Am Try project

It is done.

And better yet, it saws wonderfully. The old girl looks pretty good for being around a hundred years old. It took me a while to run the last leg of this race but yesterday I got my act together and finished the rehab.

What took so long was my wait for a couple parts I used a local metalsmith to fabricate. The stock guides are L shaped braces that I wouldnt call vital, but they are damn handy. They sit in shallow dados in the bed and clamp into place with a thumb screw clamp behind the fence.


When you place the stock on the bed, you snug up the stock guide to support the piece in place against the back and forth friction of the saw stroke.


Yes you could hold the stock with your hand, but that may be more difficult when dealing with crown mouldings. They make using the saw much nicer.

I tried to fabricate these by myself  couple of different ways. I bought the flat and round steel stock and first I tried to drill and tap the end of the steel bar for a machine screw. I tried to be careful and take my time, I drilled the appropriate hole and used oil to lubricate the process. Yet my tap broke off inside the steel bar.

Crap.

So I went to plan B. I had read another online account of a similar rehab where the author fabricated his using a two part epoxy. I picked some up and gave it a shot. Again I followed the instructions carefully but I couldnt get the epoxy to hold up to even light handling. I was doubtful about it, but it was worth a shot.

One thing I dont have in my skill set that I would love to learn is welding. I cast around and found a local metal smith / artist who was willing to throw down a couple quick welds for me. After a few weeks I was able to stop and pick up the pieces.

Now I was in business. The only metal fabrication part I had left was a top bar that connects the two towers and keeps them from racking while youre sawing. This was a simple piece of flat stock, (the same as I used for the stock guides) and it took me re-taping and replacing one of the thumb screws with a replacement.


A couple of screws connected the saw box to a off-cut of 1x12 pine. Now I can cinch it to the bench with a couple holdfasts and store it underneath when I dont need it.


All that was left was to sharpen the saw itself. I always kind of work myself up about before hand and when its over I think, "Damn, that wasnt so bad." For certain its not that difficult of a thing to learn, and the more I do it the better Ive gotten.

One of the turning points for me was taking a saw sharpening class with Mark Harrell over at Bad Axe Tool Works. I wrote about that experience HERE. Working with Mark taught me to trust my the feel of the file and the things my eyes were seeing and has let me do away with the guide blocks and jigs Id been using up to this point. Knowing what to look for has improved my sharpening greatly. Hes teaching more of these classes. As I understand it a couple times a year. Drop by his site and get in contact with him about dates and details. Its so worth it.


Once I sharpened the teeth I used another piece of pine off-cut to test my work. Another trick I learned from Mark. I scribe a square line and saw it, burying the saw to the back. If the saw follows the line, were good. If it appears to pull to one side or the other, a little sharpening stone on the toothline will adjust that.

This time things turned out just right. No stoning necessary.


Now would be the moment of real truth. Would the miter box give me accurate cuts? or would more adjustments be required?

I grabbed a piece of cherry scrap and gave it a shot.

90 degree cut checked out perfect. No light creeping under the trisquare blade when it was checked.

Encouraging, but what about 45 degree miters.


According to my miter square. Accurate as can be. Im a happy boy!

There is only one more thing Im curious about with this saw. Its a little steel disk with three holes. It was attached to the back of the saw when I bought it. It has two beveled screw holes flanking a threaded center hole.



In doing some research on this saw I downloaded a Stanley Tool Catalog from 1914 from a site called Rose Antique Tools. The part is listed as 109 a Stock Guide Plate.


And in the direct picture of the saw box, you can see it in use. Its obviously an attachment to set a repeatable cut for length. I just dont understand for sure how the Stock Guide works in conjunction with it.

I wonder if the stock guides I had made up should have one with an oblong slot down the center. After that its getting another thumb screw made. Im not sure Im ready to go through all of that, but it would be cool to know.



Ive looked around some and not found any reference or seen any pictures of this part in use in the wild, and Id like to know how it works. If you have one, or some good pictures of one, maybe youll consider sharing them with me. Please drop me a line at oldwolfworkshop@gmail.com so I can share that information here. Id appreciate it.

Either way, Im calling this done (at least for a while) Old tool rehabs like this are fun distractions, but I am always happier when Im done with them and can get back to making saw dust. There is a certain satisfaction in making sawdust with a tool youve saved from the scrap heap, and there is no better way to get to know and understand a tool intimately. In the end Id rather spend time fussing with wood instead of fussing with tools.

Ratione et Passionis
Oldwolf

Good Morning Everyone,

Ive given all the boxes one last look and Im happy with the shapes so the turning part of this project is concluded. Time to work on finishing them up. Since the cedar of Lebanon box is going to be stained, well do this one first.

All of the boxes require finish sanding and since these woods (with the exception of the ash wood lid from yesterday) are soft woods, sanding them wont take a great deal of time. I began sanding the cedar box with 120 grit sandpaper and ended with 600 grit. This extra fine sanding paper is really something I find that is really needed with softer woods as they tend to develop a very fine fuzz on the surface that can obscure the grain patterns in the wood. 600 grit paper will shave that away. If you have some 0000 steel wool, that will work as well and works very well with harder woods. Just be sure you dont press too hard while the wood is spinning or you will begin to cut into the wood.

Here is the cedar box after sanding:


Now yesterday I mentioned that I had decided to stain the box and Im going to do this now. The first step for this is to seal the wood. Soft woods really need this step and Ive done it for harder woods as well. Just using a stain on unsealed wood can result in a very blotchy or overly dark result as the density of wood fibers can vary quite a bit, especially in pine. Taking this step reduces that. Im using Minwax products today as Ive used them before and their results are quite predictable (this isnt an endorsement).


 So I placed the box back on the lathe and turned the speed down. I used gloves, a small foam brush to get inside of the box with, and laid a paper towel over the lathe bed. No point in mucking up my lathe!


Here are both the box and the lid after the application of the sealer:


I let the sealer soak in for about 30 minutes and then came back to take a look and to do the next step. The color of the box is really quite nice at this point and so is the lid. So Im going to give both pieces a thin coat of Minwax stain in natural to keep the color of both intact:


These are both pieces after staining and waiting about 5 minutes and then wiping the surface off. I like the colors. I think this is a much more interesting color combination that just leaving it natural:

Im going to leave this until later this afternoon and well come back and see what it looks like then. When the stain is dry Im going to use Minwax polyurethane on it to finish it.

A note about the stain color: golds in the form of varnishes, oils, and stains, can really enhance the color  and grain of wood. The change in the depth of the wood and the overall appearance of the piece can at times be breathtaking. The color of the stain I used today is a natural finish which is just about the color of honey. I probably will use this on the hackberry box and all of the other pieces later today.

VW