Stanley No. 4: Getting a Hand Plane Ready (Update)

Looking at shavings quality. 

The end of Part 1 concluded with the need of checking in with the Master Craftsman to make sure I'm on the right track. Late last week I went in and saw him. Although things looked great at first, we realized that I had crowned the sole. That is, the center was now higher than than edges.

We theorized that the reason this happened is because I was clamping the plane by a single wing (one of the metal sides) and wasn't supporting the other side, causing the sole to bow when I put pressure on it.

So I get to fix that.

We also reground the iron to 35 degrees over the 45 degree cut that I had put in. I'll need to work on honing the blade from there. Once I get the sole actually flattened, I'll be able to continue.

On a much happier note, I was asked if I would be willing to work in the woodshop over the summer with Rich (The Craftsman). As this woodshop is located on the campus I work at, it's something I can do during my normal job. Very exciting news. More details on that as it progresses!

And lastly, this past weekend I picked up a small Stanley 220 block plane and an old joiners woodworking square. I plan to take everything I learned from working with Rich to fix up the No.4 and fix the 220 without any assistance.

Been Quiet...

Pre-WWII era Stanley No. 4 Smooth Bench Plane!

Too quiet! I apologize, things at my day job along with a lot of other extra-curriculars have preoccupied my time immensely recently. The good news is I'm still in the shop futzing around every so often and today a real treat showed up. My significant other discovered an old Stanley No.4 bench plane for 20 bucks at an antique shop! In good condition too! 

What's even crazier is the sole is square and trued (you can test this by taking a carpenter's square to the plane - if there is a gap, you have some issues - there's a video below on how to fix that). The blade is sharp, but definitely needs some love to get it perfect. How cool is that?

I've also contacted a Master Woodworker and we have plans to meet in two weeks to talk shop and see if there's any scrap wood he would mind giving me to practice building things with. I'll be doing a full write up of that encounter! I am planning on picking up a significant Arduino kit to play with, but as it's almost April, taxes come first!

Since we are talking about hand planes, here are two great videos on getting them ready to work:

Practicing Woodworking

A solid start (left to right): A backcut saw, rubber mallet, pencil, x-acto knife, set of stanley chisels (1 3/4" to 1/4" widths), tape measure, a square rule,  hand plane, and the crosscut saw on top

It's been some time since I made a post and I apologize for that. I have been busy learning, reading, researching, etc... on all sorts of fronts. One of the endeavors I wanted to pursue is woodworking and I recently jumped back in (for those who don't know: I use to do woodworking in my early to mid teens, but fell out of the craft when I started my career in Technology).  I wanted to focus on craftsmanship and simplicity. I discovered a wonderful man by the name of Paul Sellers who has recently dedicated himself to teaching others his craft of hand-tool woodworking. He's been doing this for over 45 years and trained in traditional woodworking as an apprentice when he started at 15. Not only is he dedicated to his craft, but he is dedicated to doing things in a simple, elegant way that does not require thousands of dollars in tools and the latest gadgets. Why use a table saw with dados, guards, safety brakes, push bars, etc... when you can use a dove tail saw, chisel and mallet? I also have plans on talking with a master craftsman who works at my day job and hopefully start learning from him as well. So I have outfitted myself with the basic tools needed to get going (and Paul Sellers has a great article on buying cheap tools).

The nice thing about woodworking is that tools and skills are an "as needed" acquisition. I'll need some sharpening stones, but not yet because my items aren't dull. I'll also need to learn how to sharpen my tools... but we'll get to that when it comes. Same thing with a lot of items. This is different than the IT Industry in that you need to know 90% of the information up front before ever stepping onto the scene. (Hint: If you're techncian's troubleshooting or installation technique is "googling it", you are in trouble)

I've been practicing basics right now - cutting a straight line, using a chisel effectively, basic joinery, adjusting a hand plane for different jobs, it's appropriate usage, etc... I'm still not good at any of it yet, but I'm making progress.

Working on basic cuts and the use of chisels

I've been working on old 2x4's as I would hate to ruin a nice board with lousy cuts.

I also rebuilt an rickety table I had put together a year ago to get the litter box off the floor to dog proof the room. It now serves as a very solid workbench. Sadly I completely spaced taking progress pictures... Sorry! Check out the gallery for pictures of before and after.

Raspberry Pi Case (Part 3)

I have Raspberry Pi Case prototypes! None of them work correctly yet, but that's the point of prototypes. UPS thinks my street address no longer exists so I had to track the Shapeways package down for a pickup.

The laser cut version turned out pretty cool. I had to tweak the model to the width of the wood being used (5.7mm) to fit the box cut. Of course, I forgot the wood was 5.7mm and I modeled it for 5mm. Some of the issues were:

• The box cuts were a little loose,I didn't account for the laser's kerf.
• The openings didn't line up correctly to some of the ports
• Some ports wouldn't fit the cable due to the plastic shroud being larger than the port opening.
• I didn't make room for the USB flange
• And, of course, I didn't make the box cuts deep enough for the wood I was using.

3D Print Prototype

Two days after I sent my model to Shapeways, I realized it wouldn't work. Unfortunately I couldn't cancel my order by then. But before I made another model I wanted to wait to get this one in my hands to see what other issues, if any, it had.

First a Tip: I originally had the model printing at 5mm in thickness, it was going to cost over $70! By reducing the size to 2mm and cutting air holes into the top I reduced the cost to $34 and have since reduced the wholesale cost down into the 20's. Remember that shapeways prices based upon centimeter cubed of actual material, so optimizing your print can mean thinning walls, cutting holes, adding supports instead of solid walls, etc...

On to the issues:

• It had to have been during moving the box cuts and thickness down to 2mm, but the entire unit is too small. It's proportionate, but too small for the board.
• Ports obviously didn't line up
• The fingers are a little tight, but I'm afraid if they are looser, I'll have the same problem as the laser cut prototype.
• I didn't make room for the USB flange.

Overall, all very fixable items. I'll be working on it more this week and getting version 2's done up. My biggest challenge right now is making sure the port dimensions line up correctly (oddly harder than I thought considering I have all the dimensional drawings) and making room for the cable's flanges. I'm also working on developing some classical woodworking skills I'll be writing about in the coming weeks as well.

Ira Glass on Story Telling

This video is so important and rings so true with what this site is about, that I am not just going to post the link on twitter, but make it a permanent post on this website. To all of us starting out in reskilling ourselves, watch this video:

Ira Glass on Storytelling from David Shiyang Liu on Vimeo.