Thank The Gods For Inventing Popsicle Sticks

[J T]

Spent some leasent time in the shop today, making a couple of little thingies for myself. One is a sawdust sifter, because I'm gonna b doing some things that'll need some real fine sawdust. I'm not 100% sure just what it'll look like when it's done, because I'm still making it. It will be a retular box, with a screen inside. Should come in very handy.

The other little gizmo is a mold I made because I want to make a sheekrest for my "squirrel" rifle.

The cheekrest will be loosely bases on the Enfield sniper rifles. It'll be made using sifted sawdust, which was a bit of a PITA, which is the reason for the sawdust sifter. I'll be molding it in a bold I made today. I'll line the mold with pastic, so it won't stick to the wood, and I'll be able to pull it out, and lay it on the stock to dry, with plastic under it. I'll be able to smooth it up after it dries, then glue it in place. Or, drill it and screw it down, not decided on which yet.

But, when I take it out, and bend it over the stock to shape it, I'm pretty sure it's going to crack. I don't want to fill the cracks later, so needed some way to put some kerfs in he glue/sawdust which will for the cheerest Did consider some dowels, but then they'd pull some of the mix out when I pulled them out, and possibly leave some voids. Some triangular shaped pieces might work, but too fiddley to want to mess with making some. Then it hit me - popsicle sticks. Cut some to the proper length, coat them with Johnson's floor wax, fill the mold, press the popsicle sticks in place, put a piece of plastic over the top, roll the mix fla, then gently remove the popsicle sticks, lift it out, and bend it over the stock to dry. Once it's dry, pull it off, sand smooth, and make any mods wanted, then fasten down. Viola. No prob.

I glued the mold together, no metal in it. That's just in case I decide to use it for something else, and may want to run it thru the planer. That way there's no nails to worry about, just in case. In real life, I'll probably keep it around for a couple of days, then toss it when I can't think of anything to use it for. Then just after the trash truck pickes it up I'll probably think of at least one use for it..

Oh yeah, I also used a couple of small sections of a popsicle stick today to shim an old crosscut guide. I love popsicle sticks..

JOAT I am not paranoid. I do not "think" people are after me. I "know" damn well they're after me.

[Gerald Ross]

Did I snip enough this time?

I keep a sack of them I stole from my wife's craft box in the shop. I like to twist one to get a pointed stick to put a dab of glue or whatever right where I want it.

[J T]

Sun, Sep 10, 2006, 9:04am [e-mail] (Gerald=A0Ross) did wroteth: Did I snip enough this time? I keep a sack of them I stole from my wife's craft box in the shop. I like to twist one to get a pointed stick to put a dab of glue or whatever right where I want it.

Keep practicing, you'll get better with practice. LOL

Never tried that, I prefer drimming on the bandsaw to get the shape I want. Not splintery that way. I don't steal mine by the way, get 'em honest, by eating the popsicles myself. Banannanna flavor. I know how to spell it, I just am never sure when to stop.

JOAT I am not paranoid. I do not "think" people are after me. I "know" damn well they're after me.

[Micro*]

I find them so useful, I went out and bought a thousand at the craft store. I spray sheets of various grades of sand paper with 3m 77 and stick popsicle sticks to the back and when I need to sand into a tight spot just cut between the sticks and wahla a sanding stick!

[J T]

Sun, Sep 10, 2006, 10:09pm (EDT+4) [e-mail] (Micro*) doth sayeth: I find them so useful, I went out and bought a thousand at the craft store. I spray sheets of various grades of sand paper with 3m 77 and stick popsicle sticks to the back and when I need to sand into a tight spot just cut between the sticks and wahla a sanding stick!

So far I've been able to keep supply ahead of demand. Yep, I use 'em for sanding sticks too. Stir paint, spread glue, scrape off glue, mini story stick, no telling how many uses.

JOAT I am not paranoid. I do not "think" people are after me. I "know" damn well they're after me.

[J T]

Sat, Sep 9, 2006, 11:18pm [e-mail] (J=A0T) I did =A0The other little gizmo is a mold I made because I want to make a sheekrest for my "squirrel" rifle.

I stirred up a sawdust mix tonight, to try making a cheekrest using the mold. As usual, theory outstripped practice. It semed od, lifted out of the mold well - I didn't use the popsicle sticks to make "knerfs", because it looked like it would not make gaps. However. There is ALWAYS a however. It lifted out nicely as I said, went in place on the stock, no cracks. Lookin' good. Then started to separate on the sides. Just a bit, but a coupe of large, ugly, cracks on the sides. They kep slowly getting a bit larger, and larger. I saw I could clamp the plastic below the stock, then turn it over to dry. Again, good in theory. Turned out the mix as soupy enough it managed to mostly drop. Damn.

The theory is still good, but instead of stirring the mix, next time (not tonight) I'll do the mixing by hand, so I can tell just how stiff it is, and ad thinned glue/water only as needed. That way I should get a nice stiff batch that will stay in place. Damn, I just thought, I might have been able to save the mix by adding more sawdust. Too late for that now, it's already been deep-sixed. Ah well.

JOAT I am not paranoid. I do not "think" people are after me. I "know" damn well they're after me.

[joeljcarver]

because I'm gonna b doing some things that'll need some real fine sawdust. I'm not 100% sure just what it'll look like when it's done .....

Why not use an inexpensive flour sifter? I works for me.

today to shim an old crosscut guide. I love popsicle sticks.

The simplest thig is to buy about 1000 at a crafts supply. I use them for applying glue, espectially Gorilla. I also use them to stir epoxy in a cup, or mix a small amount of 5 minute epoxy on a small scrap of formica.

[foggytown]

sifter, because I'm gonna b doing some things that'll need some real fine sawdust. I'm not 100% sure just what it'll look like when it's done .....

today to shim an old crosscut guide. I love popsicle sticks.

Simple but unsatisfying. That's 500 popsicles you don't get to eat!

FoggyTown

[Puckdropper]

"foggytown" wrote in news: [e-mail]:

*snip*

Yeah, but when you need 500 popsicle sticks /today/ you don't want to eat them all!

Puckdropper

[J T]

Mon, Sep 11, 2006, 4:10am (EDT-3) [e-mail] doth unknowingly queryeth: Why not use an inexpensive flour sifter? I works for me. Then cometh up with:=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 The simplest thig is to buy about 1000 at a crafts supply.

Question: Where would the fun be from buying a sifter, rather then designing, and making, something on my own, that does just what I want, for pennies? Answer: Lost.

Simple? Maybe, but if you don't get popsicles with the sticks, they ain't popsicle sticks. Besides, if I run out I don't need to go

10-15 miles to a craft store for a refill, it's only about 2 miles to my local grocery store. Anyway, if all I wanted was the sticks I'd just get a decent piect of 1" stock and make my own.

JOAT I am not paranoid. I do not "think" people are after me. I "know" damn well they're after me.

[J T]

Mon, Sep 11, 2006, 5:25am (EDT-3) [e-mail] (foggytown) doth sayeth: Simple but unsatisfying. That's 500 popsicles you don't get to eat!

The man obviously does not understand the soul-satisfying aspects of responsible recycling.

JOAT I am not paranoid. I do not "think" people are after me. I "know" damn well they're after me.

[J T]

Mon, Sep 11, 2006, 1:38pm (EDT+4) [e-mail] (Puckdropper) doth sayeth: Yeah, but when you need 500 popsicle sticks /today/ you don't want to eat them all!

You obviously do not understand. You eat enough popsicles in advance to build up a stock of sticks. Anyway, what would you need 500 popsicle sticks at once for? Building a birdhouse?

JOAT I am not paranoid. I do not "think" people are after me. I "know" damn well they're after me.

[J T]

Sun, Sep 10, 2006, 9:28pm [e-mail] (J=A0T) I went ahead and did sayeth: =A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0I stirred up a sawdust mix tonight, to try making a cheekrest using the mold. I just thought, I might have been able to save the mix by adding more sawdust. Too late for that now, it's already been deep-sixed. Ah well.

As it turned out, most of the mix had landed on a paper in the trash. So I dipped it out, added more sawdust, and tried again.

Got a stiffer mix this time, and when I pulled it out of the mold, put it on the underside of the stock, clamped the plastic to hold it in place, and it was looking good. Much better. However, it has sagged just a bit, still usable, and there while there are no cracks in it, there is a split or two - which should be easily enough repairable, IF this one will work out.

Becsuse of the thickness I figure it's going to take 2-3 days anyway to dry enough to start handling it. It does seem to be doing well so far.

I'm thinking tho that if this one doesn't work and I have to have another go at it, I'll use regular sawdust clay - two parts sawdust, one part flour, water to suit. That worked very well some time back when I tried making it. At that time someone mentioned adding some glue to strengthen it - I figure that will be a good thing to do.

So far tho, the sadust thinned glue mix seems to work out quite well as filler. Better than sadust clay anyway.

I still believe it can work, but if this way of making a cheekrest ultimately doesn't work out, I'll just use some clear wood to rout and laminate one up. That'd actually probably be easier, but thought this'd be an interesting thing to try.

JOAT I am not paranoid. I do not "think" people are after me. I "know" damn well they're after me.