Morning After

Restless night last night, I'm not sure what's to blame TV, whisky, or the late night iced coffee but not a lot of sleep. Of course it could be today is my last full day of no adult supervision. The critters and I will have to beaver away to cover the tracks of almost a month of high living and just over a day to get it done.

On to other things. I've a couple of Atkins panel saws. One is 20" with, as best I can count, 15 or 16 tpi. The other is 22" stamped 7 tpi. Neither is filed as I would like for a panel saw to be filed. I'd like the big one to be filed 10 tpi rip and the small one either 11 or 12 tpi rip.

I'm not up to changing either one. I'm going to contact Mark at Bad Axe to re-punch the tooth line. BTW, the things you find when digging around in the shop. These two were stored away with a pile saws I got from a guy that needed gas money to get home. They have been in the shop two or three years and I didn't have a clue they were in the pile.

Anyway here are a couple of photos:

The 20"

The 22"

As always, click 'em to big 'em,

ken

Made it Through

Miracle of miracle I made it through and can still stand....I've got to admit it was touch and go. What an Ass.

It's Whisky Now

All I can say is the only way to watch is with the help of a good 12 year old single malt. Damn the morning headache.

Changing Shop Fixtures

I spent a little time in the never ending quest for the perfect shop setup. Today's was a biggie, I moved one cabinet and the plane till down about 125mm. That's not a big change but it brings the plane till down just enough to make it easier to reach the planes and the chisels stored in the plane till.

Notice the Martini on the work bench, there will be a better view to follow:

The day is over and either whiskey or martini is a good way to celebrate a productive day. 

Depending on how the night goes there may more than a few more while I yell at the TV.

It is going to be a long month and a few days and I expect a few sleepless nights before it is over.

See you guys on down the road,

ken

Tarantulas In The Kitchen

A mystery here in Casa Chaos. In the last week I've had two tarantulas taking a stroll across the kitchen floor. The first one was huge and black, this one was smaller (it's all relative) and brown. I've not a clue how or why they got in the kitchen. They are much to big to just work through a crack and too slow to dart in through a open door.

Anyway I'm getting pretty good using the metal strainer and cardboard to capture and release. I need to remember to take a photo if there is a next time.

Working in the Shop

I started a small project this AM. To kill time while I couldn't work in the shop I watched several of Richard Maguire's videos. If you haven't watched any of the English Woodworker's videos you really should, Richard is a hoot and a good teacher.  One I really liked was the "Side Table" build. The part that hooked me was Ebonising the legs. That I have to try.

Anyway cutting to the chase, I'm building a similar side table but with a Cherry top and White Oak stretchers and legs. This morning I started prepping the stock and did the top glue up.

A couple of photos. Cutting White Oak for the legs:

Ripping the leg stock:

It felt good but no endurance, I needed a couple of breaks while ripping the legs.

And one of the top glue up:

As always, click 'em to big 'em.

ken

NYC Pressure Cooker Bomb

The bombing in NYC reminded me of a photo I've posted before of a pressure cooker bomb. A very simple device, motorcycle battery, some kind of timing device, and a large (in this case, the one in NYC is believed to be much smaller) pressure cooker filled with an explosive. Cheap but can be very effective.

The pressure cooker bomb pictured was found on the Kabul airport and is now in the Afghan Munitions Museum, the fellow standing is the Museum Curator.  The one kneeling was our base manager. 

Always remember the purpose of terrorism isn't the death and destruction but to make people do dumb things, to make people over react and self destruct. After 9/11 it worked like a charm. 

Tools are Good

Life would be diminished without access to tools. Of all the things in my life, job, home, I hate to admit even personal relationships would be lessened with out tools. Tools are so much a part of who I am and my life I can not conceive of life with out a shop, a studio, or some other area where with tools I can fix and/or create.

 All of that leads to: The last couple of months have been very difficult because I have been unable to work in the shop, to use my tools. Today that changed, not greatly but for the first time in months I made "something". something very simple but at least "something".

As I have posted, a used motorhome followed me home a week or two ago. It is an entry level Diesel Pusher with most of the bells but being entry level some of the cabinet work is less than great. One of the less than great things are the shelves. With tools an easy fix. A piece of 12mm Baltic Birch Ply, a 4/4 Red Oak cutoff and an hour or so of farting around in the shop and I have replacement shelves as good as any from a top line Motorhome. Tools are good.

BTW, one of my favorite quotes is from Kurt Vonnegut: "I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you different."  Tools allow me to fart around.

Slowly Working My Way Back

I'm working my way back into the shop. I can sharpen tools that just need a quick touchup and this morning I sawed a few pins and tails. No photos because I didn't finish 'em, just sawed to the line. Really did a good job, I expected a lot more "rust" but all the cuts were close to perfect. The best part was no pain but those are the easy jobs, planing the face of some White Oak or Maple is another story as is lifting a hunk of 8/4 anything. I expect it will be several more weeks before either is doable and that means several more weeks before I make anything other than maybe a small box or two out of softer wood like Walnut or Cherry.

All said though, it felt good, meet and right having a chisel and saw in hand. It has been too long.

A quick update on the motorhome, a reprint of a reply to Bob of "The Valley Woodworker". Bob suggested I establish my claim on motorhome real estate for a workbench and tool box early:

"I'm working on it, a smaller tool box (one I can lift) is being laid out as I type and a bench that will fit in the bed of the truck (the TOAD) is planned. Completion of both before next years Oregon trip. 

Of course all that assumes I'm still living, MsBubba is in the UK RVing around the country side with the kids and grandpeanut and no internet or phone service. While she saw and rode in the Motorhome the day before leaving she probably will not know she owns one before seeing it parked in the driveway. Sometimes it is better to ask forgiveness than beg....you know the rest.

BTW, I did my first overnight in the motorhome day before yesterday. The critters and I went to Deming NM, about 240 miles East on I-10 from Tucson, to have a steering stabilizer installed. I've only one thing to say, I should have bought a diesel pusher years ago instead of messing with TT and 5th wheels. Even with fuel cost I expect any trip longer than 200 miles will be done in the motorhome instead of the truck, it is that enjoyable an experience. BTW, on the trip to Deming the only thing missing was "Honey how about a coke and a samwitch" as we enjoyed the passing desert views."

Off to sit in the Simulator for a bit to see how the PT and recovery is coming along. I expect I will return to work around the middle of October either just before or just after the "Best of the Best" weekend.

BTW, the critters and I are going to make a Mexico run in Bubba1 as soon as I get the hard plates. Sea, sand, beer, tacos, and critters swimming, it doesn't get much better.

ken 

Changed RV's

I have not made it to the shop but I expect to start sharpening iron within a few days and if that goes OK make a small box or two.

What has happened; I changed RV's. Two thousand miles of pulling a 5th wheel on California roads will make you do that or stop RVing. That, stop RVing, was MsBubba's suggestion but I expect it is like child birth, after a couple of months she will forget the pain and be ready to go. Bottom line the 5th wheel went back to the dealer and a "small", everything is relative, 34' Diesel pusher followed me home.

I've spent the last couple of days moving all the "stuff" we pulled out of the 5th wheel into the Motorhome. Damn Bubba you have a lot of stuff. The good news is there is a bunch of room to spare. The bad, I expect after a couple of trips we will find "stuff" to fill the extra room. Like air, "stuff" expands to fill the available space.

Here it is in the driveway:

Inside from front to back:

And from back to front:

I have to add one photo of the dogs swimming, it's not a vacation if the critters do not get to swim. Sam the Wonder Dog is out picking up both balls while Sweet Maggie Dog watches. She is good at letting Sam do most of the hard ones. 

South shore of Clear Lake CA.

As always click 'em to big 'em.

See you guys on down the road,

ken

PNW or Bust and Back

I started this post before leaving for the PNW but did not post. It was still on the  computer when we made it back home....Might as well finish and post it.

We, MsBubba, Sam the Wonder Dog, and Sweet Maggie Dog, and I will strap our butts to the Dodge and head NorthWest. There will be a couple of stops before our first sight of ocean but not long before mid 70 days and mid 60 nights.

Still no woodworking and weeks to go before iron meets wood but the recovery is going well.

A few images from pass trips:

The trip went well, only a few small problems with the RV and the truck, all easily fixed. Unlike last year when the 5th wheel hitch failed in Brookings, OR.

We tried doing it differently this year and made several stops and stays on the way up. While it worked OK it wasn't effective use of time, next year it will be my usual mode of driving hard and not staying anyplace until we are on the coast and the daily high is under 75F. 

This year's trip revolved around Fort Bragg, CA. Fort Bragg was the first coastal stop and stay and the last after moving North along the coast into Oregon before returning to Fort Bragg.

Pulling a RV is always slow going and this trip is more so because California has a 55mph speed limit for anything pulling a trailer and most of the miles are in CA. BTW, CA roads are in bad shape, the roads in LA are unbelievable.

Ft. Bragg to Tucson is a little over 1000 miles and should take around 16 hours of driving. I've done several Saddle Sore 1000's on the bike all in less than 17 hours total start to finish. With the RV, Ft. Bragg to Indio, CA was 16 hours. 

We shut it down and spent the night in the Indio, CA Walmart's parking lot. I hate Walmart but it sure is nice of 'em to allow RV'ers to park overnight. After an early start and another 8 hours of driving we arrived home yesterday afternoon around 1400. For a total door to door, Ft. Bragg, CA to Casa Chaos AZ of 32 hours

I see the Doc today. I hope he gives the OK to start woodworking and maybe even go back to the day job.

Heads Up

I don't open/look at my banking account often, mostly just once or twice a month to schedule paying my bills. Because I'm expecting a reasonably sized deposit and I had a couple of minutes with nothing to do I opened the Bank account to see if the deposit had been made. It hadn't but there was an interesting debit from a California Harbor Freight for $272 USD and change at the top of the statement. First problem: I'm in Tucson, second problem; I don't buy crap from Harbor Freight.

I called the bank, fast response, no permahold and they put a stop on my Debit card and started the process of issuing a new one. All that is neat and good but here is the kicker: they can/will do nothing about the charge until it finishes processing, it other words the money is taken from my account. That sucks, not so much because I will lose $272 USD during the dispute phase but the fact that it has to go through the dispute phase before it is returned. In addition it requires another phone call to the bank in a couple of days when the withdrawal has cleared to dispute the withdrawal.

Here is the bottom line: I will never use a Debit card again. While that doesn't eliminate the chance of the card being hacked it will or should decrease the odds of it being hacked. From now on I will use a credit card for all the things I've used Debit cards for up to this time. With a credit card if it gets hacked, the charge or charges are removed and that is the end of the story plus there is a very active watch by the bank for fraud.  As a side benefit there are miles/cash back on credit cards that are not on Debit cards. I should have done this long ago.

Be careful out there, hear and check your bank statement often.

ken    

Slowly Returning to the Shop

I still can't really do anything of substance in the shop but I did a little re-arranging of the sharpening bench and cabinet and the real biggie....Cleaned up and oiled the RV's wood sink cover/cutting board. Hey, it's a start.

The sharpening bench: On the left is set up for JNats and other waterstones and the right end for sandpaper and oil stones. The overhead cabinet holds the stones and most of the other "stuff" needed for sharpening.

This one is real excitement, the RV's sanded and oiled sink cover/cutting board.

And last, a chair MsBubba rescued and wanted me to "fix". After much butt scratching I decided to screw slats to the frame. One down, four to go.

As posted, it's a start.

Received an email from David Savage this morning posting about something I've long said: Shiny is not necessarily sharp.

Part of his email:

"... 

Ohhh! This is going to be bad. You know more tosh has been written about sharpening woodworking tools than a grown man can tolerate. But I shall proceed, but only if you are sitting comfortably. There is a convention that sharpness is the product of two polished surfaces brought together at a suitable angle usually somewhere between 25 degrees and 30 degrees. Pedants may disagree, but I do not give a hoot. Polished surfaces are generated by using a course abrasive, then a a grade finer, then a grade finer. The objective of each stage being, to remove the scratches of the previous layer. O K, so a shine in this context would the objective, yes? The more scratches removed, the more polished and shinier the surface would become??? I have used a shiny surface to a chisel back or plane blade back as a sign that I have done a good job for years. Apparently this is just not so. Look at the image below this is a surface created with an 8000 grit Japanese Water stone. this is the kind of polishing stone I and many other Western Woodies have been using for years. they are fast to cut relatively cheap and they give this great result.

So whats the problem? Well look at the second image below. This is the same tool polished with a NATURAL Japanese abrasive stone. The scratches are finer that is clear. What is confusing and counter intuitive is that the surface is NOT so shiny.

Tomohito-San who has been my guide on this has been trying to convince me that shiny is not automatically sharp and this is his proof. I have been using a couple of natural stones on plane blades for a while and can report a real difference in performance. They cost a lot more than man made water stones. My stone was about £300 and I only use it in specific situations where I need a surface from the Tool..." ken

More RV Photos

Some more photos of the RV:

We will leave for the PNW on the 17th and be back in Tucson after Labor Day. I hope by that time I can return to the shop.

kem

New RV

A '08 Domani followed me home this AM. I spent most of the trip to Houston looking for a 30' or less 5th Wheel that flipped all the buttons with no joy. First day back in Tucson I found this one and it without a doubt did all my buttons.

The inside is almost as nice as a custom aircraft or boat completion.  Anyway it's just in time for the Oregon trip, I'll load most of the stuff out of the old RV back into this one and try to find time for a short shakedown run before the 17th.

Here are a couple of photos of the outside, inside photos to follow:

One more, remember to big 'em, click 'em.

ken

Three Stones

It is a sickness I know but.....I've three new stones on the bench and one more "in the mail." Two of the stones are JNats and the other is a Norton Hard Ark.

The two JNats are Suita's from different mines and both can be considered 95% finishing stones. The only reason to go to a finer stone is trying for ultimate sharpness that is usually not needed for day to day work. The one in the mail is also a Suita but courser and will be used as a setup stone.

The Norton, what can I say but wow. I went against Doctor's orders and tried it on a O-1 western iron. The chisel was set up with a med India then honed on the Hard Ark followed by stropping. I couldn't believe how quickly I had a very sharp and usable iron. The Norton Hard Ark is not cheap for a Ark stone but damn Bubba it is fast and leaves an edge that just needs a little stropping. My new recommendation for any one just starting out is just that combination. For just a little over $200 USD you would have a lifetime sharpening set up. The only kicker is the Hard Ark must be from Norton, I've other Hard Ark stones and they are no where near as fast.

More once I've two arms to work with.

From left to right, Norton Hard Ark, Nakayama Suita, Shinden Suita.

Update

There will be little woodworking for the next three months. I had my first post-op visit and PT today. The good/bad routine was the surgery looks good but for four more weeks I'm not to use the arm, all movement must be assisted movement. Maybe after the four weeks I will be able to do light work with the right arm. It is going to be a boring four weeks, it has only been two weeks post-op and I'm climbing out of my skin, four more and I'll be postal.

MsBubba and I did manage to go to Houston last week. After a few days I'd had enough and the dogs and I did the 17 hour trek home. It is a long day....hard to believe but the trip, Houston to Tucson, is a perfect Saddlesore 1000 (1078 miles by I-10 TBMRITUS) and I would think nothing of throwing a leg over the bike for one of those. The SS1000 was an easy ride, entry level for LD Riders.

One other small change: I almost drove a diesel pusher home from Houston, had my name on the contract but .....After thinking about it I decided to stay with 5th wheels and as luck would have it the first day back in Tucson I found the perfect 5th wheel, a Carriage Domani DF300 with all the bells and whistles. Anyway I'll pick it up next Tuesday and I expect I'll make a test run down to Rocky Point, MX to make sure everything is working before the Oregon trip.

A couple of things woodworking or at least sharpening: Two of the three JNats on order from So-san arrived, there is still one to go and the Hard Ark from Norton also came the other day. I'll have much more on the Norton Hard Ark later but as a teaser; I could see it with a medium India and a strop being a goto system.

See you guys on down the road,

ken

New Loupe

Woodcraft had a box of POS loupes out the other day. I'm a sucker for POS items because they are usually cheap and sometimes useful....many times a solution looking for a problem but what the heck, as I said I'm a sucker for 'em.

These loupes had LED lights for each lens and was marked 30X22mm and 60X12mm. I'm not sure if it is because of the LED lights or good optics but even the 60X12mm lens is useable. That isn't often the case.

I used the loupe, both lens, to check the bevel and back of a couple chisels I sharpened the evening before surgery. One chisel was a 18mm #1 White steel oire nomi, the other was a 1/2" Ashley Iles HC Steel traditional Western chisel. Both had the bevel set on Atoma diamond plates, then cleaned up on a JNat Tsushima Nagura and finished on a hard Aiiwatani Kiita.

When finished both the bevels and backs of the chisels showed a nice polished hazy finish (Kasumi finish) to the eye with the Japanese chisel showing good clean contrast between the Ha and Ji. Looking at the chisels with the loupe reviled the "why" of the hazy polished finish. Both bevel and back were free of linear polished scratches but displayed a very fine semi-matt finish and a beautiful smooth cutting edge with no nasty bits refracting light.


JNats may be slightly slower than the fastest synthetic water stones but to my eye the finish is much better and the stones need less maintenance. The only down side is the likely high entry cost and the development of JNatitis. A difficult and sometimes very expensive disease to cure.

One Armed

I expect this will be a short mistake filled post. I had rotator cuff repair this morning on my right shoulder. So I'm typing one handed with the non-dominant hand. It is slow and sure as hell not pretty.

So-san, Japan Tool, and I are still working on a JNat order. It will be between 1 and 3 stones, how's that for being decisive. I have a great super hard and fine finish stone, what I'm looking for is one or two, maybe three midders, stones that will clean up grinding marks quickly and will leave a finish that is fine enough for 95+% of day to day joinery. More on buying and using JNats as I go though recovery over the next few weeks, one thing is sure I'll have plenty of time.

MsBubba has to work tomorrow, if and it is a big if, my PTSD doesn't have me eating a pistol or playing chicken with I-10 18 wheelers before morning and/or MsBubba takes pity and kindness to a level she is not known for, I'll see you guys on down the road.

One last thing, the insurance guy and I should exchange Goldwing title for a check sometime this week.

Update

The electro-conversion went well and I'm back in a normal rhythm. I posted earlier that I planed to have the right rotator cuff repaired in October. After several days of increasing problems sleeping and using my right arm I booked the procedure for the morning of 07/11/2016.

I expect few things will be done of blogging interest for the next month or three. Shop time will be limited to one arm jobs such as sitting on a shop stool with tea or whisky and looking at all the tools. At least I have some tools to enjoy. BTW I've emailed So with a request for a Okudo or Shinden Suita JNat. Anyway I'll have something to look forward to.

Speaking of JNats and sharpening Brian Holcombe  has a very good Blog and currently has an excellent post on sharpening with JNats vs. synthetic water stones. Check out both his Blog and current JNat post, both are worth the time.

See you guys on down the road,

ken