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Nice post Ken - thanks!

Dakotapix - thanks for pointing me to Paul Sellers. Just watched his Youtube video on making a frame saw. Perfect place for me to start - the tougher handsaw types can wait for later

While I hate to start another hobby, I have been interested for a long time in making my own handsaws. Does anyone have any experience with toothing their own blades? I've been looking for a retoother to do this, but it seems like even Foley-Belsaw no longer makes them. I looked for 2nd hand units, but most are missing the ratchets and guide bars.

I'm curious if anyone on here has a solution. Is a custom die in a manual punch press a crazy solution?

My last step to reduce manual work had come in the moment my wife bought a Tormek T-7 for her turning tools. She's the turner, I'm the machinist and therefore I had to test the setup I tested my chisels and planes too. The result is I will never fall back to manually sharpening irons. Even if I use those tools only by less that 20% of the time (estimated) in the shop I want to have them sharp and equally important precise.

Today I try to learn a manual technique cutting dovetail joints. Not for using them extensively but for understanding if I'm able to perform the task precise enough. (With a router it works well.)

Rolf

Hatch, you are right. I have after all converted from doing hand sharpening to 100% Tormek! I guess for every tool I turn off I may end up turning one more tool on It is the balance between doing satisfying hand work while trying to eliminate the drudgery (like hand sharpening) that keeps things interesting in the shop.

You may have to use power tools sometime when the spouse says she wants something now.

Ha - I hear that!

SADW and Hatch - my goal is to work slower and spend more time on each task. I sit in an office chair all day long (I'm an IT architect), so getting a tool in my hands and slowly shaping something is like a deep breath of oxygen to me. I'm trying to turn off the power tools so I can spend MORE time on each project

A question about the powered planer? Is it a handheld machine or a jointer? A handheld will never produce a smooth surface, this is alway a coarse tool for removing a lot of wood within a short time, but a jointer will. Even my 30 years old jointer machine will provided that the cutter irons are sharp and without any dents.

Rolf

The planer I unplugged is a 13" Craftsman that I bought 30 years ago while I was still in high school. Solid cast iron bed and nice powerful motor. Does a nice job but I'm still happier doing the same thing by hand - makes me feel like I'm really making something by hand rather than just running the wood though a series of machine steps.

I want to share a success I had with sharpening my plane irons.

First, a little background. I have been trying to do more and more of my work with hand tools. So far I am at about 40% and increasing every month. One area I never felt confident with was planing the surface of a glued up panel.

I had a real break through with my planes when I read a post on here about cambering the irons. I have been getting them really sharp, but was too focused on keeping the edges square. I finally decided to experiment with one of my small bench planes and camber it. The result is amazing. I now feel confident that I can hand plane the surface of my work rather than use the power planer (which leaves ripples that have to be sanded or scraped off). One more tool I can unplug!

Thanks community for all of this great knowledge and inspiration.

Nice work, Rich! I've been doing woodworking as a hobby for 30 years and I still learned something new from your bandsaw doc.

Hey Andrew -

Most plastic cutting boards are polyethelyne (PE) or high-density polyethylene (HDPE). I've cut plenty of HDPE with wood working tools and never damaged any edges. The only issue I've ever run into is that if the blade heats up (like long rip cuts on the tablesaw) the plastic can get a bit gummy. One thing I wouldn't do is use the bandsaw - the chips are too soft to clear from a fine blade and you just end up clogging it.

Good luck and let me know how the runners work out - I would like to do that same if it works.

I've given up altogether on eBay and Amazon for selling things. I'm lucky enough to live in a large city, so Craigslist has been a good option for me. If the population is large enough, there is always more than a few people interested in my items, and because the sales are handled face-to-face, there are no fees or shipping costs to worry about.

Nice work Jan!

How many times does it magnify it? Mark1

It has flip down lenses and the loupe, so it does 4 different mag levels. This is actually the first time I've looked up the max magnification and it looks pretty small, but in real life the 4.8x really feels like a lot.

1.8x, 2.3x, 3.7x, and 4.8x.

http://www.harborfreight.com/magnifier-head-strap-with-lights-38896.html

Costs $4.99 and makes me look like a mad scientist!

I'm interested in BESS tests you guys are running - do you have special equipment for that? From what I read on the bessu.org website you need special test media etc.