Finished some projects

Greetings, Thought I'd post something about WW. I've recently completed a turning saw and a frame resaw.

Started a turning saw a while back, based on the "bug saw" plans at

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(plan at
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).

Used an old oak table leg. I pried apart the lamination to yield a

3.5 x 1.5 inch chunk. I resawed that with a CS. (Posted here regarding that cut.) OK, stock prepared.

Moved the pdf file into Adobe Illustrator and created my own outline art. Printed that and rubber-cemented the cut-outs to the stock. (Viz another thread.) Cut with a coping saw (cuz I didn't have a turning saw, natch), #63 spokeshave, and a half-round file. (#49 patternmaker's rasp is on my wishlist.)

Shaved and turned the handles on my drill press. (Posted about that, too.) The pins are a couple of decapitated lag screws, hacksawed and filed to shape. Cut leather washers from the same belt that provided my bench strop. [Can you believe what the catalogs charge for a chunk of leather glued to a board!]

Waited over a month for the backordered blade to arrive from woodworker.com. Then I cut the crossbar and put in the tenons. Smart, huh?

Scraped with a Clifton 0.8 mm scraper. Finished by rubbing orange shellac. I used canned Bull's Eye. I'm new to shellac, started with a small can before someday taking the plunge for a bag of flakes.

Was too cheap to pay 5 bucks shipping for a 2.50 roll of waxed linen sailmaker's cord. Popped the recycling twine. Found a spare pack of bootlaces. Perfect. Threw clove hitches around the lace instead of the handle because the lace, at 60", is a wee bit shorter than I'd like. Nevertheless, it works like a charm.

The Resaw: I was inspired by the plans at

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.

Some insensitive clod bought the piece of hickory I wanted at Woodcraft, so I settled for a chunk of ash from Rockler up the road. It looked mostly straight in the store. Oh my. Anyway, it had a 30" long straight place, so I was in business. I got two of the frame saw blades from Woodcraft: the stagger tooth and the tenon. Someday I might get a bandsaw blade to cut down...

The long dimension was determined by the blade; I sized the short dimension to make a Golden Rectangle. Traced my hands onto the frame and shaved and filed to fit. The feel of a custom handle is just unbelievable. Finished this one with rubbed shellac too. Waiting a few days before waxing, but it works just fine. Not as narrow a kerf as might be possible, but it feels fine.

The "Should I build this" thread reminded me of my old Jr High footstool. It's gotten pretty beaten up in 26 years. Yesterday and today I whipped out a copy. No power tools. Better tolerances, too. Just for grins I used my #62 folding ruler and a couple of old rosewood squares for layout. (Ebay is $o much fun to brow$e.)

Have fun, and...

Reply to
Australopithecus scobis
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This guy's got all the nomenclature. What the heck's a #49 patternmaker's rasp, besides a rasp, anyway? Tom Someday, it'll all be over....

Reply to
Tom

Originally used by patternmakers, who needed a rasp that would remove material quickly, but leave a smooth finish. The teeth are pseudo-randomly placed. IFAIK, they are machine-made. There used to be zillions, or at least dozens, of different patternmaker rasps and files. The #49 and #50 are the most popular, and are still being made. They cost less than hand-cut rasps, but more than rougher standard rasps.

Reply to
Australopithecus scobis

Not much. If you're going to spend serious money on a rasp (which is worth it, first time you make a cabriole leg), then go for the Italian ones. They leave a better finish than the old Stanley ones.

A rasp is a chunk of steel with teeth raised on it by punching. It's vital that all teeth are formed to an identical height, if the finish isn't to have grooves. If you want to avoid ridges, then a pseudo-random layout of teeth is better than a regular grid.

A modern substitute for a rasp is a Microplane. Good finish, but they do have a tendency to flatten curved work.

Reply to
Andy Dingley

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