Weird Wood Rasp

  At some point in the past, and I truly don't know when, I picked up 16 - ten inch hacksaw blades.  These blades were not world beaters when they were new and now some  are slightly rusty.  Why did I buy them? Did I buy them?  I can see me paying a buck at a yard sale for the bundle, maybe.

  Anyway, as I cleaned and sorted my shop these long forgotten blades emerged. What to do with them?

Ten Inch, Medium Course
Wood Rasp

  I bolted the blades together with a thin spacer between each blades. I now have a very effective wood rasp.  If you stumble upon a really good deal in blades give it a try.  It is not good enough that I would pay full retail price for the blades.

Two Words - Grip tape

  As I have grown older arthritis has settled into both hands, reducing my grip strength.  There are clever ways to open pickle bottles and I found Grip Tape to help me hold tight while heavily hammering or hacking.

Turning Projects

  While cleaning up I found some projects that were set aside and forgotten, a couple of those things were turning projects.  Wood turning makes a huge mess, even when using dust collection. Also turning requires standing to work, at different times my back has stopped me from standing long enough to complete even small turning projects.   

  Now the shop is in great shape and my back and I found a workable compromise. So here are a couple of the  latest jobs.   

poplar?

  I began with some collected wood.  I think this is poplar from behind our house.  

stylist door knob

  Our down stairs bathroom door needed  door knobs. We have managed for a couple of years without, but the new found space and time meant that is was time to get 'er done. 

  The wood was very dry, it had lived in out basement for at least two seasons.  I had no idea what the wood was going to look like when turned.  My expectation was that it would have no visual interest, so my plan was to turn the knobs and paint them white. The grain turned out to be much more fun and so I waxed the final products. They may get painted white to mtach the door one day, but not today.

  When it comes to turning I am pretty much self taught and am  confident that I have nothing useful to share by way of technique, so I don't include that type of information in my blog.  If you type 'wood turning' into any search line you will get access to a vast number of 'experts', it is for you to decide who and what to believe.  My 1st rule for wood turning is safety first, I wear a dust mask and safety glasses while working, artistic production comes 2nd.

 I talked about finding a turned handle recently.  If I'd not already made a square mallet from oak and elm I would have glued this maple together, and attached the found handle.

oak/elm mallet

box tops, mortise chisel, awl
and maple carvers mallet.

  Instead I turned the maple into a carver's mallet.  The maple is off cuts from stair treads which  really strong and straight grained.  I now have a lovely mallet, I just don't know if I need it.

  In the photo you can see the handle for my mortise chisel, and a scratch awl. Two small turnings I made while everything was set up and easily at hand.  The awl was just a curiosity, I made with my four jaw chuck, something I'd not tried before.  In the past all my turnings were either face plate or between two centres.  I now have a four jaw chuck and can try some new things.

                            

Now to Finish up.

  I think I have the cleaning part of the wood shop done.  This cupboard that was in the back corner has come down .

  The small shelf unit is gone and the brown low boy went months ago. Now the back corner looks like this.

only rotated 90 degrees. I don't know why the computer software won't work today.

 It appears  there are  several small projects that were begun and then shelved, for various reasons. As well as things to finish there are several outstanding tasks.  I have a set of doors to fix, door knobs to turn and install  and a handle for a chisel.

  I bought this un-handled mortise chisel a while ago.  It looked like the perfect tool for cleaning up and squaring hand cut mortises, several of which I had just made.  Of course once I bought the chisel I didn't need it, and it slid to the back of the cupboard and was mostly forgotten.  This morning I quickly turned a handle for the chisel on my lathe. With the correct tools it is a quick process to knock out tool handles.

  Or in this case In the rummaging around I found a mallet handle awaiting a head.  Next project, laminate another head to fit this handle, I've got some maple that should be great for this.   The round handle lends itself to a carver's maul with a round head. 

  There is a lovely elm box, with a poor lid.  I cut a slot in the lid from the wrong side when I was working on this project. I've got a real nice elm board that I will glue up and make a proper quality lid for my box.  

  I have two drawers that were part of a modular desk. The desk is long gone, the drawers will be made into a free standing unit, on wheels that will be useful in our home office. Again the pieces had drifted into a back corner and become hidden from view by dust and lumber. 

  There are a bunch of partly finished tea boxes, pencil boxes etc that were in a banker's box back in the back of the basement.  It appears that these were things I started  when I didn't really have anything pressing, and then put them aside when something came up. 

There are an equal number of wood carvings that fall into the same category as these boxes.  Also I have a plan for an artist's travelling paint pallet or two amongst the various projects on those two shelves.  

  Time to carry on and finish a whole bunch of this stuff off and find it homes.

cheers, ianw



  

May 12th 2020 - Clean up -Update

  I have been working for several hours each day in my workshop for the last couple of weeks.  I still have a day or two's work ahead of me but the progress is most satisfying, albeit, almost invisible.  Being able to stay at home for several days at a time had emboldened  me to begin a serious shop clean up, which became a total shop overhaul.  We moved into this home 11 1/2 years ago and my wood shop slowly and inextricably gathered tools and materials.  The gathering together of tools and materials was slow and the chaos was insidious.  

  The process began with me unloading and re-stacking my wood rack.

before

That photo doesn't show the piles of wood in other sections of the shop. It does give a feeling for the gathered chaos however.  Behind and beside were other piles of lumber, most, now are fire wood.  It is slightly depressing to discover how much of your treasured wood is truthfully just fire wood.

after

 I took the time to prop up the bottom shelves and support the upper two shelves with straps, the rack had looked to sag a bit over time.  Once I began, things just seemed to gather momentum.

Next came clamps. On October 21st 2011 I published this photo of my clamps.  It is now 2020 and I have at least twice as many  clamps.

before

 Yesterday they all came down and I remounted them.  Twice as many clamps fill the same space now they are in one place and accessible.

  As well as giving all those clamps a place to live I racked up all my spring clamps.

  Over the years clamps came home with me from wood shows and other events and only now do they have an organised place to live.

  The gradual collection of tools, finishes and other materials caused my space to become un-workable.

My hand saws were spread about collecting dust and not being useful.  I changed that by moving my saw till, and hanging other saws and tools on my movable shelving unit.

back side

                   

  The saws that are needed are at hand, the saws that are collected are out of the way.  I also have two IKEA bag/rag collectors on the back of the cabinet.

November 2015 is when I adapted these two STEN Ikea units. May 2020 is when I unpacked, repacked and reorganized the contents.

  Last week I moved the wall mounted cabinets and today I am throwing more wood and useless craft materials out.  My collection of Craft related stuff is the last hold out and the shop with by like something out of my dreams. (for a while)

  As this moving and re-arranging has been going on there have been several small projects going on.  I bound a book of A-Z paintings. If you are interested in book binding go to SEA LEMON on Facebook. Jennifer does a variety of crafts but has an entire section on DIY book binding.

  I finished a purple and gold walking stick for my Grand Daughter. I repaired a picture frame to my Grand Son's drawing of their cat. I added a lid and began to use a small parts organizer to sort screws and nail etc.

  I am making  a tool box and have taken down four unnecessary shelves to open up my work space by making the shop less cave like.

  It has been busy, enlightening (less is more) and some what satisfying.  I have a really nice piece of old oak that floated to the top, now is needs a quality project, and I have the space in which to do it.

cheers, ianw

. 

Mallet and Pencil Box

  Most of my effort in the wood shop for the past week or so has been destruction and reconstruction.  Yesterday I took my two biggest tool cabinets off the wall and switched them around.  It was a big job, all the tools had to be un-loaded, with help the cabinets came off the wall and were adjusted, reassembled and remounted. 

  I switched the cabinets around to make my work space more comfortable and to improve the fung shui . 

  The three cabinets now seem more balanced and for me, create a less oppressive work space. The far cabinet is filled with craft supplies and related project parts, I picked the cabinet off the side of the road in spring cleaning time a couple of seasons ago. The middle shelf has saws, knives, squares and various measuring tools.  The large cabinet is filled with glue and  string and hammers and wire and painters pyramids etc, etc, etc, 

  One thing I have done is reduce the number of tools that are easily to hand.  Over the years in an effort to make my life easier I had gathered many tools into this corner thinking that having each tool ready at hand would be more efficient.  It just become cluttered and dusty, not efficient.  

  Anyway, I said mallet.  While working on my lumber rack last week I had some  thumping to do.  I was using my carver's maul to thump and that is just not right.  In the midst of the chaos I took time to make a heavy mallet.

  Having my new mallet easily at hand means that I will not miss-use another tool when the time comes.  This mallet will thump parts into place, drive stakes in the garden and adjust wedges.

  I had a lump of oak from which I made the head and a really nice piece of elm for the handle.  Elm is tough and stringy and I think should make a good handle.  I glued the various pieces together and pinned the handle in place with dowels.  The quality and power of modern glues gives me full confidence that the two part head will last as long as I need this tool.

  The previous  blog featuring rasps was inspired by the shaping of this mallet's handle.  I cut the basic shape on the band saw but did all the final edge breaking and shaping with rasps and files. 

  

  Over the last couple of weeks I have been video conference drawing with my Grand Daughter and while chasing pens and pencils around my desk I decided it was time to make another art storage/management item. 

  

  With another leather hinge and an elastic closure all the pencils seen standing in the previous photo are safely stored inside and ready to travel from desk to desk or town to town.

  Our family really haven't experienced any significant difficulties during this 'lock down' period, for which we are grateful. As well one of the bonuses in this situation is the realization of the amount of 'stuff' with which we fill our lives, and the general disarray in which we actually live.  Awakening each day and saying, " I have no place I need/plan to go today" has meant that I have been comfortable directing my focus to my life at home. I don't want this situation to continue for months but I have profited from these few weeks.

 cheers, ianw

be thoughtful, be safe. 

Rasps

  A recent comment drew my mind back to 2014 when I wrote a blog about shop maintenance. Little did I know that a time would come when there was plenty of extra time for maintenance.  This current self quarantine/ social distancing time is keeping everyone in Ontario home and giving us lots of time to enjoy and respect our homes and yards.

  I have spent hours in my shop this last two weeks.  I haven't built much but...I have added many square feet of floor and wall space.  By re stacking, culling and organizing my wood I have freed up floor space previously taken up with piles of project supplies, awaiting a projects. Also by organizing, consolidating and labelling bins, drawers and shelves I have taken three shelves down.  That means less area for dust to gather and a more open, brighter and less oppressive work space.  

  While doing this inspired clean up some of my regularly used tools came into focus, last week it was draw knives.  This week wood rasps:

  Rasps come in many sizes for many tasks.  A rasp is not a file.  A rasp is produced to be covered with wee hooks that gouge the wood aggressively rather sheer is smoothly like a fine.  When carving or shaping a project I use a rasp to remove lots of material, then switch to a file, scraper or sand paper.  

  The smallest rasps I have are needle rasps. They've been at hand for so long I don't remember when or where I bought them.

                   

3 inch cutting surface, 6 inches over al

           

As you can see over time I have added handles.  The rasps are flat,  half round spear point, flat tapered, tapered square, and round spear.  These punch well above their weight and will  clear away wood at a furious  rate. 

  The next rasp is a combination tool.  It is also a file.

4 inch cutting surface, 9 inch overall

  This little tool has been mentioned in blogs before, 'cause I love it.  Again, this Four In Hand (four different surfaces, flat file, flat rasp, concave rasp, concave file) has been a go to tool since I build my first shop in my parents back yard forty plus years ago. Some place I have my grand father's four in hand, reduced to being a paper weight from years and years of use.

  The next rasp on the list is new to my shop.  I bought it because it is very aggressive and when making spoons its cutting power really speeds things up.

5 3/4 cutting surface, 10 3/4 overall

  This tool is flat on one side and slightly convex of the other.  I bought is from the national distributor at a wood show last fall.  It cuts fast and deep but is a bit a bit of a pain to clean. Sometimes a wire brush isn't enough, I have to actually pick away at the build up with a dental pick.

  I found a long ignored rough rasp, with my own oak handle while organizing.

    I had forgotten about this rasp.  It was in a drawer with two ancient tools that are mostly kept for sentimental reasons.

short 9 1/4-15 1/2 overall
long 11 inches - 18 inches overall

        



  These two rasps are from my Grandfather's shop. Both these tools are old, old and smooth, I can't imagine how many hours of work they did to wear them down.  I know that my Grandfather made many axe handles, cant hook handles and related farm and forestry tools.  He also made skis and wooden boats, there were hours of hand shaping in his wood shop for many years. I think I will look into whether there is a way to sharpen these tools.  If not, maybe I will make them into blades of some sort.

  I am gathering materials and plans together to begin making things again in my newly clean and organized shop.  Sometimes,  success is rooted in preparation.

cheers, ianw