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20 January 2018 at 3:16 pm #445831
The issue with mineral oil is that is a non-hardening oil. IOW, it never dries. That means while it is certainly food-safe, it will not last very long in use. As others have mentioned, any hardening (drying) oil that is free of chemical driers is a better choice. That includes cold-pressed linseed oil (do NOT use boiled linseed oil!). I’ve used pure tung oil, hemp oil and will also try flax as recommended by Dace Fisher (btw, he has a great series on bowl carving up on FWW). I’ve also mixed oil with pure beeswax into a paste as a final finish.
More here: http://www.woodworkersjournal.com/understanding-oil-wax-finishes/
21 July 2017 at 3:10 pm #313933Me, I have a Laguna bandsaw (mainly used for resawing) and a table saw that serves mostly as a secondary table. And I have an assortment of hand power tools I’ve used mostly for finish carpentry tasks.
I have a small workshop and so I do all my planing and jointing by hand (using no. 5 and 7. planes, mostly). It’s part of the process I enjoy the most, actually. It’s good exercise and doesn’t take that much longer than using machines. That said, I fully appreciate why others use machines for this, especially those running commercial shops.
I recently installed and trimmed out doors at a commercial site and used hand planes to chamfer the edges of the stock for the trim. The guys on the construction crew thought I was crazy not to use a router (but I earned their respect – and, I think, admiration – in the end). I also used a nice Bosch miter saw on that project, too. I use whatever is most comfortable and accurate for the given task at hand.
As for the table saw, I have thought seriously for awhile now about getting rid of it, but then another task comes along where I have to use it. Most recently, ripping a large number of long boards of reclaimed wood that I was too lazy and inpatient to break down using a hand saw. But then I went on to plane and joint them by hand, which I enjoyed immensely. Go figure.
- This reply was modified 6 years, 9 months ago by Peter Bernhardt.
22 October 2016 at 3:33 am #141760Thanks, William. Necessity, as they say, is the mother of invention. I’ve seen pictures of the workshops of professional craftsman in France that are the epitome of genius in making the most of limited space. I made the saw rack from found plywood and red oak offcuts. One of the benefits of that exercise is that it established some limits on the number of saws I can keep in my shop. 😉
20 October 2016 at 3:05 am #141680I have just over 200 square feet (don’t know the equivalent in meters, but the U.S. is going to the metric system in 1972 – 😉 ). I do have high ceilings and take advantage of the extra storage. Nevertheless, having a small space makes hand tool work essential.
I have a lot of lumber and need to turn it into useful things. I’ll probably get rid of the table saw as I use it mostly as a table and less as a saw since I’ve learned to dimension lumber by hand.
On nice days here in Northern California (which is often, sorry ’bout that), I open the garage door (right side of picture) and have more space. I live in an urban area with lots of passers by and enjoy talking with people about my passion for woodworking.
Attachments:
You must be logged in to view attached files.19 October 2016 at 3:36 pm #141629skippy, that’s a very decent first project! I still have one of my first projects around to remind me where I started. The important thing is to keep at it, learn from your mistakes, and look forward to doing it better the next time. That’s what makes this so rewarding.
Also, I’d recommend exploring the series for other projects that build skills. Try the tote, box, cutting board, saw horses and work your way back to this stool. These build confidence in measuring, layout, sawing and other essential skills. Once you have done those you’ll find making those mortise and tenons more accessible and comfortable.
Cheers!
30 March 2016 at 8:28 pm #136107Nice modification and execution. Lycka till with the hardwood version.
19 March 2016 at 2:26 am #135767Thanks very much for the comments.
I used poplar because it was inexpensive and I was able to get 8/4 stock for the legs and seat. FWIW, I oriented my lamination for the seat vertically (opposed to horizontally).
For the finish, I just put a 0000 pad of steel wool in a jar of vinegar and let it dissolve. You need to give it some air and time to do its work. I’ve had this sitting on a shelf for several weeks, stirring occasionally until the wool was fully dissolved and then put on a lid once it was ready.
I brushed on two coats for the finish and let it dry overnight (no wipe off on the poplar). Although with other woods that have more tannin, I’ve wiped it off after about 15 minutes to arrest the darkening process. Off cuts are good for testing out what works best. It came out a rather dull brownish color and the shellac and oil brought the grain back out. Also, I didn’t sand before finishing.
That’s one of the funnest part of these projects – starting with a very solid design and trying out new techniques and ideas. Again, thanks for the feedback, guys. Very much appreciated. Cheers.
16 March 2016 at 11:17 pm #135702Really nice. Thanks for sharing. FWIW, I’ve read and recommend Hand and Eye. It really does change the way you view the world and the things you build.
- This reply was modified 8 years, 1 month ago by Peter Bernhardt.
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