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When I was a young boy, my dad would get together with some friends and play some bluegrass music.  He played guitar.  At one point, he taught me how to play mandolin.  Well…I knew a few chords, anyway.  I had fun, but unfortunately it was a borrowed mandolin and I had to give it back.  So I’ve long since forgotten everything I knew about playing.  That’s why I became a drummer, instead.

Since finding my love of woodworking, I thought it would be fun sometime to build a musical instrument.  One of our craftsmen here at Woodsmith has built a violin for his wife.  And one of our editors has built a guitar.  Maybe I’ll start with an electric guitar for my teenager.  That seems simple enough.

Here’s a story about a self-taught woodworker who retired to Florida and found himself making harps.  Lowell Patrick says, “I decided to tackle this challenge after I found a place in California that offers detailed drawings of various sizes and models of harps and has all the necessary hardware, strings, tuning pins, etc. Fortunately, all my harps have turned out well. They definitely are from ‘tree to tune.’”

Hopefully I won’t have to wait until I retire before I can make music.

Here’s a list of hand tools Norm Abrams thinks that every homeowner should eventually have.  Most can be found at flea markets, garage sales, and antique malls.  Click here to find out what they’re used for and why Norm recommends them.  I’ve added links to modern-day equivalents if you can’t find the older tools. 

Now that there are only a few shopping weeks left until Christmas, you can print this list and buy some gifts for that special handy-person around the house.

Norm’s Tool List:

1. A set of chisels
2. Adjustable wrench
3. Sliding T-bevel
4. Try square
5. Brace
6. Hand drill
7. Monkey wrench
8. Ripsaw
9. Yankee screwdriver
10. 3-foot level
11. Folding ruler
12. Clapboard gauge
13. Straight-claw hammer
14. Curved-claw hammer
15. Hacksaw
16. Spokeshave
17. 1-foot level
18. Plumb bob
19. Whetstone
20. Router plane
21. Scribe
22. Classic wooden toolbox

Well, the face of woodworking is changing.  Technology has officially invaded the workshop.  It started in the 80′s with the Sears Craftsman digital radial arm saw.  Then it was lasers on the tools.  Next came CNC (computerized numerical control) machines like the ShopBot.  But it’s pricing is out of league with most home woodworkers. 

Now, Sears is making available the Craftsman CompuCarve Compact Woodworking Machine.  It’s a computer-controlled machine that’ll carve in 3-D on workpieces up to 14-1/2″ wide by 5″ high and almost unlimited length.  And it’s priced at around $1,900.  It requires a PC hookup.  Think of it as sort of like a 3-D printer for your computer.  Except you’re carving wood.

The CompuCarve is made by LHR Technologies who makes the CarveWright machine.  It was developed by a couple of NASA robotics engineers (wouldn’t you know it) who happen to love woodworking.

I can already think of uses for it like sign-making and carving panels for cabinet doors.

The Sears product page says it’s temporarily out of stock.  But there’s a link where you can have them email you when the product is available.

My shop used to be in a basement.  Now it’s in an unheated garage.  In both environments, I would get the occasional rust spot on my tool surfaces, especially my table saw.  I’ve used automotive paste wax and it seemed to help.  And it helps reduce friction, too.  It makes the wood slide across the saw so much easier.

A few years ago, someone suggested that I try using Bostik’s TopCote®.  You can buy it from the Woodsmith Store.  It’s an aeresol product that dries quickly to a dull haze.  Then you can buff it with a soft cloth for a smooth surface.  It doesn’t contain any wax or silicone that could mess up a finish on your project.  The first time I used it, I was surprised at how easy it was to apply and what a great job it does at protecting my power tools.

A few weeks ago, I noticed that a few of my old hand planes were getting small spots of rust on them.  So I used a Scotch-Brite pad to polish them up.  The thought occurred to me if TopCote works on power tools, why wouldn’t it work on hand planes?  I usually use a paste wax.  But I tried TopCote on one of my planes.  I knew it would help keep the rust at bay, but I was curious to see if it made any difference while planing.  So I slapped a scrap piece of wood up on my bench and took a few swipes.  Wow!  It took no effort at all to slide the plane across the wood.  I was sold.

I also have a can of Boeshield T-9® sitting on my shelf.  I might do a little experiment and see if there’s any difference between Boeshield and TopCote in terms of rust protection and reducing friction.

Marc Spagnuolo and his wife have a great idea.  He’s developed a video blog (vlog) for woodworkers.  Here’s what he had to say about it on the WoodNet forums:

I have been spending quite a bit of my time lately setting up something pretty cool. I am sure that most of you, like me, are hungry for woodworking content. And not just old vhs tapes from yesteryear, but new, interesting, and sometimes off-beat videos and commentary. Some of the things I have in the pipeline are interviews, real shop tours, tool reviews, and articles written by real-world pros in the industry.

The website is www.TheWoodWhisperer.com

There are two video formats available on the website, MPEG-4 and a larger Quicktime movie. Unfortunately, there is no universal video format out there, but most PC and Mac users should be able to view these files without difficulty.

Also, for those of you familiar with the technology, the RSS feed is http://feeds.feedburner.com/thewoodwhisperer

The videos and postings can be picked up using any RSS reader/aggregator and are also available in ITunes.This website should be a fun project and a great way for woodworkers to share content. I am not sure how often I will be able to get the videos out, but I am hoping for at least 2 per month. Articles and commentary will be posted more frequently. So if there are any topics you would like to see covered, or if you have any questions, feel free to email me at the new email address:TheWoodWhisperer@Gmail.comWe are just starting out and lots of details are still being worked out, but I do apreciate feedback. The current site is a temporary setup until we get our own custom site together. I hope you guys enjoy the show!!  Marc

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http://www.marcswoodcreations.com/

Go check it out.  I like the idea so much that I added the RSS feed to my Google home page.  I’m anxious to see what Marc and his wife come up with.

CNN.com reports that there may be a resurgence in vocational education.  Legislators and educators are realizing the value of the programs after they were so eager to cut them in the 80′s and 90′s in an attempt to raise standardized test scores.

According to Principal Doug Williams at Hoover High in San Diego:

“When our students are connected to a person or a program, they seem to do better than those kids that are not connected, are struggling academically and are potential dropouts.”

From the report:

“Around the country, high schools are being transformed into career academies or adding smaller vocational schools within their buildings. In Chicago, Mayor Richard Daley recently announced an initiative that will let high school students become qualified to work in particular industries. Students would then use their certificates to find high-skill, high-paying jobs.”

Support your local schools and encourage the administration to keep or revive vocational education.  And it wouldn’t hurt to voice your opinions and concerns to your legislators, either.

So I’m listening to Wolfgang’s Vault, doing some research on podcasts and I happen upon this guy turning pumpkins at How Stuff Works.

Would the guy turning the pumpkins be called a gourdworker?

Makezine.com has a link to a guy with so much time on his hands that he’s digitizing his entire library of Popular Mechanics magazines! One issue per week…all 103 pages…scanned and uploaded to Flickr.

I’m still trying to figure out how to zoom in on the articles so that I can read them!

George Nakashima was world famous for his free-form furniture that highlighted the natural edges and flaws of the wood. This “Old Hippie” woodworker isn’t world famous, but I like his work just as well.

Gives a whole new meaning to the word Woodstock, doesn’t it?

Woodworkers who are proficient with hand tools like to call themselves Neanderthals. For these guys, an antique bow saw in good condition is a real find. That’s why the “frame” used for this piece of macrame art turned out to be much more valuable the the art itself.

Take heart hand tool lovers. In this case, the term “neanderthal” can also be used as an adjective.

I’m a member of the Des Moines Woodworkers Association.  I went to their monthly meeting Tuesday night where Rick Hutcheson was the main presenter.  He gave an hour’s worth of valuable information on scroll sawing.  He had his Delta scroll saw set up in the Woodsmith Store seminar room with a video camera behind his shoulder.  The camera view was projected on six television monitors in the room.

Rick had a lively, entertaining discussion while he was busy at the saw.  He talked about the various blades, sizes, and tooth patterns.  And he gave tips on setting up your scroll saw for accuracy.  Then he proceeded to tell us about his love of doing miniature work.  Like the 1″ x 1″ jig saw puzzle with 64 pieces!  Then he went about cutting Christmas ornaments.  Some were “compound” ornaments, where you cut a block from two sides to make a three-dimensional shape.  Probably the most famous example of this is a reindeer.

And talk about scroll saws!  You should see his collection!  Antiques to homemade saws and everything in between.

Rick’s web site is a wealth of information for the woodworker and scroll sawyer, though it leaves a little to be desired in the layout and design department.  If you can get past the design of the web site, there’s a ton of information buried there.  

The Des Moines Woodworkers Association maintains a web page of links that would be of interest to scroll sawyers.  Click here to see it.

With the weather turning colder, I think we’re all getting anxious to spend more time in the shop.  And now’s the time to start working on those holiday gifts.  If you’re looking for Christmas gift ideas, you can order this plan and hardware kit for a Holiday Lantern from the Woodsmith Store.  “All it takes is a scroll saw and a light bulb to create some holiday magic.”

When I was taking some mechanical engineering courses in college, I had the opportunity to spend some time in the metal shop.  Using these big milling machines to cut metal was fascinating to me.

Now, you can buy milling machines, metal lathes, and other metalworking tools for your home shop.  I know you can buy them from Grizzly, Harbor Freight, Enco, and others.  I’ve toyed around with getting a small milling machine for my own shop.

Ian Dalziel lives in the U.K. and has a CNC (computerized numerical control) mill in his shop.  And he’s using it to make hand planes like you see in the photo.  Like Ian, I enjoy making my own tools.  Someday, I hope to be half the artisan he is.

In a previous post, I talked about building the Woodsmith Chisel Plane. Now I want to talk about my experience building the Woodsmith Hand Plane. It’s a kit that you can order from the Woodsmith Store.

The kit comes with pre-cut front and back wood pieces, two predrilled brass side pieces, a Hock iron and cap iron, and the cap screw and washer used to assemble the iron into the finished plane.

The brass sides need some work before you can fasten them to the wood pieces. The holes need countersunk for the small brass screws. I used a countersink in my drill press, being careful not to drill too deep. You want the head of the screws to be just a little proud of the surface so you can file them flush later. Then following the detailed instructions included in the kit, I marked and predrilled pilot holes for the screws in the wood pieces. The most critical dimension here is the width of the mouth opening. You want a tight opening to be able to take fine shavings without tearout. The nice thing is, if the mouth ends up being too tight, you can file a little to open it up. But if it’s too big…well…let’s just say that it involves quite a bit more work.

I took a file to the brass sides to file the screw heads flush to the sides. Then I used sandpaper face-up on my bench to smooth the sides and make them flat. I started with 150-grit and worked my way up to 400-grit. That leaves a nice “brushed” finish. Then I rubbed the sides with a fine 3M Scotch-Brite pad. Then I went to work to form the radius on the back and front like you see in the photo. I used a rasp and sandpaper to do this while the plane was clamped in the tail vise of my workbench.

The next thing I did was flatten the sole. I followed the instructions and used sandpaper face-up on my table saw. I used the rip fence as a reference to keep the sole 90° to the sides. On my plane, the sole on the back piece was thicker than that on the front piece, so it took quite a bit of sanding to get the entire sole flat.

Finally, I was ready to fit the iron into the plane. The mouth was a little tight, so I ended up filing about 1/32″ from the front of the mouth. It’s important to keep the mouth square when filing. A little honing of the iron and I was ready to put it all together and give it a try.

I set the plane to take a very thin shaving and took a few swipes on the edge of some oak I had lying around the shop. I was able to get a full-width, “whisper thin” shaving the full length of the board. I was impressed. This is a comfortable, sweet little plane. The only downside that I could see is that the sole is wood. As comfortable and nice as this plane is to use, it’ll get a lot of use in my shop, but that means a lot of wear on the sole. Now, because it is wood, that means that I can flatten the sole anytime I need to with a few swipes across some sandpaper. But that also means risking widening of the mouth. But I suspect it’ll be quite some time before I need to worry about any of that.

A coat of boiled linseed oil and a couple coats of Briwax clear paste wax added the final “spit polish.” Then I couldn’t resist…I had to take a few more shavings.  Like I said — what a sweet little plane.