| Blog series by Airframer | updated 12 days ago | 17 parts | 13552 reads | 117 comments total |
Part 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 ther...
Part 2: 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 forev...
Part 3: 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 a...
Part 4: 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 t...
Part 5: 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 ...
Part 6: 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 an...
Part 7: 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...
Part 8: 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 ju...
Part 9: 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 ...
Part 10: 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!
Part 11: 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 ...
Part 12: 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 :-)
Part 13: 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 wou...
Part 14: 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 spo...
Part 15: 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 ...
Part 16: 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...
Part 17: 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 ...
