| Blog series by Betsy consisting of 12 parts so far |
Part 1: Getting ready to go
I’m getting set to go to Kelly Mehler’s school. Plan to blog about the class and hopefully will have some sharp chisels and plane irons when it’s over.
Part 2: Off to a rough start
Well day one of my grand adventure did not go so well. Just got past Hope, Arkansas (for those not in know—that’s President Bill Clinton’s hometown)——going along nicely making good time. Then WHAMO – I got hit from behind. Mind you I was going just at 70 on cruise control! Guy behind me fell asleep (noon) and I guess he hit the gas and ran right into me – I saw him at the very last second in my mirror but had no time to do any evasive actions. Pushed ...
Part 3: Made it to Berea!
Well guys I’ve made it to the little town of Berea, Kentucky. The after effects of the accident are that I’m having muscle spasms and a headache but hopefully a good night’s rest will help. I’ve decided that even if I can’t fully participate in the class that it’s worth being here to get what I can get out of it. The class is close enough to my hotel that if I start to not feel well I can go lay down. So wish me luck! I’ll try to take good notes an...
Part 4: Day one of hand tool class
Two miracles have happened first thing in this class. Miracle one is that I am not the only woman in this class!!!! Very odd occurrence. Miracle two is the other woman is an orthopedic surgeon! Just what I need. She’s been very nice and has given me some tips on what to do to make my back feel better. So that’s a blessing. So onto the class. This is Kelly – the school’s owner. You can tell right off that he is a very nice man and runs a good school. This i...
Part 5: Day two ---- small shooting board with options and angle setting gizmo
Another good day in the shop. I’m still not 100%, but am feeling better and participated more today. One question that came up from yesterday’s blog entry was why do the 180-220-400 then 180-220-400 sequence the way we did. The usual thought is to do one grit until you have consistent scratches over the entire surface. Deneb does 10 or so strokes on one grit then moves to the next working through 400 and then comes back to 180 and starts again. The rationale is that the more yo...
Part 6: Day three ----- planes, chisels, sharpening..... lots of shavings
Having trouble staying on the net. But will try to load the few pictures that will explain a little of yesterdays classes. Setting angles for chisels and plane irons—- set your protractor to angle desired. Set protractor on edge of board/flat surface Slide the chisel/plane iron, which has been loaded into the edge guide up to the protractor’s blade. This next picture shows the edge guide with the filing done on the top. You can see it’s only the middl...
Part 7: Day three -- 2nd entry.
A quick summary————FUN, FUN, FUN, FUN, FUN, FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Worked a lot on chisels today. I’m having to apologize again for not taking pictures—- I got caught up in the doing and not the documenting. Sorry. Chisels—- usually only get a primary and a secondary bevel. Generally not necessary to do a tertiary bevel. If you need a bigger cut, go to a steeper angle. The whole back of the chisel needs to be flat—- not just the first 1 or...
Part 8: It's been an expensive day!
Well, I came to this class to learn to sharpen my plane irons and chisels. I’m leaving with a whole lot more! I’ve become convinced that my plane selection is no where near what it should be to do the things that I want to do and do them well. So I’ve purchased a few planes. But, and this I find amusing, the thing that I think I have found that I needed the most was a shop apron. I’ve never used one – but Kelly gave me one to try out to see if I’d like it b...
Part 9: Final day ---- always a sad day.....
Well guys today was the final day of our hand tools class. I must say this is the day I like the least when I take classes because that means I must leave new friends and head back to the real world. Before I get into today’s class though I wanted to make sure that I tell you all that if you ever want to go to a good school with good people, Kelly Mehler’s is the place to go. That’s not saying other schools are not good, but I throughly enjoyed the atmosphere, the people,...
Part 10: Final day - second entry
Sorry for the interruption – I’m on a timed system at the hotel. Back to the spring joint. The spring joint makes for an almost invisible glue joint. I’m sure someone else can explain why this joint works so well, but I can tell you it works. I’ve made plenty of panels without spring joints and I have spent countless hours trying to clean them up. I’ve got an invisible joint on this board and spent about five minutes cleaning up the board as a whole. After ...
Part 11: Final day - third, and final entry
Sorry for that second interruption. I’ve never been at a hotel with a timed system – but it is what it is. The bread board ends are designed with three tenons/mortises that are “haunched.” I kind of fizzled out when we got to this point so I did not get this accomplished. Just plane tuckered out. I’ll do this at home and take pictures to explain it as I’m sure pictures will do more to explain than anything I can write. One thing that was brought home ...
Part 12: Full circle
I know that some of you have been following my “adventure” of a woodworking vacation which started with a car accident. Well tonight I’ve put it to rest and bought a replacement car. I had forgotten how horribly boring and draining looking for a car was. I’m glad it’s not something I experience every day. I was leaning toward the Honda Civic Coupe—- but after driving it, I did not like how it felt or how small I felt behind the wheel. So in the end I set...
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Blog Series
- Adirondack Chair build how to - Betsy's version - 10 parts
- Armrest assemly - #1 - 0 parts
- Hand Tools doings - 25 parts
- Making a short fence - 2 parts
- My woodworing ideas and tips - 7 parts
- Small Cabinet - 1 part
- Woodworking vacation - 12 parts
- Woodworking vacation tidbits - 3 parts
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