A Summary of Small Things in the Shop

  I got a wonderful photograph this week, it shows my grandson with some of the ships we've built.  There isn't an admiral of the fleet anywhere that is more proud of his ships. 

  The submarine support ship needs further work, helicopter pads and radio towers I think.

  A while ago my kids gave me a plastic bottle cutter.

  At the time I knew that it was a cool thing, but I really didn't have a clear notion of what I would do with the plastic string that it creates.  I also found that the string was tightly wound and fairly difficult to handle.

  There are a few things that I have learned about bottle string:

  a. the string has sharp hard edges.  If you want to soften the edges put the string into boiling water for a while.

  b. if you hang the string for a few months with a light weight on it the string will straighten out quite a bit.

  I  hung the strips in the back of my shop under the stairs after the Christmas holiday intending to use them in the garden this spring. I found that a 2 litre pop bottle made about 25 feet of string.

c.  Another thing that I learned from the internet is that the pop bottle string acts like "heat shrink wrap.

  I put a couple of wraps of the string around each end of these bundles of re-claimed wood and tucked the end in.  All it took was the briefest blast from my heat gun to fuse the knot together and shrink the string tight.  Bundles of wood are neater and easier to keep organised in my shop than loose boards.

  Yesterday was rainy and cold.  I'd been fairly busy during the week and my back had been punishing me.  Usually when I am working on a project I work until it hurts and then abandon the shop for my easy chair or laying on the floor.  Using this method there is no energy left to clean up the shop or to do all those little maintenance things that should be done at the end of a work sessions. Since it was not a good day for gardening or riding my motorcycle I used the time doing maintenance.

  After I wrapped up the wood and put it away I spent an hour taking planes apart and stropping their blades.  I've found that frequent use of a leather strop has reduced the amount of actual sharpening I'm doing by at least half.  After touching up the blades and waxing the soles of my regularly used planes I turned my attention to my chisels and shop knives. I believe that stropping away the tiny burrs that develop during use helps the edge last much longer.  

  

  It was a relaxing and productive afternoon as I did some of the those little jobs that make life in the shop go more smoothly.  I washed my various glue bottles and scraped some of the glue bumps off of my bench, two things that get over looked until I am in the midst of a project. I collected shop rags and put some to soak and some to the trash. I like to have clean rags handy.  Another  job was using steel wool and wire brushes to clean up putty and glue application knives.  A clean blade spread glue smooth and evenly and a clean handle is nicer to hold.

 Today is as cold and rainy.  This might be the day for a Zen like sweep and vacuum. 

cheers, ianw

Wood Carving Tip

   Recently I have returned to wood carving.  A few years ago I joined a club in Burlington and found that I enjoyed carving, though I didn't really have much aptitude.  Well, I still enjoy carving and haven't suddenly developed any new talent but enjoy it none the less.
   
   In the back of my mind I am thinking that some of my projects would profit from some additional detailing, and carving is one way to add that extra little bit of individuality.  As we often see, quality carving can raise a simple box to the level of a work of art. 

chip carved box by an expert, not me.

  I have carved several of this style of penguin recently and have installed one as a security feature on the sliding patio doors.

  Ever the school teacher, I began to wonder about wood carving for beginners.  How would someone get started in carving or at least try it out, for cheap.  It was my good fortune to inherit  a bunch of carving knives and my natural love of knives generally, that means I have lots of knives to work with in my shop.  So I didn't have to think about it much or look to far for an excellent tool with which to carve.

    However, if you don't have a really good carving/whittling knife  you are not likely to succeed while carving.  A carving knife needs to be razor sharp, none of my shop knives or pocket knives are sharp enough to be used for carving. I own a number of very fine pocket knives, but the knives have been used to cut fruit and put away dirty, or have been used to cut cardboard or other terrible things, this means the blades need significant work to get them razor sharp once more.  Besides, pocket knives don't need to be razor sharp, they spent as much time scraping and prying as they do cutting.  A razor sharp, micro feather edge on a pocket knife would just get broken down and ruined in everyday use.  The same thing happens with shop knives, my knives forage in corners for glue squeeze out and are used to scrap away little bits of paint or stain, as often as for cutting.  For serious cutting, I have razor sharp chisels and planes.

  So where do you find a knife sharp enough to do some basic carving?

Bessy folding utility knife

  I mention this knife because it is the one with which I carved my most recent  penguin. Admittedly it is a bit heavy, and I did strop the blade (remember the strop) but as a carving tool it did a fine job.

   If you are interested in trying to do some basic wood carving I suggest that you get a solid utility knife; one where the blade does not wiggle at all, and some basswood and give it a try.

Tool Sharpening

   It is recognized absolutely that sharp tools are necessary for quality work and safety.  That is where the agreement ends.  There are nearly as many sharpening method, machines and philosophies as there are trades and workers.

  SHARPENING PRODUCT PAGE AT THETOOLSTORE.CA

  I have observed that all of the methods can work well.  There is no silver bullet and what ever method you employ there is a learning curve and skill set that has to be developed and sharpened with practice. (pardon the pun).

  I use a combination of the Scary Sharp  system and s machine made by Worksharp.  

   The Worksharp does a great job on my chisels and narrow plane blades.  Scary sharp does a very fine job on my wider plane blades. My carving tools are mostly sharpened by hand on a water stone and then finished on a leather strop.

 top:a stop I recently made to carry with me to carving club,
bottom : a commercial strop that I got years ago as part of a sharpening kit.

   The strop adds the final touch that will make your tools truly razor sharp.  I think it is impossible to get your wood carving tools sharp enough without honing the edges on a strop.  Also, I have found that careful and regular honing deduces the amount of sharpening that is necessary, dramatically . 

   Glue an old piece of belt to a flat board, sent a few dollars on some polishing compound and give it a try.