Under the tree was a brand spanking new Veritas #4 Smooth Plane, a Wood Slicer band saw blade (3/4"), and a Bosch ROS (1295DVSK).
The plane is a FIRST for me. I hear all you fellers rave about these things, so I had to try one out. I think I'm gonna like it. I made a few test shavings in the woodshop this morning (after a quick bevel touch up on the water stone). I think it's going to take a little practice.
**(Stay tuned for future plane questions from a newbie plane user!)
And what would you do if your wife got you a anant plane, a harbor freight bandsaw blade and a chicago electric ros. And your wife says "look how much money I saved by getting all the stuff at the harbor freight tool store"?
You'll love it if you take the time to tune it and learn to read the grain on what you smooth. I'd rather plane than scrape or sand to clean up mill marks and prepare the surface for finish, but it does take a bit of practice. Fortunately you have a plane which won't hinder you by its shortcomings.
My son gave me a Wiley Digital angle gauge. It confirms that my 8 year old Jet cabinet saw still locks in at the 90 degree and 45 degree bevels precisely at the stops. I wanted it for the settings between the stops and to confirm the stops were still dead on.
"Leon" wrote
A useful tool that I use more than I thought I would ... makes those pesky half degrees so much easier to nail down.
Table saw 45 degree setting.. Ha, I removed the bolt stop awhile back.. Needed 42 or 43 degrees and couldn't get it with bolt in, so took it out. Will have to find it and put it back one of these days. For Christmas, I stripped an entire wall of hooks and old shelving over last couple days and installed new adjustable shelving hangers. Now my oak is all together as is my walnut, maple etc. I downloaded Cutlist Plus off the internet and input my rough oak stock as if it were sheet goods and had the program layout some jambs and casings I need, on the boards I have. Nice.. Such a pain to do the old way.. Took about 3 seconds optimize after loading info. Thanks Leon. Didn't know about program before you mentioned it.. and like Garageworks, Santa gave me a new sweet No. 4 plane. Mine is an L-N with cocobola handles. Its all tuned up now. A bit of a chore.. at least flatening was. I so love it though, especially the sound of it cutting wood and it can turn the surface like glass with the thinest of shavings. A joy to use. Life is good.. Hope Christmas was as wonderful for everyone else as it was for us.. Best wishes to all of you..
I'd thank her, hug her, and make sure those tools were visible in the shop.
Lucky for me, my wife has actually learned the value of Lee Valley gift cards, and to trust the guys at Woodcraft and Coastal Tool!
Hmmm... sounds like a wish list Christmas or a very knowledgeable Santa.. ;-]
mac
Please remove splinters before emailing
My wife is actually the "driving force" of me buying quality tools.. I can spend money on just about anything with no problem, until it's something for me.. Dunno why, but it's really hard for me to part with big bucks for something that's just for me, so she usually either nags me to "go buy the damn thing" or does the Mrs. Santa thing..
mac
Please remove splinters before emailing
Cutlist Plus is a pretty handy program, it really came in handy when using it for the 2 jewelry chests with 400 + pieces. IIRC Swingman and I have the top end versions with no real limitations. I use Cut List Plus about 90% of the time for boards rather than panels. I would like it if Todd would add the ability to color each part a different color like Sheet Layout does. When you have a single sized part that is on several different pages the color to look for would be handy, right Swingman? ;~) While Cutlist plus lets you select that part it is for the selected part and not all the parts. Anyway, I'm glad to hear you are getting your wood organized. LOL. About 3 years ago I build a storage shed in my back yard with the entry next to a side wall. That wall holds most of my lumber, it's straight in and straight out the door.
"Leon" wrote
Yep, except my wood only comes in either dark or light.
... but I can count on "red" 3's being either hearts or diamonds! ;)
Didn't get tools, but perhaps the next best thing: a request for an outdoor silhouette nativity scene for next year - that I'm sure will require at least one new tool. When I open up the plans, I'll have to decide what tool that is ;-)
John
Same here, I've never been able to go buy big things just for myself, no matter how much I might want to. It usually takes my wife saying "go get it".
Unfortunately, this year I went out and took an inventory of woodworking tools that I really needed and came up empty. There is nothing I can identify that I'd really use, I have it all. I paged through Rockler's holiday flyer and... nothing jumped out at me. There's a lot of stuff that might be nice to have, but I can identify no real need for it beyond the "someday, I might want to use this if the right project comes up".
So I got nothing woodworking related this year except for the annual renewal of Fine Woodworking that my wife's parents give every year.
"Brian Henderson" wrote
Damn ... Rob Lee lose your address?
There's _always_ something in LV's catalog that you didn't know you needed until you got their latest.
On Dec 26, 6:41=A0pm, Brian Henderson wrote: [snip]
I understand that. All of it. However, I have started a new sideline, installing quartz. A whole new catalogue. Life is good.
No, I've got it, I just had the Rockler flyer sitting next to me when I wrote the post. Still nothing that jumps out as a necessity, but then again I don't buy things unless I think I'm going to need it, or unless I actually do need it. If I'm going to buy it, I don't want it hanging on the wall gathering dust.
Mine too, at least with the LV cards. I came home one day after my b'day with an armload of stuff and she wanted to see what her card had got me.
I showed her. She said, "Oh, that's nice"
There is something to say about a woman who knows there is a wishlist, and ignores it but gets the cards instead, knowing that she hasn't the foggiest idea what I need or want, even after I show her.
Her take on all of it is that it gives me more quality time in the shop (or just keeps me IN the shop longer)
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.