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Well I have to start off and say a big ROLL TIDE to the National Champions once again.    But that has nothing to do with woodworking so I have it out of the way and now on to woodworking. As i mentioned last week I got my bench put together and was all ready to start to finish and realized I was out of Zinnzer Seal Coat. It is a de-waxed Shellac and I like to spray it first under the Varnish finish I am going to put on. I checked the Big Box stores and they no longer carry it. I went to the local Ace Hardware store that is locally owned and they ordered it for me. It is so nice to deal with small, locally owned businesses. It was ordered Saturday and came in Monday! Now that is service and they are going to keep it stocked for me.   So I am hoping to start spraying the finish on the top of the Walnut Bench this weekend. It is suppose to rain so if the humidity doesn't get too back and should get it done.   While I was waiting for the Seal Coat to arrive I started cutting the tails for a cedar chest I am starting.   I got one panel finished and was on the last two when the dovetail bit broke.   This is the second of these bits that has broken and I am using Cedar. They break right at the small end of the dovetail.   So I made a call to Ron Dudelston who had found a new supplier for these bits. When I checked they had three in stock so I ordered all three so now I will have a spare if they break again while I am almost finished. The bits came in yesterday and I got those last two done, cut the pins and everything fit perfectly.     So I will be working on this Cedar Chest while I am spraying finish on the bench this weekend and would love to finish both but that is probably wishful thinking.   So share with us what's on Your Patriot Woodworker agenda this weekend. All of us here at TPW love to see and read about your projects. Post those pictures and tell us what you are currently working on this weekend.        

I had this all typed and it disappeared, typical for the way the day has been going.   Finished up a bunch of rolling pins. They probably won't sell until next Christmas, but I'm ready!   This week's "Wisdom" has a theme. Yeah, I know, I'm usually not that organized. Not to worry, it happened by accident. I was watching the latest video, by Tim Yoder, on the Popular Woodworking YouTube channel. Tim used a sandblasting machine to create an unusual effect on a turned bowl.      I got me to thinking about what other ways we can embellish our turnings to add interesting details to them. Of course, there's the addition of different species to a turning blank, thus creating more interest by adding color.       The second and third pictures are from a Facebook link- https://www.facebook.com/vicmarcmachinery/?fref=photo . I'm not sure if you need a Facebook account to view them. These pieces were posted by a company that makes lathes and other equipment- http://www.vicmarc.com/default.asp.    The addition of other species does not have to be parallel or perpendicular to the turning axis. Oblique faces can create some really interesting effects.   Another method of adding interest to a turning is with a chatter tool. These tools can be purchased of shop made. Chatter tools are typically used on specific areas of the turning. The tool works best when presented to end grain. Items such as turned lids or the tops that Charles turns are perfect for this detail. Here is a video that demonstrates the chatter tool and how to make one-       One other method, for adding interest, is to create a segmented turning. Blanks are made from hundreds to several thousands of small pieces. The pieces are arranged to create pleasing patterns. Here's a video that takes this idea to the limit by varying the types of joints used to connect the segments. It's a little long but worth the time. Especially noteworthy is that woodturning is not just about the lathe. I wish I had Frank's shop!!!     Finally, an interesting concept, an on-line turning class. You can check the details here- The class starts on January 16, 2016, and is being taught by Carl Jacobson. I've posted links to several of his videos in the "Wednesday's Wisdom".   Safe Turning!  

Perusing the internet tonight looking for some great idea for woodworking projects I have gained a renewed interest in the Shaker Oval Box. About 4 years ago we traveled to my friend Russ Filbeck's home to see his chair making operation. We hung out all day and watched him work, my entire family and I, he let the kids jump on his shaving horse and shave down a few pieces of wood, and just before we left he gave each of us a present, he gave my kids a wooden car toy, I received my choice of one of his custom made Boxwood Spoke Shaves of which I absolutely love, and he gave my wife one of his hand made shaker oval boxes. She was ecstatic, and I was too. it was and is a wonderful piece and it has a prominent position in our home. Ever since that day I have been chomping at the bit to make one, or a hundred. So tonight I have been looking at plans, and techniques, and I have a book I recently bought that describes the process in detail.   Some of the websites I stumbled across tonight have a pretty fair amount of information for making the Shaker Oval Box. I can't wait to jump in and get started, but there is a bit of preparation to do first, make the forms, find a source for the lumber, and do a bit of reading up on steam or hot water bending. Thanks for sharing in my interest!   Here are a couple links on the subject: Making Shaker Oval Boxes by David J. Tilson Shaker Box Templates by David J. Tilson (PDF) Shaker Pantry Box by Wikipedia The Home Shop by Shakerovalbox.com The Home Shop catalog of Supplies    

This saw was purchased for me at an auction in september 2014 by a friend of mine who thought I might want it. As it was fairly complete except for one small part he did okay. I worked on it for a while about a year ago but other things took priority so I put it aside. Last week I finally got back at it. The worst part was cleaning off all that aluminum paint. The saw got a complete strip down and rebuild including new bearings in the drive box. Other than the drive box there is not a lot to these saws so the rehab went pretty quickly.The motor got a complete overhaul as well. While I was at it I made a new stand and replaced all the electrical. The saw runs pretty sweet but I think I will still keep my 1938 Delta 1200 and move this one on.   Maybe my buddy will buy it, no probably not.

Hi gang I wanted to let you all see the new addition to the addiction, called tools and woodworking.   This miter saw is from Harbor Freight. I paid less than $100 for the saw itself, $78 I think it was, which is the lowest price I had ever seen for one. I got the saw, a blade and a extended warranty (one year extension), all for a total of $136. That is about the same as I paid for the grinder which sits to the left. I am waiting on the blade to come in, for some reason they didn't come together (go figure). This is what I have been wanting/needing since I can't fit a table saw in here, so that I can make perfect straight or angled cuts, and make my turnings more complex and fun. I will have to drill a few holes and anchor it before I use it. Next on my list, a router. Gosh I need a bigger place LOL.   Thanks for looking and have a great day.

Howdy Patriot Woodworkers! Coming off a two week pull from vacation on my end, I am surprisingly ready to go back to my day job and get to work this first work week of our New Year. I love being home with family, having our own schedule, and going places and sleeping in an hour while on vacation! But I must admit, I awoke bright eyed bushy tail and eager to excel this morning and I am ready to tackle the week ahead at the day job! In my region all though, we are scheduled for a considerable amount of rain, so my time may be in the office instead of out in the field where I belong for a few days.   That being said, what do you all have fired up in your shops for this week? What projects do you have happening, what is on your Monday agenda. I love Mondays, always have. It seems like a new line in the sand to be crossed over and whatever is on the other side is ready for me to tackle and conquer and make peace with. The same can be said for the projects we all have lined up on our calendars. John Moody our site administrator hits The Patriot Woodworker's up with the Friday weekend agenda, so now I am asking, what was the outcome of your weekend projects, and what do you have planned for the work week ahead!   While on vacation I was able to make some great progress on our new Patriot Woodwiki. We have been working on software research and testing for a year now, and I feel we have made great strides in this area. Our wiki is not currently open yet, but I think we have finally, finally settled on a wiki software engine, and a look and feel we may be happy with. You can view our efforts at The Patriot Woodwiki, and you can view a test article at Sam Maloof that we have been playing with at each wiki engine testing. We hope our wiki will become a great research resource for anything and all that has to do with woodworking.   Thank you for being here Patriot Woodworkers, and making us a great place to hang our hats!   Picture of the week: Black Powder Rifle by maker Micky Britt as seen at Contemporary Makers  

my first vase off the lathe. Just a few pieces of wood in this one more to learn and more to follow.  

 I just finished 4 tree ornaments. They started out as an experiment with salvaged plastic. My wife tossed a floor lamp that had 4 sections. Each section was separated by a clear plastic disc 3" in dia and half inch thick. The four are in the center and you can see that it worked well. I learned a lot about turning, sanding and finishing plastic. The final shapes of these ornaments are determined by how well I did the turning, etc. Each mistake caused a new cut a little deeper. I wasn't sure if glue would hold plastic to wood, do I kept a dowel in the center. As it turned out, the gorilla glue was all that was needed and when I do it again. NO dowel.  I have about 25 on display above the fireplace.

I read with great interest and relief for the outlook that James Krenov had with his hand tools, and sharpening, and maintenance. For years I have been put off by the many sharpening gadgets, guides, holders, science, bevel up, bevel down, yadayadayada. I have always thought that folks can get wound waaaay too tightly over the science of woodworking, and tooling, so much so they forget the joy of the actual woodwork.   James Krenov had a very lax position on the sharpening of his tools, specifically hand plane blades. He sharpened free hand, never spent too much time doing it, never worried about secondary bevels, or angles, and he used oil stones. Honestly, growing up as a teenager and learning woodwork in my dads shop, Krenov's method of sharpening is the exact way my dad taught me, just put the cutter up on an oil stone, keep the angle around 45 degrees, and do the fingernail test, if it looks good, it's ready. Here is a quote from Krenov that I love:   Quote I've had the same oil-stones for 30 years, and I've never trued them up or anything, which doesn't speak well for me. I've got an old Carborundum that I found in Stockholm, a soft Arkansas, and a hard Arkansas and a little kerosene and that's it. People wonder if I ever sharpen my tools because they hardly ever see me doing it. When I do, it's just a little bit. It becomes self-defeating if carried too far because you're fussing more about your tools than you are woodworking, and at some point, fussing just takes over. James Krenov, Fine Woodworking Feb 2016 Issue No. 252   What Krenov said about sharpening about sums it all up for many of us. I used to use a roller guide (on and off, depending on the latest fad) to support my chisels and plane irons for sharpening, not anymore, I have been free handing it most of my woodworking life and I am very happy with the results. I love James Krenov approach on this subject, basically he's just saying, get over it! It's just a tool! And have fun! My eyes glaze over when the sharpening gurus start talking about angles, micro bevels, body positioning, and more, jeez, get over it, it's just woodworking! If free hand sharpening on an old oil stone is good enough for Krenov, it's good enough for me, just like ol Dad taught me!   And if you are a user of the sharpening guides, and it works for you, stick with it! There are many sharpening jigs out there for the woodworker and it's a great aid, I must admit I can get into the jigs really easy, but in my puritan quest as of late, I am liking free hand sharpening more and more.

Last weekend my wife and I celebrated our 41st anniversary and we did so by picking our way to Nashville and then a little more picking on the way home. I did take her out for a very nice dinner at Stone River Steak house in Franklin, TN so it wasn't all about picking and she likes it as much as I do. I didn't take pictures of her treasures, but she got quite a few deals. She like dishes and pottery.   I found a variety of things a several different places along the way.     So I found that Keen Kutter metal sign and most likely it is  repo but it was a cool sign and I wanted to put it up in the shop. Tool signs are hard to find so I try to get them when I can. I also got the Screw and Bolt signs which are double sided.   I ran across this one place that had a great collection of really nice tools. They were locked in a glass cabinet. I ask the person to unlock it and told her I was going to be looking in there for a while. She ask if she needed to get the mop to clean up the drool.   I first got this nice Keen Kutter Sliding T Bevel square. It is metal and nickel plated.   Just below the screw it has a patent date of Oct 29, 07 stamped.   I also got this Lufkin No. 014 Caliper ruler. What I thought was really cool about it is the fact that they also put the Stanley number next to their number. Shows you how popular and big Stanley was even them. I have this same small caliper rule in the Stanley 136.   I then pulled out this really nice Stanley No. 53 1/2 ruler. When I started college I wanted to be an Architect so this ruler was kind of neat to find. The No 53 1/2 was made from 1879 to 1942. The rule was beveled on the inside edges so the numbers would be close to the page.   This ruler has the brass arched ends and brass joints and ends. The patina is really nice and it is very readable.   I also saw this nice No. 66 1/2 boxwood ruler that was made from 1870 to 1957. What makes it special it is one of only three 3' four fold rulers to survive WW II.    This one happens to be from the Sweet Heart era 1922 to 1935 so this one would have been Pre WW II.     This one also had the brass arched ends. This one wasn't cleaned by someone.   I have the Stanley No 36 Cast Iron level in the 18" and 12" and it was nice to find this one in the 6" size and all of the vials intact and working.   Then I found this Stanley folding ruler with Green Ends. I had just been looking through one of my original Stanley catalogs a week earlier and saw this information on the Green End rulers.   So when I saw this Stanley Green end folding ruler at a very cheap price in the cabinet I had to get it out and add to the collection.     And then I found my real prize of this pick. I saw this really nice Stanley No. 98 and picked it up and checked it out. No cracks and the finish is in good condition. I had to include it, I just couldn't leave it there.     They made these in right and left handed models. The No. 99 is the left side model. I am looking for one of those to add to the group and to make this complete by having a right and left model. This little plane was made from 1896 to 1942. This one appears to be a Type 1a which was made from 1905 to 1907.   One of the things about this little plane is the knob is the same size and a perfect replacement if you need a knob for a Stanley No. 1 bench plane. The knob can be worth as much or more than the plane itself.   So I have added a few more items to the latest display cabinet in the house.     This is the ruler shelf.     All of the catalogs are original catalogs and the oldest one is a Stanley 1914 catalog.   So that was my anniversary weekend picking and we had the best time out with each other looking for those special treasures.   Till next time....  Patriot Picking

For all of you folks that served, Happy Veterans Day and thanks for your service.  A special thanks to those who held our families together while we were deployed.Please announce your service branch, dates served and occupation here.I served U.S. Air Force. 1970-1973.  My ASFC was 46250.  Nuclear weapons 

Hi, new to the forum. Thought it would be fun to share some pictures of a woodshop available to the troops here in Djibouti, Africa. They call it the Self Help Shop, and it's really intended for the CB's but they are kind enough to open it up for the rest of us. Panorama of one main work space, pretty standard bench tools; scroll saw, sander, drill press, chop saw. They also have a Makita planer in there which is hard to tell, but it's on a plywood bench right in front. They did a nice job integrating the chop saw into this bench. They had a guy hurt himself on the table saw a while back so they justified the SawStop. It's the first time I've used one. As I get my own home shop tailored out I'd love to be able to get one of these, especially with my ambitions of teaching. More details about my deployment and my business venture, Charitable Woodworking, can be found at www.charitablewoodworking.org. Cheers! -Matt

Workbench Magazine 1965 Jan-Feb Childs Rocker This is a scanned document of the now defunct Workbench Magazine of this era. Permission was granted by the new Workbench Publication for The Patriot Woodworker community to copy and use the old Workbench Magazine at our pleasure, and for free distribution and re-use. Have fun with this wonderful throwback child's rocker. You'll have a some patterns for chair parts, all you need to do is scale them to fit your needs. Have fun! File Information Submitter John Morris Submitted 10/23/2015 Category Furnishings View File

I mentioned that I was reorganizing my shop and Lew asked me to send a picture. First you should know I only have half of a garage and I must consolidate tools and keep the most used in the handiest place. I just added new doors to my cabinet. Each has space for storage inside and has provided me with a lot of space and put handy the tools I use most. Next is my bench and it is on wheels and easily rolls out for easy access. I don't do that much because I have a heavy duty Workmate that I have adapted a large top on. I can fold it away, but it stays in place 99% of the time  

 If you know anything about lasers, you might want to look at the Glow Forge.  I have no recommendations about it but there is a discussion on Sawmill Creek.On reading through a discussion on Sawmill Creek, this machine will only be powerful enough for thin material and will require the Internet to use.  

Donate to Homes For Our Troops and you'll be automatically entered to win our awesome Bessey K-Body's. We are proud to announce the giveaway of some wonderful clamps as contributed by our sponsor Bessey Tools! We will feature our Bessey Tools K-Body REVO clamps valued at $220.00 for the 30 day period from September 23rd through October 22nd, at the end of this time period we will choose one lucky winner at random from a pool of Homes For Our Troops donors. All proceeds are deposited directly to Homes for our Troops, we have no interaction with the transaction. We are only issuing the grand prize.       Here is the breakdown for your donations and chances to win. 1 Entry into the draw for a $2.00 donation3 Entries into the draw for a $5.00 donation7 Entries into the draw for a $10.00 donation15 Entries into the draw for a $20.00 donation RULES Membership in The Patriot Woodworker community is not required. In order to qualify to be in the draw for these fantastic tools, you'll need to make a donation of 2 dollars or more to Homes for our Troops by following the links and making a donation. Please go to Donate to The Patriot Woodworker Homes for our Troops Team Page. All members, and hosts and guests who donated to Homes for our Troops will be entered into the random draw at the end of the promotional period. We are sorry, but only members with a shipping address in the lower 48 states, Canada, and Alaska are eligible for the random draw. The winner will be notified via personal email and public announcement. The winner will have 30 days to claim their prize, if the prize is not claimed within that time period the tools will be auctioned off and the proceeds will be used to benefit disabled veteran woodworkers. In order that your donation is logged into our Team Page please click on the drop down menu at the donor page and select John Morris - The Patriot Woodworker's So without further adieu let us introduce you to the grand prize for this draw! The winner will receive the following clamps as titled and pictured: 2 x KR3.524 (24"K-Body REVO) 2 x KR3.540 (40"K-body REVO) 2 x KBX20  (K-Body Extenders) TOTAL VALUE $220.00     Bessey Tools has been a huge supporter of The Patriot Woodworker's since the early days of our existence, we are very grateful for their continued support of our woodworking organization and also the veterans organizations we in turn support and the men and women in our armed forces both here in the US and in Canada. Thank you Bessey Tools for allowing us the opportunity to outfit a lucky woodworkers shop with your awesome clamping solutions. Please visit the links below to explore the Bessy lineup of tools Bessey Tools North America Bessey Tools Facebook Page Bessey Tools Twitter Bessey Tools YouTube Channel Also, did you know Bessey Tools are for Metal Working as well! Many do not know this! Bessey Tools for Metal Working They also have Cutting Tools. Once again, thank you Bessey Tools!

I love visiting our sponsors "Woodcraft Magazine" site, it's such a cool place to peruse and just hang out, and it looks great! Here is a cool jig I found, thanks Woodcraft!

The following images can help in determining the age of your Delta machines by the badge it wears, providing the part with the badge is original to the machine. Delta also exported their machines under the Tauco name, I've seen photos of the 1936 through 1941 style badges with the Tauco name in place of the Delta name. I'll post those photos if I can find them.   1936 1937  1938  1939-1941 1941-1952 1953-1966 1966-1973    

Here it is September already! I think someone forgot to tell Mother Nature because it has been near 90°, with sauna like humidity, the last couple of days. I actually got a chance to get to the lathe! With Christmas coming, I am prototyping some turnings to get ready for making presents. I try to make cooking/kitchen related presents for many of our friend. Something they can use and not toss aside a couple of months later. This year, I'm making some decorative container bowls for small stuff like candy- at least that's the plan. We'll have to see what actually comes off the lathe.  My first attempt on the platter seemed to go pretty good although the shape isn't as fluid as I wanted- This was turned from a piece of dried walnut about 2.75" thick The total diameter is about 11". I used a Scorby spiraling/texturing system to create the texture on the rim. It isn't sanded yet. As I look at the pictures, it reminds me of a church collection plate.   The second gift idea is a coffee scoop. A couple of years ago, I stopped by Ruth Niles' shop to pick up some bottle stoppers. She traded me one of her coffee scoops for one of my rolling pins. I thought I'd try my hand at creating some scoops.  The shorter handled one is Ruth's. Not sure of the wood but it has some lovely spalting. My prototype is made from walnut. I think I'll create a glued up blank of walnut and maple. Making the "ring", where the handle attaches a maple piece.   Some other turning stuff from the past week- Woodturning On Line sent out their monthly newsletter. There is a short video featuring Steven Kennard. It is more of an inspirational video than a tutorial. He presents his thoughts on the art of turning. https://vimeo.com/126545288  There's also a nice tutorial from Popular Woodturning about making an ice cream scoop- http://www.popularwoodworking.com/projects/ice-cream-scoop The entire newsletter is at- http://www.woodturningonline.com/ I found a couple more interesting videos from the same folks that did the one on the Calabash Bowl. These all feature a turner named Glenn Lucas and are grouped under the category of "Inspirational Series". I found them quite enjoyable. http://blog.woodturnerscatalog.com/category/woodturning-videos/inspiration-series/.   Safe Turning  

A message from Craig and Donna Jackson of Easy Wood Tools. We are pleased to announce that Easy Wood Tools and Pony Tools have joined forces! Combining the 112 year history and experience that Pony Tools offers with the innovation of Easy Wood Tools and Craig Jackson creates excitement for the future of the woodworking industry. With a little time, big plans will come together to bring you new products to help you in your shop. Make sure you have joined our email list and follow us onFacebook and Twitter! When you call our office, you will still be hearing the same voices, working with the same people and your orders will be processed with the same care and dedication from our warehouse. You won't see many changes on the surface but rest assured, we are working hard behind-the-scenes to bring you new, top-quality products with the same commitment to the awesome customer service that you are used to. You are part of our family and we hope that you will welcome Pony Tools into it with the same generosity of spirit that you have shown us these past 8 years. We sincerely hope you will celebrate this transition with us because it would not have been possible without all of you. If you have any questions, we are just a phone call away. Craig and Donna Jackson

It  was a beautiful summer day here in South Central Pennsylvania. Grass mowed, string trimmer run, flowers watered and Quigley and I made a trip to Lowe's. Just a heads up for the Veterans here; Lowe's offers a 10% discount on every purchase with proof that you are a Vet. I use my VA ID card but they may take other ID's. We've had a new member join our site- Ray Robertson. His turnings are fantastic. Please cruise on over to http://www.ozarkwoodworker.com/ and check out his work. I snatched a picture of one of his duck call, just to whet your appetite        1117 pieces!!!!!!!! Ray is also very active with the Boy Scouts of America and creates claws for the tribe of Mic-O-Say. http://www.ozarkwoodworker.com/BSA-claws.html   Several other items for your consideration, this week. First, Popular Woodworking posted another one of Tim Yoder's videos. This one covers a variety of topics. Tim discusses drying wood before and after turning. Sharpening your tools and his take on why sharpening jigs are important. He also talks a little about cleaning the air in your shop. You can watch the video here- The Woodturning On Line newsletter came this week, also. This months issue has several informative projects, including turning an Ancient Greek wine pourer.  I probably won't be making one but if you would like to, you can find the tutorial at- http://www.flutemasters.com/Websites/FluteMaster/images/Flute_Master_Demo.pdf Two other project, in the newsletter, share a common theme in that they discuss turning projects with mixed media materials. One of the projects uses wood and clear resin- The other project uses stone inlay. You can read the tutorial here- http://stephenhatcher.com/files/techniques/Basic_Stone_Inlay_(v1.0).pdf  The entire newsletter is available at- http://www.woodturningonline.com/index.php   As for me, I actually did spend a few minutes at the lathe. I needed 4 short, 1/4" diameter walnut dowels to correct an almost fatal miscalculation on another project on which I'm working. Safe Turning!     

Thought I should drop a quick note to say Howdy to the group.  I am a hobbiest that loves to rust hunt!  I am attaching a sampling of what is in my shop as a sampling of the stuff I work on/with.  I prefer old iron.  

just a teaser for starters, ive been collecting restoring and using old machinery in my shop for several years these are my two oldest, 100 yr old crescent 20 and an old compressor nicknamed the "titanic", age unknown most of my "oldies" are from the 40's and 50's, Canadian beavers, craftmaster(not craftsman!), deltas and some others

Picked this up from another forum. Maybe someone will fine some useful information there.http://www.ozarkwoodworker.com/

I was given this 20"x 6" wood planer, Trying to find out who made it? any info appreciated..It uses flat belts and babbitt bearings..