I wanted to post this to share with you some of the gifts my mother-in-law, my brother, and a neighbor gave me recently. So, I just retired from the Army last month and I’m pretending I’m retired for real for just a little while before I start another job. Because of that, I have had some time to travel and visit my family so off we went last month; myself, my wife and four kids to North Carolina to visit my mother-in-law. While we were there, my MIL, my wife and I went through some of the old tools that were gathering rust in the shed since my father-in-law passed away a few years ago. I took a picture of some of the tools that I brought back with me. The nicest ones are the early 50s Disston saw, still with some bite on the teeth even with the rust and age, and the Stanley planes which need restored. The Stanley No3 just needs a good cleaning, but the Stanley 192 has a blade in it from a much wider plane. The other two planes are a Great Neck Corsair and a no-name. I’m thankful for all of the tools of course, not least of all the four honing stones as I just dropped my old one and broke it.
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv232/daledman/Disstonsawandtools.jpg
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv232/daledman/Stanleyno3no192greatneckcorsair.jpg
A couple days after we got back to NY from NC, I headed out again, this time alone, to see my family in Kentucky. Before I left KY, my younger brother gave me the walnut lumber that he just had sitting in his garage and the Osage log, both of which are pictured in the back of my truck. Osageman inspired me to try to make something with this tough wood that no one around there seems to want to use for much of anything, but as far as I know it doesn’t grow around here so I had to import it. My younger brother did use some Osage logs for framing a shed, bark and all, but mostly just burns it.
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv232/daledman/Osageandwalnut.jpg
I also owe a special thanks to my neighbor for thinking of me when he was cleaning out his old garage a couple weeks ago. There was a lot of old rough-cut lumber which came with the garage when he bought it years ago, mostly pine but a few gems in the mix so he let me sort through it before he threw it out. There is some elm, oak, and some other yet to be identified wood included in the stack in the last photo.
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv232/daledman/freewood.jpg
Anyway, this will keep me busy for a while, restoring some tools and planing some wood and of course I will be taking advantage of all the information shared by my fellow Lumberjocks throughout all of it so thank you all and I hope to be able to share some projects as I build some things with the tools and lumber. Also, please, someone tell me how to post pictures directly without cutting off most of the right side of the picture. Thanks
-- Dale Manning, Carthage, NY
10 comments so far
stefang
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9488 posts in 1505 days
#1 posted 1465 days ago
It looks like you’ve got a good start there Dale. I have a Sims plane like the one in the pic next to last on the right. I don’t have a shoulder plane and the Sims does a pretty good job there. I also find it useful for shaving down tenon cheeks among other things. I hope you enjoy your new civilian life and new work. Looking forward to seeing your projects.
-- Mike, American in Norway
Toolz
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889 posts in 1913 days
#2 posted 1465 days ago
Congratulation of your retirement from the Army. Let the real fun begin.
Retired USN
-- Larry "Work like a Captain but Play like a Pirate!"
a1Jim
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87269 posts in 1748 days
#3 posted 1465 days ago
Congrats and thanks for seving our country .It seems you have lots of help getting going on woodworking.
-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/
robbinscabin
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306 posts in 1659 days
#4 posted 1465 days ago
Well, that should keep you busy as you “pretend” to be retired! LOL. I have a sneaky suspicion that we will be seeing some very interesting projects from you soon.
And of course, add my gratitiude for your service and for your family’s sacrifice. Congratulations on your retirement!
-- Robbinscabin, www.facebook.com/northcountryrustics
olddutchman
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187 posts in 2106 days
#5 posted 1465 days ago
We have osage orange that many farmers planted years ago. Nasty in when your yard because of the fruit. The fruit is good for nothing, but the wood, when worked can be beautiful. If i new then what i know now, I would have it saved and not given it away.
-- Saved, and so grateful, consider who Created it ALL!!!
Russel
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2199 posts in 2110 days
#6 posted 1465 days ago
Looks like a nice crowd. Definitely something to keep you occupied while you pretend to be retired.
-- Working at Woodworking http://www.VillageLaneFurniture.com
Francisco Luna
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934 posts in 1564 days
#7 posted 1465 days ago
Those are nice gifts, the saw looks beautiful…..a lot of wood to make nice projects!
-- Nature is my manifestation of God. I go to nature every day for inspiration in the day's work. I follow in building the principles which nature has used in its domain" Frank Lloyd Wright
DaleM
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800 posts in 1554 days
#8 posted 1465 days ago
Thanks for all the comments. Stefang, I didn’t have any type of shoulder or rabbet plane so after I get a new blade, I should get a lot of use out of that one. I had considered grinding the blade that is on it to fit,but I would probably mess up the temper, so I’ll look for a different blade and use that one for when I make my own plane someday. I’m really looking forward to making something with the osage someday, just not sure what it will be yet. I will probably be posting some wood pictures on here after I run that stack through my planer because other than the pine, oak and elm, I’m not sure what the others are and may need help IDing them. I’ve already planed one that I can’t figure out.
-- Dale Manning, Carthage, NY
patron
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12067 posts in 1512 days
#9 posted 1377 days ago
dale ,
search garyk in lj search window ,
he did a blog about getting your pics to show here ,
basicaly a ( ! ) exclamation point at both ends tight to httm stuf from
photobucket and drag direct link to your page ( with the eclamation point )
i usualy set the point first , then drag to it , and another point , everything tight ,
or it wont work .
good luck
-- david - only thru kindness can this world be whole . If we don't succeed we run the risk of failure. Dan Quayle
DaleM
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800 posts in 1554 days
#10 posted 1377 days ago
Thanks David. I did read Gary’s blog and it did help me figure out what I was doing wrong. I was making the pictures too big and cutting off the right side so that’s why I just linked to the pics instead. If you look at the “un warpage” thread I just posted to, I think I got it right on there finally so I believe I’m all set now.
-- Dale Manning, Carthage, NY
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