Let There Be Light Part III

This is part III of a III part series read parts I & II here.

I began working on the light ring stand at about 8:30 pm. It had to be completed that night, for in the morning it was to leave on a cross country drive. If that deadline wasn’t enough, it was also the first night of the newly resurrected #woodchat. Besides making the stand, I was tweeting and Google+ Hangouting for much of the night.To construct the base, I used a 1” thick, factory made sheet of finger jointed pine. I find that using sheets like this for non-decorative pieces is cost effective and the boards I rip from these sheets are much straighter than dimensional lumber would be.

The partially assembled light ring stand.

The entire stand is made from strips, about 2” thick, except for the upper half of each leg. As I ran out of the 1” think sheet and it was 10:30 at night by that point, I used the only dimensional lumber I had in the shop, pieces of 2”x4” Timberstrand to make the tops of the legs. Almost all of the joinery is made using T-nuts, 5/16” threaded rod and plastic knobs for easy breakdown. I set the T-nuts and install short pieces of threaded rod in each, secured with LocTite Threadlocker. Luckily, I had Ari around to cut the threaded rod lenghs for me while I fabricated the stand. The only permanently attached pieces are the receivers for the legs, where are permanently screwed to the feet.

The completed light ring stand with the light ring in place.
The stand is assembled with clamps as the LocTite was not yet dry.

When assembled, the stand is about 7’ high and can hold the light ring, centered at any height from about 3’6” to 6’9”. The light ring is simply placed against the upper legs of the stand and ring’s handles are clamped to the stand using small quick clamps.

To use the light ring, simply stand behind it, and take your photo through the ring, so that your subject is evenly illuminated on every side of the photo.

The stand, broken down and ready for travel.

Broken down, the stand is made of up 9 pieces, none longer than 4’. Though I didn’t have time to do so before the light ring and stand left of the west coast, I told Ari that if I picked up some large Velcro straps, it would make the stand easier to transport.

The light ring is now at home in LA, and its cooking with gas.

The light ring is now in LA, and soon it’ll be illuminating the stars.What odd projects have you made to meet your friend’s needs?

Let There Be Light: Part I

Let There Be Light: Part II

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Penultimate Woodshop Renovation Video 12

After spending the beginning of the year working on Pinewood Derby cars, Cub Scout achievement birdhouses and tool instruction, I finally made it back to the Tree House and Shop a few weeks ago. It was mainly a day of Treehouse work, so I just snuck in a little shop work when I could.

To cutout for the window, cut and undersized hole then reach through
and mark the  jam locations on the back of the OSB.

That meant I didnt get too much done, but I did manage to fit another piece of OSB sheathing. This one was a minor milestone, in that it trims out the last window.

Unfortunately, the piece I cut out had the same measuring error in it that cost me 3 pieces of gable end trim on the treehouse (be sure to use the correct scale). I didnt realize it until the piece was hung on the wall and it was late in the day, but this is my shop, so I bit the bullet and re-made the piece.

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A Good Thing But Not The Next Best

The next best thing to attending Woodworking in America if you cant? Hardly.

Ill say it here, it is now very likely that I will miss WIA 2011. Im still hoping to go, but forces well beyond my control (also known as life) are conspiring against me. I cant complain though, because I was able to stop in breifly for WIA 2009 & and I kicked it with the cool kids all wekend long at WIA 2010.

Ill have my homework in tomorrow, Mr. Schwarz.

For anyone who hasnt been lucky enough to attend, dont let this blog post from Popular Woodworking fool you. The hand tool techniques you pick up at WIA are great, yes. And these are great DVDs to suppliment the instruction. But they are not what make the weekend great. Neither is the market place filled with its tool porn and fantastic deals.

Ahh! Woodworkers everywhere!

What makes Woodworking in America the MUST ATTEND Woodworking event of the year are the WOODWORKERS!

Marcs as entertaining in person.

The highlight of the 2 hours I spent at WIA 2009 was my meeting Tom Iovino. What made WIA 2010 one of the best weekends Ive ever had was meeting and hanging out with not just Tom, but Kyle Barton, Rob Bois, Nik Brown, Matt Gradwohl, Kari Hultman, Adam King, Allen Lindsey, Ian Mackay, Aaron Marshall, Mike Morton, Marc Spagnuolo, Steve Taylor and Matt Vanderlist (a many, many others).

Youll leave any woodworking event with great friends.

If you can’t make it to WIA, be sure to make it to a local woodworking event and meet you’re fellow woodworkers. They’re a great bunch. You’ll be glad you did.

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I Feel Its The Best Way

I like router a lot. I have 10 of them. Using so many routers has taught me many things I like and dislike about them. One thing I dont like is a spindle lock button. I hate the ratcheting spindle lock on Festool routers. My preferred method for changing bits is with two (2) wrenches.
For years, Ive used two (2) wrenches and a single hand to tighten and loosen the collet in any router that will accept two (2) wrenches. By aligning the wrenches properly, you can tighten or loosen the collet simply by closing your fist around the wrenches.
When I read the recent newsletter from Fine Homebuillding, I saw that Im not the only one who changes bits this choice. In this video, Chuck Miller shows how its done.

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