In reflecting a bit on the books of his that I have read and enjoyed for their approach to wood & woodworking, I thought about a conversation I had with him a number of months ago, and how that few minutes had more of an impact than all the books.

Here’s what happened. After reading an article in a back issue of “Fine Woodworking” mag, featuring Mr. Krenov, I went on line to see what other things I might learn about his works. I ended up on a site that appeared to be his site & noted a “contact Mr Krenov” link. It had a telephone number. I figured that it would be the number to a recording, or to some type of comercial link, but it wasn’t.

I called the number and a woman (who sounded somewhat elderly) answered with simply “hello”. I was a bit surprised at this because it sounded like I had reached his home which I wouldn’t have expected, & asked if I might speak with Mr. Krenov. She said, “hold on, I’ll get him”. After a moment, Mr Krenov said hello. I was blown away.

Of course I spent the first few minutes telling him how much I liked his works…both in wood & in print, and then we simply chatted…almost like we had known each other for years. It was amazing. He struck me as a man with a gentle spirit who was very much at peace in his world. He mentioned that his loss of sight kept him from doing what he loved, but he didn’t sound sad in saying it.

I came away from that conversation with a reinforced feeling of why I enjoy some of the more philosophical aspects of woodworking. Oh, I still like to just play with tools and make sawdust, but every now & then I think back on that conversation and I just feel good.

I am saddened by his passing, and glad I had an opportunity to have that conversation. -SST

By the way, the large trunk you see in the first pic at left is a hemlock.
Here’s the sawyer at work. He only lives about 5 minutes from my place, so paying for travel time was really not an issue. He only charges $45 / hour (this is northwoods Wisconsin, guys & gals) and I wasn’t sure how much time it would take. I was pleasantly surprised to find that (with me kicking the logs onto the carriage & then grabbing the sawed boards off the saw)...remember…Northwoods, here, they’ll let you help, we finished the logs in about an hour & a half. My bill was $ 65. We figure I ended up with about 200 bd ft.

I sealed the ends & it’s racked & stickered in a neighbor’s pole bldg. I only problem now is having the patience to let it dry. It went in at the end of August, so I’m hoping be late next summer I’ll be able to get started on something. It’s a lot more exciting than I thought…that is, not buying lumber, but rather getting it off the land & cutting & handling yourself. But now the wait…oh, the wait.

I did, however, trade some carving basswood for a non running Shopsmith. Since I already have 2-10er’s (if you’re not a Shopsmith guy, you can check my previous tool review of a 10er for reference) and an old “greenie” mark 5 shorty in the shop (cut down tubes) that I use mostly for running the jointer & bandsaw, I really didn’t feel I needed another in my fairly small shop.

My first thought was to simply upgrade from the greenie to the newer, 1983 model to run the peripheral tools, but the 1958 greenie runs every bit as well as the 1983, so it seemed a shame to relegate it to parts storage, so I decided that if one headstock is good, then two would be better. The result saves space, but still satisfies the “Tim, the toolman Taylor” in me.

I mounted the headstocks opposing each other so that I have a left side power coupling at each end of the machine. (The right side couplings still work for the table saw & disc sander) That way the bandsaw & jointer can stay hooked up if I choose. This is the way it will get the most use. I give up the lathe & drill press functions, but one of my other machines will handle them.

By the way, if you wonder why Shopsmith owners get less woodworking done than separate tool guys, it’s not because of the change over time…it’s because, instead of woodworking, they spend too much time playing with their tools. (yeah, I know, but I just couldn’t resist) -SST

But as it has grown, I’ve begun to wonder if all growth is good growth. (I want to be very careful, here, so as not to come across as critical of the site in any way, because I don’t mean it that way, I’m really just wondering about it)

Here’s what got me thinking about this. I used to be able to watch the projects and various comments as they were posted with some regularity, but as the membership has grown, just because of the sheer numbers, I don’t have time to keep up. Obviously, I have some things that I have an interest in, and some things that I can pass on, and finding my way through all the things here seems to take more time than I have to spend.

For example: since I’m kind of a Shopsmith nut, I feel kind of a connection for other “smithys” on the site, as we may have the same issues with our tools (don’t even go there). Or, there are pen turners, or bowl turners or pros (those who actually make a living doing that which we love) & there are newbies wanting to learn the basics, and serious guys who can teach those basics and so much more.

What I’m wondering about is, would it be helpful, or useful, or beneficial (or whatever, pick your favorite adjective) to have not just forums, but maybe subgroups or perhaps call them workshops, like ” the bowl turners workshop”, or “the Professors workshop” for the guys who can teach us all a thing or two, or the “hand tool workshop” for those who live in the land of hand cut dovetails, or even the”Shopsmith shop” (you know I had to throw that in.)

Would something like this make it easier for those with specific interests to gravitate to those areas, under the big Lumberjocks umbrella as we get more and more members?

I think (and LJ’s has done this) that as a site grows, it needs to continue to adapt to that growth this is simply a “toss out” question to all as to whether something like this would add to our experience here, or detract from it? -SST

They had Cen-Tech combination squares with the center finder & adjustable angle thingie(not a technical term) on sale for about 6 bucks, so I bought one, even though I have 2 old Starrett combo squares in the shop. I think I was drawn in by that adjustable thing because my Starretts don’t have that. (Also, they were on sale & who can resist stuff on sale. It’s not a matter of need, I’ve got clothes I don’t wear that I bought on sale because they were really cheap), but, I digress….

The other day, I decided to check the square of the square, (does that take it to the 4th power???) I put it up to one of my Stanley tri (or it that “try”...do we have 3 uses here, or we just “try”ing to get things square? That has always bewildered me) square, and, lo & behold, it was off a little bit. I then put it up to one of my other Stanley tri (same bewilderment) squares. It was also off, but not the same amount. Then up to a Stanley all metal mini builders square, and my other Starrett combo, and everything seemed a tiny bit off from everything else.

So my question, and maybe this goes more to the philosophical rather than to the empirical, “Who do we believe?”

What’s my frame of reference? Does it really matter as long as my projects fit together?

If one square is off in one direction, and one is off in the other, should I use both of them alternatively to balance the project?

Should I arrange a trip to where they are made to compare my squares to the master square? Do these companies have a master, or do they have to go to the Bureau of weights, measures, and square things for their info? Are they kept in a square room?

Can someone please help me get to the square root of all this??? -SST

By serial #, this machine dates to about 1957, and although the before pic makes it look pretty bad, it was all there and only needed a new gilmer belt for the variable speed drive. They switched to a poly-v belt in about 1960, but gilmer belts are still available. Everything else was ok but dirty and rusty, but with an extensive cleanup and lubrication along with a new electrical cord and on-off switch, the mechanicals were done.

The rest was cosmetic. I used 2 colors of hammer finish enamel, and lots of elbow grease. (Always clean off all contaminants like oils and elbow grease before painting)

After I take a brief rest, I’ll re-do Smith # 2 and find a new home for it, and I’ll keep the 3rd one, shorten the way tubes and make a “mini” power station for some of my accessories. Then it will be time for some woodworking. -SST

The only way to try to control yourself on one of these things is to drag one foot or the other to change direction, and even that is not too precise. (Remember, I live in Wisconsin, so I know about these things)

The slope is slippery and littered with obstacles, but not your typical kind like rocks and trees. No, it’s littered with Shopsmiths.

As I race down the hill, I try to avoid a disastrous collision, I really do, but it seems that I don’t have enough control. They’re like magnets, drawing me to them. I can’t avoid collisions, and because of their magnetic nature they attach themselves to me. This makes me heavier and even less able to maintain control of the saucer, so I collide with even more of them.

Soon I look like a kind of bizarre Shopsmith train, with me & my saucer as the engine, careening down the slippery slope. Usually this is when I wake up, look around at my 3 Shopsmiths, and see that it was all just another dream….

But not this time….

This time, as I looked around the shop, I saw Shopsmith’s 4,5, 6, and 7. Two good ones, one project, and one parts machine. (Actually not a bad mix if you’re a collec…no, I’m not, I’m a hobbyist, or a restorer, or something…) All 4 are “greenies”. You Shopsmith guys might know what that means. They are the first version of the Mark 5 built in the mid to late 1950’s. Fundamentally the same as the current “Smith” with a couple of internal differences, but they work the same, and work well.

It looks like I have a lot of work ahead of me, and none of it, at least for a while, will involve wood. Oh well, I’ve got to look at the greater good, the long term goal. More tools mean more fun and more woodworking, right? Right? (better living through more tools…I think I heard that somewhere)

Is there a 12 step program out there for guys like me??? Help. -SST

I had relegated my old shopsmith to the cottage several years before because, between when I was a kid and learned on it and when I inherited it from my dad, I’d accumulated a bunch of separate tools. I found an entire kitchen full of cabinets from a house being demo-ed to make way for a mini mall, (it’s the American way, isn’t it?) and, since I had the tools at the cottage,

I turned it into this, using the old reliable Smith.

I thought I was done with projects, so I took the Smith home and, having fallen back in love with the machine during our kitchen encounter (no pun intended…ok, maybe) I gave up my separate tools to my kids and decided I’d just use my Smith. I then found another Shopsmith that I intended to keep at the cottage, but I really liked the idea of having 2, one for high speed operations like the table saw and shaper, and the other for low speed ones like the sanders, lathe and drill press….so I kept them both at home.

But I still had some cabinets left, and my wife wanted storage in our little bedroom.
I said I had no tools at the cottage, but had located a very cheap old Shopsmith ($50) not far from the cottage, (timing is everything) and with it I could make her the storage she wanted….which I did.

And since I reminded her that she just might come up with another project, and that I could only do it if I had the tools, she let me keep it.
So that’s the story of how Tommy got Shopsmith # 3 and kept his wife happy. Life can really be beautiful, sometimes…don’t you think? -SST

SST’s SS #3

I was checking prices around the web, and of the, more or less, known brands, the Delta TP305 seemed to be a good starter variety planer at a good price. Locally it’s about $239.00, and that is the approximate web price, but with shipping, a local purchase looks better.

BUT… I stumbled across this planer on Amazon.com at $186.15 and the shipping was FREE…Yes…FREE. Just do a search by name & model number on the site to find it.
While I haven’t used it yet (I’ll do a review as soon as I set it up), It arrived in about a week, and is new, not refurbished (advertised as new, but I worried about that at this price).

I just figured maybe I should pass this info along in case there any other “cheap” lumberjocks like me who were waiting for an excuse to buy their first planer. -SST