In a bunch of tools I bought off Craig's list I found a transitional wood plane that needed some TLC. I wasn't going for a pristine restore, but a repair and refresh. I took it completely apart, repaired the handle with epoxy, sanded the wooden parts and teak oiled them. I lightly sanded the metal work and oiled them and re-assembled it. I plan on giving it to my father in-law for his birthday in August.
I think I have my dad’s old plane. That’s now on my list of things to find in our black hole, or as most would say, basement.
I saw a lot of ten or twelve on Craig's list about two years ago I purchased and cleaned .............. let me know if you would like any ............ I'd be happy to part with part with them for $10 each plus shipping. They look beautiful; I just need the room.
Thanks for the offer. I’d like to find my dad’s if I can, for sentimental reasons. But if I can’t find it, I may get back with you.
If he doesn't, I'm interested. My collection consists of a 5 1/2 and some finger planes. I wouldn't mind plugging some holes.
Feel free to go ahead and get as many as you like. I’m particularly interested in finding my dad’s plane for sentimental reasons.
My brother in law asked me to make him a cheese press, which I finished this afternoon. Going to buy the bolts for it tomorrow. I decided to make it out of white oak. This one is based off a dutch cheese press, but smaller sized for homestead use. We make cheese about once a week, so I expect it will get lots of use. No stain, just a homemade beeswax and mineral oil blend. It's probably the first 'serious' woodworking I've done in 20 years. Feels good to make stuff that's more than just hog pens, chicken coops and gates. It's something that might actually be used by future generations. Seeing how much they sell for on Etsy and eBay, I'm tempted to make a few more.
I found a few Railroad spikes along the tracks, and figured I'd try to make something out of them. So I heated them up and banged on them with a small sledge hammer and ended up with a couple of knife-ish shapes. Below is a pic; these are FAR from finished. I'll have to grind these into shape a little better, maybe re-heat and spread the tang of the bottom one a little wider near the butt. Then harden/temper them and add wood handle to the bottom one (and maybe a finger-guard-crosspiece-thingy). I'll call them a "Camp Knife" and a small "Hunting Knife" when they're finished. So long as I don't actually USE them much, it won't matter that the railroad spikes are soft metal that won't hold an edge. It was fun learning to move metal. I learned other stuff, too... I learned that dropping red-hot metal on your driveway blacktop will make the oils in the asphalt burn. I shoulda tried forging years ago... but I always thought forgery was illegal. - Bax
Oh you funny. No. I have strips of some really thin stainless material I put down on top of the sandpaper (the sandpaper protects the aluminum plates) and I use SiC powder on the stainless. The sandpaper only gets used to refine the surface, not for the actual shaping. It would probably go faster with sandpaper, but that seems like a huge waste of money. Probably in a few weeks. The rennet I have now is for softer cheeses that don't need the press, unfortunately.
Fixed a broken hinge on my garage door, replaced the vacuum pump in my truck, and bought some new lawn care equipment.
Took some peach wood splits to the table saw to make peach wood chunks. Peach wood has become my favorite wood for smoking and grilling chicken. I don't use whole logs or splits to grill or smoke with. I prefer tossing a few chunks on top of Kingsford or Cowboy Lump charcoal.
I guess i'm boring. All I did today was take care of my kids , and give them their cold and allergy medicines , and tell their mom that they were okay so she wouldn't worry while she is at work... BORING.......