Beginners Syndrome

That's a great video for this thread. As a matter of coincidence (perhaps seeded by my recent rediscovery of some old rusty chisels from an auction), I was considering how some (beginner) folks might be well-advised to concentrate on how "metal cuts wood". If one learns how to sharpen and the properties of wood, I think that this will go a long way. For instance, to my mind, a functional shoulder plane could be constructed on the cheap (whereas a set of 3 from LV might run $600..). All this being said, this does not imply that learning how "metal cuts wood" can be learned without some effort...

Bill wrote in news:n3g27q01a89 @news6.newsguy.com:

Have you read "The Complete Guide to Sharpening" by Leonard Lee? That's basically how he handled things.

Puckdropper

Thanks :-) I didn't know how much it was worth, but I like them. The sharpener is the rolls royce of sharpeners for sure. It is sooooo smooth, and a pleasure to use.

I read it as a library book about 12 years back. I just recently read Chris Pye's book, "Materials,..." which did an excellent job of teaching me more about sharpening (it has more emphasis on carving gouges, I expect). Both books probably have a lot in common, but I was probably paying much more attention to the subtleties this time around--maybe because I own alot more gouges and planes now, and at this point I have a bit more experience. I think everyone who is "afraid" of sharpening should read Lee's book that you recommended.

I found an old Marples morise chisel last night that looks very rusty (it has "thick rust"-lol). I'm going to try to resurrect it with some of that rust-remover liquid and a wire brush, from H.F., and a stack of silicon carbide wet/dry. I'll take a before and after pic for fun, if it works out.

Bill

These are not smaller, Rockler is also 2mm lead, although the pen size looks thinner. The Rockler "looks" a bit more substantial, and the sharpener is way smaller, about a square inch in size, and only the lead goes in the sharping hole. You extend the lead out of the pen a bit to sharpen it, then extract it back to working length. Otherwise, those also look like a good mechanical pencil for a wood worker.

Aha, never thought of that one. This is more like it, I like the 2m lead, that is a good size for a woodworker. The koh-i-noor lead holder looks OK, but more designed for the draftsman than a cabinet maker, as it appears thinner, doesn't have the cross hatched metal finger grip. Also, it is $8, the sharpener is $8, and the lead is $11. That's $27 for what Rockwell sells you for $9.

One more thing, while I'm not a fan of Rockler because they seem overpriced for a lot of stuff, I do recognize they are the only woodworkers shop in my area, that I can walk in and put hands on stuff I want, and they carry lots of specialty stuff you can't get locally. Because of this, I do buy stuff from them, as long as it is good quality, which most of their stuff is, and is not so overpriced I'd be stupid to buy it. Usually I buy there when a 20% sale gets the prices down to a reasonable amount. This cabinetmakers pencil, specifically made for cabinetmakers is a good example of something you can't find anywhere else.

For heavy rust, I always used Navel gel. Works a treat. When finished wipe off with water, then lacquer thinner, then coat with Top-Coat type product.

Good catch. That guy used to be on one of my cable stations, I'd forgotten about him.

Exactly, the 2mm leads are thicker until they get down to the point. With .5 and .7mm leads the lead breaks more easily.

The problem is that once you clean up a badly rusted cutting tool, you're often left with pitting near the cutting edge which, unless lapped completely out, will make it nigh impossible to sharpen the tool to a good edge.

shop looks too clean i do not trust it i think he is wasting time on hb or #2 and should be using hh

hh requires more forcee and usually means that you get a lighter mark that is easier to sand offf

-----Original Message----- From: Jack Sent: Sunday, November 29, 2015 3:43 PM Newsgroups: rec.woodworking Subject: Re: Beginners Syndrome

Yes, the 2mm leads are useful...

I still use my drafting board with parallel straight edge, triangles, etc., and have no problem finding 2 mm leads... a local store stockes them. Here are a few sources I found via Google:

John

For me, its more difficult to sand off the impression of a visible 2H mark than to erase a visible #1 or 2B mark. In drafting (preCAD), we were taught to use the darker #1 or B for reliable blueprinting.

HB or #2 were acceptable, but HH or #3 risked tearing the cheap paper to get a decent line.

I also just want to point out this woodworking "Beginners Syndrome" thread has evolved into the finer points of drafting pencils.

Scott in Dunedin FL

works for me i press the same as i always do and get a lighter mark with less lead on the wood

good one

probably devolved is a better choice for the pun but still good

best cure for rust is to soak it in water then scrape the rust off with something appropriate

once you get it where you want it dry it well then lightly mineral oil it

Electric Comet wrote in news:n3ief6$3fo$1 @dont-email.me:

What good would it do to soak a rusty piece of metal in water?

Puckdropper

water is the solvent for rust and does much good it will really loosen up the rust

i treated a table saw this way and it worked very well i used a putty knife to scrape away most of the rust then a wire brush with more water

then dried it well and applied mineral oil let that set a while then wiped off again with dry towel

Bullshit. Best "cure" for rust is phosphoric acid which is the active ingredient in any good rust cleaner, including naval jelly.

What is your constant aversion to punctuation? I skip over half the stuff you post because it's barely readable. When I do happen to read it, it's generally BS like in this post and that whole "caul" debacle.

If you use a phosphoric acid cleaner, like Boeshield Rust Free, there would be no scrubbing or scraping necessary. Let science to the hard work.