My latest loots :-)

As usual when the going get tough, the tough goes shopping... for tools.

I've been keeping an eye on Kijiji (sort of on line flea market list) for tools around here, except that I enlarged my territory, I now see all listings province wide :-) Car trip!

There is also a local business (Bargain Harley in Berwick NS) which has lots of liquidation stocks from past business, which means when foraging thru I sometimes find New Old Stock (NOS) Stanley tools and bits from various eras.
They have a similar well stocked (NOS) hardware section, so it is also a good place to check for your project's hardware first. That is where I usually buy screw's by the bucket and piano hinges etc.

I have been looking for a long time to complete my set of Irwin's brace bits. I have 3 missing from a complete set of 13, and I could never find them, or they want a fortune... Saw my Lincoln coming from afar :-)

As mentioned above, I often rummage thru the drill bits section at Bargain Harley, you'll find some pretty good find, including most sizes of auger bits NOS. So I bite the bullet and paid about CDN $8 each. Sizes 13 (13/16) 14 (7/8) 15 (15/16).

My three missing sizes... in good shape :-)

NOS made in 1995 (21 years old) and the remainders 2003 (13 years)

Notice they are all made in Brazil?

Today I got the call to go visit someone garage from an ad I responded on Kijiji.
This gentleman was selling a bunch of handsaw for CDN $3 each, about 70 or so in all. Some D12, D7, D8 etc.  I just had to go...

This is what I found.

The saw pile is getting smaller it has been picked 

at least twice before my turn.

I went thru it, picked a few while talking to the gentleman. I explained to him that I surely did not wanted the whole pile just a few, I already have 67 do I really need more?? He said OK, but when I tallied up my saws he said the $3 ea was if I bought the whole lot, the six I had would be $50. Nah, way too much, so I pare it  back to 3 and asked if he had anything else to sale. Braces and planes was his answer. Oh, my eyes must have perk up, cause he made me a deal I could not pass, CDN $5 for any braces, picked the only plated Sheffield brace.
I passed on the usual Stanley No 5 and etc, but found this Chiv or Howel plane, mine for CDN $20, so I gave him CDN $25 for his three saws and everyone is happy :-)

Yes, $25 is too much for these 3 saws, but i got a heck of a good deal on the rest so, I don't mind and we both shook on it.

Now remember me not to wear black denim the next time I go rust hunting in a dusty wood shop, I was kind of gray when I got back to Rudy waiting for me in the car.

So what was so special about these 3 saws that I was willing to pay $9 ea (45/5 = 9).

That one has a rarely seen H Smith St-Catherines Ontario medallion.

This will later become Shurley Dietrich in Galt Ontario, 

then in the 1930s Shurley-Dietrich-Atkins

Disston, warranted superior. 

Not quite what I thought, but I'll take it.

The carving on the handle threw me off :-)

That handle is not stained it is some sort of dark hardwood.

That one has nothing special... except; it is my all time favorite comfortable handle, AND it has three medallions. Doubt very much it came with three and look how wrong the handle hang angle look on that saw plate.

Our thrust line is going up, not toward the tooth line!!!

Can you say, replacement? Don't care I am after the three donor medallions :-)

But here are my prized $9 scoop:

A Chiv or Howell (not to be confused with the similar looking Croz or Groove plane)

They don't always have a side handle and 

that one has a wooden cap iron screw in, older's have a wedge

look at that gaping mouth...

This tool was designed for dry cooperage or sometimes small wet casks. The differences? Wet cooperage is made principally of white oak a hard wood, dry cooperage used softer cedar, pine etc.

This make sense given its location, in the middle of what was once one of the biggest exporting region of apples (dry cooperage) in the British Empire; the Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia. Today more and more apple orchards are turning into vineyards instead. More money into wine than apples I suppose...

And then this sad looking British Sheffield plated brace. So called because it has brass plates on both sides held by steel screws (never brass) which of course caused corrosion. It look sad because the wood is dry and dirty, it will clean up just fine.

Push button chuck.

There is some play (too much) in the head, but that is an easy fix.

I'll show you how later.

See the markings between the chuck end and the button?

Hard to read but once clean should be clear.

  I am happy, Rudy is happy, seen more doggies and peoples today. We went out for supper at a friend's place. Great food great company, we are now both tired :-)

Good nite

Things on the go AKA get busy

When you are going thru a bout of depression... Get busy!

It's the best way I know to get thru it, been there done that. Lost a few good brother in arms thru the years, never easy, but you carry on, because that's what you have to do to survive...

Losing a love one dying slowly under your eyes is lot harder, but i'll get thru it.
I have two wonderful kids, a small doggy companion and lots of friends counting on me so Keep calm and carry on we shall.

Anyway, all this to say, I'm trying to kick up a notch my level of distractions.
And if anyone is wondering, yes, blogging help.

This past winter we did not had much snow, but lots of strong winds and freezing rain. A bad combination for trees.

I lost a tree and quite a few branches here and there.

That small cherry tree by the shed lost two trunks

Right across from my driveway, the neighbor lost a pine tree

That was in February, hence the snow, but it was not until mid April that I finally cut the broken trunks down...

I needed to clear the path in front of the shed 

in order  to get to the deck furniture.

That was quite a sizable wound and I'm worry 

about the remainder trunks, they lost a great deal of strength

  

So weeks later, I decided that the tree should come down.
That call for a chainsaw. I maybe a Galoot, but I know when to use "assistant" gas powered or otherwise :-)

My "tailed assistant'' :-)

View after cutting off all the trunks. As you see it grew

 from numerous small trunks that grew into one.

Not a very strong "main trunk" 

This is the small pile of stuff I keep

Hoping to get some good small pieces out of it

Surely there are at least a few good pen blanks in there :-)

Rudy directing where all the branches and etc should go.

Wow look at the size of some of those twigs Dad!

Good job Rudy you deserve a treat!

That was at the end of Apr, that I finally reduce the tree to a pile of branches.
I cut the grass once before, around it, but now it is grand time to clean up so I can mow the grass properly around the shed. Also needed to go thru my pile of salvaged wood, run some thru the bandsaw and stack it to dry properly.
It is a lot easier to resaw green wood than dry.

As I was typing that this morning, it dawn on me that my wood pile has been drying for a good month by now, so much for green wood...
So may as well get off my computer chair and finish that job...

Last load of branches and twigs

The wood I'm keeping is now piled on dry cement, better than in the grass.

You can really see how much it has dried already. 

Notice how it is drying from outside-in?

Rudy has declared that pile of sticks 'HIS'

by marking it. Beware other animals, that pile is mine, all mine.

Enough yard work for now, but soon, I'll tackle resawing some to see what I can get from it. Some would be turned, carved or perhaps made into small lumber pieces?? I kept a bunch of forks, not sure why yet, but :-)

You may remember that another of my shop reorganization project is to built a proper bottom cabinet for my antique joiner chest.

That small chest currently resides on a Rubbermaid container 

After banging my toes on a small chest in the basement, that we once used as a coffee table, I realized as I was hopping around on one foot cursing it, that it would probably do the job nicely.
So I dragged it down to the shop to try it. Dragged you said? Well yes, it currently is holding my vinyl collection of LP records I keep, like my original Beatles albums and etc. Heavy thing...
One of these day, I shall hook up my fancy turntable with a moving coil cartridge and a pre-pre-amp...ahhh, but I digress and my toe is still making its presence known. And I need new (old) amp and speakers, sigh!

Look at lot more dignified for that small tool chest

It is currently sitting about an inch lower than on the Rubbermaid container, but for now that will do. I'm going to experiment by putting a wheeled platform under the bottom chest and check various height till I find my ideal ''Pain free'' height. It will also let me experiment with my final dimensions.

Meanwhile I received in the mail the No 8 lever cap that Ralph sent me.

Then there was that strange sound in the background...

Pieces of bubble wrap are strewed all over the carpet

Following the traces back we find... a clue to whom may be the culprit??

Somebody left a clue behind...

My Stanley No 8, did not came with the proper lever cap and blade. It has a Record blade and a Stanley No 7 lever cap.

Record No 8 blade

No 7 versus No 8 lever cap

No 7 lever cap

Proper No 8 lever cap, much better fit.

Thanks a lot Ralph...

Then I still have the boring till on the go and a lot of tools awaiting their turns to be restored.

The beam boring machine is still in parts on my bench, that Langdon miter box I picked up the other day will need total dis-assembly and clean up. Probably a good candidate for a paint job.

I got the swing arm to move freely, phew!

Yeah for Liquid Wrench!

That is an interesting feature, which I believed only shows up on MF-Langdon miter box, an adjustable width between the front post and the fence

Roughly 2 extra inches. Nice touch...

But you better have lots of rigidity in that adjustment. 

Those No 12 Breast drills don't have much japanning left, I'm thinking maybe I ll try a repaint job. It is not something I normally do, but I want to try a complete restoration job. Depending on my results I will either do a few more or send my failed attempts to Wiktor Kuc for a real good make over job :-)

So that should keep me occupied until...Squirrel! 

Oh yeah, almost forgot. This being the month of June, I'm supposed to participate in the world famous Brian Eve's build a chair in the month of June-ish on line extravaganza. So I better start giving it some thoughts.

Probably some sort of shop chair, with built-in WiFi, beer holder, 8 way power adjust with lumbar support and etc.

Hummm do I still need two seats up front in my Lincoln?

Bob, doing some therapy blogging :-)

Woden No 0110

A slow day today, awaiting friends to go thru Heather stuff and sort it.
This morning I took Rudy to my usual local Week End Flea market. There is often tools hidden in there.

Rudy right away spotted this little block plane, it look promising, so took a closer look.

It is a Woden No 0110, Woden (who would be merged with Record later) copy of the ubiquitous Stanley No 110.

As block planes goes, the No 110 is rather crude, but there are multitudes of versions out there by whom ever made planes.
A solid built No 110 like a vintage Stanley or Record etc. is a good performer.
It also can minimize the wear on your "other" block plane: The No 65- 1/2 or equivalent.
Similarly if your work is smaller scale a No 102 or 103 would be a good choice.

A solid, basic block plane is a very handy tool to have around the house, not just in your shop!

So once Rudy and I came back home, I did my usual treatment for a "new" lump of rust. A bunch of pics, before and after initial treatment and assess its condition. The casting is solid, there are no broken parts, the only serious defect is the pitted and worn area in front of the mouth. That's bad and will have to be lapped down below it. Thankfully, this is a good solid and thick casting made in jolly old England :-)

Here are the before (as bought) and after (after initial clean up)
And... NO... I did not paid the sticker price -)

You can see the bad area in front of the mouth in this pic. Mostly middle of the mouth wear, which is very typical.

But for now, that is sufficient to go rejoin its brethren into my plane tills and update my files etc.

The blade would also be sharpen next time it is coming up to bat and there is a nick in it.

All in all, a perfect plane to put into my son's kit.

Bob, reeking of WD-40...hummm maybe I should let the ladies go thru her closets without me... :-)