Today I needed to rip 24″ of 8/4 maple. Started out with my Shurley Dietrich 5 ½ rip saw and got about 5″ into it and the saw was veering to the left. I knew that the saw tracks left and so I purposely cut a bit proud of the line.
Anyway, I didn’t want to wreck the cut (or the wood) and since I couldn’t steer to the right no matter how hard I tried, I thought I would admit defeat and get out my circular saw to finish the cut with power. (Its been 8 months since I sold my Unisaw.)
I didn’t really want to do that, so I looked to my wall hung tool cabinet for help and gazed upon/fixed my eyes upon (I was going to use the word saw but didn’t want to add any confusion) a much, under used Japanese Ryoba saw. It’s the kind with rip teeth on one side and crosscut on the other. I had used it on spruce but never on hardwood.
I was quite impressed that it cut fairly quickly and that I had very good control to be able to stay 1/32“ proud of the line.
Total cutting time 10 mins. An additional 5 mins with a jack plane and a quick lick with a #7 and that was it.
Produced a bit of sawdust, shavings and sweat in the process.
And wouldn’t you know it, my wife comes into the garage just as I finished the cut and asked why I am in the garage in the winter with no shirt on? (winter comes early in northern Canada.)
I said nothing, knowing that the words would be lost anyway.
I had a good afternoon in the shop.
What about you?
Edited 11/13/2003 12:01:41 AM ET by DALEM10
Replies
Sounds like you had a good after-noon in the shop! ha..ha..
I took a nap without a shirt. The temperature was 72 degrees. I had a good nap in the shop. ha..ha..
:>)
sarge..jt
Hey yeah, me too. I was walking around in the shop without a shirt. I was wearing one, then I just took it off....it was a pretty decent time in shop...ha ha ha...
T H
Just the opposite today. 49 degrees and wind kicking about 20 to 25 knots. Life ain't perfect. I'll take the shirt.
Regards...
sarge..jt
Winter is about here, 40 outside this morning, 57 in the shop.
I washed off the 2 wood kayaks I need to deliver next week. Packed them up with the proper paper work, nice paddles, spray skirts, sponges and most important magnets for the hatch releases.
As I was leaving I paused to check on the wood blocks for my neice. 4x4x12 burls make almost 90 blocks and a real nice puzzle.
After I finish a bit of painting for my wife's business, I will start on more wood working.
A nother season passed.
I love my wife and she comes up with those lines all the time.
Her famous line is, Honey the check book is off by $ 250.00 , I thought you said that new tool only costs $ 75.00! ;-)
Cold front came thru here this morning. It's now down to 75 degrees! Brrrrr!
ps - I'm typing this here in my shop wearing my boxers!!!! Sure is nice to be retired!!!!
Spitfire - My wife used to spend endless hours agonizing over our checkbook, trying to account for every last penny. Finally, after watching this for 35 years, I said "Hon, have you ever found a mistake by the bank?"
She no longer balances the checkbook. When ever she want to know how much money we have, I just go online and tell her within a few seconds of her asking.
PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)PlaneWood
You're in your boxers and Sarge is working (or taking a nap) with his shirt off. Sure glad the pictures in the forum are limited to woodworking :-).
You guys need to move to a different climate if your going to be embarassing the rest of us this way LOL.
Jim
Good story. You painted a great word picture and I was almost able to feel the satisfaction myself.
To continue on with the spirit of your post, I had a similar experience a few days ago in the shop. I've been building a display cabinet from salvage pine, and had just finished gluing up the top. I saved one of the best boards for the top, but the darned thing warped on me, and the top was twisted. It wasn't severe enough to discard, but frustrating nonetheless.
At 16 inches wide, it was too wide for my planer, so I decided to tackle the top with my #4 smoother. I've been using planes more and more lately, but mostly for jointing edges. I've tried to surface the tops of boards a few times, but didn't have much luck.
I'm not sure why everything clicked this time, but perhaps it's a combination of having a very sharp blade, reading "The Handplane Book", watching Roy Underhill explain all the various planes on the Woodrights Shop, and lurking here for years soaking up all of the knowledge on this board.
Whatever the reason, I stood back after 1/2 an hour, wiped the sweat from my brow, and realized that I had made a glossy smooth and flat top with only a plane. No dust in the air, no whine of noisy machinery, just me and a pile of gossamer thin wood shavings.
That was a good day.
There are times when the most seemingly insignificant things are the most satisfying when they turn out well. You could take that glass smooth top to your neighbours or your co workers and explain to them that you did that with your #4 smoother. And point out all the shavings on the floor. And they would just look at you as if you are mental.
But you and I know different!
Those shavings are sometimes difficult to sweep up and throw away. They are more than a by-product of woodworking.
On the other hand, nothing is more frustrating than doing what you think should be just a quick hop and it ends up taking all morning or afternoon and it still didn’t turn out well.
I remember the time that I took a 3’ long 1x4 of maple. And put it between the bench dogs. My goal was to use my #7 and make the edge square with the flat face.
One face, one edge. Something suitable for edge gluing. No big deal, right?
Well after an hour or maybe more, I was finally satisfied that it was as perfectly close to square as it could get. But my gloat was quickly put to an end when I realised that my 1x4 was now a 1x2 and tapered from front to back, no less. Talk about feeling deflated!
I was concentrating so hard on making the edge square that I lost all frame of reference for the other edges. Thankfully it was a practice piece. But it was a great lesson that showed me that there are many aspects of 4 square lumber.
Thanks for sharing.
Take care and the LORD bless
daleM
Edited 11/13/2003 10:25:27 PM ET by DALEM10
Edited 11/13/2003 11:53:27 PM ET by DALEM10
I have a Christmas gift project underway - 40 maple picture frames, 12" x 16." The frame pieces have a cross section of 1.25" x .75." That's 160 total pieces, 80 of them 17 x 1.25 x .75. And 80 at 13 x 1.25 x .75.
I bring home about 30 board feet of rough maple, mostly 4-5 inches wide, 8-11 feet long, which gets deposited on my husband's side of the garage. He can't bring his car in when he comes home from work. He rolls his eyes in mock exasperation.
Next day, after lunch I go out to the garage workshop and start milling my stock. I always rip on the bandsaw (I LOVE the bandsaw, but that's another story).
1. Cross cut a few pieces into manageable lengths on the table saw.
2. Joint an edge of a 5" wide rough blank, rip to about 3/16 oversize of 1.25", joint that piece's face, place in "finished" stack (waiting for thickness planing in a few days).
3. Joint edge of (now, narrower) rough blank, rip, joint face, place in finished stack.
4. Joint edge, rip, joint face,
5. Get new rough blank, go to #1.
I'm getting in a groove. The bandsaw hums with its Timberwolf blade (which thinks the hard maple is butter). The jointer purrs and says, "Wizzzzzz," as I feed it rough stock. Occasionally I mis-judge the grain direction and get a little crackling feedback - tear out. Turn the piece end for end, take another pass, perfect. Joint, rip, joint rip, occasionally cross cut some stock, joint, rip, joint, place on stack.
3 hours later, done.
I have no dust collection system (no never mind), There is a massive, undisturbed pile of shavings overflowing the collection box under the jointer's discharge port. There is a soft, 4 inch deep pile of powder on the floor under the bandsaw, gently covering the legs of the saw stand and the saw's extension cord like maple-colored, new snow.
I look at the neat pile of 160 frame pieces cut to rough length and cross section. The stack looks tiny and insignificant, little perfectly rectangular ends and short lengths of maple.
"HONEY! Come out to the garage! Look! I've taken a big pile of lumber and made these two HUGE piles of shavings and sawdust . . . and . . . this little pile of sticks!
"You have sawdust all over you. You have sawdust in your eyelashes. Go take a shower," he says.
VL
Venicia,
Isn't that a typical male....you show hard work, talent, craftsmanship, perseverance...and all he says is..take your clothes off....lol
BG,
Yeah,
Look what it took to get him in the mood!
Woodworking, what an aphrodisiac!
(to paraphrase Mae West, that well-known wood finisher), "Is that a file handle in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?"
VL
Venicia,
Like most wives, your just a Saint in waiting...:-)
Dale,
Kicking and screaming though I might, I've reached the age where I have to face the fact that I no longer look all that good without covering up as much as I can. Sigh.
BTW, it sounds like you need to run a medium-fine slip stone along the left side of your rip saw.
Alan
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