible saving grace is if relative humidity is *very* stable throughout the year and/or the wood is sealed *very* thoroughly (as with a catalyzed urethane).Wood grows across it's grain much more than along it's grain. If the center of the table was allowed to 'float' in the frame (a tongue and groove assembly) and had provisions for expansion/contraction where the ends interface with the frame, it would probably be fine, but as this appears to be built there might be some mysteriously loud popping sounds as the weather changes ...It certainly is a pretty table with some nice attention to details, though ;)

Outstanding work - really beautiful. It's kind of a paradox, though: too beautiful to use ... and too cool NOT to use - lol. Great job - some very nice attention to detail there :)

Yes, they are not inexpensive. I, too, balked at their price when I originally bought mine - but - they are very tough and last a long time. I've had the two I originally purchased - for about the same price they go for now - for over 10 years and they're still going strong. It's easy to mentally compare them to something like a sanding disc - but that wouldn't be an accurate comparison because they do not wear like any abrasive disc I've ever seen or used - they seem to be perpetually sharp. The key - as with most metal tools - is to not overheat them with use - let the "wicked little carbine cones" do their thing without a lot of force and they will last.

Nice work! It takes a lot of focus to power through all that hand work.If you ever decide to do that kind of sculpting work again, you might want to look into a tool called the "Holey Galahad" from King Arthur Tools. Combined with your angle grinder, they can remove a lot of material very quickly and allow for a lot of finesse work. You would still want to sneak up on your final shape by hand, but for bulk stock removal with a lot of control, they are really hard to beat ;)

It's worth noting that if you want to write off part of your house as an "office" that the space you are using probably needs to be *just* an office - i.e. not a "multi-purpose" room like a "nursery *and* an office in one!" If that is the case (a dedicated office space) you can write off that percentage of your total floor space (as you mentioned) for utilities. If you work remotely, and depend on the internet to do your work, you can pretty much write off most or all of your internet expenses as well.

Nice table! Some serious investment in that top - walnut isn't cheap (at least not in my neck of the woods). Congratulations on being one of the few builds I've seen that takes the difference in wood expansion (width vs. length) into account.A few things you may want to consider should you ever do another table of similar design: 1) Use one of the online wood-expansion calculators to determine how much your top will / could expand, and use that dimension to determine how much "slip" to add to your tenon slots. It's also worth noting that the tenon slots toward middle of the table don't need to be very wide - maybe Pin Dia +1/8th inch - and the slots will get progressively wider toward the outer edges of the table - up to a bit more than half of the total expansion you could...

Nice table! Some serious investment in that top - walnut isn't cheap (at least not in my neck of the woods). Congratulations on being one of the few builds I've seen that takes the difference in wood expansion (width vs. length) into account.A few things you may want to consider should you ever do another table of similar design: 1) Use one of the online wood-expansion calculators to determine how much your top will / could expand, and use that dimension to determine how much "slip" to add to your tenon slots. It's also worth noting that the tenon slots toward middle of the table don't need to be very wide - maybe Pin Dia +1/8th inch - and the slots will get progressively wider toward the outer edges of the table - up to a bit more than half of the total expansion you could expect across the whole top. 2) Mirror clips will probably work, but might prove to be a bit flimsy over time. There are some heavy-duty clips available for attaching a table-top - they're thicker and the metal is stronger than your average mirror bracket. 3) Aliphatic resin glue (yellow glues) remain "liquid" over time and can swell / move - especially in stressed laminations. You probably won't have any issues, but the glue seams can end up "proud" of the table surface depending on the conditions the table is subject to (moisture and heat). You might want to check out polyurethane glue (Gorilla is my go-to brand) - it's stronger, fully cures, fills gaps, and doesn't dull tools or gum up sandpaper. I rarely use yellow glue any more.4) When applying paint to wood, it's a really good idea to use a primer first. Most paints don't really bond well to bare wood. The primer acts as an interface between the wood and the paint. Again, you may not have any problems, but priming is a way to significantly reduce the possibility of the paint peeling/flaking/cracking (the type of primer will be determined by what the paint manufacturer recommends).Don't take this as criticism - it's not. It's information I've gathered over years of woodworking (and learning how to do things better) that I thought might be useful to you in the future ;)Again, nice table .... it will probably be around longer than we will :)

That is bizarre - that you can't find this kind of mechanism in Germany(!). Are bi-fold doors not a common thing in Europe? Have you tried eBay or Amazon? Another possibility would be to contact an interior designer or architect and ask them where they would source something like that - or - contact one of the companies like http://bifold-hardware.com/bi-fold-systems/dewall-...and ask them if they might know where to get a more "consumer" grade hardware set.

REALLY impressive - wow. Truly stunning work.(Why do I get the feeling that staircase cost more than my house? ;)

Very nice! I see a *little* Sam Maloof influence in there ;)

Most wooden stocks used for center-fire rifles use at least one cross-bolt behind the recoil lug and almost every semi-auto center-fire rifle I've seen uses a metal liner for the stock (M-14, M-1 Garand, SKS, etc). Semi-auto center-fire can be pretty punishing on a wooden stock unless the recoil impulse is spread out and not focused in one area. While a stock without those things might hold up for a few hundred rounds, I would think that breakage would almost be a given without a cross-bolt / stock liner. As far as bonding the polymer stock to the wood, I would put that in the "sketchy" category for a couple of reasons. First, if your stock is glass-filled nylon, there's not a lot of readily available adhesives that will work trying to glue it to itself - let alone to wood...

Most wooden stocks used for center-fire rifles use at least one cross-bolt behind the recoil lug and almost every semi-auto center-fire rifle I've seen uses a metal liner for the stock (M-14, M-1 Garand, SKS, etc). Semi-auto center-fire can be pretty punishing on a wooden stock unless the recoil impulse is spread out and not focused in one area. While a stock without those things might hold up for a few hundred rounds, I would think that breakage would almost be a given without a cross-bolt / stock liner. As far as bonding the polymer stock to the wood, I would put that in the "sketchy" category for a couple of reasons. First, if your stock is glass-filled nylon, there's not a lot of readily available adhesives that will work trying to glue it to itself - let alone to wood. Second, you would be bonding two materials with very different rates of expansion in response to both temperature and moisture - meaning that in the best case, your adhesive would have to be flexible in order for them to not split apart due to something like a change in season or temperature. Add to that a bit of pounding recoil and I wouldn't bet on that bond holding up (I believe your intuition is correct)..If it were me, I would look for a donor wooden stock to use as the core of the custom stock and either sell the polymer stock to offset the cost of a wooden one, or just put it in the closet and save it for conditions that you don't want to put your custom wooden stock through. I've seen (wooden) SKS stocks around for $20-$40 in really good condition (on Gunbroker.com), so, I'd wager you could find some beaters (ugly, but solid) for less from one of the bulk surplus import shops. Bonding wood to wood is a much better way to go, the donor SKS stock would have the liner and the hardware, and your finishing process would be more consistent as well. My $.02 ;)Good Luck - let me know how it goes :)

For your slider surface/magnet shield, you might want to consider UHMW or Delrin sheet - they're self-lubricating and tend to resist getting gummy with friction. You'd have to double-face tape it on since I'm not aware of glue that would work. Check with your local sign shop to see if they might have some in their scrap bin - you might get lucky and get what you need for free.

That looks really nice! I'll bet it gets a lot of attention at the range (and elsewhere). Cool thing about rattle-can paint jobs is that should you ever decide to change them, it's pretty easy to do :)

Please do! I'd love to see what you come up with :)

Dyeman,Very interesting. Where did you source the Coosa board? I'd never heard of it until you mentioned it. How hard is it to work with?I've been looking for a .22LR 7-2 (I have two 22WMR's) but the very few I've found that are new are $1K+ - so not exactly an impulse buy ... and a far cry from the $250 they originally fetched. Supply and demand, I guess ;)

No, it's not really necessary - it just needs to be strong and long enough to keep the jamb from being splintered. The rail I put in is 36" long with some pretty stout screws holding it in place. The bigger danger at this point is that the lockset would pivot under force and split out the door - but that's where the NightLock comes into play ;)http://www.ebay.com/itm/Door-Barricade-Brace-The-NIGHTLOCK-Security-Lock-BRUSHED-NICKEL-FINISH-/161603961825?hash=item25a058c3e1:g:Hq0AAOxy4dNS7P~7

Hey Dyeman,That is one sweet-looking Rusky Gun! I'll bet you get a million questions at the range :)Did you make your buttstock hardware or did you find a place to source it from? Is that carbon over wood or foam? Carbon fiber is amazing stuff, isn't it? Crazy how stiff those thin parts can be. I recently threaded the barrel on my BB and have been running a Spectre II can, but .22WMR is a *little* louder than .22LR :) On an aesthetic note, you might want to find some nice thumb-wheels for those cheek-piece mounting studs - but that minor niggle aside - great job! Very impressive! I have a second BB in .22WMR that I'm thinking I want to build an ultra-light stock for ... I'm thinking foam-core and carbon fiber - you may just have inspired ME - lol

"Dope" is slang for "excellent, cool, or very good"