Spent some time in the garage...

Bought a vacuum bag for my Rigid 14 gallon vac. From what I've read on forums and read on podcasts, using the filter alone will allow dust into the motor. So, I bought a bag, and a new filter. Now the vac is ready for catching dust.

I sharpened all of my plane blades. Working that hard maple & walnut dinged up the edges pretty good. I re-beveled them and honed up the edge. They're now sharp enough to shave the hair on my arm. If you're wondering, I use the Scary Sharp method. I tried some oil stones, and they work pretty well. I like scary sharp better.

Just ordered Christopher Schwarz's book...

I have both of the "workbench" books. When I saw that Christopher Schwarz wrote a book on workbenches I knew I had to get it. I could have bought it off Amazon, or even Barnes & Noble for almost $10 cheaper. Instead I bought it off of Christopher's site, for two reasons. Firts, it comes with a CD that contains the book and drawings. Second, it's autographed.

If you've never checked out Christopher's blog, I have it in my Links section. I recommend checking it out.

In da garage...

I made it into the garage today to do some woodwork. Unfortunately, it wasn't for me, it was for a friend. I'm cutting angles on MDF boards for him. He's building a speaker box for the storage well in the back of his Corvette. I don't mind doing simple things for friends. But I HATE MDF.

Retro project...

Here's a marking gauge I made last year. I had some
Bolivian Rosewood scrap and needed to put it to good use. So, I decided to make a marking gauge. Took me most of the morning to get it right. The wedge is cherry.

... the search continues.

I found some walnut for the legs. 16/4 hit or miss. I found enough to make the legs. Unfortunately, it was $9.90 bft. WHOA! I know walnut comes at a premium... $9.90 bft for S2S hit or miss!? I figure I want about 27 bft. So, $9.90 x 27 = $267.3, before tax! I'm going to try to start calling some lumber yards in Nashville. I've went there before for lumber, so maybe I can get lucky again.

Powered by ScribeFire.

All your base...

I've been scouring a radius of 90 miles trying to find wood for the base of this thing. I'm want maple, poplar or hickory. The thing is I can hardly find rough lumber big enough to get a 4"x4"x42" dimensioned piece. Let me retract that statement. I've found both hard maple and poplar that would do, but I ain't paying almost $250 for it. Only one local distributor has it and they charge a premium. The search continues.

Ends leveled...

I have leveled off the ends of the bench, and patched a terrible piece of tearout. But that's a post when I feel like reliving the experience. No pics yet. I'll try to post some soon.