I finally joined
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I love the vise. Man you could put my big head in it. William good to see you bouncing around. Such things you have accomplished. The planes look fancy in that glamor shot. The clamp rack should never rack. the bench is beter with a bit of storage and you most of all are happier. Nice job friend!Shop Improvements
I had my first full day in the shop yesterday in over a week. Most of you know that my health sometimes slows me down. However, when I'm back at it, I get back at it at full speed ahead.
I don't have a project necessarily, so I thought I'd type up this blog and tell what I have done the last few days.
First of all, after swearing them off for what seemed like forever, I finally broke down and bought a hand plane at an estate sale a while back. I swore it was just going to be the one, just to say I owned one really.
Well, the reason I swore them off in the past was because they hurt my back to bad to use. Since then though, I have learned a little more about sharpening techniques. So, after I sharpened that one plane I bought to the point I could have shaved with it, it was a pleasure to use.
I'll bet some of you hand plane junkies here already have an idea where this is heading.
Right to left:
#1. A Buck Bros. #5 I found at a flea market for five bucks. I have heard these planes are junk, but hey, I'm just starting in them. After cleaning up and sharpening though, it does a nice job based on my limited experience.
#2. I have no idea. I have found no markings on it besides a spot under the frog that says it's made in Indonesia. Other than that, I do know it i finicky as hell. It cuts good, but you just about have to tighten the blade down with a screwdriver. Setting the screw to where you can use the thumb lever allows the blade to move every time. I only paid two bucks for it though.
#3. From the information I have found so far this is a Sargent. The only other markings I foundis the numbers "409" under the frog. This is an excellent cutting plane.
#4. A Dunlap. This was the plane I started with a while back that I picked up at an estate sale for a buck.
#5.
And #6. Two Windsor #33s. These two planes my wife bought me. I had been talking about them ever since I seen Stumpy Nub's video on them about turning them into scrub planes. She caught them on sale for eight bucks and bought me two of them. After sharpening them and testing them out, I'm not sure I'm going to go the Stumpy route on these. I love them just the way they are.
#7. I don' even know what you call these little planes. It does a good job. It is stamped "Made In The USA". I don't like them though. I have large hands and arthritis in them. It is very uncomfortable to me to hold these.
#8, #9, and #10. These are what I call my mini planes. I'm not sure what the proper name for them are. I bought these at Harbour Freight a long time ago. After getting to enjoying these lately I hunted them down in all my junk and cleaned them up though. They do a good job I guess for what they are.
It is not an addiction though. I just like them.
And, for my buddy SuperD, the photo is taken with them all nestled all pretty like on top of some of the shavings I made playing with them as I was sharpening irons.
Next up is my new clamp rack. I done this one just for the sake of doing it. Most of my clamps I've always kept standing in a corner. I decided to build this onto my table to hold them all in one place so I could easily get to them without all the falling clamps like I've been getting from the stand in the corner method.
I had built something like this once before, way back when. The weight of the clamps tore the corners loose though.
I didn't have the Stumpy Nubs box joint machine then though.
With these quarter inch box joints, this rack is much more sturdier than the one I had before. I think it'll last pretty good. We will see.
And moving on…...
I admire all the fancy smancy workbenches I see people building. They are absolutely beautiful. I don't want one though. I've always liked my table with the particle board screwed done to it. I like it for the plain reason that I don't care what happens to it. I can destroy it working on it and the worst case scenerio is that I have to find another table on the side of the road to make another work bench out of. I paint on it, write measurements on it, pound on it. I even bolt things to it if needed. If the top layer of particle board gets in too bad of shape, I just throw on a new layer, put some screws in it, and keep on going.
I did want some improvements though.
So recently I threw together some shelves under it.
Then I wanted me an end vice on it. I couldn't find a commercially available one that would cover the end of my four foot wide table though. If I had, I couldn't afford it. Let me make this clear. I am broke. I am so broke right not that if the steam boat was nickel a ride, I'd have to run up and down the bank singing aint that nice. So I had to get around this little problem with things I had available.
My shop made, four foot, twin screw, pipe clamp, end vice.
I made a wedge system under the table to accomodate sliding the pipes out to near the depth I want without having to have help holding the releases on each side.
This consists of a block of wood that is slotted to be moveable, while still being held under the table. A half inch behind that, there is another block that is immobile. There is a wedge that is also slotted and held under the table that wedges between those two blocks, pushing the release.
To pull it out, you just hit the wedge on each side of the table with your hand and pull it out far enough to put your work piece in.
It comes out far enough to accomodate a five foot wide work piece. So it will definately hold anything I'll ever need it too.
The pipes go through holes under the table to prevent sag when pulled way out. I had runners under the particle board that I ran holes through to allow this. The table is plenty heavy enough to hold up the vice's weight plus anything you wish to put in the vice.
Pull your wedges out, push the vice plate against your workpiece, and tighten up. Then you're good to go.
Oh, if anyone notices the extra holes cut in the outer vice plate, they are there for a reason. I put them there as conversation points. I did not measure wrong and cut holes in the wrong place.
HA! That is FUNNY! You should definitely call them and demand a clean crossword!Some Things Just Aint Right
Some of you who read my ramblings know that I have been setting up my second shop build bandsaw to make curved cuts, giving me one for curves and one for resawing.
The only thing I have been lacking is a blade. I have an extra resaw blade, but since noone locally carries a 105" blade, I had to order one for curved cuts because, as I found out, a resaw blade does not do this very well.
So I ordered a quarter inch wide blade. After reading reviews, here and elsewhere, I settled on getting the Timber Wolf blade. Everyone seems to agree that they are quality blade.
So I placed my order and waited.
It arrived amazingly fast. I placed my order online Friday. So I wasn't expecting it until the middle of the week at the earliest, especially with today being the Monday after Thanksgiving. So I was surprised when it came in today.
I opened the box to find it, not wrapped in the fancy orange paper I usually see from Highland, where I ordered it from, but wrapped in newspaper.
I unwrapped this and got quite angry.
No I wasn't angry because it was wrapped in newspaper. Times are hard. Anything that keeps the blade from rattling around and cutting the box open I guess worked.
You don't see what I'm angry about?
How about now?
Doesn't that just make one bite ten penny nails in two?
What?
Still nothing?
I'll give you an even close look then.
See now?
Who in the world does that?
That just aint right.
I think I'm going to call up that company and raise cane.
Why would anyone send out a paper with the crossword already done?
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In all seriousness though. I've only tested the blade for a few minutes. So I won't write up a review or anything at the moment. It seems to be a very good blade. As a matter of fact, it cuts cleaner, and with a smaller radius circle, than my old Craftsman saw could have ever dreamed of.
I think I'm going to like this much better than what I've been using.
And I think I can even forgive them enough to go find my own crossword.
Congrats to you as a Grandpaw, and to the new parents. Such a precious gift of life. Grand children are awesome. I have 7 now. I've came to that same conclusion of what you said, we shoulda had the Grandkids first…. LOL Dorothy looks very happy, and content in her new boat bed. A super nice build, btw.Newest Addition
If you read the title of this post, you may be thinking I made a tool purchase. No, this is much more special. There has been a new addition to the family.
You remember the boat cradle I made a while back for my soon coming grandchild?
That's Dorothy, my grand daughter. She was born on Thursday and weighed seven pounds and fifteen ounces.
She is already proving to be a grandpa's baby. I am already learning the advantages of grandchildren over children. The first time I held Dorothy in the hospital, she made a surprise in her diaper. When this happened with my own kids, it was time to change it. As grandpa though, as long as they are around, I just handed her to one of her parents.
I wouldn't really do it, but I have been threatening my son that, as soon as she's old enough, I'm going to load her up on chocolate and Coca-Cola, and send her home to them.
Ah! The joys of being a grandparent.
I have to admit that I miss your "ramblings". They are always an entertaining read!Trailing Behind
Well, as my friends, family, and regular readers know, my granddaughter was born on the twenty fifth of last month. Since then, so much has been going on around here that by the time the day is through, I haven't felt up to the Internet, or the shop, or pretty much anything but going to bed. To make a long story short, what follows is all that I have done as far the shop goes since the day the baby was born.
Bearpie, and his wife, visited my shop. He and his wife was passing through all the way from their home in Florida.
I always love visits from people, especially fellow wood workers. Bearpie, and his lovely wife, are what we call around these parts, good people. I hope they both feel welcome enough to stop again if they ever pass this way again.
You all know how much I have been blessed with different woods from all over for my turning obsession I have fallen in to. Bearpie brought me some beautiful wood from his shop. There is so much that I can't remember them all sitting here at the computer. I know there is plenty of rosewood, tulip wood, lace wood, and a lot of others. The ones that have really caught my eye though are the different pieces of burl and spalted wood in the mix. I can't wait to see how some of these turn out on the lathe.
This is a jig I've worked on a tiny bit at a time. I mean I've had to make a cut here, drill a hole there. I should have been able to whip this together in an hour or two. Instead it has taken close to two weeks.
The jig is fully adjustable for running a router on for some pen boxes I plan on making. That in itself is a long story. To shorten it, I've taken parts of several different designs I've seen and am trying to come up with something I can do quickly and easily. Later I plan on branching out into fancier boxes. For now though, I want to make something I can offer to pen buyers at a cheap price to go along with pens they buy as gifts. However, I want to keep time and cost low enough that it will be something worthwhile for people to get. This helps me out because, in the future, I hope to sell more pens online. Wrapping these boxes for shipping will be quicker and easier than the makeshift packaging techniques I've been using.
Here is the first test piece. With some fine tuning, and another jig for hinge replacement, these will make for some nice, but cheap to sell, boxes. They will be held closed with magnets. I hope I can show you a better example real soon.
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That's it. It isn't much for a couple of weeks is it? Well, that's the way the cookie crumbles. I hope to get more shop time soon. When I do, I'll be sure to post my latest ramblings.