What Are You Building Today

[dsavitsk]

How about a bow saw? https://www.fine-tools.com/gramercy-tools-bow-saw.html

 

[swt61]

What do you have against electricity?

[Craig Sawyers]

I have machine tools to take the hassle out. But there is a quiet joy in using sharp and finely adjusted hand tools, instead of the screaming of machines.

[swt61]

And I like to take my goods into town with a horse drawn cart.

[VPI]

I will say, I do prefer using the hand tools to the electronical ones 98% of the time.  Just getting planes setup and cutting properly is half the fun.

Steve you will appreciate this episode of “Making Something Simple Massively Complicated and Time Consuming”.

 

[swt61]

I never liked The Woodwright's Shop, because I never could imagine myself without having electricity. 

I'm all for some handwork. Chiseling, scraping, a little hand planing and sanding. But I'm never going to buy or use a bow saw. I have much respect for woodworkers of the past. It's amazing what they could accomplish with the tools they had. But for the same reason that I don't play my records on a wind up Victrola, I don't rely on old technology in the shop if there's a modern tool that will work as well or in many cases better. 

[naamanf]

3 minutes ago, swt61 said:

I never liked The Woodwright's Shop, because I never could imagine myself without having electricity. 

I'm all for some handwork. Chiseling, scraping, a little hand planing and sanding. But I'm never going to buy or use a bow saw. I have much respect for woodworkers of the past. It's amazing what they could accomplish with the tools they had. But for the same reason that I don't play my records on a wind up Victrola, I don't rely on old technology in the shop if there's a modern tool that will work as well or in many cases better. 

I’m with you, Steve. I like doing the job, but I also like getting the job done. I also never see myself using a bow saw while listening to chamber music and sawing in time with the rhythm. Props to those that do though. 

[n_maher]

I think about it like I think about most things these days, there are both lots of right ways to do something and most definitely more than one way to do it wrong. 

Some days I take a walk just to talk a walk. Could I traverse that path more quickly with a car, sure, but that would kind of defeat the purpose.  

I have yet to find a machine in my shop that can do its job without my input, therefore my thoughts, skills, etc., are still an integral part of the process and for me can result in a satisfying project.

[VPI]

Yes Naaman, we know you have a robotic ping pong table. It would probably wake up at night and assimilate your poor hand tools in the shop and spit out some sort of abstract art. 😆

I do not have many hand tools, but I find I turn to Japanese saws far more often than the Festool for anything but rip cuts. 

Also reviewing how to build a shooting board to do small sizing cuts. Seems easier than using the fancy Forrest blade on the mitre saw, which by the way has awful tear out with the stock plates. 

[naamanf]

Ironically I have purchased a couple Japanese saws in the last couple weeks. I’m not against using hand tools at all, for some things they work better and faster than any power tool.  But for more complicated things, my hands can’t repeat things within .001”. 

[swt61]

I also own and use Japanese hand saws. They have their place. 

[naamanf]

I can confirm officially now that a computerized ping pong table is not a replacement for a jointer. 

[dsavitsk]

3 hours ago, naamanf said:

But for more complicated things, my hands can’t repeat things within .001”. 

It's funny - the power tool guys like power tools over hand tools due to the repeatability and precision while the hand tool guys prefer them over power tools for the repeatability and precision. It's just a different way of working. I am definitely still much better with power tools, but like Craig I enjoy the process of hand tools. It's difficult and often frustrating, but also rewarding.

 

 

[dsavitsk]

5 hours ago, swt61 said:

But for the same reason that I don't play my records on a wind up Victrola, I don't rely on old technology in the shop

Um.

[Craig Sawyers]

One of my all-time heroes is Krenov. Now he had a surface planer, and a really big bandsaw to do rough preparation of stock. But after that he went across to hand tools, many of which he made himself.

He's now long dead of course, but he lives on through his excellent books.

[Dusty Chalk]

On 2/2/2021 at 3:00 PM, blessingx said:

Any chance there are easier options or at least sillier options? 

So...yes, of course there are, but you're fixing a different problem than I'm trying to -- my biggest concern is sound leakage outwards to my neighbors, rather than inwards into the microphone.  So something like this would be the pre-built alternative:
https://isovoxbooth.com
https://whisperroom.com/application/voice-over/
https://www.clearsonic.com/collections/megapac

I was thinking more along the lines of a wall rack like a vertical futon holder like Naaman described, I was just trying to think of a way to utilize what I had before resorting to the prebuilt option, since I already had the mattresses and they aren't being used.

And Jeff -- you're right of course, I would like to eventually record vocals professionally, but I'm less worried about that for now -- mostly I just want a place to practice in, late at night, and record for my own review.

[naamanf]

Had to bust this old guy out today. 

[swt61]

I'm so disappointed in you Naaman. 

[naamanf]

10 minutes ago, swt61 said:

I'm so disappointed in you Naaman. 

Because it’s a $5 plane or that I actually used it? 😂

[swt61]

Because there's no electrical cord attached. 

[naamanf]

19 minutes ago, swt61 said:

Because there's no electrical cord attached. 

I think it would really hurt if I attached one. 

[Fitz]

Nobody said you had to plug in the other end.

[VPI]

Any of you wood guys have ideas for a logistical problem I am facing?

I would like to use the router table to make perfect mitres for .5” hardwoods. My issue is the small size of the boards for this project. They are only four inches and with the gap in the fence for the chamfer bit, it is way too likely to get caught on the other side of the fence because it pivots while running it across the gap. 
 

I see people have built sleds, but I figured there would have to be a commercial option that is faster but I am only finding coping sleds. 

[swt61]

I think it's the wrong tool for the job. A tablesaw with a miter jig is preferable IMO.

Just figured out that you're talking about a miter along the length or a chamfer. I would still use a tablesaw, but use a digital guage to set the blade at exactly 45 degrees.

Edited February 5, 2021 by swt61

[dsavitsk]

You can't use the router fence when cutting miters as if your miters are perfect, there is nothing to catch the outfeed. And if there is anything to catch on the outfeed, then you have a flat.

Two ways to do this - 1. use double sided tape to stick a reference block to the back of the piece you are cutting. That will give you a flat to catch on the outfeed, and something to hold on to. Technique shown here, though with a slightly different bit

 

 

2. Use a shooting board with a 45 degree tilt. Shown here a about 8 minutes in

 

Edited February 5, 2021 by dsavitsk