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24 April 2013 at 5:08 am #11299
Thank you all for your feedback. I did try using Paul’s knife wall method but on reading Mark’s comment I think I was doing more than guiding the saw. My chisels may also need to be a bit sharper to make more defined knife walls. I had to hit the chisels with the mallet pretty good to get it to go deeper.
Ken, thanks for your opinion on using the miter box and for your words of encouragement. For now I’ll use a miter box until my sawing improves. I had totally forgotten about using a shooting board! I tried to square the end grain of some boards on the wood vise using a hand plane but it was very hard to do and ended up rounding corners. So that’s when I resorted to using a miter box and it helped me finish my project.
Ripping some longer board was a pretty good workout. Again sawing straight will come with practice and better technique but at least it was easier getting it down to the line planning with the grain, as Dave suggests. Love using hand planes very relaxing to me.
Finish a couple of lawn chairs for a friend of mine. Figured law chairs would be a good project to get started on woodworking. Here is a picture. Have a great day everyone.
Rod
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You must be logged in to view attached files.23 April 2013 at 4:21 am #11255Happy woodworking everyone! I just finished my first woodworking project and found that I need a lot of practice cutting straight, not as easy as it seems. Very hard to square things up afterwards if your cross cut was off a bit or a lot. Using a miter box sure took some of the frustration of my inexperience cutting straight but left me wondering if I may be cheating by using a miter box to do what Paul would have done free hand. I will practice cutting straight but I would like to know what you all think of the use of a miter box to do cross cutting? It sure saved me lots of time and produced very accurate and clean cuts.
17 January 2013 at 2:29 pm #6625Thank you Stephen. I think I will stick to Douglas fir since it seems more available in my area and at a good price. Price on red oak and beech is the same at the local hardwood shop, so when it comes time to upgrade I’ll go with beech.
15 January 2013 at 7:35 am #6542Thank you Dave and Jeff on the advise. I think I will go with Douglas fir as you suggested.
15 January 2013 at 4:58 am #6538Hello all, I was thinking on building a bench out of red oak, but having second thoughts on account I’m new to woodworking and also the cost. The same place that has red oak at a good price also has poplar for an affordable price, but was told the wood is a bit soft for a workbench. At box stores my options are hemlock, douglas fir or redwood and would have to search hard to find good pieces but the price would be right. Any thoughts on these options, poplar, hemlock, douglas fir, redwood, and red oak…also beech is about the same price of red oak. Another option is a red oak top and different wood for support, maybe douglas fir. Thanks in advance.
15 January 2013 at 3:59 am #6537I’ve had great luck at flea markets where I live and from time to time garage sales. For example, I picked up a Stanley #7 for $20. I have bought tools on e-Bay but Dave is so right, prices can be ridiculous at times. But once in a blue moon, you get lucky and buy something at an OK price after shipping cost. Chris Schwarz mentioned once that he never buys saws from e-Bay on account that you can’t sight down to see if the saw is straight. He’s got point.
15 January 2013 at 3:46 am #6535I got Paul’s “Working Wood 1 & 2” book and on page 201 he shows a picture of a locked drawer near the clamp and another picture of 3 drawers, one above the other, at the end of his bench. He says you can later customize your bench by adding bench dogs, a tail vise with holes on the bench top or drawers or cupboards to store stuff. He says that these will add extra weight to the bench.
8 January 2013 at 6:03 am #6247Sean, I tried using “Metal Rescue” which I had seen several YouTube videos on and I was amazed on how fast it works on old rusty saws and plane blades. I haven’t tried it on planes yet but it supposed to be safe on paint. It has saved me tons of time and effort to clean things and it is non-toxic and non-flammable and reusable. But you really have to watch the time you leave it in the Metal Rescue bath. If you leave a saw too long, for example, it will start turning black.
7 January 2013 at 3:42 am #6206Thanks for the reply Greg. I will move forward with the single bench top design. Around where I live there are not a lot of places to buy wood except big box stores and I have not been happy at all with the quality of their wood. I found a local place last week that only sells hardwoods and found their prices quite reasonable but they sell mostly large planks and quality plywood, no 2×4 lumber etc. and no pine like at the big box stores. The typical red oak planks they sell are approximately 1-3/4”x14”x12’. I figure I could cut a plank in half, plane it dead flat and glue the two halves together. This is a bit different than the way Paul laminated his bench top. Any thoughts on laminating planks? Never done that before. Thanks.
6 January 2013 at 3:24 pm #6183Great work Jeff. I also want to start building a workbench using Paul’s design. On his Artisan woodworking book and videos both show the workbench that you are building with one very thick bench top on one side and the well board on the other. So the bench will be heavier on one side. On this heavy side is where the vise will be added making it even heavier on one side where one will be cutting wood, pounding on wood etc. I’m sure the workbench will not tip and will be sturdy enough but on looking at Paul’s projects, like episode 1 on the wall clock, I see that his workbench has two bench tops on opposite sides and a well board in the middle. Also on his YouTube videos he laminated two bench tops but hasn’t posted putting the workbench together yet. I think that having two bench tops on either side with a well board in the middle would make a more balanced workbench even if you put a vice on one side. It may not make a difference one way or the other but I would like to hear from others on this before I getting started. Thank you.
9 November 2012 at 4:41 am #3073New to woodworking. One of the things that I have learned from Paul is to keep things simple and use what you have available, like Piotr has done. I also do not have a dedicated bench but looking forward to building one. Last weekend I used my Rockwell Jawhorse to do some cutting and planing and worked relatively well. Holds the wood very solid but does move when you are planing and the wood catches. When not in use folds up the size of a golf bag. Just a thought.
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