MIMF

I've taken to using my old CPAP machine - the mask is very comfortable for working and the delivery of air at continuous positive pressure prevents entry of dust particles. I've connected the intake port of the machine to a box that I constructed, that has a room-sized HEPA filter, or I can draw air...

I was about to joke about finding a left-handed plane in the same store aisle as the left-handed screwdrivers.

My old Stanley 60-1/2 low-angle plane has a lever to secure the blade, with the adjustment screw at the back. This model is produced by several manufacturers.

I think I have pretty much always had one like Beate's. It probably got more use before I finally succumbed to buying a battery operated drill/electric screwdriver but it is regularly used nonetheless. I can't really imaging being without one. I would quite like to have a brace (as in brace and bit...

A piece of hacksaw blade (tpi-your choice), with a dowel handle, shaped like a T. Spread, swish in water, dry.

Gosh, I feel better about posting this now. Here's a link to a video by Mr. Chickadee, who is busting a homestead out of the trees of Kentucky. He uses 18th & 19th century tools, and in this video he demonstrates the technique of using an eggbeater drill, pretty much as I described it above. You mig...

Hello, In my pile of odds & ends, i found a a very nice piece of spruce that's 5-3/4 wide. I think it could become a good soundboard. As I recall from the Olden Days, that four-piece tops were built up to full width on the lower bout by gluing on the offcuts from the waist as 'wings' at the widest s...

Oh, the Lady Wife saw me taking the pics for this post, and she suggested that I also show you my precision fence that I'm using to cut lock corner joints for tool drawers (left foreground). It's a folding/parallel wedge design with a 1:4 pitch. It translates a 1/32" displacement in the Y direction ...

Beate, That looks like drill that was made for timberframing a house or barn, as the Amish do in the USA. It looks like it's meant to be used in the horizontal position with the foot pressed against the torso.

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Hello, Have you ever dropped the arbor nut and flange washer down into your table saw? Well here's a little widget that relieves that frustration. It's a piece of springy wire that engages the dimple in the end of the arbor shaft, and catches/carries the nut & washer as you remove/replace them. (For...

Mark says... "a large handled screwdriver with a keyless 3/8" drill chuck" I've got a hefty one, and a fancy one. The hefty one that I made on my lathe, is for chucking up homemade detail chisels that I make from spade bits (they're most often used on the lathe), and a beautifully make orthopedic su...

I don't know if anybody here has a hankering to use an eggbeater hand drill, but maybe so. There may be times when a very slow drill speed might be desired. I recently acquired a Millers Falls No. 2A drill (circa 1957) in very good condition, but I found it very clumsy to use at my first attempts. S...

I bought a Dust Stopper, and it's fundamentally a Thien-type separator. The slot for the dust fallout starts with a hole about 2 inches diameter that tapers into the slot that is about 9/16" wide. The baffle for the exhaust port is a small section of a circle, about a 1' arc of the 1-1/4" port. The ...

maybe he'll play in the lap position with a slide

it's better than the one he didn't have

https://youtu.be/HF2LJ7JDauU

my shopbuilt wall-mounted system has worked very well indeed with no appreciable collection of dust in the upper grey bucket where the HEPA filter is (see pic, also a construction thread from a few years ago). However, I later built a movable version on a furniture dolly that is a bit too clumsy to ...

is the Thien design scalable various diameters? What might be the minimum and maximum diameters, and how wide would the circumferential slot be?

Here are a few reviews from users. I don't know if some minor modifications can deal with the complaints in the reviews, but I'll have a look. My shopbuilt wallmounted mini-cyclone system is still working perfectly, but it would be nice to have one that is portable. https://www.lumberjocks.com/revie...

No worries. Oh, I forgot to mention stropping afterwards, for the razor edge.

Barry, I think a simple block is fine for smaller blades. But for larger items such as bench chisels and plane irons, I've found that a wooden plane gives a secure, wobble-free grip on the tool and thus provides consistent results in a short time. I might make another one for my lathe chisels such a...

Hello, Sharpening has never been an enjoyable activity for me, and I doubt I'll ever acquire the 'muscle memory' to do it freehand. Also, I've been disappointed by the roller-type guides. So I made a sharpening plane that works very well. I use coarse abrasive paper on a granite floor tile for badly...