Friday, November 02, 2007

You Can Never Have Too Many.....


Hi Folks
As a woodworker I tend to accumulate stuff. You know - tools, timber, tools. The odd scar ;)
And sometimes I get a little guilty and worry that the "Collector Police" might be getting ready to make a visit. So I take stock and see if there's anything that, maybe, I could get rid of. Thin things down a little and shove on Ebay.
But I never do. And I'm glad I don't, because every now and again those duplicate tools are exactly what you need for a job.
Remember the Scraper Chisels I mentioned a few blogs ago? I have 1/4 and 3/4 sizes. And they have been so useful. But yesterday I needed a 1/8 wide version - what could I do?? Ahh...get one of my spare 1/8 chisels (I have three) and grind away. Problem solved, work can continue and I don't have to go buy another tool.
And my conscience is soothed for another day. Reminds me of something a certain person says - "Not a collector - just a woodworker with a wide choice of tools"
Now, about those multiple #5's..............;)

Timber is a somewhat important item - without it woodwork just seems to be lacking something ;) And my stocks are getting low- I can actually see an area of floor in the workshop. So a trip to Yandles is called for - anyone going to the open days next week?

Cheers
Philly

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Phil,
I'm stuck in a place where I can't get to any lumber yards so I have relied on the kindness of friends. Or somtimes the bribing of friends works also but you get my point about being always somewhat timberless. Maybe I'll have to meet up with you at Yandles and get some wood that I can actually see, touch and smell before I get my hands on it.

Have fun,
Michael

Philly said...

Mike
You'd love it at Yandles - a small sawmill in the middle of the countryside. A wonderful smell of tannins in the air, and lots of boards to sort through.
One day!
Phil:)

Anonymous said...

Phil.

Instead of using sandpaper to flatten the wooden sole of a hand plane, use ink carbon paper, taped down on top of a sheet of glass.

The carbon paper is the same stuff used on type writers to produce a duplicate copy.

Just tape it down with the ink side up, and rub the sole lightly across the surface a couple of times.

High spots will show up as an ink mark. Just use a block plane to remove marks, then retry across
carbon paper until no marks appear after rubbing. Surface should then be perfectly flat.

Process gives the user a clear indication on where the trouble spots are , rather than running blind and treating the whole surface as suspect.

This system has many other applications to assist the plane maker, or other type projects.

Regards William A. Muir.

Philly said...

Hi Willam
I'll give that a go - rather like using engineers blue when flattening metal planes.
Oh - and do you mean "retry across the carbon paper until the entire sole is blue after rubbing"?
Cheers
Phil

Anonymous said...

Hi Phil.

You are correct.

What you want to see after using this method is a uniform coverage of ink marks across the whole surface of the wooden sole.

If only localised areas show, work these areas down with a block plane or scraper to increase the coverage of inking after testing.

Appreciate your help.

Regards William.