There are several woodworking sites that I follow regularly, and most days I spend sometime wandering through the World Wide Web looking at other folks' projects. Today's blog is inspired by two videos that came to my attention recently.
The first video is from "Zack of All Trades" . As a lone wood worker I am always looking for new and better (also cheap) ways to hold work still for planing or drilling. To that end I have many clamps and jigs. "Zack" had a very good instructional video that mostly stated the obvious. It was of course one of those forehead slapping moments. The video shows a very tidy way to live without a tail vise.
These are my new solutions to work holding without a tail vise. Needless to say they get my safety red, or they'd get lost amidst all the other bits of wood. I made a thin and a thick dog and a long thin wedge. After drilling three more dog holes in my work top my set up works well now for planing small boards.
June 2017's blog talks about tool trays and shows a couple I made with duct tape and coffee bags. I am still using my trays for loose bits and pieces on the bench.
I just included this to show that a good design and project continues to be useful.
The other project was inspired by Jimmy DiResta, a talented and versatile maker. In this video he made a rustic band saw box. His project inspired me to follow his lead, but on a small scale.
I had collected some tree branches over time and let them dry in my shop. The plan was, walking sticks, or a lathe project .... ? Anyway I've used some of the wood to make 'band saw style boxes'.
The box is 5 1/2 inches long and is about 3 inches in diameter. I think the wood is cherry from in front of our house. I haven't decided exactly what hinges I will use. This is a situation where hinges need to be either hidden or....in your face. I await fulfilling inspiration.
cheers ianw
