Saturday, September 28, 2013

learn


a lesson in poor saw handle design


I created this saw handle thinking how cool the lines were

how it hunched up over the blade
kinda Klingon
and it never worked right
I relaxed the teeth along the first quarter
but it always jammed hard two thirds into a cut

then three nearly simultaneous occurrences took place

an article in PopW about hang angle
the arrival of one very special new member of my team
and a nice piece of wood


the article spoke of the, now that I think about it, simple geometry that makes a saw work well
from what I could surmise of the article, your index finger points directly to the sweet spot
the center of force
I had never considered that the angle of the dangle could be off
and off it was


I took a chance on the Eb
and won the nicest piece of history I can imagine
an Andrew Lunn panel saw, totally eccentrically left handed
I set it down to test its side to side balance
when it eased forward on its own
all 22.5 inches of its length
and bit a kerf across my bench


the nice piece of wood was just that
an off cut from a previous project, very little future otherwise
a quick cursory glace placed the shape in perfect unison with the twisting grain
I'm sorry for the lack of photos, this was a quick day and a half of shaping


the angle is just right
I tested it, I know
and it makes all the difference

Monday, September 16, 2013

anarchist


 thanks Mr. Schwarz
you've seriously done me in this time


 I got it into my head that I really needed just a small project to bring me out of my slump
no matter that I just did a ninety hour work week and would see a sixty on the near horizon


 forty year old  birdseye maple
they were making window framing out of this back then
it could not just end up in the dumpster


 I can get two squares from this piece
only two


 I decided to go for the original design; mortice and tennon
and I had recently acquired an eighth inch sash mortice chisel


 hmm, maybe antiques aren't all up to snuff


 I braved through the rest with a bench chisel and can say it's not nearly as much fun as it is with a pig sticker


 yup, that looks like anarchy to me


 simply planed this wood is stunning, the figure is tiny and abundant


 and I'm trying to learn all my molding profiles