Blog series by swirt | updated 02-03-2011 06:46 AM | 5 parts | 36003 reads | 66 comments total |
Part 1: Handscrew Dogs
If you have 3/4” bench dog holes on your bench and a couple of handscrew clamps then in 10 minutes you can merge the two into a very flexible and powerful clamping system that works with small boards, long boards and even irregular pieces. I’ll let the photos tell the story … and keep in mind, the modification to the handscrew does not prevent you from using it as an ordinary handscrew too. I use them on my workbench and my sawbenches. Clicking on any ...
Part 2: Cambering the Iron for a Scrub Plane
[Appears in its entirety here: Cambering a Scrub Plane Iron but what follows is the short version.] If you have a true scrub plane, like the Stanley 40, then you probably already have an iron with the right camber (curve) on the cutting edge. If you are in need of a scrub plane for flattening a twisted board there are a lot of good reasons to use an old wooden, transitional plane (the ones half wood with a metal carriage on top) or metal bench plane. Personally I like my Stanley #5 Jack...
Part 3: New Chisel Handles
So after a bit of practice and getting use to my Bungee Lathe, I finally completed my goal to get get some good handles on my old socket chisels. I patterned the handle off of the handle that is on my Witherby firmer chisel (third from the top)I made them just a wee bit longer (I don’t like it when my pinky hangs off the end of the handle) and put some octagonal flats around the main section of the body. Why Octagonal flats? A picture is worth a thousand words: I used cherry, ma...
Part 4: Making new chisel handles
A week or so back I posted the end results of my venture into making new chisel handles for my old socket chisels here. With the promise that I would show the method I used. So here is the method I used in making new socket chisel handles with octagonal flats. I made a template to mark out the lengths I needed. I found it easier to get repeatability with a flat template than by holding the model handle up to the blank on the lathe. I then use calipers and a pencil to determine the d...
Part 5: CHEAP spokeshave tune-up
Source: Tuning up a cheap spokeshave (in case you know already that you want the longer more detailed version)As many of you know, I prefer OLD tools. I rarely buy new and I am a firm believer in “you get what you pay for.” None of that has changed. ;) I have kept my eyes open for a round bottom spokeshave for over a year. Preferably a Stanley 151R, that’s the one with the gull-wing handles and the two adjuster nuts. I run across the flat soled versions quite regularly ...