Weekend Neanderings -- Hacker Bench & O1 Stuff

[Tom LaRussa]

I spent a little time this weekend working on my Hacker Bench. Managed to cut two mortise and tenon joints for two of the legs to attach to one of the set of feet. I did a really lousy job on the first one, and a lousy job on the second one, which, hopefully, means that I'll do a pretty decent job one of these time soon.




I also worked a tiny bit on the plane into which my first home-fired plane blade is scheduled to be fitted. I call it the boat-tail, because it sort of reminds me of the boattail speedsters of the 1920's and 1930s.






I finished the grinding on my first attempt at a carving knife, which I plan to use -- a la Krenov but without the talent or experience -- to carve detail pieces for larger projects. Boy, shaping a knife is not easy. This blade started out quite a bit larger than it is now. It kept shrinking as I repeatedly reground parts I had messed up.





I also began grinding the main bevel on two more paring chisels. I have found that this sort of grinding is not too difficult, so long as I stay away from the grinder and use the bench belt-sander instead.





Finally, I began another lamination glue-up. This one will be used to try out some goofy ideas I have on plane making.

[Louis Bois]

Er...Tom...do you have a day job?!?

I'm flabbergasted by all this time you get to spend on your toy..er...tools!!! If I'm lucky, I might be able to sneak in 1/2 hour per night...with the possibility of about 3 hours on the weekend. That might explain why my "next level hacker bench" has taken so long.

Perhaps if I send my wife and son to the "inlaws" for a few weeks...hmmm...that's me thinking out loud...hmmm. Naw. I'd miss them too much.

Guess I'll just have to live vicariously through you. At this rate, you'll be done your "next level hacker bench" before mine!

...love your boat-tail plane BTW.

[Tom LaRussa]

Hi Louis,

Er...Tom...do you have a day job?!?
Perhaps if I send my wife and son to the "inlaws" for a few weeks...hmmm...that's me thinking out loud...hmmm. Naw. I'd miss them too much.

No wife.

No kids.

Just moved to a new State, thus requiring re-licensing, so my "day job" for the time being is studying, which I can't do for more than about an hour at a stretch or I go bonkers.

So, to clear my head, I head to the shop a few times a day and get in a quick few minutes of sawdust and shavings!

...love your boat-tail plane BTW.

Thanks!