Scrap Wood

[Dave Williams]

Well as many of you know it has been rather hot in the <ST1:pNew Jersey</ST1:p. Here at my house scrap wood from our shop is usually burned, but it has been far too hot to do that. My father a patternmaker, [how many people know what that is anymore?] is working in a new shop and brought home some scrap that was destined for the incinerator. This all piled up around our shop and I decided to use them up.
So what to make first? Well how about a decant jointer’s bench, we have several benches but they are just extensions of tables of our power tools. As it is a basement shop space is limited and mostly used up already so I made a folding one from <ST1:p<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com /><st1:country-region w:st=US</st1:country-region> lately and rather humid also here in <st1:State w:st=" /><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Roy</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Underhill</st1:PlaceName></ST1:p’s book. It stands 32” high, 22 ½” wide, 5 feet long and has a 10” vise at the front. It folds flat if one takes the central batten out, but having two legs protrude some doesn’t make much of a difference. The bench top and side board were made from a horribly twisted 12’ board of fir, I had to break the Neander ways and use a thickness planer because the twist was so bad, 2” rough sawn board became 1 ½”. Still twisted some but when I screwed it to the battens it flattened out. The bench is pretty light and very sturdy which surprised me; it’s now the sturdiest bench in the shop. I might make this in to two posts because the picture thing is giving me problems.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/Mr_Zoot_Suit/benchfront.jpg http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/Mr_Zoot_Suit/benchside.jpg
Every bench needs some accessories, bench hook, and two smaller bench hooks for sawing support.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/Mr_Zoot_Suit/hooks.jpg
From some maple scrap and maple log I made two mallets the round one weighs in at a little less than 2 lbs. and the other at 4lbs. yeah I know a bit on the hefty side but it keeps my forearm muscles in good shape.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/Mr_Zoot_Suit/mallets.jpg

[Dave Williams]

Impossible as it may seem with all the tools we own a router plane is not to be found in our ranks. Lacking the money to buy one and having a need for one prompted the making of two “seat of the pants” models. Put a good sized wood screw (#10 or #12) in a flat block of wood and grind a bit of an edge on it. I’d still rather have one made by but these work surprisingly well.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/Mr_Zoot_Suit/routers.jpg
Last winter while splitting wood for the fire I saw two curved pieces of Maple and thought they look just like the ends of a bow saw! So last month I finally got around to making it. Note all things here are made from scrap wood, that’s why there are two holes in the stretcher of the saw and why the turned cherry knobs don’t match.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/Mr_Zoot_Suit/saw.jpg
And what else could we use around the shop? Well a chair couldn’t hurt, we have two stools but they don’t have backs and are usually employed to hold long boards for marking as our other benches are covered in other tools and the like. This is really a scrap pieces chair, Maple front posts, cherry bottom rungs, two Ash side rungs, birch front rung, and a cherry back rung. But what about the long back posts? I didn’t want cut in to our good stock for this, so scrounging around the shop I found an odd slab of Walnut, we don’t know where it’s from or when we got it, but it became the back posts of the chair. Note the chair is not finished in the picture.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/Mr_Zoot_Suit/slab.jpg http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/Mr_Zoot_Suit/chair.jpg
There was a nice piece of cherry lying around and since I’m tired of putting my hats on my desk and my coat on a chair a coat rack seemed in order. To add a bit of flare to it I decided to carve two Irish Trinity Knots on the ends. They came out fairly well but I messed up the placement of the pegs, despite many marks and careful gauging I placed a hole between two marks. AARRRGGGG!!! I didn’t want to start over and since my winter coats will hang on them the mistake will be covered to some existent.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/Mr_Zoot_Suit/coatrack.jpg http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/Mr_Zoot_Suit/knot.jpg

Looking at all of this I begin to wonder what can you make from scrap lying around your shop? I'd like to see what you can come up with? I look foward to your pics and posts!

[harry strasil]

Dave most all of my shop made stuff is scrap or salvaged material;

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/irnsrgn/cart.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/irnsrgn/scissorsmortiser.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/irnsrgn/jointerplane.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/irnsrgn/wood/tenonrouter03.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/irnsrgn/wood/router.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/irnsrgn/wood/router2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/irnsrgn/wood/clampbrkt.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/irnsrgn/wood/doublebowturningsaw.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/irnsrgn/wood/frameveneersaw.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/irnsrgn/wood/hrse1.jpg

[Maurice Metzger]

Jr. what in the Sam Hill is the object in picture #2?

Maurice

[Raymond Stanley]

Ditto...and what is #3? A shooting board?
Harry, you never cease to amaze me - your creativity and depth of knowledge of how to things all by hand.
[we haven't been introduced, I'm a newbie, but I've ready many of your posts :)]

[harry strasil]

all those things I posted have been posted on here before. LOL

#2 is my rendition of a scissors morticer, altho a bench model.

#3 is my rendition of a coopers jointer. bad back so its higher of the ground.

[Larry Rose]

Proves that there is no such thing as scrap wood. Use it until it is saw dust. A look at my shop would show that I can't throw anything away. Now, if I could only find my work bench...

[James Mittlefehldt]

I bought the Lee Valley plans for a shaving horse and in the instructions they practically dare the purchaser to make it from whatever is on hand rather than buying new wood for it.

So far I have managed to do just that but I may have to buy some material, we will see, if I ever get back to working on it, that is.

[Deirdre Saoirse Moen]

Well, in my case, it'd have been made out of 4/4 cherry, then. I think buying new wood was a better choice. ;)

[Mark Sweigart]

Dave,

A chair out of scrap. That is impressive. Along with the other stuff.

Harry,

I remember you posting the router plane with the offest base before. Do you have any details on how you hold the blade/allen wrench, etc? (I couldn't find it in the archives).

mark

[harry strasil]

Mark its in one of the pictures, a piece of brass with a rams horn wingnut to tighten, the cutters are made of Water hardening drill rod. I call it a tenon router.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/irnsrgn/wood/tenonrouter01.jpg

[Mark Sweigart]

Harry,

I think I understand. Basically, the brass piece has a slot for the bit, and a threaded portion at the other end. Then, when you use a wingnut, you can pull the bit against the wooden wall to hold it in place. Correct?

If so, what did you make the brass part out of? Or did you just make the piece?

mark

[harry strasil]

You got it Mark, its just a hole in the brass piece a bit larger than the cutter shank, the brass part was turned out of a scrap piece of 1 inch brass stock I had and the flats were cut on the bridgeport mill. The wing nut is forged iron, one of the advantages to being a blacksmith, having the tools to work metal.