Thread: sharpen and set

You're on your way now. One of the gateways to doing more work by hand because you'll never have to tolerate a half-dull saw.

Great work. A sharp and well set saw truly is a thing of beauty.

I too was amazed at how much better they perform after getting a good once over.

You are at the top of a very slippery slope - enjoy the ride!

thanks for all the encouragment.
two more this arvo.
There really isnt anything intimidating about it is there. just get in and do it.
Now that I am an expert I might tackle the auger bits.

Originally Posted by forunna

There really isnt anything intimidating about it is there. just get in and do it.
Now that I am an expert I might tackle the auger bits.

Another good thing to tackle! They work OK when they're in "good, but could use a touch up" shape. when they're freshly done, they work divinely.

I can't think of really truly hard in woodworking that lines up to being intimidating other than a glue up with two hands too few, or a blank sheet of paper and the command to create a design that will be timeless and never be improved or preferred less than another.

the whole of hand tool woodworking is a whole bunch of surprisingly related things - as you add bricks, they support more than one foundation and the more bricks you add, the greater the number of foundations the next one seems to bolster.

Nice looking saw vise

You guys should stop it, you all know he’s on the slope already, he docent need any more pushing [emoji849].

Great too see your sharpening saws.

Cheers Matt.

Originally Posted by D.W.

.....I can't think of really truly hard in woodworking that lines up to being intimidating other than a glue up with two hands too few, or a blank sheet of paper and the command to create a design that will be timeless and never be improved or preferred less than another......

Well I find plenty of things to intimidate me! Like a little while ago when I was using the last bit of a very special wood for a tricky part that had to match the rest of the piece and almost shaking with fear I'd stuff it up.

Or speaking of "stuffing" - fitting over-stuffing in a new plane with a very expensive (for me) bit of very hard & uncooperative wood was another job that had me intimidated at the start.

Both cases had a happy ending, I'm pleased to say, but there were some anxious moments....

Cheers,

Oh yeah, and I'll add my congratulations for the saw-sharpening. I won't say you'll never use a dull saw again (it's always hard to stop & sharpen any tool when you are just a few minutes from finishing the job), but you'll definitely notice when y9our saws need attention...

Originally Posted by Mountain Ash

Nice looking saw vise

yeah, one of my life philosophies changed a few years ago from "make do and just get it done" to "the right tool makes any job more pleasurable"
It applies to many things. (and loads up the shed shelves with many tools)

Originally Posted by IanW

Well I find plenty of things to intimidate me! Like a little while ago when I was using the last bit of a very special wood for a tricky part that had to match the rest of the piece and almost shaking with fear I'd stuff it up.

Or speaking of "stuffing" - fitting over-stuffing in a new plane with a very expensive (for me) bit of very hard & uncooperative wood was another job that had me intimidated at the start.

Both cases had a happy ending, I'm pleased to say, but there were some anxious moments....

Cheers,

Oh yeah, and I'll add my congratulations for the saw-sharpening. I won't say you'll never use a dull saw again (it's always hard to stop & sharpen any tool when you are just a few minutes from finishing the job), but you'll definitely notice when y9our saws need attention...

Oh, boy, I've ruined stock - won't contend that. I try to "keep everything in front of me" if stock is one of a kind and make sure I double think things with some time between thoughts.

Worst I ever ruined stock probably was about a 7x4x14 block of bois de rose. Try to find something like that! The wood is findable, but in pieces of that size, hard to do, and it was sold to me as an estate find by another woodworker for $50. It was dried out, old, and wonderful to work, but I wondered why "cocobolo" was so compliant without being soft or oily, and "why does it look vivid purplish red?" I'd like to at this point have made a better plane out of it, and figured out after the fact what it was. It oxidizes brown, anyway, but I hear my friend George talking constantly about wood that he hasn't cracked open and never will because there's too much of it and he was afraid he couldn't think of a project that would do it justice.

Saw sharpening is a great example, though, of, it gets better pretty quickly if you think of what you want to do with the teeth and then just figure out how to do it, and even mediocre results are 10x better than dull saw.

maybe we should have a "man's prayer" or absolution. "today, I forgive myself for all mistakes and all rare materials ruined before today, for today I can do things better because of those mistakes".

Yes, I think we agree fully here, and it's been a common theme ever since the forum began. Amateur or pro., we all learn by doing, & doing inevitably leads to the occasional mistake - the only way not to make mistakes is either do nothing at all, or proceed so carefully & so meticulously it would take all the fun out of it.

But part of the fun for many of us is expanding our repertoire, which often means we have to push past our former comfort zone. "Intimidating" may be a bit of an exaggeration for the feeling you have when you know you are about to try something tricky you haven't tried before that could easily end in disaster. I guess some folks manage it, but I have never lost my slight nervousness when extending myself, or doing something that has to be spot on first time or the consequences will be a badly compromised job.

A very good example of the latter is fitting the stud for an adjuster on low-angle planes. It can't be done until the plane is virtually finished, which adds to the angst:
Adj 2.jpg

The hole for the stud has to be drilled at an angle into the back piece of the plane so that it is exactly parallel to the bed and within a fraction of a mm of the exact spot vertically or the disc won't remain fully engaged with the blade throughout its travel. There is no 'second attempt' possible & if either of those are off, you either forget about a screw adjuster or cut out the rear cross-piece & fit a new one (not a job I'd relish!).

My method is laughably primitive by machine-shop standards: a home-made DP vise and a couple of clamps for extra stability once the plane is set up in the right position:
2 drilling stud hole.jpg

It takes meticulous setting-up & careful cross-checking, and a very slow start with a centre -bit to form a counter-sink the pilot bit will follow without deviating, but so far (touch wood!) I've gotten away with it on over a dozen planes. However, I'm still nervous each time I do one, and can't help feeling that sooner or later, I'm going to slip-up on one.....

Cheers,