Update 1: Bucking the trend

Post date: Aug 23, 2014 7:55:52 PM

The first phase of construction is to build bucks of the various pieces. Here's what I have so far...

Roughing out a crank generator/gearbox. I glued up several layers of 3/4" plywood, then cut the central channel with my table saw and a dado blade. The detail "fins" were cut to width on the table saw, then sliced to the proper(ish) thickness on the bandsaw. The central cylinder is from, I think, a piece of closet rod.

Still missing the details on the top edge (which is really the bottom front). After that is lots of wood filler and sanding to pretty it up.

I *may* have to rebuild this one from scratch. It's a full 1/8" off on a possibly-critical dimension. Once I get the other bucks ready we'll see how it works on a dry fit.

Synchronous Generator made from layers of 3/4" MDF, then rough-cut on the bandsaw, then sanded to final shape on the disk sander. The hole was me being an idiot (don't ask); fortunately it will be covered up by some future details meaning I won't have to fill and sand it.

Here is my circle-cutting rig, working on the Cyclotron. Back when I built the Crockinole boards, I came up with a pretty slick (if I do say so myself) way to cut circles using a router. First I rough-cut (about 1/8" outside the line) using a jigsaw or bandsaw. Then I use my router with a straight bit and circle-cutting jig to give it a nice smooth finish. I could use the router to cut the whole thing, but it's harder on the bit and creates a crap-ton more sawdust.

The rough-cut Cyclotron, pre-routing:

Cyclotron dry-fit to the Synchronous Generator. The top two layers of the Cyclotron are 3/4" MDF and the third, larger-diameter, layer is 1/2" plywood. I hate using good plywood for this, but it was all I had and I'm avoiding buying material as much as possible.

I also made some smaller disks that go on the stem of the Synchronous Generator, but I don't like how they turned out. I had to cut them by hand (they were too small for my circle jig). I'm going to get an adjustable hole saw and see if that makes for better results.