Kevin Foley
03-19-2011, 10:01 PM
Don't get me wrong. I love PATINA, been many times. I've been aggressively guarding PATINA Saturday against all who would schedule me to do something else -- possibly constructive -- with the day. But when the time came to put the pedal to the floor and head out I realized I had a day reserved, haven't had shop time in ages due to ailing relatives (and dog), and I finished a bench about 9 months ago and haven't yet used it to make a single shaving. At PATINA I would sell some stuff out the back of the car then attend the sale to see tools that I already have or ones that i don't have because I can't afford them. I could chat with people that I have met online but in general I don't. I clam up. So a pot of coffee later I chuck the first piece of rough lumber into the face vise and secure the other end with a dog and start chipping the edge with a scrub, then refine it with a No. 8. I've never had a dedicated ww bench. My last bench was a section of bowling alley -- the pine part, not the maple part -- that is so closely nailed that there is no place to drill a 3/4" dog hole. It had ww vise on one end and a metalworking vise on the other. I did some woodworking on but also fixed the lawnmower, worked on car parts, plumbing parts, pounded metal etc., etc, etc. Less than ideal. So the first shavings on new bench deserve a picture or two -- attached if anyone is interested.
About the time I get tired pushing a No.8 around the mail arrives with a Stanley No.2 procured from from the world's largest online yardsale. It proves to be a type 8 and in decent shape. I tapped out a minor ding in the cap iron, and ground, ground, ground the iron to get past the evidence of a previous owner's habit of planing nails. It was soon making some long, thin shavings. I thought of a No. 2 as an embarrassing collector's shelf ornament. It wasn't exactly a well planned, informed purchase. I was home sick, heavily medicated, capable of little but ebaying and not in the mood to be [I'll just remove this so somebody else won't have to] with. I remember telling my brother "If I ever buy a No. 2 plane, please shoot me". I'll have to revise that to a No. 1. Patrick Leach in his PBG seems to strain to come up with a use for it, saying "Its small size permits it to work smaller areas more effectively than the larger and more common #4". A few quick shaving though and it's like a block plane with a two-handed grip and incredible control. I can see it being really useful. Cool. A picture of this follows also -- piggybacked on a No.8. I'll stop rambling now.
Best to all,
Kevin
About the time I get tired pushing a No.8 around the mail arrives with a Stanley No.2 procured from from the world's largest online yardsale. It proves to be a type 8 and in decent shape. I tapped out a minor ding in the cap iron, and ground, ground, ground the iron to get past the evidence of a previous owner's habit of planing nails. It was soon making some long, thin shavings. I thought of a No. 2 as an embarrassing collector's shelf ornament. It wasn't exactly a well planned, informed purchase. I was home sick, heavily medicated, capable of little but ebaying and not in the mood to be [I'll just remove this so somebody else won't have to] with. I remember telling my brother "If I ever buy a No. 2 plane, please shoot me". I'll have to revise that to a No. 1. Patrick Leach in his PBG seems to strain to come up with a use for it, saying "Its small size permits it to work smaller areas more effectively than the larger and more common #4". A few quick shaving though and it's like a block plane with a two-handed grip and incredible control. I can see it being really useful. Cool. A picture of this follows also -- piggybacked on a No.8. I'll stop rambling now.
Best to all,
Kevin