Friday, April 30, 2021

Of this and that

Well, we had been doing fine, but lately this third wave of COVID is really taking off, we spiked quickly at over 70 cases a day in Nova Scotia.   I know, it does not sound like much, but these latest variants are much more aggressive.

So we have begun a Lock down for 14 days, Province wide.  Should had started Monday the 26 Apr but it took them a few days to get their information on line an updating correctly the orders etc. So we did not started until Thursday the 29 at 0800, the finally corrected orders being dated for the 28.

Civilians, what is it they don't understand about orders? $#@@&* Ok, off my rant, back to normal woodworking.

Since I have lots of time gazing at my navel, may as well... 

Regardless of the size of your workbench, 
things have a tendency to accumulate quickly...
Have a few things on the go.

Putting away tools, de-rusting and cleaning some.  Attending to minor repairs on saw handles, mostly broken or damaged horns.  The horns on each end of the saw handle are important for better control, and better feedback.  I cannot say enough about the importance of a well fitted handle that fit your hand like a glove.  That and the correct hang angle for you.

Been experimenting with de-rusting  a few saw plates with Evaporust.  Normally I use a razor blade and WD40 to scraped them clean, followed by a light wet sanding, then a buffed  wax coating. 

Not the ideal container, but it work

I was always curious to see how a saw plate will come out.  It comes out a dull grey and shows every little speck of pitting there was.  All rust free, but that pitting is going to attract dust and rust quickly, so I just coated them with Autosol  and a light buffing.  Still have a haze from Autosol until I decided what I'm gonna do next.

Scratches are from vigorous brushing with a metal hand brush.
A light sanding with a hard block will cleaned that up.

For the record saw plates do not have to be shiny, just smooth.  Scrapping, light sanding, buffing a coat of wax is all they need.  And of course a sharpening over.

Came across a small claw hammer head with a broken handle. Drove the stub out and recovered the metal wedges.  Will re handled in a size suitable for my youngest grand daughters. 

While I was going over the handled tools, I removed two loose handles, recovered metal wedges if any, and dumped all these heads in Evaporust.

A small 2-1/2 lbs  hatchet head, a small 12 Oz, claw hammer head 
and a 4 pounds sledge hammer head.  There is also a wedge and a screw in that soup.

Taking the handles off was not too difficult except that the hatchet gave me a hard time. Getting the metal wedge out was easy, but the wooden wedge did not came out without a fight.  Got it out without damaging the handle but cannot say the same for the tools used :-(

The chisel I used got a few nicks from hitting the metal wedge and the side of the eye.  One of the screwdriver I was using to dug some pieces out, snapped.  Oups.  Screwdrivers are not pry bar, who knew? :-)

Ever see inside a Moores & Wright ratchet screwdriver?  I just did.

Clean break, did not took much force

looks like some sort of pot metal??
Also looks like the broken part can be removed in each end by a screw?

Ratchet still works fine.  Looks like a copy of a North Bros design??

Even that screw fought me, splintering a piece out.

Strange screw and the piece inside is not budging.
Put the screw in the Evaporust bath.

 Spent a lot of time moving things around.  Put stuff where it is supposed to go.

Taking time to survey my domain and figured out what I need to build next to organized my shop better.  A never ending process...

In my ongoing Spring Clean up (ongoing since last year :-), came across one of my first ever shop project: A tool caddy organizer thingy on wheel featuring my first ever real joinery using my brand new Craftsman Sears Best 1/4 inch router.   That cabinet has been repurposed a few times since built in 1987 and has been around in 5 different shops since.  It's a survivor.

The back of it.  First time I used a lock drawer joinery.
A 1/4 in tongue lock into a 1/4 inch groove in 3/4 inch plywood.
I only had a set of 4 Marples chisels at the time, but left room for expansion on my chisel holder

On the side I had a turn button to secured my 24 inch handsaw.
Hand sharpened by an old gentleman.  First time I ever had a sharp saw.

In its last incarnations, my bench top drill press, 
 used to resides on top.  After I added my big table on the DP, it became too tippy.
The whole thing was done with my trusty Craftsman Chrome edge
 1/4 inch straight router bit.
One of the few bits I own then.

I put wheels on it, but they are a bit on the small size and fully loaded tend to protest a bit by being cranky... Just like me :-)

I really like my saw bench.  It is so much more than a saw bench.
With Holdfast and a removable fence I can hold pieces , bang away at mortise.
I do a lot of work on it.  I have a few ideas to trick it a bit more.

Currently I have the saw mitre box on top of a vintage (1950s)
Singer sewing machine cabinet.  Its about the same height as my bench.

The scenes from my usual vantage point, in my office chair.
So many tools, so much work to be done :-)

So I guess I know what I'm doing during this lockdown... more cleaning, more decluttering, more fixing tools and hopefully a few more shop projects so needed.


Bob, sipping a cold one and taking it all in.  Making plans and switching priorities.  The usual :-)

6 comments:

  1. With citizenship, formal orders would not be necessary.

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  2. Oh No no. We are in a declared state of Health emergency. So I'll give them some slack, BUT...
    A daily video briefing on the situation and measures they are going to implements are not legally binding. Unless and until the stupid health protection act is updated, it is NOT legally binding. So good luck enforcing your new regulations if when you go at the source: The NS Government website is not updated. That is why it took them from Friday until Thursday before they started the official lockdown. Yes, we got the hint and started to behave accordingly, but they double the fines and good luck enforcing them if you cannot read the updates at the source.

    Why am I so anal about it? I am an old military man, I am used to deal with crisis, confusion and dubious orders. But as long as I am aware of the end results (the mission) I can do as you would had told me what to do if you knew what you were talking about, Sir! Mission accomplished. NO one ever wrote clear concise instruction that are not left to some interpretation or does not cover every situation imaginable. It then behoove you to make sure you communicate the intent clearly, the reason why, what we are trying to accomplished.

    My other beef with these civilians order is that as the president of my Rotary club, I have to keep an eye on the changing regulations that pertain to our in persons meeting. Out of a club of 24 persons, for while we could only meet in person with 10 max, wearing masks and social distancing. Then it went up to 15, now, NO meeting in persons at all. As their president is my No 1 priority to ensure the safety of our members, many are older than me, many are at higher risks, myself included. And I'll be damn if I am going to be fined over $5k because we violated those restrictions. My local RCL (Legion) got fined because they had too many pers in attendance at a function. I am not happy about that, that is $5k of us veteran, retired pers going up in smoke because someone did not understood the orders correctly??

    All that to say that I put my life on the line for about 40 years protecting our democracy and laws and orders. I really hate to become sick or die because some idiots are incapable to update correctly and in a timely manner some orders. NOT happening on my shift without a fight. I think I made my point clear enough to them, finally, and new orders corrected and updated on their site.
    I cannot take all the credit for this outcome, but I'm sure they heard my voice :-)

    Bob, stickler for law and order and a working democracy.
    When I was serving I used to remind my men a few times, : We are here to protect democracy, not to practice it. Do it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. For me the most deceptive is that people need order to apply the most basic common sense. I do not need anybody to tell me to avoid crowed places or apply basic hygienic measure or respect distancing etc.
      Why most need law or order to do what is obvious.

      Lionel, doing gardening, planting vegetables, and installing mesh to avoid our beloved local garden marmot eat everything we try to grow.

      Delete
  3. Oh boy. Yes we all have common sense enough to take the basic precautions. Although a small proportions of people seems to think that masks and social distancing be damn.
    Why would we need directives and orders, some of which are very restrictive, in the middle of a declared State of Emergency??
    Oh I don't know let me count the ways.
    The orders I am referring to are about managing this pandemic by imposing restrictions at our borders, who can and cannot comes in, what to do after you enter NS and when you return. Similarly at a smaller scale. Restriction to travel to and from the city (Halifax) or various counties as the cases move around. A list of potential exposure sites and requirements to self isolate and get tested. What business are allow to stay open which ones are closed. Protocol to follow to keep everyone safe in various places.
    What kind gatherings and how big are you allow to gather. That number keep changing all the times. Examples: Until shortly before my wedding the numbers allowed keep changing. Similarly clubs meetings size if when allowed. The size of your personal bubble and etc etc. The kind of things that you must promulgate if you hope to achieve your objective

    And of course strict penalties are part and parcel of any emergency orders, because there will always be people with very limited common sense, but the restrictions shall be enforced or you have no leg to stand on. I sit on my local hospital foundation board, and I am the president of my Rotary club. I need to keep up with the latest changes and make sure we are abiding by them. That is the very frustrating part when the keep screwing up updating the orders.
    In their defense, that was not a problem until now. But this latest one, they really screw up royally.

    Bottom line, if you declare a state of emergency, you better keep your poop in the groove and published your damn orders and keep them updated in a timely manner so we can all comply.
    That is all.

    Alright enough of that, back to WW

    Bob, who may be starting to shows some frustrations??

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  4. "For me the most deceptive is that people need order to apply the most basic common sense. I do not need anybody to tell me to avoid crowed places or apply basic hygienic measure or respect distancing etc."

    That was what I mean. I am afraid i might have been misunderstood.

    People who want absolute liberty should go find an isolated island. But they want the benefit of life in society without the necessary limitations.

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  5. Very true Sylvain. That is wanting to live without accepting any responsibilities. Very childish..
    Bob, who sometimes despair about humanity

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