Saturday, February 24, 2007

Octagonal table post

I finally got a big enough block of time to spend on the Chain morticing. The machine worked fine, but I wasn't happy with the single clamp. I put a long half inch bolt through the base and passed that through some lengths of 3/4 inch pipe and then popped some pony clamp heads on there. They then bite on a piece of wood that runs under the octagonal lump. I need to do six cuts for each mortice and the adjustment procedure is simply losening and taping with the plastic hammer to the right spot. The left thumb is ready to handle the catch that holds the chain off the wood when the head is pulled up fully and the right is poised on the switch to turn the thing off quick if there is an "incident". So far no mean surprises and I am half done.
I am guessing there is going to be a fair amount of work in adjusting the holes with a hammer and chisel.

Charcoal on cartridge 38x53cm