I really like pine furniture, but it makes a total mess out of the cutters and it's a POA to stain and seeps resins as the piece ages. Unlike other types of wood, a pine piece doesn't weigh a ton after it's completed. Too bad we got the chestnut blight--it is truly a beautiful wood.
Hey! I LIKE poly! Shiny, easy, bulletproof--what's not to like? Just because shellac is edible doesn't mean you should use it. :)
-Phil Crow
Once you've made a full complement of moulding planes you'll see that it's a bit more than a "little" physical labor.
Ken Muldrew snipped-for-privacy@ucalgazry.ca (remove all letters after y in the alphabet)
Beautiful gothic arches! Could I have some of the plans or source material for it? I wanted to build some into a baby's crib for my baby-to-be instead of prison-bars slats.
Hasan
Some folks don't consider doing things by hand to be wasting time.
Back to the original question: I'm in the camp of those who very rarely use a routah. When I bought my PC I spent all of my time trying to use it for everything possible (when the only tool you have is a hammer ...). As I developed my handtools skills and acquired various tools, I started to move away from it.
After we moved into our current house, it stayed packed up for about two years. I finally got it out a few months ago when I was working on a flybox and later a fly-tying station, because it was the right tool for the job. Since then, it's been relegated to the back wall of shop where it will sit until needed again.
I never enjoyed working with the thing. Carbide bits spinning at
21,000 r.p.m. right at crotch level just isn't my idea of fun. Plus the fact that it spews dust and chips all over the shop, and one slip can destroy a project (or a finger) in a millisecond. Naw, for the most part I prefer to "waste my time" with plow planes, molding planes, and scratch stocks.Chuck Vance
My Leigh jig is very easy to setup, no futzing necessary. There really isn't any trial and error. I made 4 drawers in about 90 minutes with it.
Chuck, I have one of my routers in a downdraft cabinet router table, so dust AND noise is minimized. I can hook up my Fein shop vac to the fence, and the DC to the downdraft. That pretty much covers the mess. The cabinet muffles a lot of the noise, but because my ears are sensitive (actually ONE ear -- lost the hearing in the left to an acoustic neuroma a few years back) I wear ear protection.
I spent several hours last night perusing the Lee Valley catalog where some things were jumping off the page, screaming for a home. Namely a Veritas low angle block plane, some gouges, and scraper.
Which leads me to a questi>
Thanks, I'll see what I can do.
-- Die Gotterspammerung - Junkmail of the Gods
Anything'll be fine, even a source for a picture you found useful.
I am wondering what wood to use on the crib slats (for the side railing). I would love to use Balsa. Is it very expensive in Canada?
thanks, Hasan
And kevlar body armour? :-) I woodwork to relax, and all of the safety safety precuations necessary for using a routah don't make me feel very relaxed.
Yes, except for the scraper insert. (I consider that one so far inferior to the other LV scraper variations that IMHO it's a waste of money.)
The simple card scrapers are handy for spot work where you need to get rid of a bit of tearout. If you do curved work, buy a gooseneck one as well. (Personally, I keep about a half-dozen different profiles around the shop.) The one that looks like a spokeshave is their knockoff of the Stanley cabinet scraper (#80). It's an excellent tool, and has some definite improvements over the original Stanley. It's handy for larger surfaces, as the base gives you a good bearing surface that is lacking with the card scraper.
But, my new personal favorite is their scraper plane. It's based on the Stanley #112, but once again, it has some definite improvements over that design. They've added a thinner blade with a thumbscrew arrangement that can flex the blade much like the #80 does. With the extra-large sole, comfortable tote and knob and flexibility of using either the thick or thin blade in the same plane, this will probably replace the #80 in my shop.
For the woods you mention, a well-tuned smoother would probably handle most of your needs, but a scraper is always handy to have around.
Chuck Vance
thanks for the info, Chuck. By "smoother" I guess you mean something like a Veritas #4 Smooth Plane? How does a smoother differ from other planes of the same size? Is it the angle of the blade, or ??
Do I NEED to get a burnishing tool or can I use something that I might already have in my tool cabinet? I have a vague memory of reading somewhere that a common tool will serve as a burnisher...
dave
C> Bay Area Dave wrote:
New Kevlar routing sweater a friend of mine made 8-)
Seriously though, I'm not out in the workshop right now because I crushed my foot this morning. 8-( Bounced a big slab of steel off it, then had to hobble off to casualty for a X-ray, using the workshop broom as a crutch. I didn't need the "Where's yer parrot" comments either.
Not broken, but it's damned painful and I can't stand on it. Yes I _was_ wearing steel toecaps. If I hadn't been, I probably would have bust it properly. The slab hit the toe, then tilted over and bashed the top of the arch. Going a nice colour too.
-- "When men die, their Maker may reward them for their efforts by allowing them to live again as male dogs. Thus freed from inhibition, they can spend a cheerful existence doing all those things they really wanted to do when they were men."
Paneb, Foreman mason in the Valley of the Kings, circa 1190BC
Damn, Do I miss Robert Newton. Hope it's nothing serious. Regards, Hank
A smoother is usually about 9" long, and is set up to take a very light cut and leave a surface ready for finishing. Veritas' #4 is a smoother based on the old Stanley design, but with some improvements.
A standard smoother used for well-behaved woods usually has the blade set at a 45 degree bedding angle. There are specialty planes made that offer higher bedding angles (can be more effective on figured hardwoods) and lower bedding angles (can also be effective on figured hardwoods, strangely enough).
I'd go ahead and "splurge" for a burnishing tool. Some folks use screwdriver shafts, carbide router bit shafts, valve stems, etc., but the bottom line is you want something harder than the scraper and it needs to be polished smooth.
FWIW, as a newbie to scrapers, you might want to consider the Lee Valley variable burnisher gizmo. It'll cost you about $25, but it will help you get a feel for what the edge/burr should feel like when it's turned properly.
Chuck Vance
thanks AGAIN, Chuck. SWMBO wants my Christmas list. I'm gonna wear out the pages of the LV catalog, making out that list for her. I like having exactly the right tool for the job, so I think I should get a REAL burnisher if it will work better than a screwdriver shaft. Screwdrivers I own with round shafts, all have rough surfaces.
dave
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