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Leperflesh posted:e. Also, note that mahogany trees are exported as part of a lot of unsustainable logging and habitat destruction. I know I'm practically pissing into a headwind here but: it'd be super cool if we all tried to seek out sustainably-sourced wood for our projects. It may not be a popular opinion in many circles, but you're right and should you should say it.
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Jul 5, 2020 13:28
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If my experience with hand planes tells me anything, it's that whenever you ask yourself "should I sharpen this?", the answer is "yes, and a bit sooner too". I don't know much about power thickness planers, or even if it's viable to sharpen them yourself at all, but sharpening can't hurt I guess.
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Jul 26, 2020 12:58
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If I could go back in time and advise my younger self, I'd definitely tell myself to skip the table saw and save up for a good band saw first. Not that table saws aren't useful for what I want to do, but because a) I can do them on a band saw too, and a bunch of things I can't on a table saw as well, and b) doing repetitive tasks like a bunch of tenons it's very easy to just zone out and that's when accidents happen. Then again, I rarely use plywood so that might not be useful advice in case you do.
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Aug 4, 2020 15:16
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Mr. Mambold posted:If it's easy for you to zone out doing repetitive tasks, you shouldn't be around power tools. There's no wiggle room. Jokes aside, that's precisely why I put that in there. I caught myself drifting off mentally a few times, especially when already tired after a day of repetitive tasks at work, after which I just quit doing what I was doing and switch to something unlikely to cause grievous bodily harm. I'm a bit too attached to my fingers to take stupid risks by working with genuinely dangerous equipment like that when not in the right frame of mind, and am glad I realized that before I learned it the painful way.
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Aug 4, 2020 18:02
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Yew is what was historically used for making bows in Europe.
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Aug 21, 2020 18:25
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Probably because it's the patent date, in this case August 2, 1904, rather than the patent number?
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Sep 14, 2020 18:25
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Considering it's at least a 110+ years old, it doesn't look too bad at all. Bit of wear, which is actually good as it tells you it was actually used and not a lemon that sat discarded on a shelf for decades, but nothing important that won't clean up anyway. The bevel angle on the iron is fairly immaterial on bevel-down planes where the angle of the frog determines the actual pitch. As long as you're somewhere in the vicinity of a 30 degree bevel angle you should be fine. Also, yeah, my edges looked just as wonky when I started out, but with practice (and a bunch of scraps to practice on) you'll be able to get them nice and square soon enough
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Sep 26, 2020 00:00
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It's my belief that the advice to start with a #5 is based at least in part on the fact that they sold in far greater numbers than the #6, and therefore should be much easier to find and at a lower price point too. Whether that's true I can't say for certain as I don't really follow the old tool market but it feels plausible. Regardless, I never really got the aversion against the #6 and cleaned up it should be a solid plane. Also, because they are so much thicker, if you do buy an aftermarket iron+chip breaker, you may find that you need to open the mouth a bit to actually pass shavings without clogging.
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Oct 28, 2020 22:36
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I built my bench with a toolwell as I wasn't quite sure if it was a good idea or not and was sick of myself going back and forth ad nauseam. (Also because I didn't have enough material to make the top full-width and couldn't go scrounge up some thanks to covid.) Having lived with it for a while, it's not a bad thing to have, but probably due to working off of a Workmate for too long I'd overestimated it's value in preventing your tools from being knocked off the bench, and underestimated how much of a trade-off in workspace it really is. Luckily the wellboard is kept in place only with a couple of screws, so once I manage to my hands on enough material it's bye-bye toolwell, hello full-width top (which I would've done earlier, except covid).
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Oct 29, 2020 20:25
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Spear & Jackson do decent enough handsaws as well, with wooden handles and re-sharpenable. I've used their 24" 7 point ripsaw a bunch, and apart from really benefitting from a good sharpening right out the box, it was thoroughly acceptable. Used to be somewhere between 30-40 euros, but I have no idea how or if the pandemic affected price/availability. The Record Power BS250 I'm less enthusiastic about. It says it's about a 1/2 HP machine, but in practice that's more of a geriatric screw with 3 hoofs in the glue factory rather than virile plow horse HP. Soft stuff like spruce it can deal with, but 2"ish thick beech, ash, or cherry, not so much. Mostly makes really distressing noises, if not stalling outright, even with a brand new blade. Resawing (for which I actually got it) feels like a bridge too far, so I haven't bothered with it much. It just lacks the oomph to do most of what I want out of a bandsaw.
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Nov 15, 2020 16:17
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Kaiser Schnitzel posted:Yeah my old boss had one and I miss it about twice a year when it would be really handy, but its definitely not something I need every day. I can make four tight 90 degree miters no problem I just cannot for the life of me get all the pieces the exact same length to make those miters work together, and being able to shave off a tiny slice at a time is really helpful. A shooting board with a 45 degree fence should allow you to do that just fine.
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Dec 2, 2020 01:05
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I don't know if it's just because they're so male-dominated, but not wanting to be seen as a pansy by wearing PPE is endemic. Not just in woodworking, but all trades. Especially with regard to things that don't immediately gently caress you up, but accumulate over time. Sensitization to wooddust, funky damage to your nervous system due to solvents, heavy metal poisoning due to welding fumes, all because wearing a respirator is too much work/make you look like a pansy/interferes with your beard. Hearing damage. hosed up eyes from squinting instead of wearing a visor during welding. All things that can be avoided if you just wear the appropriate PPE for the situation.
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Dec 10, 2020 15:06
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Kaiser Schnitzel posted:There's a big element of comfort too-I don't think it's all tough guy stuff. Wearing a dust mask all day while doing physical labor, especially if it's hot, is pretty unpleasant. While we may know the risks cerebrally, they're not gonna be a problem for a long time and I am sweating my rear end off NOW. If the problem can be solved with better ventilation or dust collection, that's definitely the more pleasant way to go. Yeah, weighing short-term comfort versus long-term risks is difficult. I guess I've just seen too many people where the risks caught up with them, so maybe I'm a bit overzealous because I really don't want that in my future.
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Dec 10, 2020 16:19
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NomNomNom posted:Thread Bae posted this article on finishing: Mix up your own shellac and use methanol-free ethanol as a solvent. In some jurisdictions you can apparently buy pure grain ethanol, but otherwise I've found chemical supply stores to be a good place to buy denatured alchol from as they'll tell you exactly what's in it (usually only what's legally required to sell it without liquor taxes) and how pure it is (very).
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Dec 28, 2020 20:07
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Hypnolobster posted:Finally got off my rear end and finished the carcass for a little cart/cabinet for sharpening stuff. Grinders on pull out shelves and a drawer or two for everything else.  (also, rad vice jaw)
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Jan 1, 2021 13:46
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There's a reason why "if you're wondering if you need to sharpen, you should've done it 10 minutes ago already" or some variant thereof is a maxim. One that I need to have tattoo'd on the inside of my eyes because I always forget to just take a moment and sharpen the plane instead of forcing it through like I tend to do. ColdPie posted:My favorite part of sharpening is after you do it and use the tool once and go "why the gently caress didn't I sharpen like three hours ago when I started to have doubts?" Also, this.
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Jan 8, 2021 20:53
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I've found ryoba saws to be rather clumsy for ripping or resawing. The plate is so thin you can saw in curves, and worse, is so short you're forced to make really short, inefficient strokes. If it's long enough to go through anyway, because as you tilt the board the length of the sawcut increases substantially, making it even worse. (Also, you can't sharpen the drat things because they have hardened teeth, so once they start getting dull it'll only get worse.) A big old 6-7 point 26" Disston I picked up for 25 pounds on eBay is my go-to for these kind of things. Sharpened, properly set, and with a bit of lubrication on the plate it'll go through any stock quickly. Not bandsaw quickly, but not slow either, and nowhere near as difficult as some would like you to believe. Definitely laborious though, but it gets the job done, and when you consider how much a bandsaw that can actually handle resawing 6+" wide & tough wood costs, a far more realistic proposition for the budget and/or space constrained woodworker. (Or if you're a loving weirdo like me, and get a weird sense of enjoyment from doing it like this.)
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Feb 8, 2021 16:47
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I like big gouges and I can not lie. Jokes aside, those are some nice looking tools. I don't know much about gouges, but given that they're basically curved chisels, I'm guessing the bevel on the inside makes them dive into the wood, making them a bad choice for carving. Or maybe some other reason, but what's the use case for incannels then, because there must be something they do well.
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Feb 9, 2021 01:50
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Kaiser Schnitzel posted:It's actually sort of the opposite re: the bevels-they don't really dive into the wood, but they are terrible for carving yes. I'd guess the main uses were for cutting fillets (the slightly rounded bit on the inside corner of a casting/pattern)? Patterns also have to have a slight taper built into them so they can be removed from the mold, and I'd guess it's easier to keep that consistent with a long, straight back chisel than an out-cannel tool where the tool would have to ride on just a small bevel to stay consistent. A longer tool gives more control over the angle. They are good for paring too on end grain or across grain, so maybe for adding little channels for metal to flow through? I have 1 or two cranked/gooseneck ones too I think for working away from an edge. Ah, now I know. That's some cool rear end historical background information.
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Feb 9, 2021 13:41
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I've got a question about these styles of gouges:  They're both made for scooping out bowls and such, but I'm not clear what the benefits of one over the other are. The ones with the "a"-suffix seem to allow you to scoop deeper than the "L" types I guess?
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Feb 12, 2021 22:58
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Ah, I see. The top ones are about 10% more expensive new than the bottom ones for the same size. I'll go for one of those (if I can find some place that has them in stock or come across reasonably priced used one), and maybe later, if the situation really calls for it, the other style. Thanks for the explanation.
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Feb 13, 2021 13:28
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GEMorris posted:Buddy I have extremely bad news about the current state of the carving tools supply chain. I am fully aware of what a clusterfuck the supply situation is right now. Hence the "if I can find some place that has them in stock". I'm not holding my breath or anything, because who knows how long it's going to take.
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Feb 13, 2021 16:17
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For poo poo's and giggles, I priced out what a Makita tracksaw and some Festool guide rails (Makita's are apparently rather prone to being bent or otherwise unfit for purpose) would cost. About 600 euros, 360 for the saw, 220 for two 1400 mm rails, and 20 for the coupler. That doesn't get you a lot of table saw. What it's usually referred to as a jobsite saw. I have one like that (a little cheaper than that even), and while it does what it's supposed to, it never felt truly comfortable to use. On top of the intrinsic issues all table saws have, it's always too small, a fence that's wobbly when you pull it all the way out, and even then can't go far enough for a 2' wide cut to name some glaring ones. Knowing what I know now, I wish I'd gone for a track saw, but until recently I never heard of them, which is something you can't say about table saws as those things are front, left, and center of everything that's not exclusively hand tool woodworking. Also, sheet goods are a good example of a situation where it makes sense to bring the tool to the material instead of the other way around. Manhandling a full 8x4 sheet of plywood is going to be a major hassle regardless of how nice your table saw is. Ninja edit: In addition to what Leperflesh said, I think it was Chris Schwarz who said something like how we don't experience furniture through calipers. Aiming for a machinist's level of precision is kinda pointless, chasing fractions of a millimeter that you can't see or feel is just not necessary.
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Feb 24, 2021 01:27
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Leperflesh posted:A Good Post. I did a 10ish" radius on the iron in my #5. Maybe not aggressive enough to call it a scrub plane, but it wastes away material fast, especially when traversing, to taking off a maximum of about a skinny 1/16" each pass (any more and the shaving can't pass through the mouth anymore). I picked up a trick to sharpen a radiused blade using a sharpening jig from Chris Schwarz, and that's to put alternating pressure on the left and right side, rocking the jig as you sharpen. I've done it and it works, but with more aggressive radiuses it gets rather awkward, so I just freehand those.
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Feb 26, 2021 21:19
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I'd never even considered putting an aggressive camber on a #7 iron, so good point.
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Feb 26, 2021 21:33
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It's almost a rite of passage to build something/do some home improvement, only to find out that nothing in your house is square, flat, or level, and have to do a bunch of extra work to account for all that.
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Mar 8, 2021 17:49
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In addition to what ColdPie said, trying to force the saw through is bad. A loose grip is all you need, just push the saw and let it do the work. When it starts to feel like you need a lot of force to push the saw lubricating the plate can help. As do some wedges to keep the kerf open in case there's some tension in the wood that's clamping down on the saw. Finally, it might just need a good sharpening. It's certainly a more aerobic option than a bandsaw, but it gets the job done.
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Mar 21, 2021 21:39
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Check and mark where the high spot is, clamp a waste piece behind it to prevent blow outs, and plane it down. Keep checking and repeat until sufficiently flat. Planing pine endgrain ain't the most fun, but with a shallow setting and a sharp iron shouldn't be too much of a problem.
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Apr 5, 2021 16:47
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Looks like either a type 13 or 14, so late 1920s. I can't make out if the lateral adjustment lever is there, but if all the parts are there it ought be decent enough.
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Apr 9, 2021 19:37
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A Nicholson/English joiner's style bench is a solid choice that's more economical with the amount of wood that's required and seriously worth considering if your still on the fence. Chris Schwarz's Workbenches book has two good designs, one of them a knockdown version that can be disassembled in case that's ever required, though I don't know if you can still get it. Paul Sellers has a series building a bench in this style on his Youtube-channel if that's more your speed (skip the tool tray though, and make the top completely solid, and also don't be afraid to lower it as his design can be awkwardly high).
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Apr 18, 2021 21:53
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European (though also called French or English walnut, depending on where it came from) walnut is certainly a thing, juglans regia, and a close cousin of American/black walnut, juglans nigra. In the few places that carry it, it's pretty much the single most expensive European hardwood by some distance, and only beaten by some of the tropical species that you pretty much can't get anymore because of trade restrictions or bans, like teak or genuine rosewood. Looks very nice, bit more mellow and golden/dark honey brown than American walnut, from the pieces I've seen, and historically only used for the highest end furniture I believe. Having said that, given that they're already misusing the term butcher block, I would not be surprised if it's actually black walnut scraps/lots of sapwood. Edit: I should type faster, pretty much what Schitzel said. Also, the European walnut I've seen has always been just air dried, not kilned, which may account for some of the aesthetic qualities. Just Winging It fucked around with this message at 20:39 on May 28, 2021 |
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May 28, 2021 20:37
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I was talking about the boards you can buy today, not antiques, but I readily believe you, antique sellers really don't like it when you get all close and personal with a piece to see that kind of thing, so I can't speak from experience on that myself, only to the aesthetic qualities, which when French polished, are very nice indeed.
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May 28, 2021 21:29
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 If one leg looks like that, the rest of the chair? probably isn't looking any better. Close-ups do make for a nice alien landscape though.
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Jun 2, 2021 23:30
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I can confirm that chopping mortises that size is a bear. The mortises for the leg stretchers on my workbench are that size, and chopping them out of some fast grown European douglas fir was by the most tedious task in the entire build. I would've drilled out most of the waste, but didn't have the equipment that could do it at the time. On smaller mortises, the kind you find on more furniture sized projects, say up to 10-12 mm, I prefer to just chop them out by hand, but bigger than that some kind of powered waste removal is preferred. Also, one technique I've been trying after I read about it and seems to work fine, is to chop out an initially narrower mortises, and then pare cut the sides to their final width.
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Jun 6, 2021 15:48
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The light, scuff sanding between coats, and maybe fine sanding to level it out after the final coat is something for hard curing, film building finishes I feel. Something which boiled linseed oil is very much not on both accounts. I'd take an offcut, finish prep/sand it to the same level your actual piece will get, and apply the BLO without sanding afterwards or in-between, and evaluate the results if you want to see for yourself.
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Jun 7, 2021 09:30
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Aprons are for rigidity. If you don't have a thick top, you need to get it some other way, and aprons create what's basically a torsion box (like a ribcage or airplane wing). That allows you to have a strong and rigid bench without having to use a ton of wood to make a thick top which would otherwise get you that strength, and as such, are (much) cheaper and easier to build. Chris Schwartz's older Workbenches book goes into it some more when he talks about the (knockdown) Nicholson (so named because the design first appeared in Nicholson's early 19th century book, they're also know as a (English) joiners bench) benches there, but I don't know if you can still get that book. So basically, a material efficient way to get the required strength for a workbench.
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Jun 28, 2021 17:09
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Exothermically curing oils like linseed oil are the ones that catch fire when you leave rags soaked with them balled up because the heat generated by the curing will build up and eventually ignite the rag. Oils used for lubrication don't cure like that so they don't catch fire.
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Jun 28, 2021 22:52
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That's why you wear safety glasses folks. Ants in the eyes is no laughing matter.
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Jul 2, 2021 14:47
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What niche would a hypothetical quality modern Stanley plane even fall in? Can't compete with the really cheap Asian stuff because at that price point you just don't get quality (which is why modern Stanley is poo poo, as it's all produced as cheaply as possible). Can't compete with Lie-Nielsen or Veritas without pricing themselves out of much of the market as that kind of quality doesn't come cheap, especially if you want it made in North-America. That leaves the mid-range planes maybe. Except there's already a substantial presence of serviceable Chinese models there, so it'd be hard to set themselves apart there. Except for the name, but you can't spend decades selling garbage and expect that to be a pro.
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Jul 15, 2021 01:19
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| # ¿ Apr 26, 2024 08:55 |
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If you're in Europe, definitely look into beech. As said it has good workability, and is eminently suited to build workbenches from. It's also one of the cheapest hardwoods widely available commercially, which is a definite pro as well. Don't rule out softwoods like spruce though, they're not as dense or hard as the likes of beech, but still make for a perfectly serviceable workbench. I built mine out of spruce and some douglas fir, and it's just fine. (The supply situation is kinda turbo-hosed right now, so this is more of a general advice for when price/availability isn't a problem anymore.)
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Jul 23, 2021 15:28
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