[sawdustfactory]

Today is day one of "Hand Tool Heaven" at the Port Townsend School of Woodworking.

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I'll spend the next 5 days learning proper hand tool use from Jim Tolpin, author of "The NewTraditional Woodworker. I have a fully equipped bench with a mix of older Stanley/Bailey, Lee Valley/Veritas, and Lie Nielsen tools. We will learn many different skills by building tools that make hand tool use easier/more rewarding.

Today we started with a straight edge made out of pine. Here's a pic of a flattened face.

Next is a pic of the edge being checked with a reference.

Next shows the shaping, which was done with a draw knife (first time ever using one of those), a spoke shave and a rasp. Oh yeah, after ripping off a majority of the waste.

Finally the hanging holes and handle were drilled with a bit and brace, cut with a keyhole saw and cleaned up with rasp/files.

Tomorrow we will fine tune the edge if needed and start to apply an oil finish, followed by some shellac later in the week. Tomorrow we graduate from pine to maple and walnut for a pair of winding sticks. Stay tuned

 

[firehawkmph]

Looks like fin SD. Keep posting as you go. And don't go getting all uppety on us when you get back. You'll be cussing us out for using our joiner or want us to banish all our corded tools.:laughing:
Mike Hawkins

 

[firemedic]

Have fun, man! It's all over now!

 

[sawdustfactory]

I'll still use power but wanted to really learn hand tools. I'll post pics every day after class.

 

[ACP]

I'm pretty darn jealous. Have fun, hope you get a lot out of it!

 

[MasterSplinter]

Very lucky. Wish i could do that.

 

[sawdustfactory]

Day 2. Lots of planing today. Learned how to properly square an edge to a reference face; how to get the opposite edge parallel; glue rub joints; 2 different ways of ripping (on a saw bench or at the work bench; tapering a face with hand planes; and crosscuts with a back saw.

Also learned, well got some practice with freehand sharpening. Not a lot of pics today, but here's where one half of my winding sticks is at.

Will finish the tapering of both tomorrow and angle the ends and then onto the next project.

 

[ryan50hrl]

I gotta give you hand tool guys some credit.....that looks exhausting to me....


LOL

 

[sawdustfactory]

I won't lie to ya, I'm pretty tired. The worst though is my feet...not used to being on them for the better part of 8 hours.

 

[Dominick]

I won't lie to ya, I'm pretty tired. The worst though is my feet...not used to being on them for the better part of 8 hours.

Well I'm tired just from reading about all that work. Laughing!!!
Good for you dusty. Always a good feeling to use hand tools once in awhile.

 

[nbo10]

I'm super jealous.

 

[Hackberry]

I've been wanting to make a square. Will that be covered?

 

[sawdustfactory]

Hack, that's day 5, time permitting. We'll start it, but I'm not sure if well have time to get it finished.

 

[SeniorSitizen]

Hand plane etiquette. I was taught to never lay a plane down in the orientation seen in the pic. They were to be laid in their side. That was in the days when the only 3 strikes and you're out rule was in baseball.

If the rule was violated you got one warning. The next was a reminder in the form of a swat that usually improved memory considerably.

 

[sawdustfactory]

We discussed that. Laying them on there side leaves the blade exposed to a possible ding from another tool. It also makes them easier to be knocked off the bench. Our instructor also mentioned looking at numerous photos/paintings/drawings of woodworkers and shops and in all they were sole down. As for me, I prefer them sole down as its more natural to pick them up. I pass no judgement as to how anyone wants to set theirs ;-)

 

[firemedic]

We discussed that. Laying them on there side leaves the blade exposed to a possible ding from another tool. It also makes them easier to be knocked off the bench. Our instructor also mentioned looking at numerous photos/paintings/drawings of woodworkers and shops and in all they were sole down. As for me, I prefer them sole down as its more natural to pick them up. I pass no judgement as to how anyone wants to set theirs ;-)

+1
Absolutely true. A wooden bench won't damage a plane's iron.

 

[Phaedrus]

I am super jealous. I need to plan a wood-cation like that (next time I have both free time and money!).

As for planes, I generally just try to set them face down with the toe set on a small scrap so that they are right side up, but blade off of bench/other surface. So far so good, but then again I only have half a clue of what I'm doing most of the time :yes:.

 

[BKBuilds]

I would really like to hear how the winding sticks are made.

 

[sawdustfactory]

Day 3 -more planing and sawing practice. Today we started by finishing our winding sticks, planing them that is. Shellac will happen later. We applied a coat of tung oil to our straight edge and practiced precise saw cuts before lunch.

After lunch we started working on the base for our bench hook/shooting board. Here I am ripping to width.

Can you say smile for the camera?

After crosscutting to size, we started on making the board "6 square". Well I got 1 face flat and the opposite face parallel or coplanar.

We also learned about story or tic sticks and using body proportions for layout. My bench hook will be 1 hand span wide, 2 long and the stop will be set at 1.5 hand spans. We also touched on how this relates to all different measurements in the tools.

One last tidbit for today: here they refer to planes by foreplane, try plane and smoother rather than by number. Fore plane because its "before" the others. Try plane because it makes the wood "tried and true". And smoother, well because it smooths. The fore plane has a radius to the blade and here is a number 4. We're using a low angle jack in #5 and a # 3 as the smoother. We also have access to a 6, 7, and 8 to try.
BK, once I get home and can type on a computer instead ofmy phone, I'll be happy to give more detail on the winding sticks and anything else for that matter.

 

[sawdustfactory]

Sorry for the repeated pic but my phone is loading very slow here in the sticks. It was supposed to be this one.