Category: tool

The beauty of an unattractive plane and disobeying Schwarz .. a little bit

So the beauty of having an ugly plane that you’re going to use to do rough work is that you don’t have to spent much time cleaning it up. So i didn’t.

I did however, camber the blade .. with my Tormek.  I know scandalous.  😉  What would Schwarz say??

I used a wooden template to create a consistent camber and, frankly, I thought it worked pretty well.

After about 10 minutes, I had a nice camber that I was able to hone in about 30 seconds.  If you look close you can see where I colored the primary bevel with marker so I could see the honed edge.

The results, and nicely scalloped, but flat board.

Conclusion, this plane will work just fine!

PS.  Information on cambering blades

Tricks-in-Action: Plane Blade Cambering Jig

Camber With a Honing Guide

Why I File the Corners of my Irons

RWW 30: Thicknessing Stock the Old Fashioned Way

BTW – I don’t a jointer, so I have to flatten my boards before I put them through power planer.

I’ve got loose screws .. don’t you?

One of my braces has pretty crappy wood on the pad and the little screws have pulled out.  The only thing really holding the pad on is the threads inside the pad.  So I went to my favorite hardware store, Hardwicks, and asked about a fix.

The answer .. a tooth pick.  Really?  Ok, maybe a really thin dowel that you put into the holes and reintroduce the screw into the replaced wood.

The hardest part of the whole thing was restarting the screws.  Hopefully the picture demonstrates.

One screw went flying into the ether so I pulled out my giant magnet that I originally purchased to clean up after the remodel contractor.  If you’re cat swallows anything metal, it’ll pick him up .. no problem.  ;o)

A cute little squirt

Friday we went on a hike and went through Roslyn, Washington on the way to the trail head.  On the way home, we stopped at the local Grocery/Sundries store.  Inside I found this little guy shoved back in a corner with a lot of other craft stuff.  (I also found a cool unmarked No.  4, but I resisted temptation.)

With a little scrub behind the ears and Evapo-rust bath, here’s how he turned out.

Cute, huh?!

TFE String with Teflon – used to line the inside of the cap.