David Weaver...

[Harold Burrell]

Since you are like the resident stone/sharpening guru...AND...since you live in the same state as I...well...would you mind oh so very much if I just saved myself a whole lot of time and effort by just bringing all of my dull tools to you?

Yeah...I'm thinking that it would actually save us BOTH time. Me (for obvious reasons) and you...because then you wouldn't have to take so many hours typing responses to my stupid questions.

Cool? OK. Good. I'll be right over.

:D

[David Weaver]

it's funny, one that I don't sharpen anything better than anyone who knows how to sharpen stuff, and two, nobody in my neighborhood knows I know how to sharpen anything until....last week my wife had a birthday party for our daughter and someone used a pair of our scissors to cut something, a cheap pair that came in a knife set. They are, however, properly sharpened. She asked my wife "what machine" we use to sharpen our scissors, and my wife started her "my husband is an idiot and sharpens everything in the house speech....".

The next day, one of the party attendees dropped of four pairs of scissors and probably a dozen knives, maybe a couple more than that.

I told her next time that I would show her how to sharpen with a medium stone and a smooth steel so that she can do it. (most of the knives were serrated, though, something nobody has a need for if they can sharpen a knife well - not even for bread). That is the first time the topic ever came up "in real life".

So...if you're ever in the neighborhood with a box full of knives and scissors (just don't bring me scissors with loose rivets that have permanent plastic covers on the rivets).

(If anyone was ever in the neighborhood and wanted a rundown on freehand sharpening that's faster than a guide, uses less steel and produces results just as good, I'd gladly do that. Millerton's only what...4 hours away from a hop skip and a jump from north of the city of PGH? )

[Daniel Rode]

I'm real close to PA, In fact I'm probably closer than Harold. Can I stop by with a few saws for lessons :)

[David Weaver]

After the holiday season sometime. It'd have to be in between naps (not for me, for the kids) since the shop is below their rooms.

[Daniel Rode]

In case it wasn't clear, I am joking. I wouldn't presume to invade your house demanding saw sharpening lessons.

[David Weaver]

I don't want to make a career out of it, but if saw sharpening is a problem, by all means. I think that saw sharpening is primary an experience based competency, though. If you sharpen the saws *and* use them, you get better at it fast.

[bridger berdel]

I teach sharpening at the local woodcraft store. It's a bit easier than doing classes at home, and I guess I am a bit leery about having complete strangers in my shop on any kind of regular basis. Woodcraft's shop is small so class size is limited, which is fine by me. Something to think about.

[Harold Burrell]

In case it wasn't clear, I am joking. I wouldn't presume to invade your house demanding saw sharpening lessons.

Oh, man! I would!

Well...I wouldn't be "demanding". More like begging.

I would also be sure to bring all of my "David Weaver Fan Club" paraphernalia to impress your wife with just how revered you really are. :D

[Tony Zaffuto]

Oh, man! I would!

Well...I wouldn't be "demanding". More like begging.

I would also be sure to bring all of my "David Weaver Fan Club" paraphernalia to impress your wife with just how revered you really are. :D

Pick me up as you pass the DuBois exit on I-80.

[David Weaver]

I teach sharpening at the local woodcraft store. It's a bit easier than doing classes at home, and I guess I am a bit leery about having complete strangers in my shop on any kind of regular basis. Woodcraft's shop is small so class size is limited, which is fine by me. Something to think about.

I tend to take a my way or the highway view (or rather my way or figure it out for yourself if you want to do something different). Thus I don't do it very often. We have a local woodworker's group here that is primarily power tools, and some of the members are VERY accomplished, as in studio furniture accomplished, there's nothing for me to teach or learn there (they talk a lot of power tools and turning). I went there to pick up wood once, and one of the guys said "you should come in and stay for a while" and I told him that I tried to generally build only with hand tools unless I had to make something I don't want to make. When I said "only hand tools", I think his eyes crossed. I pulled a handsaw out of my car so that I could get what I bought (quartersawn beech - go figure) into the car, and it drew a crowd. I think some of the guys thought it was a circus act.

And we lost our woodcraft probably 5 years ago now, so there's really no good venue. Otherwise, I'd limit anyone to be someone I knew fairly well "online". My wife is more suspicious, though, and she'd have veto so she may decide no. If george ever made it up here (not that he'd have any reason to come up here), she knows who he is, and Griggs who has had near misses with timing when he's in town and I am, but that may be about it. (I think I could get tony and harold in, too, if they could wade through the mess)

Tony's down here all the time, anyway.

[Harold Burrell]

I think I could get tony and harold in...

Really??? You think you could get me in?

I dunno...My wife says I'm a tad creepy...

[David Weaver]

Really??? You think you could get me in?

I dunno...My wife says I'm a tad creepy...

My wife says I'm creepy, too. If you say you're me and burp, she won't know it's not me. Of course, the joke would be on anyone who came down, because there's not really much anyone is going to learn from me...not unless you want to play with my sharpening stones or make a plane (hard to fit the latter in in three hours between naps, though).

[george wilson]

I offered to sharpen the scissors of the costume shop in the museum once. They gave me a big bag with about 60 pairs in it!! Eventually I sharpened MOST of them.

They had had some old idiot doing them. His scissors looked like he used a 20 grit stone on them(NO KIDDING!!!!!) and he burned the tips blue at that. I never saw such rough,ragged edges as he made. Why some guys set themselves up as sharpeners I don't know.

There's a guy who sets up his sharpening booth at the farmer's market down town every Saturday. Women show up with knives for him to sharpen. A friend of mine,who I taught to sharpen took out his pocket knife. The guy wanted to sharpen it for him. He said "Nothing doing. I don't want you dulling it on those wheels". When the guy got hold of the knife,he exclaimed "HOW did you get this so sharp!!!"

[Judson Green]

Oh, man! I would!

Well...I wouldn't be "demanding". More like begging.

I would also be sure to bring all of my "David Weaver Fan Club" paraphernalia to impress your wife with just how revered you really are. :D

Wait a minute... there's David Weaver Fan Club paraphernalia? Where?

I gotta me some.

[Tony Zaffuto]

Entry to the club is demonstrated ownership of a NIB lily white washita, or donation of an anvil to the group

[Harold Burrell]

Entry to the club is demonstrated ownership of a NIB lily white washita, or donation of an anvil to the group

There are 2 other ways to join as well.

1. Buy something from Dave. Or...

2. Send me money. I will then send you your DWFC endorsed paraphernalia. It will be something cool like a hunk of wood that I trimmed the end grain on with something David sharpened.

[Jim Matthews]

Really??? You think you could get me in?

I dunno...My wife says I'm a tad creepy...

Tell her it's an "encounter group".

[Jim Matthews]

Kidding aside, I've been struggling with double iron wood body smoothers over the past Summer.

My best effort requires constant disassembly to clear jammed shavings.
Dave's plane is still cutting without interruption.

I'm afraid to adjust it, and lose the mojo.

His works, mine doesn't.

[Jim Koepke]

I'm afraid to adjust it, and lose the mojo.

The parts that have good mojo shouldn't be adjusted. The part(s) with bad mojo need some adjustment.

jtk

[David Weaver]

The plane that I sent jim was the first decent coffin smoother that I was able to get a hold of (and I had to order it off of ebay UK) - and it was like the 5th one or so that I bought. It was a decent marples plane with a good full length iron, and even though it's fairly new as far as coffin smoothers go (probably early 1900s or something - before the light colored '50s scheme), it was properly made and everything fits right on it. That is strangely not a very common thing, and you really can't build a decent double iron plane without much hassle until you get a hold of some planes that actually feed properly.

I think that it should feed well no matter how it's used. Between that one and the griffiths plane (which was also very carefully made), I learned what I needed to know to make planes that work.

So nearly all of the credit goes to marples for continuing to actually make a proper double iron plane for so long. I sold it on ebay because I knew it was a good plane and I didn't want to hear anyone on here moaning and groaning about me selling a coffin smoother for $50 (which I consider to be a lot for one - and it's what it cost me to get it here shipped), but the simple fact is that it's a $50 plane any day of the week whereas many $15 planes made in the US aren't worth more than their iron is worth. I wasn't thinking when jim bought it (because it was through ebay, I didn't pay attention to notice a creeker was buying it) and charged him full price straight up. Otherwise I'd have given him a break :)

(or the short translation, it's a good plane and it'll work fine no matter how many times you take it apart and put it back together)

I know there are planemaking books, but the only book I've ever actually read was the WPINCA book (I think that's it, it has a very short excerpt showing some marking jigs and planemaker's tools - I don't use the marking jigs, though, i think they make it easier if you're making a specific pattern but the time saved using them is a matter of minutes in what takes me 10 hours to make). It's just easier for me when you have a couple of good examples in hand. I have the whelan PDF that was distributed a while ago, but haven't read it yet. The need for an example is the one reason I will probably not ever sell my JT brown jointer - it's the only decent single iron plane that I have, and as long as I haven't made a single iron plane, I'll have to keep it.

[David Weaver]

I just cut apart 4 planes this past weekend that I bought in the past, but didn't think would work well without at least having a wedge, and they definitely won't work well if someone doesn't learn how to set a double iron. They weren't all bad planes, but it's hard to convey what they need to work well to someone who might not want to do that work that badly, and who won't want a bright fresh wedge messing up the way their plane looks.

I learned something from them, too, and that is to use wedge stock that will shrink at the same rate as the plane body, and from above where the plane body is cut off of the blank (since the bottom of the plane shrinks faster than the top and having the wedge fingers under a little tension isn't a bad thing).