Defining Moments

tomsalwasser · Post by **tomsalwasser** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 7:52 am

I'm sure you all have had moments like this. It happened a few years ago; I had signed up for a Woodworking 101 class at our local high school. We were all making small tables with a drawer. We sawed, jointed and glued some oak boards. It was a frantic, nerve wracking glue mess that we were clamping up so I thought. The next session we scraped the excess glue as best we could...we were a sorry lot as the instructor brought us over to the Time Saver belt sander. We plopped our panels on the belt and something magical happened...the most beautiful glued up panels started coming out the other side. I was hooked!

Well I had a similar experience yesterday. Early Santa dropped of a Dewalt DW734 planer that he got for me on Amazon (for only $350 I might add). After reading the manual and setting it up I ran some test boards through it. This is quite a machine. I should have gotten one of these years ago. The boards come out with the most silky smooth finish I've ever seen. Makes me wonder if in the days before sandpaper did woodworkers get this kind of finish using scrapers?

Best,
Tom

holsgo · Post by **holsgo** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 8:02 am

Yes, they could. Congrats on feeding your addiction. A planer is almost a gateway drug to more opportunies.
Scrapers and bench planes can leave a finish with virtually no need of sandpaper. Now, the practice of it takes time, but some of the old and passed members of my family left behind work that never saw sandpaper. And the finish on those pieces is impeccable.
I love hand tools and what they can do. Do you have any planes or scrapers?

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 9:02 am

holsgo wrote:Yes, they could. Congrats on feeding your addiction. A planer is almost a gateway drug to more opportunies.
Scrapers and bench planes can leave a finish with virtually no need of sandpaper. Now, the practice of it takes time, but some of the old and passed members of my family left behind work that never saw sandpaper. And the finish on those pieces is impeccable.
I love hand tools and what they can do. Do you have any planes or scrapers?

I agree, there is nothing more beautiful than a piece of hand crafted furniture done by a skilled craftsman.

However, it is not the scraper or the plane (or any other hand tool) that does the job. It is the craftsman.

holsgo · Post by **holsgo** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 9:23 am

agree totally.

reible · Post by **reible** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 4:25 pm

Dusty you must have had one of those good senior moments, you hit the exact sentiments of most all of us, this is where wisdom comes from and I thank you for it.

Ed

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 4:46 pm

If it was a GOOD senior moment then I must be thankful for it. I don't have many of those (GOOD ONES I mean).

Thank You

tomsalwasser · Post by **tomsalwasser** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 6:48 pm

holsgo wrote:Yes, they could. Congrats on feeding your addiction. A planer is almost a gateway drug to more opportunies. Scrapers and bench planes can leave a finish with virtually no need of sandpaper. Now, the practice of it takes time, but some of the old and passed members of my family left behind work that never saw sandpaper. And the finish on those pieces is impeccable. I love hand tools and what they can do. Do you have any planes or scrapers?

No planes or scrapers but I am intrigued. I truly have never seen such a smooth finish on wood that has never seen sandpaper. I'm going to have to look into this...

And I am excited to be able to have some control over thickness of my boards with the planer. Could only do so much with my 4" jointer. I have not fired up my bandsaw yet; it came with my used SS years ago, the tires are all cracked. Way high on my list is to get the bandsaw going. Do you use rubber or urethane tires on your bandsaw?

reible · Post by **reible** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 8:04 pm

I have found that woods can be a bit to work hardened and while it super smooth it is also almost impossible to get it to take stain until it is ruffed up by sanding... just so you know.

Bandsaw wise I still have the old black ones and they seem to work fine. From some postings I have read here I might well do my replacements with the same when it comes time to do so. I've also read a good number of good reasons for using the new style but not enough of them to convince me to change (YET).

Ed

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 11:58 pm

reible wrote:I have found that woods can be a bit to work hardened and while it super smooth it is also almost impossible to get it to take stain until it is ruffed up by sanding... just so you know.

Bandsaw wise I still have the old black ones and they seem to work fine. From some postings I have read here I might well do my replacements with the same when it comes time to do so. I've also read a good number of good reasons for using the new style but not enough of them to convince me to change (YET).

Ed

If the tires are merely 'cracked', with minimal missing chunks and are not shedding, they may have a bit of life left.

Bill Mayo recommends belt dressing (IIRC) to keep them from further deterioration.

BTW Sandpaper 'adds scratches'!:eek:

tomsalwasser · Post by **tomsalwasser** » Sun Dec 11, 2011 7:26 am

JPG40504 wrote:If the tires are merely 'cracked', with minimal missing chunks and are not shedding, they may have a bit of life left. Bill Mayo recommends belt dressing (IIRC) to keep them from further deterioration.

No missing chunks, just cracks. Thanks for the tip!