Skiing and Woodworking

There are few things that I would rather be doing than working in the shop. The winter always brings a conflict of interests to the world of COR woodworks and carving the Herwiggys. My weekends thus far have succumbed to skiing and woodworking has filled the evenings a couple nights a week. I might just have to quit my day job to give myself enough time to squeeze all this in. But there is always a fine line on how to split your free time. Blending the two hobbies I love to do, I just finished a Ski rack for some friends in the Tetons. The background mountain range is a silhouette of the Teton Range with space to hang up to 6 pair of skis. This project was inspired by a smaller version I have made as a key rack. I am sure the Ski Rack will be put to good use. Maybe soon to store some Herwiggys!

The Ruler Trick Upgrade

For years now I have been religiously submitting some of my ideas to Fine Woodworking and Woodworking Magazines to have them posted in the Methods of Work or Shortcut sections. This past summer I submitted a Shortcut to Woodworking Magazine. The shortcut was a upgrade to the David Charlesworth Ruler Trick. The shortcut was published in the winter 2009 Woodworking Magazine. The Text read as follows.

"When polishing the back of a plane iron it is much faster to use David Charlesworth's ruler trick. The ruler raises the iron up on one side of the stone and creates a micro bevel or a thin back bevel on the back of the iron. When I tried to use a ruler it would sometimes move around on the stone. To prevent this I made a "ruler" out of thin steel flashing available at any home center. I took the flashing, removed all the paint and then bent the last 3/8" on either end to create a hook. The new ruler clips over the stone and does not move."

A Double Combo Stone

Sharp Tools are a must when working with hand tools. The more I woodwork the more particular I become when it comes to sharpness. What I use to think was sharp 2 years ago I would consider too dull to work with today. To keep my tools sharp I use a series of Norton waterstones. I own a 200, 1000, 1000/4000 combo and an 8000 stone. I have found that I do not use the 220 on tools but really just use it to flatten other stones. I will also flatten stones on 120-grit drywall sanding screen on a granite surface plate to ensure they are as flat as possible. One of the first stones I purchased was the 100/4000 combo stone and it has seen heaps of use to the point it was becoming very thin. I was afraid that under the weight of the sharpening process that the stone might be flexing. To prevent this I Gorilla glued two stones together to make a thicker single stone. I glued a solid 1000 to the 1000 side of the combo stone. The trick works like a charm and it extends the life of both stones significantly.

Keeping It All Together

After destroying a 2" square on the concrete porch at the shop in Mammoth I came up with a way of keeping the square in its place. The Lee Valley Mk. II Shop Apron has a front pocket that is the perfect size for a small engineer square. To keep the square in its place I sewed a 1/2" rare earth magnet to the back side of the apron. When the square is slid in the pocket the magnet is strong enough to keep the square in place when I lean over but can still be pulled out with ease.