Help me get started

Re: Help me get started

Jorge Castaneda

>How about a pole lathe like bodgers do?

Re: Help me get started

Jim in Burlington Ontario

>Why not make one I have seen a Program of Roy Underhills where he makes them. Seemed like a fairly simple project.

Re: Help me get started

William Duffield, on the Cohansey

>Oystermen on the Delaware and Chesapeake used to have them, like a huge pencil sharpener, for sharpening cedar stakes (tree trunks) to mark the corners of their beds out on the bays. They'd probably handle a 6" diameter stake. You don't see them anymore, because nowadays, they just use PVC pipe, and wash them into the mud of the bay bottom by pumping water down through the pipe. I could ask around Port Norris, and see if anyone still has one that's not in a museum.

Re: Help me get started

David Miller from Iowa

>Thanks - but I missed that one. What I am asking is how to make one?

Re: Help me get started

David Miller from Iowa

>Thanks -

How did they work? Like a spokepointer in a brace, just bigger?

Re: Help me get started

Jim in Burlington Ontario

>Underhill has a how to make a rounding plane on his site. Well they are very similar only the blade has been set on a angle like a pencil sharpener. As for the case it looks just like a screw box and used the same way.

Witchet

Jorge Castaneda

>Hello William,

Your port reminded me of a gadget used to make oars, the witchet or is it widchet? That is quite portable and would do what David needs.

Re: Witchet

William Duffield, on the Cohansey

>Hmmm? Google can't find it for me, using either of your spellings or a couple of others I tried.

The term widget is close, but it is a generic term for just about any thingamajig, gadget or whatchamacallit, so that doesn't help either.

Maybe Bob Smalser can help us out?

Re: Witchet

Skip in Falls Church

>The construction of a witchet, rounder plane or stail engine is shown in Wooden Planes and How to Make Them by Perch and Lee. It's designed to take roughly round stock and make it round. Something I'd like to actually make some day.

Skip

Pointing up

Bob Hackett

>The bar none easiest way to point something quickly is to just use a hatchet and stump.

If you want a lead to making a dedicated rounding plane then I can forward one to you as I have one bookmarked and have no idea how to post a link to it.

Seems like an awful lot of work to make one when a hatchet will work just fine and doesn`t require a vice.Just my.02.

Mainely,Bob-Who`s sounding strangely like Todd in this post.

Re: Witchet or widget

Jorge Castaneda

>william,

as Skip says, the witchet is a rounding plane, there is a picture of one and a brief description of it in John M Whelan's book The Wooden Plane, page 165. He mentions both spellings.

Machete!

Jorge Castaneda

>Bob,

agree that the hatchet is a good tool for the job, but a machete is even faster.

Adapting to specialized tools

Bob Hackett

>Now that you mention it Jorge,I perfer a kukri over a machete.A long time back I noticed that one of the NCOs I looked up to carried a strange old crooked knife instead of a machete or a billhook.He could work more quickly and with less effort it seemed and best of all it fit perfectly between the frame and the ruck and could be drawn from and replaced to it`s sheath in a flash.He explained that it came from India and was called a kukri.After using it I was hooked.

Now I`m happy to introduce new NCOs (and anyone else who`ll listen)to this highly underrated and powerful tool.It offers more power and control than a machete or billhook for alittle less money.One of the few low priced items coming out of India that I`ve been impressed with.

Glad you mentioned it,I hadn`t thought of Sgt. Larken in awhile.

Mainely,Bob

Re: Witchet or widget

William Duffield, on the Cohansey

>Thanks for the reference, Jorge.

David, I think you need to look at that chapter of Whelan's book. It shows lots of different possible solutions to your problem.

Kukri !!

Jorge Castaneda

>Bob,

Thanks for reminding me of that one, I've seen it in action too and was very impressed. There is a store in Blue Hill that carries them, they say they are made of old leaf springs.

Uhmm, I'll put it in my Christmas wish list.

Thanks