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Building a Wooden Planes
by Diego de Assis
 To build a
plane, the first thing to do is acquire the iron blade and adapt
its width to the project, with certain
safety margin for the plane throat. I
built these planes based on an article from the Popular
Mechanics magazine. They provide the project drawings for three basic
planes with dimensions for the traditional wooden planes.
I used both electric and
traditional hand tools. The use of
more sophisticated equipment gives certain celerity and comfort
to the production process, but these planes can be made with
hand tools only, resulting in the same accuracy.
Mini Scorp from a Wrench
by James D.
Thompson
I have long wanted a
small scorp-like tool to assist me in my carving. I often find
that I have small places with tear out in inside radii, and I have
no good way to get in there and deal with it.
It recently occurred
to me that I ought to be able to convert small wrenches into just
such a tool. Here is how I did it.
Re-sawing Board with Hand Tools
by Regis de Andrade
We all know it
is possible to re-saw a board using only hand tools. But how is
it done? I searched the internet and books but couldn’t find
anything that explains exactly how it is one, so I decided to
try it myself.
First it is
necessary to have a flat surface so you can mark the thickness
of the board you want to cut.
A Day at the Sheffield Cutlery
Works - Saws - The Penny Magazine, 1844
If we take a
Directory of Sheffield as an index to the employments of its
inhabitants, we shall see that, although the distinct
occupations are very numerous, there is yet a tie which
connects most of them together: cutting instruments, of some
kind or other, being the objects to which most of the
manufacturing arrangements relate.
There are Cutlery Casters,
Table-knife makers, Fork-makers, Penknife-makers,
Lancet-makers, Razor-makers, Scythe-makers, Saw-makers,
Edge-tool makers, Scissor-makers, Shear-makers, Spade and
Shovel makers: preparatory to all these are the operations
of the Steel-converters, and Tilters, and Rollers, and
Casters.
Inspiration comes from the strangest places and
prices! by Jerry M. Honeycutt Jr.
A few weeks ago I stopped
by a favorite shop and a dealer friend of mine came upon
this old beat up woodworking mallet at a Vermont estate
sale. The head had been used pretty hard and put
up wet more than once. I got it for the
inspirational price of $5.00!
The handle though, oh the
handle! It's slender smooth shape fit my gnarled,
calloused and scarred mitt perfectly! Almost
feminine in form, slender, curvy in the right places.
Chopping Mortises – A Quick Tutorial
I prepared a short primer this
morning in the shop to answer a younger man’s question.
The entire session, including stock preparation and photography,
took 30 minutes. The actual mortise chopping took 4
minutes, and I wrote this up on my lunch break.
First, you need mortise, not paring chisels. These are Japanese
chisels that I bought from Highland Hardware when
they first opened more than 2 decades ago to replace the badly
worn family ones.
Letter
from Paul S.
Dearest Scott, Brian and
Galoots,
As usual I'm late into
this conversation, but I have to say that the block
knife is indeed a handy tool. Having recently purchased
one and set it up on a large stump. I am only beginning
to see the potential.
But, after sharpening the
knife section I found that I could do quite a shaving
number on everything in the wood pile from soft maple to
mulberry which is hard as a rock when seasoned. I bought
the block knife with the thought of the clogmaker who
makes the process look like he is carving candles, but
soon realized that there is a reason that the knife is
over 24 inches long with a well-polished hardwood handle
that allows for your full weight to be applied. I have
found that it is not as easy to manipulate as I thought
and that it is tempting to take too big a bite. Patience
seems to be the key until you get the rhythm and skill
down.
I am going to check with
a local blacksmith regarding making another and perhaps
using a file as the blade portion for the high carbon. I
am not a metal person, but even an entire steel model
could be made I suppose. The handle appears to be Swamp
Oak on the one I have as it appears to have a natural
curve following the grain of the wood. It also seems to
match the wood on the old scythes. As old as it is there
is no rot or pithiness. I had searched for a long time
when this knife came available from Tony Seo. I jumped
all over it like ugly on an ape and price was not a
factor. I figured my only other choice was going to be
to have one fabricated, probably at a high price.
Tony did tell me about
something sort of akin to the block knife, but was used
for chopping pumpkins. This knife has a long blade. If
that could be found I can't see why it could not be
ground into the block knife configuration. Or, why
couldn't it be used just as it is? What would more blade
hurt? These are artifacts in their own right and not in
great supply either, but I gather might be more readily
found than the regular block knife. One other philistine
thought has come to mind---maybe the old school paper
cutters with the steel blade screwed to a cast iron arm?
Don't shoot, it was just a thought, but I am heading
down to Tool Hell to check out my old 1950s vintage
paper cutter. I bet it can be done.
One story. I was in the
school office many years ago when a maybe 12 year old
came in to use the office paper cutter. The office
secretary was a portly woman of exceedingly good cheer.
I made an exception and let the student use the paper
cutter with the stupid admonition, "don't cut your
finger off!"
Whoomp went the blade, up
went a shriek as the student turned and handed me the
end of his finger while he was bleeding profusely and
turning white. I turned to the secretary to have her
call the local medics, but as she stood, she turned from
white to green and hit the deck like a ton of bricks. So
I am standing there with the boy's finger in one hand
his raised hand in another and working an intercom with
my elbow until I raised back-up.
The secretary recovered,
but we removed the paper cutter from her line of sight -
just in case. And the boy's finger was re-attached.
Happy Ending.
Paul in
Normal, IL
October, 2008
Email:
Paul
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