Thread: Celtic knot question

I'd say the size of the material in a drop saw, chipout and securing the work and the innacuracy between the two machines. If you have a bandsaw, there is no reason not to do both operations on it alone. then your dealing with the same machine and the exact same kerf. If you have a sled made for the bandsaw already then just pack it out to remove both the inserts and the kerf cuts, remove the packings to get back to your base cuts. just my opinion, less double handling and machineing processes, and my perception that a sledded bansaw probably has more work control than a dropsaw.

Neal.

i have made a lot of celtic knot pens and all i used for all of them is my sliding compound saw.i made up a rough jig and it makes life very easy .

johno

I have made them with my tablesaw, and my SCMS. I prefer the mitre saw.
I get much better results with a simple jig to hold the blank, perfect repeatable cuts every time.

Any chance of some photos of the jigs for both the bandsaw and the drop saws?? Please...

not much to the jig really . first of all i use a sliding compound saw not a drop saw .
the jig is just a couple of bits of pine nailed to a bit of 13mm ply at the correct angles , one for the angle and one for a stop , the stop one i just use small brads just long enough to hold it there because i shift it to suit the blank length .
i cut the veneers to suit my kerf width on the band saw , normally make them a tad thick then sand them down to a neat fit .
on the scms i set the saw depth stop to leave about 1mm uncut makes life easier when gluing in the bits.

johno

Originally Posted by Avery

Any chance of some photos of the jigs for both the bandsaw and the drop saws?? Please...

Here are a couple of pics of the setup I use for my SCMS, its being used here to do half knots.
When I am using it for normal knots, I dont use the screw that pushes on the end of the blank, so that it lets the cut piece move away from the sawblade after cut is finished.

Hi Avery. I will see how it turns out before I post my pics incase it all turns it a pile of ..... I have already had to make a few mods due to things not going to plan. Will let you know how it turns out.

thanks stur for askin the question mate, and the others for the answers, i've learnt a bit too, and changed some of my preconceived idea's i guess, i'm just not a natural jigmaker meself (yet), and i hate dble handling stuff machine to machine.

Neal.

Thanks for the photos fellas.


gotta luv this place.

I had never made any jigs prior to this and even if the pen does not work out I have had fun. Threw the first attempt away when I thought I had stuffed it completely as things didnt line on cut 3. Second attempt thought what is wrong after cut three and discovered it was me! Hadnt put the insert in yet, now wonder it didnt match. More annoyed at throwing away a perfectly good start than my own stupidity, it did however lead me to a problem with the jig that was fixed. One cut left in the morning and all looks good, more worried about drilling accurately now!

Yes, the drilling can be the "make or break" even if you get all the cuts perfect, this critical step can ruin your hard work if you dont get it right.

I have best results drilling on the lathe. Normally I drill my blanks on the drill press, but have had a few drill offcentre while drilling Celtic knot blanks , so now I drill all my Knots on the lathe.

But, I think you could probably make a jig the hold the blank more securely and get good results on the drill press if you wanted to.

i drill mine on the drill press , just have to mark your centre carefully and centre pop it ,i also check with a small square to make sure the drill bit is parallel to the blank on 2 sides and square to the table .( works most times )

johno

Here are the Jigs as promised. They are pretty basic but did the trick. The wood clamps would need to be moved for bigger blanks. I am looking at making it a bit better with some toggle clamps. The knot turned out very well and I am happy. Unfortunately cant share yet as it is in the post for the IAP pen swap and have to let my swap partner get first glimpse. Will post pics soon.