Weekend projects

Re: Weekend projects

Roger Nixon

>Are you hitting all the garage sales today, Ernie? Looked like there are a few good possiblilities.

I should have an opportunity to get back to the workbench trestles this weekend. Possibly turn some chisel handles.

Re: Weekend projects

Ernie Miller Topeka

>Haven't even looked in the paper yet. I did hit a couple estste sales picked up a 220 and a POS block plane I think I collect these things. There is a nice set of crazie leg callipers and a bullet mold at one I might go back and make an offer but the prices are high. there is also a plastic lufkin zig zag ruler at one are these thing of any value? Besides I spent most of my money Tuesday and there is an auction tomarrow that has a bunch of planes and saws. HELP Me I'm getting burried in rust.

Re: Weekend projects

Brent Langdon, Sterling VA

>Kitchen Countertops and Tool Drooling

We blew about half of our kitchen remodel budget on new Silestone countertops (plus sink and faucet). The installers should be getting started in an hour or two. I am crossing my fingers!!

I also plan on sneaking out tomorrow morning for the PATINA tool sale and auction in Maryland (for the wife it is a "tool show"). I found out about this event last year the week after the show, so this will be my first time. I hope to track down Tom Law and see if $50 can get me a couple decent saws.

My tool budget is fairly low, so I will likely be doing more drooling than purchasing. A decent block plane is high on my list and there are still plenty of holes in my tool collection so I hope I can control myself.

- Brent

Re: Weekend projects

Dave Anderson Chester,NH

>I have a busy weekend ahead. I have to complete the batch of 31 marking knife blades I've got in process. The blades have been shaped, the rough bevels ground and the blades have been heat treated. I now need to clean them up and sharpen them. Tomorrow I take SWMBO to her sister's to be picked up by the airport limo along with her other siblings for their trip to Ft Lauderdale to visit family, golf, and do the beach routine. Otis the Springer Spaniel and I are bachelors for the week. I have to get together the supplies for doing some painting and other work as a surprise for her when she gets home. If time allows I'll also be working on some other tools. I have to be ready for my toolmaking demo at our guild's April meeting.

Re: Weekend projects

Jeff Aldred

>Dave:

I have been eyeing your marking knives - pretty cool. How thick is the tool steel that you are using? I have some 1/8 inch O1 looking for a home. Do you think that it would be too thick?

Thanks

p.s. I am also working on one of your bow saws. The circular mortise and tenon joints are stretching me a bit (read a lot)! I have not started on your panel gauge yet, but I would like to. I think I should start coming up with my own ideas, but I don't know if I will ever catch up with yours!

Many many thanks for your generosity with your thoughts and ideas.

Jeff

Hi Jeff-

Dave Anderson Chester,NH

>The tool steel thickness is up to you. Personally I use 3/32 for the marking knives since the blade sticks out 1 1/2" past the ferrule. I tried 1/16" and found that it was tough to get the right bevel on it though it was plenty stiff enough. Larger and wider blades geneerally should be a bit thicker to maintain stiffness, but the smaller you go the thinner you can go. This naturally nothing but my opinion and is worth exactly the price you paid for it.

Yeah more tool steel!

Jeff Aldred

>Dave:

Looks like a good reason to increase my supply of tool steel!

I was working the bowsaw joints a bit more last night. They are closer. I think its time to work the concave surface now. Next time I am going to try a fosner(sp?) bit to drill between the 2 handles, then cut split the blank in half, hopefully yielding better concave surfaces than I got with my coping saw.

So much to learn, so little time!

Thanks again!

Jeff

Re: Yeah more tool steel!

William R. Duffield on the Cohansey

>Jeff,

Don't worry too much about it if you don't get the joints curved perfectly. In operation, there is really very little movement. In fact, most bowsaws are made with joints with straight shoulders and slightly tapered tenons, and these apparently last for years. The rounded joint does wear better and sure looks good, and especially looks better after lots of use.

If you were concerned about wasting material, especially if it were curly maple or better, when using the forstner bit method, clamp the stick up against the side of a piece of scrap, start the point in the scrap, and drill through both at the same time.

Re: Weekend projects

William R. Duffield on the Cohansey

>I'm curious about the machinations of your "demo" and thirty one blades. Does everyone in the Guild go home with a completed knife, or with the parts to make one of their own? Do the Guild members participate, making one of their own while you make one, or do they just watch and take home a blade and inspiration? Or do you sell them kits, assuming most of them would not be allowed by SWMBO to temper their own blades in the kitchen.

A couple more questions, while I'm at it (inspired by your SMC snakewood photos). After all the work in the O1 blades, and the expense of the exotic wood of the handles, why do you use thin, spun brass ferrules, instead of turning your own from solid machined brass parts, like the ones I make and those that Dave Jaske makes for sale? I realize the thin ferrules are sufficiently strong, but I like the heft of the solid ones, and that they allow more control of the final shape.

What method do you use for mounting the blade in the turned handle?

Re: Weekend projects

Greg Betit, Crown Point NY

>I busted open a very nice ash log a few weeks back and am working on continuing the riving and draw knifing of it into chair parts. It is so straight and blemish free that continuous arm blanks are worked virtually effortlessly. You start by working a 62" length into a 7/8" square cross section.

If I can tear myself away from the shaving horse,

I really should crank up the steam rig and bend a C-arm Sunday afternoon. Probably should do a couple sack back bows and arms while I'm at it. Those you can take off the form as soon as they are cool. The continuous arm needs to stay put for a period of days, and I only have one form.

Greg

OT: Countertops

Don Thompson, Cutler Ridge, South of Miami FL

>I feel your pain. We had budgeted for solid-surface (and I thought that was a bit extravagant, but SileStone and granite look sooo nice.

Kitchen make-over costs sure do add up quickly.

Hi Sir William

Dave Anderson Chester,NH

>The guild demo is exactly that, a demo rather than a hands on class. Our meetings draw 60-80 people which would be a nightmare for a hands on class. I'll be doing some show and tell on cutting gage making, bowsaws, and on the marking knife. I was going to do a demo of turning a brass hammerhead on a wood lathe, but our meeting site has the lathe tucked away in a dark corner and most folks wouldn't be able to see. I will pick a random member from the audience and guide them through tempering and quenching a marking knife blade blank.

I find the thin brass ferrules to be both plenty strong and attractive enough for trimming out the marking knives. The extra time spent on machining or turning the brass just doen't seem to be well spent to me. I know you differ, but to each his own. The blade shanks are ground down to 1/4" wide and inserted and epoxied into a

1/4" diameter hole drilled into the handle. It's simple, self-centering, and hard to mess up.

I've added a picture so you can see the weekend's work.

Re: Weekend projects

Jim Brown

>Please fill us in on how it turned out.

Re: Weekend projects

Joe Rogers, Northern Virginia

>I saw Tom there with 'bout a hunnert saws...did you get a couple of them? I got a chance to thank him for the retoothing and sharpen and set of my #4 Disston. It cuts like a dream and I had to tell him! Of the mass of shoppers there I only recognized 3 or 4 people. Sorry I missed you.JR

My Patina Loot...

Brent Langdon, Sterling VA

>My first trip to the Patina sale and I came away pretty happy. Much more enjoyable than fighting for tools on the bay. For just under $80 I picked up:

14" Jackson back saw

12" Keystone "made by Disston" back saw

26" Atkins hand saw

#17 Millers Falls block plane

I also grabbed a brace off the $5 table and spent a hefty $1 for a Craftsman wrench (it is funny how much Sears charges for the individual wrenches). The Jackson back saw has some pitting and the handle is dirty, but I think it will clean up nicely. I plan on sending it to Tom Law to sharpen it for a rip cut.

I purchased the Atkins hand saw directly from Tom. $15 for a straight, freshly sharpened saw with a comfortable handle seemed like a steal. Though I have to admit that I might have purchased a lazy batch of tools. They have been sitting on my workbench all weekend and have not done a thing!

- Brent

Re: Hi Sir William

William R. Duffield on the Cohansey

>Dave, I didn't mean to sound like I was complaining about the quality of your ferules. It was more of a challenge, to try it a couple of times on your really high end tools. You might be surprised at the difference it makes in their "presentation" for not a lot of additional work, especially after you've gotten used to the process. OTOH, I've used just about every type of hollow metal cylindrical scrap I could lay my hands on for ferrules and striking rings, so I'm not trying to convince anyone that compression nuts are the only "right" answer.

Do you use O1 for the awls, as well? Same source? Preferred diameter? I have to make or buy a couple fists full of awls for some upcoming lofting projects, and the LV ferrules are probably the right answer for those. I still have to decide what wood to use for the handles. It will probably be black locust, because I have lots of that, unless my neighbor's dogwood decides to give up the fight against Anthracnose this summer, and I can save some wood from it. For boatbuilding, the awls take a lot of hard treatment, often beining driven with a hammer, for example to tack a plywood pattern to a beam or plank, or to fix a batten in place to scribe a curve onto a pattern.

Re: Hi Sir William

Dave Anderson Chester,NH

>No offense taken at awl. (sorry) I use 3/16" diameter O1 drill rod for the awls and taper grind them to a point on a belt sander, temper them, and then polish up by hand with SiC paper. You might want to consider using a slightly larger diameter if you are going to be pounding them. Also, your compression nut fitting and the Black Locust sounds about right for awls "abused" with a hammer.

Re: My Patina Loot...

Joe Rogers, Northern Virginia

>Good work Brent. Did you leave the back saw with Tom while you were there. Saves postage one way.JR

Re: Hi Sir William

William Duffield on the Cohansey

>I think 3/16" should work fine, as long as I temper it properly. I found something that migh work even better than the compression nut for awls. It is a cap. Basically the same as a compression nut, but closed on the end. That way, I can drill a hole in the end of the cap that exactly matches the size of the steel.

I sharpened the last awl I made by holding it in the Jacob's chuck in the lathe and using a 4" angle grinder, with an abrasive disc for ferrous metals. Turned them both on at the same time.

Awl suggestion

Bob Hackett

>While at the boatyard,ask about needle sets for pneumatic needle scalers.We used to use old worn needles for awls and scribes.Pretty good steel that would otherwise go to waste

Mainely,Bob

Re: Awl suggestion

William Duffield on the Cohansey

>This boatyard only has wooden boats, and a "rubber ducky" yawl boat. Somehow, I don't think I'll find a needle scaler :^) Maybe I should look at another boat yard close at hand, which might have steel hulled ships in need of knocking rust off of. At least, that's what I assume they are used for, based on a quick google search. That's a good idea. Thanks for the tip. I'll keep my eyes open. Curiously, most of the commercial oyster boats that continue to work on the Maurice River are still made of wood. Of course, they have lots of steel hardware.

Wherever you find working boats...

Bob Hackett

>you`ll usually find needle scalers(commonly refered to as needle guns).Even after liberal applications of dogfish liver oil(at least one fisherman out of Boothbay Harbor swears by it)iron and steel will still rust.Where there`s folks paying to have rust removed,they`ll be using a needle gun.They come in handy for removing coal tar epoxy too,and that`s the only thing I`ve seen that will even cause rust to pause.

Steel hulled boats usually use a much larger tool called a deck growler to remove rust and paint from the hull or deck.Deck growlers are also what they call bad tempered bosun`s mates up here.;^)

Mainely,Bob

Needle Scalers

Roger Nixon

>Nice idea. Needle scalers are also used by industrial painting contractors especially for removal of lead paint from bridges. I may ask one of those for some old needles.

Re: Needle Scalers

Don Thompson, Cutler Ridge, South of Miami FL

>Aha! I do business (sort of) with an outfit that maintains a bunch of bridges down here, including metal draw-bridges. Maybe they have some used needle-scaler needles. I think I will mosey on over there tomorrow and talk to the trolls (the office is under a bridge).