Sharpening Jig

So after looking at Brent Beach's sharpening page I decided to build a slightly modified jig to carer to all of my sharpening needs. I first built the "platform" which is made of 1/2" MDF with plate glass and acrylic laminated to it with spray mount. The plate glass and the acrylic are the same thickness so they form a continuous plane.Sandpaper in grits 220, 400, 600 and 1000 are surface mounted with Super 77, when worn out, the sandpaper should peel off easily and a little acetone should remove all traces of glue. I use 5.5" by 3" sections of sandpaper, I get 6 from a sheet which is 30 sharpening sets worth per pack, I'm guessing here but I image no less than 3-5 sharpening sessions per piece. Adding up the number of irons and chisels I sharpened today, I think I can sharpen 360 plane blades and 432 chisels with one pack of sandpaper in each grit.The primary angle block is made of hard maple, 1 1/4" thick, 2" tall and 3 1/8" wide. This block is for my larger plane blades and requires a 3 3/4" extension for a 25 degree bevel. My widest plane blade is a 2 3/8" from a woodie (thats the wooden jointer, Jeff), the other one is an unmarked (except for Eclipse, on the iron) USA made #5 (thats a jack, Jeff).

I also have two slips, thats what Brent calls them so I'll continue the trend, one is .060" thick for the secondary bevel and another at .10" thick for the tertiary bevel. I'm not exactly sure how he holds the slips onto his jig, but I was having a hard time. I wound up using the strips longways, holding the slip and sliding the jig over it. I'm not really happy with this method. I also don't know that the acrylic sheet was the way to go on the base. I may make larger slips out of Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene. UHMWPE is a really dense milk carton, same stuff just dense as hell. It has a low coefficient of friction and a wearability 100 times that of steel. An ideal slippy surface.I also need to make smaller jigs for my tiny planes and chisels, which have specific clearance issues. My next platform will be thicker, with a pocket for a flush mounted grinding stone, and room for 220, 400, 600, 1000, 1500 and mirror buffing compound on hardboard panel. Here is a shot of the edge with a quick touch-up, I was really anxious to get this iron in the plane and try it so I didn't spend as much time as I could have getting the edge perfect. but my front and back bevels worked well as illustrated by this bag of 2x4 shavings.The dial calipers indicate my shavings are a little over .003" thick, this was after tuning it down from about .009". It leaves a surface like glass on the soft pine. I'm sold.If you want more information about the jig feel free to comment. I have been debating about using some of my stock of ash to build jigs to sell, let me know what you think; too simple? Will people prefer to make their own? Would you buy one? Is $40+ shipping a good deal?

Plain old Planes

Hi all, I'm finally getting around to posting my processes up here, which has been something I've wanted to get going for a while.

Here's a shot of my grandfathers jointer plane (I recently found that he has a wooden jack as well in even better condition!)
Sitting next to the jointer is a hollow plane about a 1.5-2" radius, I think that would be a number 6 or 8 (number of 1/8ths of an inch right?) Also my recent favorite woodworking book, Making Traditional Wooden Planes by John M. Whelan, and a few 2.5" square blocks of hard maple for use in plane making, my first few will be in the Krenovian style. Now here's a shot of Jack getting some tung oil and after being trued.
All that's left is to use my new scary sharp jig to put a razor aris on that iron. Tomorrow I'll snap some pictures of the jig and post them in their own detailed section.

Gifts from the North

So I went home with my girlfriend for spring break, she lives in Buffalo, NY. After 10 hours in the car. we finally arrive. I saw a lot of sights, Lakes Erie and Ontario, Niagara Falls, vineyards and awesome homes, but some of the best parts of the trip were found in the antique and woodworking shops. I found this little plow plane nestled upside down on a shelf, I righted him.
It only had one 1/4" iron and was priced a little too high for me. Don't worry I did go home with some goodies.

Here are some socket chisels I picked up from my girlfriend's grandmother. What?! I found a girl that encourages my galootism? She also picked up two putty knives, (I'm cleaning them without her knowledge) for use in our Screen Printing class at school. One is amazing, under all the grime I found what looks to me rosewood handles with brass pins and dovetailed aluminum bolsters, don't worry photo to come.

Next up are three of my "fun" wooden planes, they all still need sharpening and tuning...I hope to get to some of that tomorrow. Starting from the left, a groove (for tongue and groove) plane from Buffalo, NY. Second a molding plane, I'm not sure what profile to call it, I'll ask about it in another post. Finally, a moving fillister plane bought from an Old Tools List member. It is very beefy. I can't wait to use it.

You may notice in that back there a jack plane, still in need of sole flattening and a sharpening (bought for $.99 on fleabay). And the eagle eyes will spot a wooden plane wedge leaning there in the back. That belongs to my wooden jointer, an heirloom from my grandfather, that rejuvenating thread is still to come.

Up tomorrow is de-barking some found oak and poplar? and sharpening irons.

Special thanks to Dave Pearce for adding me to his links page.

Welcome to my shop

Hello and welcome. I'm Trevor Walsh, a senior about to graduate from the Industrial Design program of Philadelphia University; then it's on to get my graduate degree in Technical Education where I plan on inspiring young people like me in the shop. 

I bit the woodworking bug after my first pine wood derby in Boy Scouts. As I was sitting on the front steps "filing" away at my chunk of wood with the abrasive concrete my dad came home with a coping saw, my first ever tool. We still have it. I moved on to metal and build robots on a high school team involved with F.I.R.S.T. (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) founded by Dean Kamen (that guy who invented the Segway). School became about product design and after four years of it the corporate world is where I decided to never to go; I think I can do good teaching, and tinkering in my shop. 

This blog is going to be about several things, metalworking, woodworking, and a place where they meet that I'll call toolmaking. I may also have some product design in there if I decide to run with the big boys and market my tools. 

So stay tuned, I'm going to be adding my plane making adventures and other projects as my busy final semester schedule allows.