mumble grumble - what the?

[Clinton1]

I've joined the local Mens Shed... injuries are keeping me out of the workforce at the mo', and I started going mad(er) being at home all the time.
(yes, there is a point to this post.... read the last few lines if you are impatient)

Instead of just using their machines for my own self interested purposes (the original reason for joining the Shed), I've been suckered into being the 'official Shed sharpening bloke'.
:(
Originally I went there and took in a little job I wanted to finish off... which needed a chisel, which needed sharpening, which led me to sharpen all their chisels, which led me to being nominated as the 'sharpening bloke'.

Now they have gone and bought a "Nova" sharpening station to put on the 8" grinder so I can sharpen all the chisels and the lathe tools .... which is driving me buggy.

The Nova drama:

I don't want to be the Sharpening bloke.
Today I pulled apart the Nova station from the grinder (which is mounted on the bench I had to make for the "special" sharpening grinder) which one of the 'boss men of the shed' originally mounted (when he got impatient with the amount of time I was spending thinking about how it would be mounted).
Yes, I had to hide the fact that I was mounting it differently from that fellow... now that the station is mounted correctly I started grinding chisels.
I don't have a grinder at home and and am very content with not having one e.g. I use a 120 grit stone to 'grind' the major bevel, and re-grind on the 120 stone when the minor bevel gets too large.

I also am allergic to Camphor Laural... which is all the turners seem to use. The grinder is in the lathe room.

So there I am, measuring and checking, waiting for the 'boss bloke' to turn his attention elsewhere (so I can change the way he has set things out).... ducking and diving out of the lathe room as the camphor laurel builds up in my system.... only to find that the Nova system has been put on backwards and that I've been blindly following that way of mounting the Nova, instead of thinking it through myself. That sorted... I started burning chisels.
:(

And I've spent so much time on the Nova setup that I could have sharpening all the chisels by hand a few times over.

For some reason I have forgotten how to say NO.
(and they have a lot of unfettled planes and blunt saws and dull drill bits.... oh man... I only went there to use their jointer/thicknesser... which they don't have. :doh:) I feel like I've been smacked in the side of the head and I'm standing there looking around for the bloke that hit me.

Mens Sheds... watch out for the older blokes they'll make you think it was your own idea to go looking for striped paint.

[artme]

You now know where not to go when you retire!!!!:p:D

[BobL]

What I would do is sharpen the chisel you need plus just 1 or 2 more. That way you are still contributing but not being taken advantage of.

[Pat]

Clint, it's not just men's shed, woodwork clubs are like that. You just mention that most of your machinery at home is second hand and you had to do some maintenance on them . . . whamo you are "volunteered" to be the Maintenance boy. Also watch out for the blokes that see that you are competent and confident in using a table saw or bandsaw, you end up spending your time "just a couple little cutting jobs":U

It's the camaraderie that makes it all worth while.

[tea lady]

Now you know how to set up the nova system can you post a WIP? :D :run:

[Sebastiaan56]

Sound like any voluntary group to me. So when my time comes I'll make sure I'm the expert at tasting beer :-)

[Cliff Rogers]

Yup, I'm a computer bloke, fix computers for a living, I do woodwork as a hobby.
I went along to the local Men's Shed (that meet on a work day) to find some like mined woodworkers & suddenly I was doing what I normally get paid to do for free. :rolleyes:
I didn't join.

[BobL]

Yup, I'm a computer bloke, fix computers for a living, I do woodwork as a hobby.
I went along to the local Men's Shed (that meet on a work day) to find some like mined woodworkers & suddenly I was doing what I normally get paid to do for free. :rolleyes:
I didn't join.

I had similar experiences with computers and my family/friends and people at work. I wasn't doing it for a living but got into PCs through work in the late 70's so when they started becoming common in the 1980's lots of people (including complete strangers who had heard I knew something) were ringing me up or bringing PCs around for me to look at and I was spending way too much time sorting out other peoples PC problems. In 1994 I discovered an out, I started using a mac laptop and said I didn't know anything about PCs. It took a couple of years for the word to get around but eventually the requests for PC help dried up but in the meantime the people with mac problems started coming out of the wood work. Fortunately there were a lot less mac users (especially at work)and they had far fewer problems, than PC users so I didn't mind helping them.

[Christos]

.... I've been suckered into being the 'official Shed sharpening bloke'.....

Well done on being there to help.

This sort of reminds me of a story that was retold to me the other day. Give a man a fish and he will eat for the day, teach a man to fish and he will eat everyday.

Feel free to use this saying to teach people how to sharpen.




..... In 1994 I discovered an out, I started using a mac laptop and said I didn't know anything about PCs.......

Now come on, those that are familiar with computers know that this is not true. :q




.... Mens Sheds... watch out for the older blokes they'll make you think it was your own idea to go looking for striped paint.

I got to learn how to do that. :bleh:

[BobL]

Originally Posted by BobL http://www.woodworkforums.com/images/buttons/viewpost-right.png (http://www.woodworkforums.com/f11/mumble-grumble-what-177625/#post1705939)
..... In 1994 I discovered an out, I started using a mac laptop and said I didn't know anything about PCs.......



Now come on, those that are familiar with computers know that this is not true. :q :bleh:

Hey I wasn't playing to anyone that new much about computers to begin with.

[wheelinround]

What everyone has said :roll:

Clinton may I suggest you contact Jim Davey "The Plane Man" and the club pay for a workshop on sharpeing tools. :U

Advanced Hand Plane Skills with Jim Davey
Sunday, 3 November 2013
When: 9.30am to 3.30pm

Where: 26 Pomeroy Street, Strathfield

Learn how to use hand planes to achieve precision and quality finish and experience what a
correctly fettled plane can do.

Bring your metal and wood planes and timber.
A good idea is to bring both planes you have tuned for an expert assessment of
how you are going, as well as planes you have yet to attack. New planes need tuning as well, so
bring those, especially those that don't seem to work "out of the box".

Jim Davey and Bob Crosbie will introduce you to the arsenal of special purpose planes and user made
planning jigs. Included will be:
Bench and special purpose planes plus planing jigs and devices
The Bailey type Planes, Infill planes, Wooden Planes, Scraper planes
Combination planes, Ploughs and Fillisters
The Trenching plane, Moulding planes, Spokeshaves and more!
Planing Boards, Shooting Boards


The workshop will include repairs, sole flattening, sharpening and set up.
Materials, spare parts and fettled planes will be for sale during the workshop.

Cost: $20 for financial TTTG members or $40 for non members.

This way they will know as much as you do and no excuses

[Clinton1]

Hey all... I didn't think that my whinge would produce so many replies.


Tea Lady:
The Nova system will not get a WIP, as (and I've gotta be careful here...) as it seems to be a continual WIP. The system gives you a registration plate to bed the chisel to, and that plate has a scale to read off/set the degrees that you are working off the stone at.
The trouble is that the grinder stone is continually getting smaller as you use it and as you dress it.
This makes the scale useless AFAIK, which means that you need to get out the protactor and set the angle and then set the chisel rest to the angle.
Maybe I just can't work it out... but lets think of it like this "you have a 8" diameter stone and you set the angle on the tool rest against the stone surface to read 25 degrees... grind away till you have a 4" diameter stone." ???
If I made this tool/jig I'd not register against the stone surface.
Anyway, the Nova has defeated me.

to everyone else -
Yeah, its a bit buyer beware :rolleyes: