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Making a saw, either from a kit or from scratch, has been on my bucket list for awhile now. Unfortunately, I have the same problem as restoring a vintage saw… I have no idea how a quality saw should ‘feel’ in the hand and in the wood. As such, I would be largely flying blind.
Once I have some experience, I will begin restoring or making and when I get a better saw than my current ones I’ll simply sell the previous set. At least that is the plan.
Nate
So, it sounds like the consensus is that eBay is a great way to find vintage tools that need some love. Veritas is about the best ‘affordable’ saw that behaves like a high end saw. Lie Nielsen is a step up before you get to the boutique saw makers which start to get a bit insane. eBay saws are great if you know how to tune them, but a deal is a deal for a reason.
I’m going to be cross referencing the offerings of Veritas and Lie Neilsen with an email I got from Paul a few years ago. I suspect I’ll stay at the Veritas level if their offerings match my workflow. Maybe I’ll ask for a Lie Nielsen next Christmas (or maybe just a box of saw files so I can get into the restoration game).
Thanks for the help folks!
Nate
Thanks Craig!
I was thinking a torsion box design would be my best bet as well. My only major concern is the amount of wiring I have to run from the back row of drawers to the front row of drawers. A few 1” holes cut in the longitudinal stringer shouldn’t hurt the strength too much.
I understand the plywood idea, but I intend to make this a bit more traditionally, using only hand tools. I’ll be gluing up a top and sides out of smaller boards, dovetailing them together (as is the campaign style). But your suggestion got me thinking that I could make the stringers, bottom panel and drawer supports out of plywood. That should give me much better dimensional stability as well as improving the cost. If edge banded properly, nobody would ever know and it would likely cut the cost of the project in half.
Thanks!
Sorry it took me so long to get back to you. I like the thought of doing dovetails. It is good practice and enjoyable work. I’ve tried mitering and until I can build an accurate donkey-ear shooting board I’m sort of stuck.
How would you recommend ‘cap’ing the box? I would like to avoid end grain if I can, but I can’t seem to design a decent looking dovetail with moulding on the outside of it. I guess I should just suck it up and put the end-grain on the sides and get on with the next project.
Thanks Dave. ‘Donkey Ear’ is what I was missing. Unfortunately I’m not sure that I will be able to build that with sufficient accuracy to create a decent miter at this point in my career.
I enjoy dovetail work, could you please elaborate on your ‘contrasting colors’ and tails facing front?
Nate
Thanks for the link Greg. I had read that page to ensure I had a firm understanding of how Paul recommended we install the vices.
The vice does come apart quite easily. I would only need to drill 3 holes in the apron to account for the guides and the screw.
I’d love to know ‘why’ Paul mounts them the way he does. From a pragmatic standpoint, I think flush mounting may be best for me, but I definitely want input from others with more experience than I have.
Thanks for your feedback Greg, that is exactly the type of input I’m soliciting. I just want to make sure I think through everything first.
The bench top is 1 5/8” thick. It is actually pretty poorly made, but I’m proud of it.
To address your other comments and questions:
1) You are right. I would have to mortice the top some. I was tempted to just cut a mortice hole through the top all the way into the area where the vice would sit. It would give me an easier job cutting the mortice and I would be able to only take out the bare minimum wood necessary. If I mortice from the bottom, it would be a royal pain. I can patch the top up, maybe even with a contrasting wood for fun. This approach would probably be easier than simply cutting out a hole in the front apron when all things are considered. I will still have to shim the spacing between the bottom of the bench top and the top of the vice supports, but I’m going to have to do that with any solution.
2) I haven’t had any problems with my current leg vice, which clamps against the apron. I haven’t had any problems pinching my fingers. I’ve basically been using it to mimic Paul’s method without any issues. Am I not considering something here?
3) I wasn’t worried about support. I’m primarily worried about the accuracy of the mortice hole I have to cut in the front in order to front mount the vice. I can muck up things 6 ways from Sunday when installing it behind the apron without compromising how well supported the vice is. If I muck up the apron mortice, then I won’t have appropriate support to hold the vice securely (and example would be if I cut the hole too large). My moving my risky cut to the patchable area above the vice, I give myself a bit of grace regarding errors.
Plus, having a flush mount will allow me to use the apron & holdfasts to support long boards for plowing/etc. I could still utilize Paul’s clamp in the vice method if necessary by building to L’s of wood (like bench hooks) which ride inside the vice to allow the clamp to clear.
I’m on a first name basis with every antique dealer in town who sells tools. They know what I’m looking for, we just don’t get them very often out here. If I were in Denver, that would be a different story but here in Grand Junction the pickings are a bit more slim.
I suppose I could try contacting some of the internet tool dealers who’s lists I’m subscribed to and see if they have anything.
Yea, I found the ‘unable to post’ thread and I responded there. I’m really VERY excited about it. I had fun doing it and it only took about 4 hours of shop time. My wife and parents are both stunned at the quality, which really goes to show what passes for ‘decent’ in the open market today.
I have a long list of projects that folks are starting to ask me for now that they see my woodworking isn’t terrible. I may have a few questions about design to post in another forum.
*and* now they are upside down. At least I can build a box!
EDIT: And, now they are right-side-up. I’m not sure if @joseph fixed them up for me or if there is some wiz-bang backend processing that finally caught up with the file upload. Regardless, you can all trust me… They were upside down at one point!
I really like Paul’s approach to sharpening. I hear wonderful things about it from folks. Unfortunately, my results are mixed at best. I’ve watched all the videos and I mimic Paul’s process as closely as possible. I feel that I’m probably not maintaining a consistent angle so I’m effectively rounding over the edge as I move from 30 – 45 degrees (at least that is my best guess).
Can anyone offer some suggestions oh how they learned to free-hand the proper angle consistently? I’m really excited to perfect this so I can sharpen quickly but at this point I feel I’ve reached the limit of what I can learn though internet video mimicry.
I’d love to know what steps folks progress through in Paul’s classes to learn the proper angles and angle consistency.
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