Say Herro to my rittle fren...

From the CBE (Crude But Effective) Skunkworks of the Tool Division of Hambone Custom Basses ...

The SCARFACE scarf cutting machine. I finished it today and it works just like I intended. This is a fixed angle at 11º because I didn't want to overcomplicate it the first time but adjustability is very easy to add on. I built it because I don't have the means to make a perfect scarf joint with my current tooling so I cut a rough angle with the table saw and do the leveling with this. It will also cut a full scarf but it takes quite a few passes. It's just quicker and more economical to rough it out with something else.

The base is (2) 3/4" pieces of Sintra glued together. The walls are 5/8" MDF and the sliding track and neck tray are aluminum. The new base for the planer is 1/4" phenolic. There is one wood clamp showing but I have 3 in case. The little side clamp thing is to keep the vibration from ruining the cut when the wood gets thin. The knob is burl maple with a TruOil finish and an epoxy cap. The other end is an aluminum slug that I cut and polished like I would one of my knob projects. The vacuum works so well that there aren't any chips and next to nothing in the way of dust coming from the cutter. I aided the flow by doing some surgery under the nose where the elevator plate was mounted.

The name and logo came to me about 3 hours ago and it's perfect for the piece. It's the first time I've named a tool creation but that's what it is from now on. BTW, the piece in the machine is the last test piece I cut before declaring the thing finished.

 

It accurately planes a surface at a set tangential angle to the face of the board to assist in creating a clean gluing surface. This is done to make a scarf joint and that's done to make angled headstocks which is something I've been loathe to do until now.

or something to that effect.

 

Thanx Geoff. By adding a hinge at the narrow end and making the tail end adjustable, you could do as many angles as you wanted but you wouldn't need to go perpendicular. If we are talking about the same thing...

Rod, speaking of noise That hollow cavity under the tray makes for one honking loud resonating chamber when the planer is running. I'm going to drill a series of holes in the sides to let some of that out and see if I can quiet it down a little.

 

Necessity has done it's share of inventing but laziness holds the record.