A totally different free magazine I am receiving

[george wilson]

I am also receiving another woodworking magazine for free. It is not to be confused with the other magazine I posted about last night. I don't know why everyone is sending me these valuable magazines,but I do appreciate them very much.

I love the outstanding photography in this magazine. The pictures are so good,I am thinking they must be professionally done,with expert lighting. For example,there is a large picture of a man starting to feed a piece of Harborite plywood into a beautiful thickness sander. Gen****,or something. I'm forgetting the name. It is green. However,he has forgotten to add the duct work to the 2 dust collection outlets on top of the sander. I think he will be sorry when the plywood goes through. He has no dust mask.

I also wonder why he wants to sand the Harborite plywood. It is very thick,and has a 1/32" thick layer of white masonite material on its surface. They used to use this Harborite a lot in the museum for making displays because the thin,smooth overlay made it ready to paint. I don't know why he wants to sand this layer off. The plywood is about 1 1/4" thick. Perhaps he needs it thinner?

There are several very useful articles in this magazine. One is a "bagel cutter",or something like that. My memory fails. Actually,it is not a bagel cutter,it is a wooden device you can make to hold your bagel while you cut it with a knife. The added instructions to NOT wash this device,or put it into the dish washer were most useful. I will have to apply this wisdom to my guitars and other wooden objects.

About 12 pages are dedicated to making a sort of free standing closet to put your clothes in. This might be useful if you live in a very old house that contains no closets. But,never the less,it is a very thorough article,giving the most minute details. Even the places to insert the biscuits are measured. Each and every one.

There was a letter from a reader who asked about a sort of file that had "stitching" on it. He explained that his mother used to hand stitch his clothes when he tore them as a child. but,he had no idea how this applied to tools. His question was graciously and carefully answered,including a closeup picture. I thought they were very kind to the reader. I am still not sure what this stitching is. The picture looked like the pointy end of a boat,or something. It was all prickly,like some kind of fruit. It looked very dangerous and unpleasant,and I do not think I would want to carry it about in my front pocket.

A lady wrote an article about how she rounds off the sharp corners of her caliper's jaws so they don't catch on stuff. I will have to address that with my Starrett calipers today. Frankly,I am sick and tired of bandaging myself all the time because I keep catching myself on those sharp corners. Safety information like this should always remain a vital part of every magazine.

A very useful article about shop lighting caught my eye. It gave the most useful tip to not place your fluorescent strips behind deep overhead tool cabinets. Now,i have to go fix mine.

An article described how you can buy your own Koa tree sapling,and wait for the tree to mature to sell them. I'll have to check with my doctor to see how many years he thinks I have left. But,this certainly seems like a good way for me to get some Koa. Oh,wait. I just remembered I have some already. Oh,well. I guess for me,that's whoah on the koa. I don't need any mo-ah.

A thoroughly delightful magazine that I anticipate seeing in my mail box. Why they keep honoring me with it I have no idea.

My thanks to Dave Anderson for his permission to write this article.

[David Weaver]

Even the places to insert the biscuits are measured.

Ahh...the hallmark for high end construction of older-home appropriate items.....lots of perfectly placed biscuits. When they telegraph, you wouldn't want them to be uneven!


A lady wrote an article about how she rounds off the sharp corners of her caliper's jaws so they don't catch on stuff. I will have to address that with my Starrett calipers today. Frankly,I am sick and tired of bandaging myself all the time because I keep catching myself on those sharp corners. Safety information like this should always remain a vital part of every magazine.

five thousandths here, five thousandths there., what's a little accuracy. Maybe she should have them plasti-dipped.


A very useful article about shop lighting caught my eye. It gave the most useful tip to not place your fluorescent strips behind deep overhead tool cabinets. Now,i have to go fix mine.

An article described how you can buy your own Koa tree sapling,and wait for the tree to mature to sell them. I'll have to check with my doctor to see how many years he thinks I have left. But,this certainly seems like a good way for me to get some Koa. Oh,wait. I just remembered I have some already. Oh,well. I guess for me,that's whoah on the koa. I don't need any mo-ah.

I'd imagine the koa farmers might want to get together with pigeon farmers when they determine the best way to file for bankruptcy. A decade or so ago, there was a huge pigeon farming scam/ponzi that went through Canada and the US. It was a big topic on a forum I was reading at the time. Is the ad selling small koas, or is it selling a small ponzi scheme? Everyone on the farm forums that I was reading at the time claimed that they lost no money in the pigeon scheme but many of them knew someone who did.

Well, maybe the koa farms will have somewhere for their pigeons to roost.

Maybe next month, they'll advise you not to glue abundant human baby teeth onto saw blades that have been damaged and lost their carbide teeth.

[Mel Fulks]

George,that was as dry as the best wine and a lot funnier . You will be receiving some complimentary Koa fertilizer!

[Jim Koepke]

LOL!

Maybe they send them to you for free because they know you would embrace the sage advice.

As in wood tastes better if a little sage is sprinkled over it before baking.

jtk

[george wilson]

Now I'm worried they won't send me any more.:(

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Truly hilarious! My favorite part:
The added instructions to NOT wash this device,or put it into the dish washer were most useful. I will have to apply this wisdom to my guitars and other wooden objects.

[David Weaver]

Now I'm worried they won't send me any more.:(

I'd bet you'll lose a lot of sleep over it, huh....

Should keep a running tally! :)

[Ryan Mooney]

Now I'm worried they won't send me any more.:(

Indeed, and then what would you do for levity on cold winter mornings?

[george wilson]

I have other means for levity!!:) I pulled a stunt on my friend Jon over the phone,but can't describe it here.

[Jim Neeley]

I have other means for levity!!:) I pulled a stunt on my friend Jon over the phone,but can't describe it here.

George,

If that your favorite ex-best-friend? :D


Jim

[george wilson]

Nah,he just turns it back around onto me.:)

[Sean Hughto]

You missed the footnote, George: Since you shouldn't wash it: if you like garlic bagels, and your wife does not, you will need to make two of the devices and clearly mark them so they can't be mixed up.

[Chris Griggs]

This makes me happy!!!:)

[george wilson]

I don't know if they should be selling machinery like table saws in the same magazine where they feel the need to tell readers not to put their wooden stuff in dishwashers!!:)

[Tom Vanzant]

George, I heard that emu manure works wonders on koa trees.

[Bill Houghton]

I'd imagine the koa farmers might want to get together with pigeon farmers when they determine the best way to file for bankruptcy. A decade or so ago, there was a huge pigeon farming scam/ponzi that went through Canada and the US. It was a big topic on a forum I was reading at the time. Is the ad selling small koas, or is it selling a small ponzi scheme? Everyone on the farm forums that I was reading at the time claimed that they lost no money in the pigeon scheme but many of them knew someone who did.

Well, maybe the koa farms will have somewhere for their pigeons to roost.

Well, you could always raise emus. Surefire money there.

Which gives me an excuse for one of my favorite get-rich stories: a new guy - brand new jeans and flannel shirt, truck's still shiny - shows up in the feed store and orders 1,000 baby chicks; comes back a week later, picks them up, drives off.

Two weeks later, he comes back and orders another 1,000 baby chicks; gets them, drives off. The feed store employees and the old guys telling lies around the woodstove start speculating about which of the old henhouses he's fixed up, and arguing over whether any of the known henhouses are big enough for 2,000 chickens.

The third time he comes in to order yet another 1,000 chicks, one of the old-timers can't stand it any more, and says, "Hey, mister! Where are you operating? We don't know anyplace around here big enough for 2,000 chickens, much less 3,000!"

The guy turns to him and says, "Maybe you can help me. I got this booklet on making a fortune raising chickens, and decided to quit my job in the city and enjoy country living. I'm being really careful: turning the soil, fertilizing, planting them 2" deep and all. But the danged things just won't sprout!"

[David Weaver]

All this talk about emu oil also reminds me of a popular woodworking supplier (one that's probably a lot more popular in the power tool section).

I went to supergrit once when I was visiting my parents (who live in gettysburg). When I showed them where I wanted to go, they said "that's where they sell emu oil". Of course, when we got there, they didn't sell anything but sandpaper. I guess my dad was a fan of emu oil, he's into those sorts of "put it on and it solves all of your problems" kinds of things.

Here's an old local paper - red hill corporation.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2202&dat=19980728&id=F4MyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ruYFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2945,2755360

http://www.supergrit.com/
(check the company name at the bottom of the page).

I guess the market for emus dried up when sandpaper became more profitable! I do remember seeing an emu here and there at farms back then (in the 90s). I never could figure out what they were going to do with them, but several people told me they were "worth a lot of money".

I love supergrit, BTW - so it is by no means a slight to them. It is a fantastic place, but it's more like a warehouse you *can* walk through when you're there - it's a lot easier to order online than it is to find anything by yourself in the store (though they're happy to let you look - you'll find lots of sandpaper but no emus).

[george wilson]

Thas a very EMUING tale,David. Oil have to think it over.Yuk,yuk.

[Tony Zaffuto]

I've been to Supergrit a number of times myself. Visits are often filled with comedic banter between the various family members (I'm assuming their all family) that work there. As David says it's easier to order online, if you're looking for a specific item, however it is also fun to dig through all of the offerings. It's located on the Biglerville Road, a few miles north of Gettysburg.

[Ryan Mooney]

Well, you could always raise emus. Surefire money there.

Being "i agriculture" (we raised cattle and some horses) as a kid I saw a rather astounding selection of "get rich quick in agriculture with new animal xxx" schemes go by. They were all structured essentially as ponzi schemes (the early idea men would sell a non marketable product as breeding stock for hugely inflated prices and then the suckers would flock in, buy the breeding stock and then be left with no downstream market) and involved some sort of exotic animal:


Emus and ostriches. Yeah ok but have you TRIED to eat them? They're ok if you like really lean meat cooked really rare and get them young enough. Most folks can't cook them right and the leather on the bottom of my boot is somewhat more palatable. In places there are still miles of empty ostrich pens (presumably owned by the bank still, or maybe some investor who's just waiting for the fad to come back around not realizing that even unused fences eventually fall down).
Elk. Hey you get horns and meat can't loose.. Game is the new big thing. Oh yeah.. fences.. you'll need fences the like of which you've never seen much less built. and the males tend to take a round out of each other at the right time of year. Herding them anywhere (like between pastures) can be best described as adventurous. Heaven help you if you need to do any doctoring. To be fair they're reasonably tasty (almost as good as grass fed beef).
Buffalo. See elk. Oh yeah those fences you built? they'll need to be just as tall but a fair bit stronger now. Slightly tastier than elk, and you can just about break even selling the hides as robes (hey anything in ag where you approach break even is darn good).
Alpacas/Lamas. So cute! and look at all this high quality fiber (for the first year maybe two). Forget the meat, they make ostrich look tasty. Ok for jerky I suppose as long as you don't mind pounding it into powder before you eat it - pretty sure this is where carne seca came from. On the plus side they're reasonably gentle, don't eat much and poop all in one place. The $10,000-20,000 breeding stock you bought? Well the gelded male offspring from them will get you a cool $200 on the open market. Good call.
"Big Horned" sheep (not rocky mountain which aren't legal for regular folks to have in captivity - the scam I saw was for Mouflons which look kinda similar). If you have a place for them folks will pay a few grand to shoot a sheep in a corral. The catch of course is that they're still basically wild sheep and keeping them in anyplace is somewhat more challenging than you'd thing and the market isn't very big and they need a whole lot of space and the horns take years to develop. Not a very good ROI.
Arabian Horses. At one place we worked I rode/broke some that were "worth" upwards of $500,000 (yes I didn't miss a decimal place) and we had a couple of studs in the millions. This was a straight up bubble in the mid-late 90's though not a ponzi scheme like most of the others.


I'm sure I'm missing some (miniature this and that; goats, horses, mules, etc.. come to mind). Was awfully fun to watch though.

In fairness to the emu's their oil does make a decent boot grease (and I suppose it would unplug a fellow to if it came to that..). Almost as good as goose grease (which you can save from the xmas goose) mixed with a little tallow for texture and neatsfoot oil (the real stuff not the linseed sold as neatsfoot in many stores) for effect and because "that's just what we use"... Also keeps your hands soft, but not as well as lanolin bag balm (first time I got some of that I'm pretty sure loml thought I was making commentary so had to do a bit of quick explaining).

[Jacob Reverb]

Actually,it is not a bagel cutter,it is a wooden device you can make to hold your bagel while you cut it with a knife. The added instructions to NOT wash this device,or put it into the dish washer were most useful. I will have to apply this wisdom to my guitars and other wooden objects.

http://d26ya5yqg8yyvs.cloudfront.net/lol8.gif http://d26ya5yqg8yyvs.cloudfront.net/lol8.gif http://d26ya5yqg8yyvs.cloudfront.net/lol8.gif Doesn't everybody wash their guitars in the dishwasher?

[Frederick Skelly]

George,
You've provided us a thoroughly delightful review of that thoroughly delightful magazine! Thank you! I cant wait for your summary of next month's issue.

Btw, Emu's are passe'. Around here it's ostriches.

Fred

[harry strasil]

Do Passe's have a lot of oil or feathers and how does one milk the oil and what schedule do you follow for the feather plucking?

[David Weaver]

Do Passe's have a lot of oil or feathers and how does one milk the oil and what schedule do you follow for the feather plucking?

Roller mill the whole bird, I'd think :)

[Tony Zaffuto]

http://d26ya5yqg8yyvs.cloudfront.net/lol8.gif http://d26ya5yqg8yyvs.cloudfront.net/lol8.gif http://d26ya5yqg8yyvs.cloudfront.net/lol8.gif Doesn't everybody wash their guitars in the dishwasher?

Just my oilstones and only once. Not allowed to do them in the new dishwasher.

[Bill Houghton]

http://d26ya5yqg8yyvs.cloudfront.net/lol8.gif http://d26ya5yqg8yyvs.cloudfront.net/lol8.gif http://d26ya5yqg8yyvs.cloudfront.net/lol8.gif Doesn't everybody wash their guitars in the dishwasher?

No, the washing machine is better. Dishwasher is reserved for automobile engines and stuff like that.

[Tony Zaffuto]

No, the washing machine is better. Dishwasher is reserved for automobile engines and stuff like that.

Just do not try to rinse the grease off the insides by cycling lacquer thinner during the rinse cycle. Also, do not let SWMBO catch you cleaning ball caps or underwear (it's her fault as she quit doing my laundry, so some go to the dry cleaner and my unmentionables were being nicely done in the dishwasher till I was caught).

She does have shiny stainless steel one now, that she's always wanted.

[Halgeir Wold]

Don't laugh - but old greasy amplifier chassis actually gets clean and almost shiny in the dishwasher! :eek: Just leave to dry before power...;)
Done it a couple of times..... some water sensitive componets may need to be removed, though...

[Dave Anderson NH]

You guys are either incredibly brave or incredibly foolish. If I got caught by SWMBO trying some of your hijinks I would be able to apply for a position as a Soprano in the Vienna Boys Choir. I still remember the "stink" the first time I tried heat treating O-1 in the basement and used motor oil as a quench. In less than 2 minutes after starting I had a visitor commenting on my level of intelligence, the legitimacy of my birth, and that was just for starters. I will however admit to using the kitchen oven and my own personal cookie sheet along with a digital thermometer probe to temper after heat treating using peanut oil as a quench.

[Tony Zaffuto]

Trick is doing things when she's not home, however, she has got into the habit of "surprise" returns. I've outfoxed her about smells though: usually a decoy project to through her off the scent, however our house beagle is more loyal to her than me.

[george wilson]

I would not put oily things in the dish washer. I'd be concerned with it leaving an after taste. But,my wife also being a craftsman,tempering steel in the oven and other unusual stuff has not been an issue. Long ago,though,we got a proper heat treating furnace,like I had at work. The kitchen oven is not accurate enough by far. I have laid parts on the electric kitchen stove to temper them upon occasion,where I am just going by colors,on types of steel I know real well.(Colors are not always reliable).

[John Coloccia]

oh,well. I guess for me,that's whoah on the koa. I don't need any mo-ah.

rofl
:d :d :d

edit: why does it keep changing everything to lowercase??

[george wilson]

When I was young,I thought koa guitars were made of some kind of cheap looking mahogany. The big,long pores did not look good to me.

I have a big,long plank of koa with a medium curl in it. I should have bought more at the time,but koa has just never gotten me all that excited.

[Tom Vanzant]

George, Tony Lydgate has made padauk boxes with hinged koa lids. Very attractive. Ron Brese also has used koa for closed totes on some of his planes. I've had a small plank for years...it just may end up as a box lid. IIRC, Tony used a worn out sanding belt for a burnished surface before finishing.

[george wilson]

I don't get your point. I know koa is a popular wood. I am just not that find of it myself. Just personal taste. I don't hate it. Just haven't felt like making a koa guitar. I did buy the plank,so I suppose I was thinking about it years ago.