On Topic: What to make to hone skills

[Swingman]

I'd just buy a 50's jukebox and be done with it ...

[Puckdropper]

Neil Brooks wrote in news:49f0addb-cc7d-48b2-9768- [e-mail]:

*snip*

At the very least, an accessory for an existing tool!

Puckdropper

[Robatoy]

Sure. LOL. Seriously though... in terms if "What Were They Thinking", the designs that went into juke boxes was so off the wall that it's beautiful in many cases. Kitch and Garishness galore, but some are so over the top it makes you wonder if any of them inspired all those things George Lucas ended up doing...and Vegas...and 1958 Cadillacs...

[Lobby Dosser]

Can you do it ten times in a row with no intermediate sharpening?

[dpb]

Think that might depend on which iron...altho I've never tried--once't then to the real job is the limit of _my_ patience... :)

--

[Lobby Dosser]

LOL!

[Larry Jaques]

On Sat, 31 Jul 2010 19:30:04 -0400, "Buddy Matlosz" wrote the following:

You were being _yourself_, bub.

-- To see what is right, and not to do it, is want of courage or of principle. -- Confucius

[Larry Jaques]

On Sun, 1 Aug 2010 06:55:31 -0700 (PDT), busbus wrote the following:

That's OK.

I was thinking of asking her if she wanted some candy, but that might not be entirely appropriate.

-- To see what is right, and not to do it, is want of courage or of principle. -- Confucius

[busbus]

Those are good suggestions to build.

However, I do not agree with the last statement. The biggest reason is that I do not necessarily have the extra cash laying around, especially since I have a kid starting college in a couple weeks and another one ready to go in another couple years, so I will be "poor" for a while. :o)

Another reason I do not agree is that I don't think you really "need" all those additional tools. Somebody said it best within this thread that Galoots Rule and the people way back when didn't have the luxury of having a bunch of tools and they put out some really nice stuff. I

*do* have a number of decent hand tools (chisels, some decent Stanley planes, an okay dovetail saw and a Japanese saw, squares, marking gauge, etc.) to go along with the few power tools I have.

Maybe I am way wrong (again!!) but I think it is more what you do and how you do it rather than what tools you may have. It would be nice to have all those cool tools but I am probably better off learning how to use the ones I have already than to add to the arsenal.

Basically, that is the real meat behind this question: what kinds of things should I start building that would be practical and will help me get better. I think it is probably a common thing that people go out and buy a new tool without learning how to fully use the ones they already have. In fact, I am willing to bet that many times, a new tool is not really necessary and other tools can do what you want to do. It may not be easy and sometimes, I bet, it is really difficult. I wonder how much money we all spend to get a cool new tool that is a one-trick pony and is used infrequently (although, it is nice to have whenever the need arises).

[krw]

It was probably made half in jest, but I'm on his side. ;-) Whenever I do a project around the house I buy the tools needed to do it right, even if I only plan on using them once (and it never works out that way). I can save more by DIY than the tools cost.

Blasphemy!

That's an argument for Neander vs. Norm. OTOH, I'm more of a Tim. ;-)

To each. I don't feature doing mortices by hand. Dovetails? You gotta be kidding me.

Tools are my only vise (no decent vices, though). My real-retirement (I've already done it once ;) plans include a lot of woodworking. I have a very good income, plus retirement income, and I'm at the point in my life where expenses are going down, so can easily afford tools. I like working with them, so they get bought while I can. Sure, I have a lot of tools I don't know how to get the most out of yet. That's the fun; learning.

[Robatoy]

I like admiring a nicely made precision tool. Nothing feels as nice as a fresh routerbit cutting a clean profile along the length of your favourite, hand-picked piece of cherry. Dominos rule!

[busbus]

I am starting to think I am more of a Neaderthal. I guess! I have played with hand cut dovetails and even though they sort of look like a three-year-old cut some of them, I really liked it. I think I like the PROCESS the most. I love the quiet, too. It was just relaxing. Does that make me a neander? Maybe it does...I haven't really, really thought about that before but maybe you are on to something...

Oops! I guess I answered that one already! :o)

I have an okay vise I got for $20. As far as vices...well...need to ask the wife.

Maybe I am a cheap b^st^rd but I don't have the money at this point in time. I think I need to learn how to do things right at first then move on to the toys. Who knows! LOL!!! I think no matter which way ya go, it is a slippery slope.

[busbus]

Holy heck!! A Domino?! That is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay outta my league!

[Robatoy]

Now that I have distanced myself from "Bigger, Better, Faster' type of thinking, I have found myself in the delicate balance of using modern day technology to achieve old world results. To wit:

I have bought a set of scraper blades >>>> so I can remove, delicately, the machining marks from my cnc. That cnc is really nothing more than a 'roughing' machine. It gives me a chunk of wood that then needs to be coddled, scraped, fondled in neanderthal ways. Then finished with BLO and waxes and shit.

[Robatoy]

Oh, and btw, I feel a bit oafy about getting caught up in the 'neil' debacle myself. I hope the 'Crew' here can cut me a little slack.

[krw]

Haven't brought myself to the point of making that leap. Yet. You @$$#%@@ hooked me on a couple of FesteringTools, though. I'm hoping to "get by" with a MorticePal.

[krw]

Ayup! Neander, you are.

;-)

Well, we always have to ask the wife.

I've been there. I think we all have. Yes, it certainly is a slippery slope. Pilgramige to Woodcraft (Birmingham) set for this weekend. ;-)

[Robatoy]

*wringing my hands with diabolical glee*

I bought a box of 1000 dowels a few years ago. I used them all. A 'one- hole' Stanley dowel jig and super-sharp drill bits. Brad points. So a Domino is a natural jump, because you can't always use cookies...... and there is this guy in this newsgroup who has published a few shots of a chair he made....and I'm challenged....and I now have the time.

[Robatoy]

That'd be ST... you know who you are..... (a response to a few requests off-line)

[Lew Hodgett]

that then needs to be coddled, scraped, fondled in neanderthal ways. Then finished with BLO and waxes and shit.

---------------------------- White oak, BLO cut with turps and bees wax also cut with turps is a tough package to beat IMHO.

Lew