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175K views 381 replies 86 participants last post by  HokieKen 
#1 ·
Making the Hand Tool Commitment

So as I plan out my first "Real" workbench I have read dozens of articles, forum threads and blogs here and around the internet about the different bench styles and the build process for them. One common theme stood out and that was they all were made using mostly if not only hand tools.

While I am still relatively young at 35 I am pretty old fashioned. I love the thought that even in this day and age of instant gratification and robot workers we still have craftsmen out there creating quality products with their hands. This is how I approach everything I do and have decided that is the direction I want to go in with wood working.

Now first let me just say that I am a bit of a hobby whore (can I say that here?) I have always (since childhood) found creating things myself out of raw materials to be far more gratifying than buying something at a store so I have a number of hobbies that cater to that drive of creation. Wood working is new to me mainly due to being a suburban apartment dweller for most of my adult life and not having the space for any equipment or dust making.

I now have a garage and live in a small Navy town in Washington State and can finally explore this new avenue with.

Initially I had written out a list of needed equipment for my garage shop. All of which were power tools most of which are large bench or floor units. This would lead to needing a dust collector plus air filtration unit. Explaining to my neighbors what all the noise is about and trying to fit myself in there once all this is in place. I have come to the realization that what i was planning is a factory and not a quiet stress releasing wood working shop that I really wanted. Then I realized that all of those large units could be replaced with the correct hand tools and I would take up MUCH less space in the garage, make less noise and would only need a broom/dustpan and yes an air filtration unit (that can be a box fan with a furnace filter strapped to it.. no biggie there).

Not only that but I would be learning a craft and not just learning to build stuff and that is what sold me.

SO.. now that that long winded prequel is done I have placed an order for my first "real" hand tool. I am considering this a beginner/learning tool and for $18 and some change I don't mind if it shows up needing a lot of work. Re working planes is something I will need to know how to do so no better time than the present to start learning.

Here is the Stanley No. 4 Adjustable Bench Plane I ordered.



Yes, I do realize it is not the same Stanley as the old vintage ones but like I said for the price it is bound to be better than my Bucks Brothers 6" plane which is a whole 'nother blog entry. I started re working it tonight and I'm not sure if it will be useful for anything but holding down papers when I am done but we shall see. It's already a turd so if it stays that way no loss.

So now, I am building a new list of "must haves" which will include the basic tool kit of hand tools to build on. To start I am going to keep them mid grade while learning and upgrade the ones that need it once I really get the hang of this. I can't even explain how excited I am to have come to this decision and can't wait to cut my first mortise and tenon joint with a mallet and chisel!

This series will be updated with new tool acquisitions and such. Thanks LJ for being here and finally pointing me in the right direction!
 
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#3 ·
That plane is likely to end up causing you little but frustration. The great thing about vintage Stanley is that you know there is a good plane in there somewhere. That modern one may simply not be able to tuned into a tool capable of doing a furniture project.

I would also recommend Anarchist's Tool Chest as a good primer on what you really need.
 
#4 ·
Airframer - Congratulations on your chosen path, and welcome!. You are not alone in your thinking, either. The Anarchist's Tool Chest (TATC) is a good read for handtool essentials, so is Handtool Essentials, also by C. Schwarz. I'm interested to hear how the #4 above works for you, and ask that you fill us in when it arrives!

What kind of bench is in the plan?

Excited for you, and don't hesitate to shout out if we can help!
 
#6 ·
Cool. But I'm just wondering why you feel this has to be all or nothing in terms of using hand tools. The vast majority of LJs here, even those who build the big, sturdy workbenches you alluded to, are in fact equally proficient in both power tools and hand tools. In my opinion both are indispensible, and having power tools doesn't make you any less of a craftsman.

I find one of the biggest pleasures of woodworking is indeed the use of chisels, hand saws, planes, rasps, etc. But I'm extrordinarily thankful for my table saw, planer, and thickness sander (I can do without my jointer) which lets me quickly get a project to the aspects of woodworking that ARE indeed pleasing. Most of us would find little pleasure in thicknessing EVERY board we need, and then manually cutting it to size. Some might, but that's a very select minority of special guys and gals.

Scrollers, carvers, turners…they are all tactile, creative processes that tons of people enjoy. But I wouldn't be so fast to exclude a few really good power tools, particularly, a really good table saw.

Good blog entry though. Looking forward to seeing how you progress.
 
#8 ·
Thanks for all the great advice guy!

I should clarify that I do still plan to get a few power tools. I would say about 95% hand tool inventory and the other 5% being powered. I already have a scroll saw and drill press and plan on picking up a small band saw and probably (maybe.. haven't fully commited yet) a small table saw when one is absolutely needed due to material size and what not.

I will be looking at those books you guys have mentioned.. keep 'em coming!
 
#10 ·
Hey Airframer, I ended up deciding to go the hand tool route for pretty much the same reasons you did, plus the rest of my family are extremely light sleepers that go to sleep earlier than I do so I would get very little time to do anything if it weren't for hand tools. If you want to make sure you have all the basics, check out Paul Sellers blog and google for his minimal hand tools list. He has lots of good advice on buying tools.
 
#11 ·
Planes, Pains and Automobiles..

As I mentioned in the first post of this series. I already own 1 hand plane. It is a Buck Bros 6 1/2 block plane from Home Depot. I purchased this when I was building my first workbench to join 2 pieces of Pine stair tread to make up the top. I knew nothing of hand planes and how they worked and figured a plane was a plane.

Well, it was soon evident that that wasn't the case. This little guy was very difficult to work with. Only cut in the center of the blade and it took forever to get a somewhat decent flush joint. I chalked it up to inexperienced user error at the time. Fast forward a couple weeks and after reading up on the forums I quickly realized I had bought perhaps one of the worse hand planes on the market. No wonder I couldn't get a flat surface to save my life!

So now that I am waiting on my 9 1/2" plane to arrive I figured I would see what I could do to tune this little guy up to something usable. I figured if it is still a POS when i finish then no harm no foul but if it ends up usable I just added a tool to my box.

Here is the suspect..





So the first order of business was to check and see how flat the bottom was. I set it on top of a metal straight edge and checked for light. Lets just say you could read a book by the amount of light it was letting through. So I took a page out of my guitar repair book and went about leveling the bottom in a similar fashion that I use to level guitar frets.

First I marked the bottom in a criss cross manner with a sharpie and set up one of my leveling beams. It already had 220 grit applied to it so I figured I would start with that.







After a couple minutes I had a look at the bottom. All the high and low spots should be evident by now. The left over sharpie are low spots and where it has worn off are high. You can see clearly how out of level the bottom was just by the first pass.



I then changed out the sand paper for 80 grit to really clear some material.

This is after 1 hour.



2 hours



and finally 3 hours later I am finally almost level. Just one stubborn low spot to the right of the slit.



That little spot took another hour and a half of sanding and a couple fresh sheets of paper to get to the point where i was seeing scratches form on the sharpie marks. Close enough for me.. plus my arms were getting tired lol.

I then set up the bar with 400 grit and started polishing the base. I did this in progressive grades up to 1500 grit. Here is the result of that. I could shave in this mirror!



Now I am getting to work on the blade. Just picked up an oil stone and have spent most of the night putting and edge on this thing and I am about 80% there. The two edges were lower than the center (hence why it only cut in the middle of the blade). Once I have a clean bevel I'll start honing it on the fine side of the stone. That will have to wait until tomorrow.

Here is where I left off tonight.

Before..



Progress so far tonight..



As always thanks for reading and feedback is encouraged!
 
#20 ·
One down.. and the next set of victims

I am not much of a fan of football so today's game I could give fewer you know whats about. So I spent the day in the shop finishing up my cheepie plane tune up. I got the blade finally honed and sharp. I then sanded the paint off the sides since I had scratched it up a bit I also removed the paint from the area where the blade contacts the base. The back of the blade is bare but there is a coating on the top side which doesn't seem to interfere with anything so I left that alone.

Once reassembled and blade depth set I grabbed a scrap piece of pine and tested it out and I have a couple "money shots" for you guys. This little guy has turned into a usable tool to add to the shop surprisingly so I am pleased with the work I spent on this.

Here are the after pics..







Money Shots!! My first full length paper thing shaving!



Now since that went so well I felt a little better about purchasing another Buck Bros plane. This one actually got some decent reviews online and from what I have read it just needs a couple tweaks to make it a good little "learning" hand plane (the wordage used in multiple reviews). It is a 14" "No. 5" Jack Plane for $34.











I haven't had a chance to use it yet but, first impressions are that it seems to have good "bones". It is superior in quality to the other BB plane I just finished tuning and has a lot of features you find on some of the more expensive models. So for under $40 I have taken a chance on it and we shall see how it goes. I still need to hone the blade and clean off the shipping goo from the bottom and sides. I'll update you guys on how it works.

I am still waiting on my new model Stanley No 4 to arrive (supposed to be here Thurs). Again full review once that arrives too.

Till then these "Bros" will be what I have to work with..



Another find from this weekend is a cross cut hand saw from our local thrift shop. We were in there Saturday looking for baby stuff and some maternity cloths for the wife and I spotted this among the detritus laying about. The handle needs some work and the blade needs to be cleaned but for $3 it cuts good and fast so it's a keeper.





Does anybody recognize this emblem? Is it a clue to the brand? I figure it is just a random cross cut saw but ya never know..



It seems I am on my way down the rabbit hole and keeping to your warnings I have resisted the urge to start trolling flea bay but…. that might not last long!
 
#21 ·
Congrats on tuning up your small BB plane. Nice ribbon!

Re: the hand saw. The medallion could be cleaned up a bit with a wire brush. It does provide a clue to the hand saw's maker, unless it's been switched. I suggest cleaning the medallion up and reposting a picture along with the tote and the dimensions of the plate on this forum. Lots of saw experts hang out there.
 
#26 ·
I have officially fallen down the rabbit hole.. and the Misses has followed me!

It's handtoolapalooza!

Day before yesterday my wife finally read through some of my blog posts here and she asked me why I hadn't told her about my hand tool decision. I told her I figured she wouldn't be interested in what was going on in the garage.. Marriage lesson of the day.. never assume anything! She is really excited about it and is on board with it. She grew up with a mom who for a short time ran an antique store and frequently made trips into various hole in the wall towns to find items to stock the store with so she is a fan of anything old fashioned.

This leads to yesterday. I come home from work to find that she has been trolling fleabay all day looking at old and new hand planes and other tools. She had a couple auctions open on my computer and instructed me to have a look and see if they were worth bidding on. One of them was the other was a bit high for me. I ended up winning an old Stanley #220 and a couple hand saws (a crosscut, a rip saw).

She also had spent the day looking at some of the higher end offerings of the new tool suppliers such as Veritas and LN. She has apparently ordered me something from Veritas for Valentines day and not for lack of trying I have yet to get a clue from her yet about what it is.

Add to that a few other various tools such as some new chisels, a better miter saw than the BB yellow box I have now and a Grizzly Edge rounding plane. I am well on my way to stocking my basic tool box. This is just in time to finally start cutting wood on my Workbench Build . Once they have arrived at the house I'll get a group photo and inventory listed and you guys can let me know how I did and what essentials I might be missing.

Now, I will say that most of the tools incoming are in need of some rehab or another but I think the best way to learn a tool is to find out how it is supposed to function and fixing it is great way to learn that. It is all part of the journey right?

I still need to setup my 14" BB plane but first things are to clean up the garage enough to fit my lumber order into it scheduled to be delivered tomorrow! That will be the next thing after lol.

Thanks for reading and keep the comments coming!
 
#28 ·
Building My Beginning Set.. How am I doing so far?

When I last left you guys I had mentioned that I had "few" tools incoming from fleabay and elsewhere. Well they have been slowly trickling in all week and aside from a couple still outstanding I have the makings of what I am considering my student set of tools.

I won't bore you too much with the details and just get on with the pics and inventory listings..

First up are my hand planes so far. Most if not all of them require either just some sharpening or a complete restoration but they all have good bones and are complete. So like I have said before.. if you want to learn how something works, just fix a broken one..

Group shot..



Some new additions from the ones previously posted in my blog..

The Stanley 9 1/2 block plane that I was going to try out from HD's website. Was $18 + shipping.. seems worth the gamble. Next to that is a HF 8 1/2" block plane that I plan to turn into a scrub plane (have seen a youtube vid on this and it seems to be a popular mod for this one).



A couple flea market finds.. Both are Stanleys and both needs a lot of work but paid $15 for the pair..



A Grizzly corner plane. This little guy is a lot of fun (and a horrible pic too) I was rounding the corners of everything in my scrap bin till I had to stop myself lol.



This one is my favorite find. Still in original box w/ all the pieces. If anyone can tell me how this thing is supposed to go together that would be great! $40 on flea bay (can't tell if I got a good deal or not but it's cheaper than a Veritas or LN lol )..







Next up are some chisels.. Just a mid-grade set of Irwin chisels. These should get me through for a bit and are a WAY better quality than my Wallyworld bargain bin set I was trying to use. They (the orange handled ones) will be my set I use to practice sharpening on.





Next up are my hand saws. So far all it consists of are a few cross cut saws in different sizes and states of disrepair. All picked up on the cheap (under $5 each).. Except for the miter saw. That thing is WAYYYYY better than my Bucks Bro yellow plastic P.O.S.



New handle for my mystery thrift store find. The shape of this Atkins handle is an EXACT match to the one that came with the saw. So at the very least I believe this thing came fromt he same factory.



Another manufacture I am not familiar with. If any of you can shed some light on it that would be great! This one is very clean and ready to use out of the box.



The next guy I had to get due to the price alone.. $2 TWO DOLLARS! For a Disston USA Cross Cut saw. Just need to shim the handle slot a bit to snug it up.





And finally a newer Stanley Miter station. Very smooth action and cust fast and clean.. I am impressed..



Last but not least is a Sharpening/Honing angle guide with one of my practice chisels in it.



That is all for now.. I am still eagerly awaiting the arrival of this guy!

An E.C. Atkins Skew Back Rip Saw.. should be here in a day or two..



There we have it. Yes, I have gone off the deap end but if it's worth doing it is worth over doing right? Comments are always welcome!
 
#29 ·
Nice haul, Air! You'll love that #220 block. It's a nice tool, with a size that's just right for the hand and a wheel adjuster for depth that's preferred over the vertical post. Only thing it doesn't have over a $30+ variety is an adjustable mouth, and that's not crucial in an everyday block plane.

Here's one of a couple blogs I did on the #78. What you paid for that one rates a "You Suck," for sure. Excellent deal!
 
#30 ·
Handplane Madness.. And a New Saw

It has been a while since I updated my tool blog and it is high time I did. There have been a few new aquisitions here at the Framer household that I need to share with you guys.

First up is an Ebay find. I am in the need for a good backsaw for some tenon cuts on my workbench build. I searched all the newer brands and some of the cheaper selections and they were either WAY out of my price range or just looked cheap and I already have a cheap one so no thanks.

Off to the bay I went and found this guy with 0 bids and half an hour left. Tossed $40 on the board and in the course of a TV show it was mine. This is exactly how I received it! It looks and cuts like it was brand new however I have no idea how old it actually is. From my limited research all I can say for sure is that it was made after 1906. So here is my new W. Tyzack, Sons & Turner No.120 backsaw. If anyone has any info on this I would love to hear it.









Next up is a gift from my wife on Valentines day. She heard me say that I could never afford a Veritas plane so she searched their catalog and got me this little guy lol. I can now say I officially own one albeit a tiny one.

It is a miniature (yet fully functional) low angle block plane. I might find a use for it somewhere someday but for now it is just a collectible.









And lastly is my first actual resto project. I snagged a late 1800's Stanley no 29 Fore Plane last week on eBay and it arrived yesterday. It needs some repairs on the base and sole and a whole lot of claening and de rusting but from what I can tell is complete and should be very functional once fixed up. Expect to see more about this coming up as I dive into the resto project.

Pics of how it sits right now..















 
#38 ·
Stanley SW #3C Rehab.. The Before

I picked up a Stanley no 3C on eBay last week for a whopping $10. It looked rough in the pics and not much was said about it but the price was right and it looked complete enough to get back into shape.

I just got it out of the mail today and had my first look at it and to my surprise it is a Sweetheart model :D

It has had the cap screw replaced with a bolt and the front knob looks like someone turned it from a broom handle and the tote is broken in 2 but over all this thing is really solid. Even the lateral adjuster is nice and snugly attached to the frog which is often loose and floppy on the other used planes I have bought. The blade had a slight bend towards the top which I have already straightened out.

One patent date on it of APR-19-10 not sure where this puts it in the Stanley lineup but I'm happy with my purchase so far. I just need to get over to my buddies house and get the Evaporust he picked up for me at HF yesterday.

More to come on the rehab.. today was a teardown and look type of day. Lots of pics..























 
#46 ·
Stanley SW #3C Rehab.. The During

Since my last blog post on my #3C rehab I got everything broken down and soaking. I haven't had time to go pick up my Evaporust yet so I decided to try and give my home made brew of cider vinegar and baking soda one more go.





While that was soaking I started on the tote repair and looking for a new front knob in my "box o' shame" aka my parts box of either poorly purchased planes or parts that got replaced… does everyone have a box like this or am I just really bad at this lol…..



I was able to find a knob that is a very close match in wood color as the tote which left only the tote to be repaired.

Luckily it was a clean break so gluing it up was pretty straight forward. After the glue was set it got a good sanding with 220-600 grit and a long soak in BLO. Came out pretty good imo…







I had a peek at the items in the soak and it is going to need a bit longer. My brew has lost a lot of it's potency and I might end up doing a secondary Evaporust soak if this doesn't get 'er done.

That said it does still have enough juice to lift the rust under what I thought was 80% of salvageable japanning causing it to bubble up and flake off easily. So looks like I will be painting this one. So to help get the rest of the old japanning off I have it soaking in some citristrip right now before going back into the de-ruster.

 
#47 ·
Evaporust is the bomb, i found it at my local O'reillys auto parts, the TSC didnt have any. Was lookin for some high geit sandpaper for sharpening and looked at bottom shelf and seen it.
 
#49 ·
Stanley SW #3C Rehab.. The During Continued..

I am down to waiting on paint to dry with this restoration. Here is a quick breakdown of todays events..

Scrub the base clean and prepped for paint.





Now you can clearly see the patent markings..



Same for the frog..







Prime then paint… I don't bother masking the areas that need lapping since they will all be sanded clean anyway. Saves time and leaves a cleaner line on the japanning from what I can tell.



While that was drying outside I got started on the hardware. Everything got scrubbed on the drill press and wire wheel and the brass took a Brasso bath..





Hardware done..







Once the paint had cured enough not to run when tipped I placed it in my *********************************** drying kiln.. aka the shop oil heater lol..





Stay tuned for the conclusion :)
 
#55 ·
Stanley SW #3C Rehab.. Done!

FINALLY! I recieved my replacement SW frog on Friday and went to work getting it cleaned up and ready for installation today. Works great and the shavings you see are from the blade as I received it as I haven't sharpened it yet!

Just a refresher.. the before..














Annnnnnnd The After!















Thanks for reading!
 
#73 ·
Crown Handle Replacement Surgery..

As mentioned in my Workbench Blog I was planning to replace the gents style handle on my 8" Crown Gents Dovetail Saw with a more suitable one. This will be more of a photo essay than anything but lets just say most the pics are of take 2 of this event lol.

I am pretty happy with myself for getting the saw kerf cut free hand with nothing more than a scribe line and a HF flush cut saw :) Sadly I was so "in the moment" that I forgot to take pics of the procedure. I hope I can still garner some Galoot points for it anyhow.

It is nearly done. I just have more shaping to do and then it will be ready to go. Pretty excited to say the least. I think I might be getting the hang of this wood working thing finally lol.

Pics of today's work.























Stay tuned for more…
 
#86 ·
Crown Handle Replacement Surgery Done!

Just finished it up and thought I would share a few more in progress pics that didn't make it to the project page.





Taking a BLO bath :)





 
#94 ·
Shop Made Dovetail Layout Compass.. Part 1

OK, so after my successful handle replacement I have the confidence to try something I have wanted to build up for a while. I need a layout compass and have been planning this out in my head for about a month now.

Today was a day of trial and error. I don't have any real plans drawn so this is a "make it up as I go" project.

I spent the morning piecing together the hinge portion of the compass. I found some plans online and scaled them down by about half so they would be small enough to easily fit in my finger tips but large enough to still have some structural strength.

Most of this build is coming out of my scrap bin so most my cut offs atm are cherry and padauk. I chose padauk for the hinge and I might regret that later. This stuff likes to splinter a bit so after cutting and drilling everything I soaked the hinges in superglue to harden up that part of the wood a bit.

I have pics of the hinge after getting mortised into and glued to the hubs that will mate with the legs. I filled any gaps with wood glue and rubbed padauk saw dust into it so it looks a bit fury in the pics but I have since sanded down the patch and it worked great as a filler.

I also have the legs glued up, planed and cut to length but haven't taken any pics of them just yet. That will be in the next installment.

I also have some brass left over from my marking gauge build for the tool swap that will get used on this.

So on with the pics.

This is the basic design I am going with (for function not so much form)..



And here is my hinge. The parts that the rivet is going through are less than 1/4" square and were pretty nerve raking to cut out without destroying it in the process. I did have 1 failure but whats progress without a few back steps right?







More to come and thanks for reading :)
 
#95 ·
Shop Made Dovetail Layout Compass.. Part 2

Just a quick update.. I see a lot of views but no feedback.. I'm beginning to think this is a stupid idea but, I'm pushing forward anyway.

I got the legs rough cut and ready to be mortised into the hinge. I also got the brass curve cut. The geometry of that thing is a bit confusing but I think once the legs are shaped and the mortise is in place for that to go through it will make more sense. Right now the curve doesn't seem like it will want to go through the same spot on the leg throughout the sweep but, we shall see.

Some quick pics for this morning..



 
#103 ·
Shop Made Dovetail Layout Compass.. Part 3

I'm pretty excited right now. I just finished attaching the legs to the hinge and so far nothing has fallen apart!

From what I can tell the hardest part is behind me and now it is just a matter of shaping and fitting the adjuster arc to the legs.

I also got the fine tuning nut built up and tapped. I still need to make an adjusting screw for the arc but that won't take very long.

Today at the OB appointment we were told that we will be induced on the 20th so only a week left to get this and my tools swap project done before baby arrives… I'VE GOT WORK TO DO!

So enough of my blabbing here are some updated pics of todays progress.

Mortises came out much tighter than I thought they would.. quite pleased with myself :)













Stay tuned for more..
 
#112 ·
Shop Made Dovetail Layout Compass.. Part 4.. Almost There..

Well I have a fully functioning Layout Compass now :D. All that is left is to do the shaping of the legs and some purtification of them. I am still working out the details of the purtification but in the end they should be pretty purty lol.

All the pieces laid out with epoxy curing on the pins..



So today was filled with frustration and epoxy and a lot of brass dust. It started with cleaning up the mortise that the arc goes through and embedding the head of a copper rivet into the back wall to keep the arc centered and give it some backing when the set screw is tightened. That was an exercise in patience trying to position it and get it epoxied into place without disturbing it's careful placement. That mortise is barely wider then the brass is thick and was a PITA to cut. I was a little bit worried that it just wasn't going to happen but a lot of drilling and scraping with a box cutter I was finally able to get a small scroll blade with one end cut off and the other end secured in a vise through it to finish it up. Then I squeezed a mini flat file through it and used it like a saw to get it an even width. After that I drilled a 1/4" hole 1/3rd of the way through the other side to allow the threaded rod on the arc to sink into that leg when closed.



Then drilled the hole for the threaded end of the arc in the other leg and counter sunk that on the inside for the spring to rest in.

OH and THE SPRING! This morning after I finished polishing up the brass arc and getting the mortise cut I was working out a spring of some sort to push on the arc for fine adjustment. I was testing out different metals I had laying around and was ready to settle on a strip of bent brass. I was holding it in place and squeezing the legs closed to test it's springyness when I heard a POP! Oh man I was afraid to look. I just knew that I had popped a hinge which would have meant starting over from scratch. After gathering up the courage to have a look I was relieved to see that it was not the hinge that popped but the glue joint holding the hinge into the hub I have the legs attached to.. PHEW! When I had glued those up I used the red original Titebond because of its fast tack time (no real way to clamp those) and it doesn't have the strength of Titebond III. So this time I re-glued it with III and I am now more confident than ever of the durability of the actual hinge portion of these.

After that I scrapped the metal strip idea and started scrounging through boxes of bits and parts for an actual spring that would work. I needed to be able to get 1/4" threaded rod through the middle of it easily in order fo rit to work and it needed just enough give to push but not so much that it will break the hinge joint again (lesson learned). I was about to give up when I found my stash of guitar pickup tension springs. They are tapered and the small end was just a bit too small to fit but a bit of finessing with a pair of needle nose pliers got them opened up enough to work.







Now all that was left was to make the pins and determine the angle for them to be installed in so that the tips would touch when fully closed. Some time spent with a tracing, a triangle and a protractor I had it all laid out and ready to be transferred to the legs for drilling. I did my best to get them exactly symmetrical and they are a smidge off from one another but they touch and that's what matters. I am probably the only one who would notice such a thing but I see the flaws in just about everything I make lol.

I cut two lengths of 1/4" brass rod and chucked them into my hand drill and then chucked a large sanding disk onto my drill press and when to town sharpening them to a point. It was trickier than I thought it would be getting the taper the same on both but again…. an exercise in patience…

I think I have rambled on enough for this update. All I have left to do is determine how I want the legs to look and get started making them look that way then apply a finish. However as they sit now they could very well function as intended with no further modifications so I am pretty stocked about that! If you have any ideas for the leg taper please share them. I'd like to do a bit more than just taper them.. hope that makes sense..



They have a final capacity of a little over 5". More than enough for dovetailing I think.



EDIT

After posting this I sat down and started working on the leg design. Here is what I came up with. Please let me know what you think..

 
#113 ·
-Eric - Why buy when you can build?

You've done yourself Proud, Eric.

...and very nicely appointed. - Grandpa Len.

Work Safely and have Fun.
 
#123 ·
Shop Made Dovetail Layout Compass.. Part 5.. Bring Out Your Rasps!

Happy Mothers Day!

Just a quick update this morning. I had planned on keeping this update till I was finished but I couldn't help myself. I just finished rough cutting the legs and I am pretty excited to say the least. It is a HUGE relief to have that part behind me because all that is left is a lot of rasping, filing and sanding to get the final shapes done and the "Possible Catastrophic Failure" meter is very low from this point on. However the shaping will have to wait till after I get back from the families house for Moms day stuff.

I was originally planning to just scan and print the design I drew up last night and use the 2 as templates but for whatever reason my scanner is refusing to scan. I then broke out the pattern makers tracing paper from the wifes sewing kit and traced the design onto another piece of paper and then went back over that with pencil.



Then it was just a matter of cutting them out and adhere them to the legs using spray adhesive.



After a few tense minutes at the band saw I now have 2 "close enough for government work" symmetrical legs ready for final shaping :D Thinking back I should have done a pre assembly before cutting just to double check that no integral parts would be lost in the design but a quick after assembly proved that nothing was lost and all functions wonderfully so I got lucky.





There you have it. I am probably about a day away from finishing at this point. The next update will be a Project post so stay tuned for that!

Thanks for following along on this silly little build of something that could be purchased for less than $10 but… where is the fun in that?
 
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