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Comment by David Bray on July 20, 2009 at 12:51pm

I bought a couple of old rabating planes at a tool show. Both blades needed cleaning up and the steel was so hard that what normally takes about 10 passes on each 400, 6000, and 8000 grit stones to clean up, it took me 3 hours to polish these blades each. One of the blades was over 3/16" thick. You just don't see this kind of quality anymore.

What I find interesting, which I didn't know until I spoke with Tom Law, most traditional handsaws and blades that you buy in the store are not tuned. I bought a saw from him, that he had sharpened and discovered how nice these tools can be. I had a couple of saws and never used them because they bound up and didn't cut to save your life - and these I bought new. I did some research, bought some files, checked the angles from Mr. Law's saw and tried my hand at it. After working on this one saw, flattened the teeth to about half way, tried it again, and after the fourth try, the saw works pretty well. Is it right, not sure - but it crosscuts through a 4" x 4" of soft maple without binding and pretty cleanly.

After every project, I check my hand tools, clean and tune them up so when I start my next project, everything is in good order and I have no surprises. The easiest way to get seriously hurt is to take these tools for granted and not take care them - from knowing a few people in this busines that are missing a finger or more, there are no "do overs".

Comment by Peter Walsh on July 20, 2009 at 10:23am

David,
I agree with you completely about buying old hand tools at estate and garage sales. The old hand tools were built much more robustly, and once cleaned up, have years of good use left in them. Sometimes a new blade is needed, but once that's in place, the cut is just fine. The prices typically are give-away prices. It's hard to lose on that one.
For machines, I buy all mine at woodworking shows. In all my price searching, including online, I have never been able to beat the price I get at the shows for any machine I bought.

Comment by David Bray on July 20, 2009 at 7:30am

I try to buy the bigger tools refurbished at shows if I can. Rigid has a contractor table saw that has 3 cast iron panels, this has been a very stable piece of equipment for me and one that I could take in pieces into my shop. I had to put an extension filler piece of melomine to keep the fence straight and to fill the hole after the panels but other than that, the equipment is sound. I also try to buy old planes and saws at flea markets and garage sales - the rustier the better. If you buy a saw for $1.50 and spend an evening cleaning and sharpening it and make a mistake, what are you out? In the process I have acquired a whole lot more respect for the tools that I have, how I use them, and what they are capable of. I made my own framing saw and am getting ready to make a few changes to it because I didn't like how the blade flexes. I could easliy buy the saw but there is a lot to be said for making your own and seeing what it does and how it works.

Comment by Joshua Lynn on July 17, 2009 at 12:24pm

Lol, yea I've got a small table saw that can go out the patio door other than that every thing is done inside. I have managed to get 4x8 sheets in though and work them with hand tools. I also do woodcarving so I can agree with the skill level in hand tools. Mind you though, if I could justify a $1 billion dollar work shop and equip it then I would. Since I've only been doing this for about 5 years now I'm hoping that I can get there eventually.

Comment by David Bray on July 17, 2009 at 7:14am

I live in a townhouse and I have part of the basement. The basement does not have outside access so all equipment, lumber, and finished products go up and down the steps and those are tight. Really helps me to appreciate the use of hand tools for size and wieght, noise level, building skill levels, and tight spaces.

Comment by Joshua Lynn on July 16, 2009 at 4:25pm

David,
I can level with the space thing. I'm in a one bed apartment, with my dining area converted... a two car garage right now sounds like a dream! The job I have on is a TV stand 5'4"W by 39"T by 22"D, it was kinda a stupid idea to take it on in the first place but I want the photo's for my site that and I can't really afford to pass work up right now.

Comment by Peter Walsh on July 16, 2009 at 4:20pm

Lots of interesting comments here. First, thanks for the complement on my work. Numbering the parts works for me, and only takes a second with a sharpie marker on the edge of the piece. I find tape and labels leave an adhesive residue that impedes finishing or edge banding. Grain orientation is something (essential) I don't worry about. eCabinet software (free) handles all that, and I have never had a piece wrong yet. Of course, if you wish, eCabinet software allows you to rotate the grain any way you want it, including obliquely. That impacts efficient use of a sheet good, but sometimes it's what you need to do.
Scott, you may use that line anytime you want, and that goes for all the other guys who work out of their house as I do. Never apologize for loving your work so much you keep it right next to the kitchen.

Comment by David Bray on July 16, 2009 at 3:22pm

I am in the process of building a retirement business - I retire in about 9 years. Not having the ideal amount of space, I keep my commission projects to a size I can take up stairs. To organize, I model the project in Autocad and every piece gets a number, repetitive parts not facing where the the grain matters are numbered the same. Where to grain matters, these pieces are numbered and set aside with paper between them to minimize accidents. I lost the perfect matching piece when it got turned over and used in the wrong place.

Comment by Steve Smigaj on July 12, 2009 at 10:51pm

Joshua
Yea and not to mention the material. I have 1 sheet left and if I cut it wrong or do not match the grain correctly, the $120 for the sheet is nothing compared to the time lost waiting for another sheet. A little blue tape and labeling is also a great mistake preventor.

Comment by Joshua Lynn on July 12, 2009 at 10:10pm

I tend to do custom furniture building, yes, I know we're not talking 40+ parts that are the same size or similar sizes. However for me I find it best to go ahead and label all my pieces, for me any way this is espically helpfull when grain matching and it also keeps all my parts right there and very easy to find. Yea, it takes a bit more time, but we all know that a single mistake can cost us in labor. Like I said before it's just how I do things.

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