May 12, 2008

I was able to use my new Robo Sander to clean up the OM mold I built.  I noted there were some “not square” conditions on the mold sides which manifested into my first OM a bit out of square from bout to bout.  The Robo Sander is like a giant router flush bit.  Assembled the newly square mold and put in the maple sides and had a very hard time getting all surfaces flush against the mold.  I think it’s a result of the LMI bending not being quite tight enough around the waist section.  I had to craft an additional spreader to get the sides up against the mold all the way around.  This will be an issue when I glue on the top and back as it will probably put a lot of strain on the glue line for the top and back to keep the sides aligned.  If I continue to use LMI for side bending, I may want to invest in a bending iron to fine tune the bends so the sides sit in the mold almost perfectly, thus not requiring godzilla spreaders to force the shape.  I also think my lag bolts holding the mold sides together are ready to give.  I can hear them scream.  Next time I release the mold, I’ll ream out some channels to use a nut/bolt to secure the mold sides before the lag bolts give way.

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