All I Have Is a Hammer

As a long-time woodworker, when I need to do or make something, my first thought about approaching the challenge is usually in the form of wood. (Within reason. Show me a clogged drain and I'll get the plumbing tools.)

Recently my challenge has been mounting a variable frequency drive and a

Pine Tar to Treat Outdoor Wood

Yesterday I cleaned our deck and treated it with pine tar. I have been “experimenting” with pine tar to preserve outdoor wood for the past 5 years or so. I put “experimenting” in quotes because so far I've done no formal trials with control groups, no measurements or postmortems, I'm just trying it out to see how it goes. So far, I think it's working very well, and I'll be trying it in different ways going forward. Click through to see some before/after pictures of our deck.

Why pine tar?

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

Further Adventures in Workholding, Episode IX

Ms. L. is returning to work for another school year, so it's time for me to write a brief essay on "What I Did over Summer Vacation."

We spent each weekend

Miller Dowels Replacing Screws

The workbench we build in the “Workbench in a Weekend” class is made up of five assemblies that are glued together, with #8 screws holding the parts together as the glue dries.

The screws in the leg assemblies might seem unsightly to some. (They do to me!) And the screws inside the top and side assemblies might be

Rust Removal Recommendations

Here's a dual product recommendation. If you have rust to deal with, this is a pretty good way to go.

The photo below shows two sections of the same casting,

Repair Damaged Wood with Steam from Clothes Iron

Accidents happen. A case of (literal) butterfingers could make you lose grip on your recipe box and ding the edge of the kitchen table. A perfectly respectable man can inadvertently drop one of the kitchen chairs while moving it up to the bedroom. Maybe you came in from the garage carrying a cinder block and needed to set it down quickly, not realizing until you picked it up again that in doing so you laid it on the end of the dog's leash, and now your wood floor has the perfect impression of a snap swivel right in front of the coat closet.

One approach to such mishaps is to say “Thank you! My furniture (or house) now has more patina!” Your wabi-sabi outlook on life might lead you to take this attitude, and if so that's fine. I go that way myself, quite often.

But right now, I'm making a chair, and it hasn't even had a chance to be a new chair yet, so I was dismayed to take the rear legs out of the bending jig after I steam-bent them to see this:

How did this happen? The bending jig is made of yellow pine, and its grain embossed itself onto the chair legs while they were clamped into the jig. Soon you will see a post on “Appropriate Bending Jig Materials” perhaps . . . meantime, I don't want to make two new chair legs. What to do? Bondo? That's a lot of work, and I didn't plan on painting this chair.

So I borrowed a clothes iron, got a clean rag sopping wet, and pressed the rag into the dent with the hot iron:

1-2-3 Blocks

Here's a quick post in praise of 1-2-3 blocks. They come in pairs, they're quite affordable, and I think you should at least know about them. Most woodworkers haven't heard of them, most woodworkers don't have them. They come from the machine shop, but why should those guys have all the cool precision stuff to themselves? Other items that woodworkers have lifted from the machine shop include the combination square, the engineer's square, the dial indicator (for setting up table saws and planers), the dial caliper (for measuring thickness) and the precision straightedge (used both to check machine tables and the straightness of wood workpieces). This is another machine shop item we should be thinking about borrowing.

PVA Resist Finish, or "Do You Think We Can Tell the Homeowner Batik Is Coming Back?"

I found this photo a few moments ago in a folder of files from the first digital camera I owned, about 12 years ago. I'm glad I found it, as it's an excellent illustration of something I tell my students all the time:

Power Cord Replacement

In an earlier post, I pointed out that I needed to replace the power cord on my drill, which is a Milwaukee 3/8” “Hole Shooter” about 10 years old. I don't know if there's something special about the air here in Atlanta, but the outer insulation on power cables seems to degrade faster here than anywhere else I've lived. When you see that the outer layer of a power cord is cracking, it's time to replace it. No ifs, ands, or buts. Don't wait until the drill (router, sander, whatever) stops working - - - by that time it may start shorting out and tripping breakers, or in a really bad case, give you a nasty shock.

This is good advice for all woodworkers, but especially for those of us trying to equip a shop on a shoestring. If you hunt for tools at estate sales or pawn shops, you may come up with some real gems at bargain prices - - if you can settle for an “as is” deal. The power cord is definitely something to inspect before you fire up a used power tool for the first time. In fact, if you're the type who likes to negotiate the purchase price, pointing out frayed insulation and saying you'll have to replace the power cord might help you find out how low the seller's willing to go.

Whether it's a vintage jewel/old beater you've just purchased, or a tool you've had for years, when you look down and see this,

then it's time to install a new power cord.