Updated Bio
Wow, I cant believe I've been not on my first bench for a year now. I am
ashamed to admit that a workbench a fourteen year old turned out in day
has taken me over year. In that time I've acquired a few tool and some
new skills, but I still haven't built my first bench. I've gotten up to
chopping a few practice mortises and cut some unsatisfactory tenons.
The wood for the base is all planed but not much further. Most of the
delay I attribute to figuring out how to build it with out resorting to
power tools, and maybe cowardliness. At least I can lay claim to
knowing more than I did a year ago and have read Jim Landis's book on
benches twice. In my original BIO below, I introduced myself and nothing
much has changed. And today I take the first cut on assembling the
base.
B
Hello all,
Tonight I just made my first shavings with what I think is an oldish
no.4 Stanley block plane. 'least I think it's a Stanley as marked on
the lever cap and its' remaining japanning is a kind of puke
brown/purple color. There are no other manufacture's mark on the plane.
The iron is from Ohio Tool co. Most likely it's a mash up of parts. I
spent about 3 weeks lapping the iron and sole to get here. Now its time
to de- lurk and introduce myself.
My name is Pete but I answer to most anything. Like several of this
august body I am a computer desk jockey, performing claim automation for
Blue cross blue shield of PA by day. I'm an average joe, with a house
and a need to fix/create things. Along with the house I have also
collected the usual accessories of a good life; wife, 3 daughters, pets
etc.
My shop is any free area in the garage that isn't already in use. (does
anyone actually park their car in these things?) I got started in wood
working with a table saw about ten years ago that I used mostly for home
repairs/remodeling, ripping plywood and 2x4. My interest in real ww
started with the need for a stable work platform, a bench if you will.
After figuring out what sort of bench to get/make I chose a wood working
bench based on size and form. I read up on ww benches for a bout a year
before actually deciding what I wanted and what material I'd use. Since
I'm relatively unskilled for my first bench Im going with the cheap fast
work bench I found at
http://skyvis.best.vwh.net/projects/bench/index.html. It seems to fill
a lot of requirements for me; i.e. cheap, get to play with tools I don't
know how to use, will be useful when I'm done, and learn about joinery.
This is what led me to my adventure with hand planes. Now, I'm looking
for a good deal on a jointer and/or jack plane to restore. Pointers and
recommendations would be appreciated.
I don't consider myself to be a Galoot in the truest sense, more of a
Neanderthal since my aim isn't collecting so much as using tools. I
look forward to gaining a lot more knowledge from reading the post here.
Hopefully I'll get to meet some of you if you're local to the South
Jersey/ Philly area.
Pete
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