jttheclockman
Member
There seems to be some new segmenters coming on board and maybe this can help an older one too. But here are a couple quick tips that I use in segmenting many times.
First is a gluing jig which is as simple as it gets. No building required. Home Depot and lowes and am sure other home stores carry aluminum angle. This is very versatile. This and a few clamps and you are good for all kinds of gluing segmented blanks. What I like to do is work with equal measured parts for it makes it easier to glue flat and square. This goes for celtic knots, angled pieces, and even trim rings or oops bands. I like to tape a piece of wax paper to the angle and work on that so it is easy to pull off and no clean up needed. I like to use spring clamps and also those small one handed mini bar clamps. These are easy to use and when clamping projects you do not want to over tighten which squeezes the glue out of the joint and then you have a starved joint and usually failure. This is actual a touch and feel process and doing many glue ups you get a feel for this. The trick here if you want to call it that is keep 2 sides dead parallel and that is easy to do by the bottom and back side of the blank resting against the angle. Simple. Any glue squeeze out can easily be cleaned up after the blank dries and get it back to square again on a disc sander or a small drum sander if you have. Use of clamps in multiple ways and angles helps to achieve the flatness as I shown examples of. I am putting a few photos here.
The next tip is more advanced and this has to do with making multiple inlay strips that need to be consistant size. I use alot of Baltic Birch plywood because I use it in my scrolling hobby also so have lots of pieces many times. This stuff is true to size and is flat so easy to work with. I also use alot of doublesided tape. I like to use turners tape because it is a secure tape but also easily removable. Some carpet tapes are just too sticky and tough to get off. I build my layers to whatever size needed to fit my slots. If I need to sand down It is easy to run through a drum sander to get down to size. Can this be done with a hand sander you ask, yes depending how well you can handle it and know what you are doing because you need consistancy throughout the piece. After I get this done, now I can run through the tablesaw and cut off the width of strips I need to use. For me and I am sure others this is a simple process but care must be followed when using any power tools and I use push sticks that hold the thin pices down as I push through to prevent kickbacks. Really not that difficult. Now some may ask how I make slots in my round stock. I do this on the lathe with a router setup that I have shown here many times. It allows me to cut as many slots as I would like of any dimension I would want starting with 1/16" . Now if the blank is square then I would use a jig for the tablesaw. Others here have shown some clever designs that you can check out if interested. Here is the thread that talks about my router jig https://www.penturners.org/threads/my-jig.104253/ Here is a photo as an example of what I am talking about. If I can answer any questions I would be happy to. Happy Segmenting.
I probably should have included a photo of that blank with the infills in it. It is the top one in the photo. There are a few other blanks that I will eventually finish. Along with this one too.
First is a gluing jig which is as simple as it gets. No building required. Home Depot and lowes and am sure other home stores carry aluminum angle. This is very versatile. This and a few clamps and you are good for all kinds of gluing segmented blanks. What I like to do is work with equal measured parts for it makes it easier to glue flat and square. This goes for celtic knots, angled pieces, and even trim rings or oops bands. I like to tape a piece of wax paper to the angle and work on that so it is easy to pull off and no clean up needed. I like to use spring clamps and also those small one handed mini bar clamps. These are easy to use and when clamping projects you do not want to over tighten which squeezes the glue out of the joint and then you have a starved joint and usually failure. This is actual a touch and feel process and doing many glue ups you get a feel for this. The trick here if you want to call it that is keep 2 sides dead parallel and that is easy to do by the bottom and back side of the blank resting against the angle. Simple. Any glue squeeze out can easily be cleaned up after the blank dries and get it back to square again on a disc sander or a small drum sander if you have. Use of clamps in multiple ways and angles helps to achieve the flatness as I shown examples of. I am putting a few photos here.
The next tip is more advanced and this has to do with making multiple inlay strips that need to be consistant size. I use alot of Baltic Birch plywood because I use it in my scrolling hobby also so have lots of pieces many times. This stuff is true to size and is flat so easy to work with. I also use alot of doublesided tape. I like to use turners tape because it is a secure tape but also easily removable. Some carpet tapes are just too sticky and tough to get off. I build my layers to whatever size needed to fit my slots. If I need to sand down It is easy to run through a drum sander to get down to size. Can this be done with a hand sander you ask, yes depending how well you can handle it and know what you are doing because you need consistancy throughout the piece. After I get this done, now I can run through the tablesaw and cut off the width of strips I need to use. For me and I am sure others this is a simple process but care must be followed when using any power tools and I use push sticks that hold the thin pices down as I push through to prevent kickbacks. Really not that difficult. Now some may ask how I make slots in my round stock. I do this on the lathe with a router setup that I have shown here many times. It allows me to cut as many slots as I would like of any dimension I would want starting with 1/16" . Now if the blank is square then I would use a jig for the tablesaw. Others here have shown some clever designs that you can check out if interested. Here is the thread that talks about my router jig https://www.penturners.org/threads/my-jig.104253/ Here is a photo as an example of what I am talking about. If I can answer any questions I would be happy to. Happy Segmenting.
I probably should have included a photo of that blank with the infills in it. It is the top one in the photo. There are a few other blanks that I will eventually finish. Along with this one too.
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