New Video: Modifying Scrub Plane for Coopered Lid Fairing

Currently, the project getting most of my woodworking time is a pair of small pieces, not sure whether to call them large boxes or small chests! Anyway, they have coopered lids. I'm duplicating an antique the client

Online Saw Sharpening Resources

 Here is a set of links on saw sharpening. I have sharpened rip teeth fairly well for 25 years, but I have never been happy with

Tormek Motor Repair

I have used and loved Tormek grinders since 1999. My current machine is my second. (I sold the first one about 2008.) I acquired it from Highland Woodworking several years ago when they replaced it (the old "Super Grind 2000") with a new T8 in their seminar room. I use it for planes and chisels, carving gouges, kitchen and sloyd knives, and occasionally planer knives. 

Recently it began sounding bad, and way too loud:

I took the wheels and axle off to isolate the motor and make sure it wasn't something caught in the bushings the axle rides on, or the inside wall of the leather strop wheel where the motor shaft turns the whole works around. Nope, definitely a noise from the motor.

I wasted several

Ian Kirby's Sharpening with Waterstones

In the time I've been writing this blog, I have shied away from doing book reviews, because I want this blog to tell you what's going on in MY shop. But sometimes, what's going on in my shop is that I'm reading, to help jog my memory about a technique or construction method or tool setup that I want to use. For me, woodworking and reading about it have always been paired activities which make each other more interesting and rewarding. It's about time I shared some of my thoughts on a few books, blogs and magazines.

I

Some Books I Like

In 1998 and 1999, Cambium Press (later taken over by Linden Press) issued four books by Ian Kirby: The Accurate Router, The Accurate Table Saw, Sharpening with Waterstones, and The Complete Dovetail. These books are physically different from typical woodworking books, with a smaller format: 6 by 9 inches and 140 pages, compared with 9 by 12 and around 200 pages for most woodworking offerings from publishers like Taunton, Sterling, Fox Chapel, Popular Woodworking; and other titles from Cambium/Linden. So they're half the usual size, but also half the usual price, at $14.95. I like them all, and they're among the books I recommend students in my classes read.

The illustrations are all

How to Sharpen a Veneer Tape Trimmer

I don’t use veneer tape very often. When I build frameless cabinets, I usually face the exposed edges with solid edgebanding cut from leftover wood, so my edges will match the drawers and doors. Once in a while, though, it makes sense to take advantage of

Stocking Stuffers for Woodworkers

Once in a while someone asks me for advice on what to give their woodworking loved one for Christmas. In the past, my standard advice has been to get a nice honing jig, or better yet, a class on sharpening. Those remain very good gifts, because sharpening is fundamental to enjoyable working, and neglected by a large percentage of us working at all levels.

About a year ago, though, I decided that one of these might help

Sharpening with Sandpaper

I have said elsewhere that sharpening on sandpaper is the cheapest way to start sharpening, and the most expensive way to continue. That's because you can scrounge up what you need to make a razor-sharp edge on a chisel or plane iron for well under $20. But then the sandpaper wears out pretty quickly, and it retails for around a dollar a sheet. Even if you find it for 50 cents a sheet in bulk, compare that to a $30 water stone that lasts for a couple of decades, and you'll see what I'm saying.

So why bother? Like I said, it's the cheapest way to get going, and you can spend just a little bit to get sharp tools for your first few projects, and then invest in more permanent equipment later on. The cheap honing guide I recommend for beginners will work on water stones or diamond plates as well. And even though I own a set of great water stones, I still use sandpaper when I'm out on an installation and don't want the mess, or the risk of theft or breakage, that go along with using water stones outside my own shop. And wet or dry sandpaper is good for flattening water stones. So when you get additional sharpening gear later on, you don't have to fret about wasting money on sandpaper sharpening.

Sharpening: Extra Coarse

I learned this trick from Mark Duginske a couple of years ago: drywall mesh is great for flattening plane soles. It's also great for flattening water stones. So I wondered to myself: would it also be good as the very coarsest sandpaper in the “Scary Sharp” method? Turns out the answer is “kinda, sorta.”

I'll backtrack a little in case any of this is new to you. Here's a picture of drywall mesh:

You can find it in the big box home stores in the same area as the drywall tools, tape, and joint compound. It is coarse, and the mesh structure lets sanding dust (or iron filings) fall through so the mesh can keep cutting. In drywalling, it's used after you've taped and mudded, to quickly get the surface ready for paint. As you can see from the photo, it's die cut into a tabbed shape to fit a special holder with a handle.