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Thread: An insignificant step for the humanity...

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2016
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    Itapevi, SP - Brazil
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    672

    Exclamation An insignificant step for the humanity...

    ...but a great one for me!

    Just prepared a couple of white pine rules at 5 mm thickness as per my wife's specs. Less than 10 minutes to rip at my TS something thicker and to finish using my Jack plane and to chamfer with block plane. Linseed oil for finishing directly as no sanding was required.

    A couple of months ago I corrected my workbench tabletop just using a steel rule and the Jack plane in five minutes. Previously at the beginning of this year I adjusted some parts of one big shoes' stand I was making to my wife with a shooting board and the Jack plane in just few minutes. I made some interesting joints using 3" x 3" stock and (for the first time) using only manual tools (chisels, hand saw and block plane) in the beginning of this month. I squared several small pieces of wood using only manual tools also, just for fun - including a couple of smaller ones using only chisels.

    Guys, I came here just to say thank you: those insignificant steps for the humanity (and ridiculous for most of you!) were absolutely great for me. I have discovered after 30 years of (power) woodworking that hand tools can be faster and more precise than power tools for some applications as well can be also very fun! You guys have a significant part of that achievement.
    All the best.

    Osvaldo.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Longview WA
    Posts
    27,347
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    Good for you Osvaldo!

    For me it is the quiet factor keeping me using primarily hand tools.

    A lot of folks down play the idea of a shooting board, bench hooks or saw benches. In my opinion some of these simple shop made helpers are an important step to learning some of the basic techniques of woodworking and joinery.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  3. #3
    Osvaldo , can you tell us why the strict specs for the rulers? If the use is special enough maybe we can use the idea ,too.
    Sounds like a great anniversary present !

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    South Coastal Massachusetts
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    It's significant - you're keeping ancient skills alive.

  5. #5
    Keep it up! Power tools for sawing and basic shaping. The rest hand tools.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    Missouri
    Posts
    2,151
    Good for you Osvaldo. Knowing how much tooling to use to complete a task is important. I'm not against using power tools. Sometimes they are a huge time waster in set up time. When you need a couple of saw cuts and a few shavings with a plane and use a TS and an orbital sander with three different grits of paper, extension cords, dust collection hoses it's like using a firehouse to water a few plants.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2016
    Location
    Itapevi, SP - Brazil
    Posts
    672

    Guide for her rolling pin

    Quote Originally Posted by Mel Fulks View Post
    Osvaldo , can you tell us why the strict specs for the rulers? If the use is special enough maybe we can use the idea ,too.
    Sounds like a great anniversary present !
    Well, my wife uses those rules for several applications in the kitchen but the reason for strict thickness is she use two rules as a guide for her kitchen rolling pin when making some special cookies and pastries. Probably she doesn't need the 0.1 mm precision I made the rules...
    All the best.

    Osvaldo.

  8. #8
    Thanks,Osvaldo. I made one special purpose rule decades ago, a "sweep rule" to elongate shaper knife profile to allow for
    the angle of knives. Got the instructions from an old book, and I enjoyed using it. Friends found trial and error easier.
    Always been interested in special purpose precision.

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