Worm Cradle
To Assist Laying Out The Groove Lines On Your Worm Blank
An Idea Stolen Red-Handed From Ken Guy!
Brother Ken Guy is one clever fellow and is known to take information, analyze it, and come up with a better way of doing it. After seeing photos on various websites of how he is going about laying out the groove lines on his worm....why, I just up and stole his idea to pass it along to you. I suppose I'm gonna be sent to hell or back to Viet Nam for doing it, but here it comes......
The first photo shows a scrap piece of 1 X 4 that has had a line scribed in the center and the center of that line center punched. Most any piece of scrap lumber will work for this project, but keep it fairly thick. This piece just happened to be 9 1/2" long, found suitable, so it was commandeered for this project. Nothing special about the length, but it needs to be tall enough that the worm will not rest on the bottom of the cradle when it is finished....you'll understand in a few more photos.
Take a 2" hole saw and run it's drill bit through that center punch mark. Do this three more times and you'll have enough wheels to build that grandkid a little car to play with. The 2" hole will accommodate the two areas on the worm blank that are 1 15/16" diameter. The hole size can be changed to fit your own worm blank as needed.
Now run it through the band saw on that center line to make two saddles for the cradle.
At the un saddled end of each piece, drill three pilot holes for deck screws.
Find another piece of wood that is slightly longer than what the grooved portion of your worm is.
Screw the saddles onto this board and VIOLA! [Angus, that's pronounced 'waa-la'.] You got'er done.
Here is a picture of Ken using his cradle. You can notice the differences between his cradle and mine. Ken also uses his when chiseling out the grooves. If you wish to follow his thoughts, just use wider pieces of wood when you construct your cradle and add sides to it.
A special thanks goes to Ken for letting me rob him like this.