Wood Gloat?

[Jim Koepke]

Gee, living out in the middle of nowhere going into town can get dangerous. The wife is out of town, so I am on my own.

Went to the used tool store and he sent me to look at the machinist supply store who sent me next door to the builders recycling store. These guys were sending me all over the place looking for a hunk of granite or counter top.

Well, the building reclamation store had some wood I was curious about. Forgot what the guy called it and I still have some. Right next to it was some Honduran Mahogany. He wouldn't budge a bit on the price for an 8' 4X4, $2.50 a board foot. Well, I must have confused him, because he ended up giving me about 6" free.

141003

It is rough all 4 sides. Took a few swipes on a small area just to see how it looks.

141004

Heck, I have been in the borgs when they want almost $2.50 BF for crappy pine.

Maybe it is time to make some mallets and gavels.

jim

[harry strasil]

jim go to a cabinet store and ask if they have any sample pieces of counter tops that are no longer available, they are usually about 10 to 12 inches square.

[Jim Koepke]

jim go to a cabinet store and ask if they have any sample pieces of counter tops that are no longer available, they are usually about 10 to 12 inches square.

I have that size covered. What I am looking for now is something for the longer planes. Likely could use a sink cut out corner to corner.

It will be something to look for while in Portland to attend the LN tool event in a couple of weeks.

jim

[Robby Tacheny]

Looking for slabs of marble to flatten planes??

I have several slabs of marble that were probably cut off of a coutertop. Here are a couple to try. See if you can get a cut off from a place that does grave stones. That would be highly polished granite. We have one down the street and there are literally tons of cutoffs sitting outside. The other place to check is a place that sells countertops and has its own installers. Lastly, they make marble threshold pieces for doing the door of a bathroom. They should be the size of the width of an interior door.

Last resort, you pay shipping and I'll send you one of my slabs. They are about 24". Just PM me.

-R

[Jacob Reverb]

Nice find!

I think I like working with mahogany more than any other wood I've messed with, it's just a delight!

[Chen-Tin Tsai]

Looking for slabs of marble to flatten planes??

I have several slabs of marble that were probably cut off of a coutertop. Here are a couple to try. See if you can get a cut off from a place that does grave stones. That would be highly polished granite. We have one down the street and there are literally tons of cutoffs sitting outside. The other place to check is a place that sells countertops and has its own installers. Lastly, they make marble threshold pieces for doing the door of a bathroom. They should be the size of the width of an interior door.

Last resort, you pay shipping and I'll send you one of my slabs. They are about 24". Just PM me.

-R

How flat are those slabs? I've got a place down the street that does stone countertops but I'm wondering if the granite or marble they've got for counters would be flat enough for lapping a big plane sole.

Jim, how long of a piece of granite would be necessary to flatten the sole of a #7?

[Robby Tacheny]

I have been looking and it looks like the machines used for doing granite and marble are seriously accurate. I would think it has to be on par with a cast iron top. Maybe plate glass is flatter, but I would guess were only dealing with a few thousandths of an inch.

-R

[Jim Koepke]

First, thanks to all for some good ideas. I was thinking of calling a few countertop shops in Portland to see what they might have. Didn't think of the monument cutters.

Most of the time I have not bothered to lap the sole of a plane if it is working OK. But since I have done a few of them, the performance is usually greatly improved. Of Course, only the planes that are rusty or acting a little off have been given the treatment so far.



Jim, how long of a piece of granite would be necessary to flatten the sole of a #7?

For a #7 or #8, my thoughts are that 30 inches would be a tight minimum. 40 inches would be better. 80 grit paper loads up pretty fast. I was lapping my #5-1/2 last week and it seems like 4 strokes and fire up the shop vac.

I was thinking corner to corner on a large sink cutout would give me about 30 inches.

jim

[James Ogle]

Jim, you might also want to try places that do quartz countertops. I picked up a few sink cutouts last month to use for this very purpose and to make the top of a sharpening station. Only issue is that they usually start the waterjet inside the cutout and then go to a corner.

If you shop at a BORG a lot you might want to ask the cabinet saleperson if they can get you one for cheap or even free. Mine came gratis from there.

Edit: About the wood, You Suck. ;)

[John Keeton]

Great buy on the mahogany, Jim!! I can see all kinds of possibilities! Good luck on the granite search. Our local granite shop has a lot of cutoffs, but I don't recall seeing one as long as you are needing.

[harry strasil]

http://www.wttool.com/category-exec/category_id/17550

[Jim Koepke]

http://www.wttool.com/category-exec/category_id/17550

I have looked at those through Grizzly. The cost is one thing, the shipping is almost as much.

Being the frugal minded kind of guy that I am, I think exhausting all possibilities of free or cheap is the first step.

jim