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Monday, March 3, 2014

J Lo wearing my bracelet

Check this out. Jennifer Lopez has on a bracelet that looks suspiciously like one that I made last year!

Here are a couple I made:

Naturally, I can only conclude that J. Lo is a fan of Woodworking for Mere Mortals.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Unlike My Wife�I�m Running Out Of Things To Buy�

The problem with tool collection is that it doesnt stay constant.

Over the last four or five years I have been searching out tools that I wanted, nothing fancy, just the normal stuff that you would find in a cabinet shop around 1900. Because of the availability of these things, they were easy to find, so I was buying one or two pieces a month. That ain’t happening anymore.

At first, the hobby is not only easy, but it is damned cheap. A trip through the “Collectables > Tools & Hardware > Tools > Carpentry/ Woodworking” category on eBay can see you scoring one little item or another on an almost daily basis, if you, your wife or your bank manager let you. There are so many little bits and pieces made to do specific processes in woodworking; you could go nuts collecting them all.

Eventually, though, you locate, buy, receive, clean, sharpen and polish about all the little guys you think you will ever need, and then some, so you start looking for the more expensive, larger items.

The larger items aren’t as readily available as the little guys. There are a lot of listings, but most are junk and not worth the shipping costs, so your purchases tend to slow down rather quickly. While I restrict my choices to a narrow timeframe, from 1880 to 1910, while not an everyday event, it is not that difficult to come up with excellent examples. When I say “excellent”, I mean examples that I won’t mind using. I shoot for the high end of the “User” category. With these, I don’t feel my neck when I have to sharpen a blade, shortening it up in the process, or see a scuff show up on the tote or something.

Eventually, you pretty much end up owning more series and sets that you will ever find a use for, so you raise your sites a little higher, and start to shoot for real specifics. That’s when the blissful life of tool collecting really starts to drag. The more specific your quests; the higher the prices. The higher the prices; the fussier you become. The fussier you become; the less choices you have. The less choices you have; the less you buy. The less you buy; the less number of “buzzes” you get. It’s a bummer.

My Stanley plane collection, at this point, is missing an No.1, which I doubt I will buy—ever, a No.6, which I am looking for now, and a No.9, which I’m still up in the air about as I think buying one and using it would seriously make me nervous. From what I have seen available, these things are pretty vulnerable to damage.

I now have two complete sets of Stanley No.40 chisels; one for fine work and one for wailing on. I still look for better examples of the four patent dates, but if I don’t find any, it is no big deal.

I have more saws than I have room to store, so while I am still searching out a pair of excellent dovetails, I spend more time trying to figure out which maker to shoot for than I do looking for the damned saws. While I spent about a year and a half finding a matched pair of Jackson 12” saws, I have now come to realize they are a tad thick for cutting dovetails, and while they work, and work well, thinner blades would be better. As Disston made the Jackson blade in the same thickness as their own brand, buying a pair of old Disstons would be a waste of money. I would like to buy a pair of Two Lawyer saws, but at over 700-bucks for the pair, I would dust them, but I bloody well wouldn’t use them.

The only thing that seems to keep me going with this is my quest for more examples of H. E. Mitchell’s tools. I had an opportunity to buy an ultimate brace of his about eight months ago when The Tool Bazaar had one listed, but I felt he was charging way too much for it at 195₤. Since then, I have been royally kicking myself in the ass, to the point that I emailed Andy last month and asked if he would broker a deal between the guy who bought it and myself, but he declined. While I still search daily for Mitchell examples, it is pretty rare that one turns up, so even this quest has lost the luster it once held.

When I do score, though, it is like 27 Christmas’ and 42 birthdays all rolled into one, and score I did just a few weeks ago.

I have a saved search on eBay for anything listed in the tool collectable section that has the name “Mitchell”. I get emails from eBay regarding this search about twice a week. Rarely do they include the tools I am looking for, but on this particular day, I scored, and scored big.

Mateusz1979 had a ½” Ovolo plane by Mitchell up for sale. I immediately emailed him and asked if he had a “Buy it Now” price. We went back and forth a bit, feeling each other out, and eventually he emailed me a price that was beyond being fair—it was incredible. I quickly agreed, paid the bill, and a week later the plane arrived.

The plane is probably one of the better examples that I have of cousin Henry’s. I don’t know if Mateusz bought it as clean as it was, or he spent some time on it to clean it up himself, but either way, it didn’t need the coat of wax I gave it upon receiving it.

On top of that, the plane is a perfect addition to the set. I picked up a 5/8” Ovolo off of eBay a couple of years ago; a number two. Last year, Hyperkitten.com had a 5/8” Ovolo Number one that I was able to grab. This one is a ½” number two, the finishing plane, so if fits into the set well.

As the buzzes come less frequently now, when you get one, you savor it longer. As scoring a Mitchell plane has always given me the biggest buzz, the image above shows you what has been sitting on my bench since the day this last one arrived. I pulled everyone one of them from the drawer, brought the plow down from the shelf, and even added the counterstamp coin to the display and each time I walk in the room, I have a look and enjoy a smile. The collection is growing—its slow—but its growing.

Peace,

Mitchell

Monday, February 10, 2014

My Windows Are Extended Are Yours

While I was busting my butt working on the house this weekend, I managed to sneak in just a wee bit of work on the shop wall project. I added jam extensions to the windows. While not rocket science, this was slightly harder than is sounds since the wall are uneven and the nearest reference surface is a few inches away from each window. In then end, each of the eight (8) extension jam pieces is different and all are tapered. My normal routine of relative dimensioning helped out big here and I was able to put my TS55 to good use cutting those angles. Heres a quick video I shot showing the completed window jam extensions.

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

My DIY Must Haves Power Tools

Last week one of my readers asked for a list of my must have tools for DIY projects. Since we move every few years (and pay to move most of it) we dont want to have a lot of extra stuff, so we try to keep our DIY supplies to a minimum (which can be hard!)

Today, I thought I would start with power tools, because 1. they are the key to building most things 2. they typically make projects easier and faster!

So here we go!

1. Cordless Drill/Drill Bit Set - We use this for pretty much every project ... for the most part it floats around our home! Cordless is a lot better than corded because it has better mobility. Our drill is a Craftsman from Sears and is still working great after several years ... there are a lot of great drills on the market (I think I would prefer something a little smaller, because it can be a little awkward, but David is fine with the size ...)

2. Jigsaw with wide straight cut blade (on ground in photo) - This is a great compact, versatile saw. Yes, typically used for cutting curves, but with the straight cut blade it can make fairly accurate cuts (not perfect)

Another tip for getting straight cuts is screwing a 1x3 or similar board to the what you are cutting and run the jigsaw along for a guide line, when done remove the screws and admire your cut! (make sure to screw into the part that wont be used)

The jigsaw may not be the correct saw for everything, but can get the job done (for most DIY projects) if you dont have a chop saw or table saw.

3. Dremel tool - has lots of great attachments to cut a variety of things, we mostly use ours to cut small amounts of metal, like the brass tube for the pendant light in the bedroom

4. Chop Saw - You can get by without (depending on the project), but if you are making a lot of straight cuts, this will save a lot of time increase precision! Ours is a Dewalt 12" Double-Bevel Sliding Compound Miter Saw. Since it slides, we can cut up to a 14" board ... we used this to build the sofa table and the tv stand - these projects would of been basically impossible (or taken too much time/not accurate) without it. It is also crucial for cutting 45 angles like the frames for our floating gallery wall (This can be done with a hand saw and miter box, but if doing a large amount, the chop saw will save a lot of time and blisters)

An electric sander is definitely on the list, but I will talk about that with sanding/painting!

And last but definitely not least, below is the safety equipment that we use on a regular basis with these tools

A respirator (dont want to be breathing wood particles in!), Ear muffs to protect hearing while cutting or using the electric sander , and goggles to protect your eyes from flying debris! Thick gloves are also good when handling wood to prevent splinters

In the future? a table saw would be perfect for long cuts and a finish nailer/compressor would be great for upholstering! (I think my hands are going to be tired after finishing the cane chair!)

Ill be back soon to talk about the rest of my DIY list must haves!

I primed the cane chair yesterday ... painting up next!