When you want to study tools, you necessarily accumulate a few...
In theory as they come in the house they go thru my indoctrination process. Cleaned, assess, document update records etc.
Yes, it is a good theory, but in practice some tend to be put away until I can get to them. If I forget to update it soon after, they can go for a while... longer
I said it before, it is both a bane and a privilege to have many examples to study and yes, use.
Do you have any idea how long it would take to sharpen 193 planes (my updated number this AM)???
That is why as I go thru them, the last thing left to be done is sharpening. That get done when its turn comes up to play.
Stanley No 9-1/4 block plane in need of some love
Stripped, photographed
Wash with Krud Kutter, then Evaporust
Cleaned, de-rusted, lubricated.
Ready to go in the till.
NOTE No sandpapers were used, strictly Evaporust and wire wheel.
So as I go thru them all, I update also my computer files, making sure my numbers are correct and all accounted for. Once in a blue moon, ideally once a year, I take all my planes out, to make sure they are all accounted for, check on their conditions, de-rust as needed, cleaned and put away.
I noticed this time, two woodies have the start of some mildew. They will all be wiped down before going back in storage.
Hollow & Rounds, found a few more after this pic. I have 28 of them.
When handling woodies in and out of storage, a plane hammer is a must.
The wedge and blade will either be loose or tight.
Something I meant to do for a few years...
Measure their blades in prevision to account for duplicates and missing Nos
They are all pushed in flush. Notice the slight variations in length.
The longest sticking out happens to be one of the oldest in that grouping
That means many trips back and forth to my Man cave bathroom to wash, soak in Evaporust, rinse then wire wheel the object(s). A never ending story right now :-)
Rounding up the bench planes, woodies.
Part of the fun is to match the loose blades and wedges :-)
Thankfully, I have pictures to help me.
So I still got a few more days ahead of me. I do not take everything else out of storage to physically account for them. Right now, I concentrate on the category I know I made some acquisitions recently.
Of which there are a few to go thru and a line up for a dip in Evaporust :-)
Bob, reeking of Evaporust, WD40 and if I am not careful I will aggravate my wrist at the keyboard
Thinking very seriously on retiring so I can play full time with my herd. Of course I have a wee bit of catching up to get a distance third to you.
ReplyDeleteOh no trust me you do not want that many tools... Its a curse in our climate... Rust never sleeps :-(
DeleteBob
Wow, that #9 1/4 looked so rough and came out looking so nice. And isn't it interesting on the H&Rs that you can have the same size iron, but very different overall widths of the plane body (looking at your two 3/8" H and two 1/4" H planes).
ReplyDeleteHi Matt
Deleteyes it came out pretty good and it was quick. Longest was the soak in Evaporust :-)
When I first lay them out there I simply rearranged them by their apparent thickness, I was surprised too by that difference, never quite noticed it before.
Bob, whose digital domain count and physical world count are only off by 3 this morning :-)
Bob
Bob,
ReplyDeleteThe only reason I have as many tools as I have is Arizona. If we end up moving back to Oregon (which I doubt) more than 1/2 would have to find a new home. Any bids :-).
It can be a lot of work just to keep the rust off much less sharp and ready to use.
ken
Good point Ken, you are correct: It is a full time job, just to keep up with the rust and wood preservation. The only sane explanation I can come up with for doing this is... It's a labour of love :-)
DeleteSharp on the other hand is a labour of necessity :-)
Bob, whose magnetic personality attract lump of rust AKA tools
You must be why magnetic north keeps moving around.
ReplyDeleteWhat is your remedy for mildewed woodies?
You know...I've been wandering up north, mostly flying around :-)
ReplyDeleteMildew: First wear gloves and mask. Must kill and remove source of "food" on wood. Rarely is it attacking the wood (at first) its mostly the finish on it or a splatter etc.
Why don't I make a post on how I do that, I have to put them away after I cleaned them.
Suffice to say that I run a dehumidifier full time in my basement shop, I monitor the temp and humidity. Incidentally the two woodies which shows signs are somewhat recent purchases (months). But to be safe, each one will be wiped clean before going back into till, after till itself has been wiped cleaned also.
Blog coming up as I do all that
Bob