jumbojack's Blog at LumberJocks.com

Not just a Miter Jig

jumbojack — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 03:05:31 GMT

I built this miter jig and posted it a month or so ago. http://lumberjocks.com/projects/73645. It works better than I had hoped, but thats not all it does. I needed to cut some dowels all the same length and this little jig came to the rescue. I just set the stop and used the end of the jig as a stop for the saw. Sixteen dowels all the same length. Then I needed to drill some holes in some larger dowels. I brought the forstner bit down and centered in in the jig. Dropped in the 1 1/4” dowel knowing it was centered and bored with confidence. I used all of these dowels for this little project and another just like it. http://lumberjocks.com/projects/74969

sharpen the jointer knives.

jumbojack — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 16:18:54 GMT

I made this little jig to sharpen my jointer knives. I got it from Brian over at Garagewoodworks.

http://www.garagewoodworks.com/video.php?video=v34 Thanks Brian

Lay out holes

jumbojack — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 16:06:16 GMT

Just a quick little ditty about how I layed out equal spacing in a circle for this project

tension the band saw (easy)

jumbojack — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 23:09:54 GMT

Just had a brillant idea. Gave it a try. BINGO. One of my minor inconveniences SOLVED. I had several braces in the shop. This was one of the cheap ones.

Sharpened the blades.

jumbojack — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 02:27:32 GMT

My local Woodcraft offers a blade sharpening service. They job it out; a guy comes by every Wednesday and brings back sharp blades the following Wednesday. I had no idea how bad my blades were. They came back with plastic coating across the newly sharpened toofs. I pitched it on the ole Shopsmith and ran a piece of mahogany from the scrap bin through. Seriously, it was like a hot knife through butter. I was amazed at the cut quality. The saw made a completely different sound. Looking back the saw was struggling to push the blunt blade through the lumber.I think it was the first time they had been sharpened. These are quality blades that I got with the machine. I think the previous owner would use a blade until it got kinda dull and bought another one. The oldest looking one, a Systi Matic is the one I put on the saw today. I put the other, an Amana, in storage for later use.
I would encourage anyone that has been struggling with cut quality, or a struggling saw; GET YOUR BLADE SHARPENED.
Cost? A bit over $20 for a 50 tooth blade. Some of the best money I’ve spent in a while.

Before and After

jumbojack — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 14:07:44 GMT

I just wanted to show the before and after pics of the planes I received from the old family home

They all got scary sharp edges on them. Evaporust is amazing!

Tool Gloat

jumbojack — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 20:05:28 GMT

My brother, who bought the family house when mom wanted to move, recently cleaned the place out in order to rent it out. He has been posting great stuff over on FB of old family items that have brought back fond old memories.
He asked me if I wanted any of the old tools my/our dad and grandfather had left behind. I said I would take any and all, that he did not want.
These two I think were my brothers, he has given up WW for other pursuits, namely a new baby boy.

There were four planes. One I think is gone forever to the rust monster. The #5 Stanley, I’ve already started on and it should end up being a good user. The Dunlap, I think is a 4 1/2 will clean up nice and was in the best shape. The Stanley block might be a user with some extensive work.

I remember one or two of these being in the garage when I lived at home. Three Disstons and a Nichols? I gotta get some Evaporust. These guy are going to take some love. Two rips and two crosscuts.

Here are three braces, a group of bits, two of which are adjustable, two squares, a combo square, and what I believe to be a saw set. The set is rusted solid and will take some coaxing to be useable

There was more but I shant bore you with it. Pinewood Derby cars, football helmets, ice cream scoops and other mementos from the distant past.
This should keep me off the streets for some time.

Here are the four planes cleaned up. The Dunlap did clean up very nice. I know little about the history, but this is a nice heavy plane. I put a 30 bevel on it (scary sharp method) and lapped the back. I have already used it a couple of times on Dina’s box, which is not finished yet. The Stanley also cleaned up better than I thought it would. It is strange, this is the second Stanley plane I’ve gotten that had the iron beveled at about 50 degrees. Anyone know why they thinned out the iron so severely? I put what I guess would be a micro bevel on it at 30. Maybe, being a novice at this, that is what they are supposed to be, I just don’t know. With the bevel I have put on them they seem to work very well. The little Stanley block plane that I thought would not come back from the rust monster cleaned up pretty nice, at least it will clean up end grain, as I used it, again on Dina’s box.
I think the bug has bitten me. A year ago I had no planes and now I have, three block planes, a #4, #41/2, #5 and a #7. Dang that bug has sharp teeth.

Pallets beware

jumbojack — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 01:57:23 GMT

I casually mentioned the need for a tool to dismantle pallets to a vendor today. He called an hour ago, asking me to come over to his house. He presented me this finely made fork.

clamp a mitered corner

jumbojack — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 03:27:46 GMT

Here is how I clamp up my boxes. I use blue painters tape. Line up your stock, I use a straight edge to keep everything flush. The edges should be touching but not overlapping. Give the tape a little stretch and press onto the stock. Don’t tape the ends yet.

Then flip the unit over

Apply your favorite stickum. I use Titebond and like to pre-glue. That is, I apply a very thin coat to all mating surfaces. Then turn around and apply another coat. End grain soaks the glue up pretty quickly and the pre-glue, I think stops glue starvation. I don’t tape the ends before I glue as I usually slop glue on the tape and that gets messy.

Now just stand up the left edge. Insert your panel into the created ‘L’. Grasp the far right box side and carefully stand it up guiding the panel into the dado/groove. Now just flip the remaining end over and seat it onto the box. With the untaped side away from you support the box with your chest and press the joint together. Having tape precut for this step is helpful. Press/stretch tape over the joint. Check for square. If your panel is square this will help immensely.

If you cut em right they come out very nice.
Next step is to cut miter keys.