Shop Tip

  Lately I have spend a fair amount of time in my shop and haven't really done anything....or so it seems.
  I have been making little cut outs for Tova to paint and put in her garden. I have been working on a method to keep a wall hanging from curling on the edges and I've been planning a couple of more involved things.  Planning for me means some drawings and sometimes prototypes and just generally mucking around. None of this is a shop tip.

  The shop tip relates to drill bits.

  Get or make a drill bit index. I am sure that most of those bit sizes are seldom used but at the end of every project I can put the used bits back in the index and KNOW where they will be for next time. This drill index came from my grand father's shop via my father's garage workshop.  If you buy an index you can spend a little or a bunch but having drill bits organised is worth the expense and effort. 

  The second part of this drill bit tip is:

  When I break or lose a drill bit I buy 2 or 3 replacements especially the smaller size.  Why so many?  Clearly the bit I broke was one that I use, sometimes often, example 1/8" and 1/16".  It is a pain if the bit you need breaks Sunday evening while you are finishing off a project.  I have a box above my bench with an assortment of regularly used bits so that I am never stalled in mid-project.

  Another update. 

  In December 2011 I assembled a wooden clock kit for my wife as a Christmas gift. For several years the clock worked fine in winter and not at all in summer.   Seasonal performance was expected with the huge variation in humidity we experience here, but the clock didn't work last winter at all.  I decided to dedicate the necessary time to fixing it last week, after the chaos of the holidays. I made a couple of spacers from thin wood and greased an axle with bee's wax and fiddled with the pendulum for an hour or so and now it is working again.  More pleasing still is that the clock has worked unfailingly for over a week.  

  Back to the shop. I have another fish to finish and a knife handle to make as well as a cabinet to hang.

cheers ianw  

  

Repairs Required, drill bits needed.

  I returned from a day with the Grandchildren with a small bag of wooden toys needing repair. The helicopter's prop assembly got broken, probably not a crash landing since Kieran is pretty careful with his toys. The boats needed dry dock time; you know the standard peeling paint and loose fittings all busy working boats require.  Secretly I am hoping that he will learn that maintenance and taking care is an important part of ownership.

   I have no doubt that the repairs could have been done by his parents but the division of labour has worked out that wood is my responsibility and baking falls mostly to Oma. (These are two areas in which we revel.)

  I was able to fix all the problems in a very short time,

  

  The only woodworking task was the helicopter where I had to make a small piece and drill a couple of fine holes. Everything else is paint.

Gray Tools 29-pr bit set

     I have a full set of drill bits similar to this that I have used for years, and my Father for a few years before me, and I think the set came from my Grandfathers shop even before that.  No, I don't expect that any of the original drill bits exist but the holder for the bits does, and I keep it filled all the time.  

   Having bits of various sizes in important for doing repair work.  When you begin a job from scratch you can match drill bits and fasteners, when you are making a repair to something you often have to accommodate existing fasteners, (which are sometimes metric or just odd).  I've found having all of the imperial sizes available means I have all my bases covered, there is always an imperial size close enough for wood working purposes.

diamond grit needle files

  Another tool that comes in handy when doing repairs is a needle file.  Files like this can be used to make a fine adjustment to wood, patching compound, or to clear away hardened glue.  I repair wood products for 10,000 Villages and regularly use needle files to clear away glue and wood filler before I can make the necessary repair to save a piece from being nothing but fire wood. 

     If you look closely you can see a crack in this panel that I just finished repairing. The panel was cracked through and wide enough that you could see through.  I had to first stuff the crack with jute twine and glue to close the gap enough that I could begin to fill with gab with wood filler.

  I made a paste of Weldbond, water paint and saw dust and used it as a filler paste to complete the repair.  The repair is in no way invisible but.. it will make the cabinet saleable at a discount where before is wasn't saleable at all.  Without being able to take the door panel apart I don't know how I could have made an invisible repair.  Given the degree of damage the fastest and best option would have been to make a new door, but I don't have access to the species of wood used originally and a match would have been impossible.

   cheers, ianw 

   

  

In Praise of Sets and Order

Setsof  tools

makes organisation 

mucheasier

current special at thetoolstore.ca

    A few weeks a ago their was a brief flurry of activity in my shop while I did some spring cleaning/organizing.  Needless to say, it was short lived, work got in the way of getting ready for work.

wouldn't a magic broom be a great thing???

  However, one thing that I learned a few years ago is to buy drill bits, sockets, and screwdriver bits in sets, in a box.  Nearly everything that comes in a box or case gets unpacked and the fitted box tossed to the curb at the earliest opportunity.   Those plastic cases always seem to take more space than they need and offer more aggravation than protection, so the boxes go.

  The exception to that rule is sets of little things. I have a set of teeny tiny screwdrivers for fixing musical instruments and weeny electronics that I absolutely keep in the case I bought them in.  In this case it is to protect the fine tips from damage in the rough  and tumble world of my shop.

   

  In the case of sockets, drill bits and screwdriver heads it is less for protection and more of organization.  If I ever need to be reminded how handy a set with a dedicated holder is all I need to is look at my jar filled with Allen Keys. Never buy loose Allen Keys, in my jar exists all sizes, both metric and imperial, sadly all loose, mixed and in a total jumble.  

this is the way to go.

Finding the size you want is a long process and worse, I no longer have any idea what sizes are missing from the set. When you have a set and a holder  like this one for drill bits you know what is missing and needs replacing. I have found that it is cost effective to buy a fairly cheap set of bits to get the solid case, and then replace the bits with higher quality versions when the time comes.    That way you haven't spent serious coin on the 17/32 bit that never get used, and you've broken and replaced the 1/8 with something high quality and lasting. (you know, if you buy good drill bits they can be sharpened, and it is worth the time).

   Drill Doctor  comes highly recommended, though I've not used one yet.