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What's New
All about John's three DVDs and his Down Draft Table
Get a 24"square of peg board, make a 24" square frame of 5"x 3/4" wood, for a hole to take a 4" suction pipe, nail them together, and varnish a few times, peg board moves a lot, if the work you do is heavy, glue 5"x 3/4" square wooden supports on the peg board in obvious positions, this is for use on a flat table top, you can fit a bottom of suitable material to make it self contained. see photo of the first table. John has now made his Down Draft Table, Public Domain, so that people manufacturing these tables can use his design without alterations, and could offer owners a replacement top. Most copied tables use a different top, making them practically useless, it is imperative that you use pegboard or a board with similar air flow restriction. John a Prototype Engineer designed and owns the copyright for his Depression Chamber Dust System. he produced three two hour video tapes nine years ago each tape covered a different subject 1. The Low Down on Wood Dust Control 2. Lets Build a Bowl Lathe 3 More Fun at the Lathe. At that time he gave all three tapes to the leading wood magazines, manufacturers and the AAW . Most were enthusiastic about them and wanted articles Unfortunately for John and Woodworker's the Dust tape made a number of expensive machines obsolete, and John insisted that this obsolescence must be pointed out in any article, no one published with this restriction on the tape. Now nine years later manufacturers and magazines take the liberty of using Johns work without permission or compensation and agree that it is the best dust system in the industry. The harm done by withholding this vital health information is inexcusable. When John sees a drawing of a suction pipe sticking out from the back of a lathe bed, he is reminded of all the big dust books having at the end of the machine chapter a thumb nail drawing of a lathe, and without fail they put the suction pipe at the back of the lathe, admittedly if you put it at the front it would stick into your belly. So stand at the end of your lathe bed, and watch the way the debris goes when turning, it flows from the back of the lathe to the front of it. So why change it's direction.?? . Simply go to Woodworkers Supply, they had three big depots in the country last time I looked, ring 1 800 645 9292 and ask for a catalog, and offset hood # 816 777 price $17.95 plus postage, when you get it, fix it so that the top of the collectors hole is level with the top of the front lathe bed and the center of the opening is in line with the center of the debris flow,. the fitting is now laying along side of the front bed with the pipe hole pointing right. you are now on track for maximum dust collection, but you still have more work to do , such as making a canopy, have a look at the Fontwell Forge Lathe on site, you should get more useful information from that. The low down on our dust system make a Depression Chamber about the cutting area, then all the dangerous dust will be in the pipe causing the depression, not in your shop. That is our system, complicated ?? No, simplicity wins, it's just a matter of who is lucky enough to be doing the thinking |
John Timby designed the first Down Draft Table, It is obvious that a
number of woodworkers are now being put in jeopardy by poor copies of
John's table, here are the instructions on how to make his table.|
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More about John Timby, By B. Alexander John admits doing just what he wanted to do throughout his business life, with the exception of a period during the second world war. His first business involved mechanical and electrical work. Making ancillary machinery for the brewery and printing trades. He derived more pleasure from designing and making a product then just directing the policies of his companies. When one of his companies required more than half a dozen wookpeople to run it, he invariably sold it, as this meant he seldom had a chance to be at the workbench. This in turn dictated the type of business he conducted. Which was basically as a Prototype Engineer in the many diverse branches of mechanical engineering. His first Patent was a Fog lamp used extensively on long distance commercial vehicles in England. It was based on the fact that remotely illuminated fog was relatively easy to see through. Sadly modern fog lamps do the opposite and flood the immediate fog with light. At the commencement of the second World War he chose to join the Ministry of Aviation rather than take an engineering Commission in the forces, after a six month obligatory college course, he was chosen to be an Engineering specialist on subjects of concern at any time. His boss gave him up to three months, with complete freedom in the factory who's product was causing trouble. After which his knowledge was expected to equal that of men having spent a lifetime in that vocation. And a solution was expected. His first subject was in Hydraulics, when he replaced the Ermito compression joint with the spherical ball joint, this cured the trouble in the Lancaster Bombers engine nacelle. On his second assignment he changed the Royal Air Force Standing Orders for the Lancaster Bomber when he lowered the ohmic values so that the planes could be airborne quicker. The trouble being dampness in the carbon pile voltage regulator. There had been a lot of trouble with a new Napier aircraft engine. Boost Surge had for three months grounded the only plane capable of shooting down Doodle Bombs, then disseminating London. When he learned about this he told the Chief Engine Tester in Liverpool that he could cure it. Minutes later he was in Lord Nelson's office to confirm this statement. Result, the Liverpool-Gloucester express train was held up for an hour, for him. On arrival at the airport, a faulty plane and R.A.F. pilot, plus a removed Boost control awaited him, his first try failed, but he continued to reduce the diameter of a seven land piston, on the fourth try the surge was cured. The next day Doodle bombs were being shot down in the countryside doing little damage. As a result of this he was offered the job of developing an automobile fuel injection system, but took Lord Nelson's offer of starting from drawing #1 and going right through to the last drawing at Dowty Hydraulics makers of Aircarft Landing Gear and Pumps, etc. The job improved where possible interchangeability, limits, tolerances, and material specifications. On completion he left the company with a contract to make maintenance tools. When the war was over he quickly turned to making things of Wrought iron, and supplied such as Harrods Of London with wrought iron furniture.. His next venture, in order to get a building license for a house, he decided to breed pigs, food was rationed, it quickly become a four hundred Sow and fattening unit, with automated Silo's food mixing and cleaning equipment, The Ministry of Fish and Agriculture used it as a show place for the trade. He next started a Boat Yard on the premises building Steel Ocean going Sailing Yachts, one 38 footer took the Royal Navies "Cruise of the Year Cup" when a Submariner and an American student took it from Southampton to Malta, in foul weather. The following year he built two Steel Yachts, one for each of the two leading Naval Architects they provided lines only, and all scatlings were left to Timby. These two yachts were chosen for the only two places allocated to England for a major European race. The Senior Superintendent of the Board of Trade when conferring "British Merchantman" status to Timby's yachts always said his yachts had the sweetest lines he had seen, referring to the smooth flow of metal. At this time Camper & Nicholson builders of yachts for the Royal Family, adopted Timbys method of cold forming of yacht frames, and Vosper builders of High Speed Gun Boats, adopted his polyurethane foam covering of internal surfaces to prevent rust. Timby is a "Fellow of the Royal Photograpic Society" and has been hung at the "Royal" and "London Salon". He was the first to make a mobile prototype Satellite Antenna for amateur construction when only one satellite was up there, the R1. Prior to that they were solid fixtures. He designed two one in metal the other in wood. He started wood turning at the age of 79 without any prior experience, he studied Rafans books then started scraping. At the age of 85 he has no intention of mastering the finer arts of wood turning, he considers scraping gives him all the therapy he needs. At 82 he developed a wood dust rash, that stopped him turing for a while, but with special clothing made by his wife he managed to design a dust system that removes it from the workshop completely. By using the Depression Chamber technique derivative of a system he came across during the war. He can now work turning wood without any protection at all, with one exception of when working at a bowl lathe he has designed, then he has to wear armlets and gloves as they are under a canopy full of dangerous dust, that has no chance of getting out into the workshop. Perhaps his biggest contribution to turning is his Liberated Stave method of making deep hollow bowls out of three quarter inch thick wood, that only shows the flower side of the wood, and not the end grain. This is an extremely easy way for the amateur to make beautiful hollow bowls, without any internal turning at all. Michael Munroe, Curator-in-Charge of the Smithsonian Renwich Galleries, says of Timbys Juniper wood turnings, "Your unique and intriguing works of art". Margaret Thatcher has one of his bowls, Delta International have a permanent display of several of his turings at head office, Rush Limbaugh has a bowl of his, Georg Delaney, President of Powermatic has his work together with many other prominent people. LETS MAKE WOOD TURNING FUN! |
C. Alexander
Wood Dust Consultants
P.O. Box 1904
Deming, NM 88031
Phone (575) 546-0227
calexanderworkshop@wildblue.net