Old Mechanical Pencil and Friend

By , 28 January, 2011, 1 Comment
40 Year Old Pencil

40 Year Old Pencil

Somewhere around 1971-2, I met a man in Kemmerer, Wyoming.  Lloyd Bass came to that small Polish, coal mining community to work on the new coal fed power plant.  I was there for other reasons.

Lloyd was the only African American in town, and I seemed to be the only person in town willing to befriend him.  He and I became good friends.  We both had motorcycles, and rode some together.  I managed a gas station for Amoco and he worked part-time for me just for something to do in the off hours.

We hung out together often during his stay there, and I enjoyed the relationship.  He was one of the nicest and most genuine people that I had ever known.

One day, Lloyd presented me with this pencil.  They had just gotten some at the plant, and he wanted me to have one.  I had never seen anything like it before, and I loved it at first sight.  Mechanical pencils had been around for sometime, but this was a .05 millimeter pencil when most had a fat lead that wrote an ugly line.  And the lead advancement was by clicking the top instead of rotating the barrel.

This pencil has lived in 4 states and 7 towns with me.  I was using it in the shop last week when it dropped to the floor again for the 5th time.  As I picked it up, I thought maybe I should be more careful with it.  I bought some cheapy pencils to use in the shop and brought this into the office with me where it belongs again.

This wonderful little tool has been with me now for almost 40 years, and I think of Lloyd often when I pick it up.  It still works well, and I thank him again here for it and for his friendship.

Drilling Guide

By , 28 January, 2011, No Comment
PortAlign Drilling Guide

PortAlign Drilling Guide

As promised in the previous post, I want to highlight a tool purchased about 30 years ago.  I don’t recall where I purchased it, except that I got it someplace in Lawrence, KS.  During this period of time, I was a self-employed handyman.    I had numerous quirky jobs that I did for people, and for one such job, this appeared to be the perfect tool.

The Patent description for this product explains far better than I have in this space what this tool does, but it has served me well over the years on several projects.  Essentially, if you attach it to your drill, you can drill a perpendicular hole on a flat surface.  In this picture in fact are holes in my workbench top that I drilled for bench dogs using this very tool.

With Drill Attached

With Drill Attached

The bars that hold the drill perpendicular to the base also extend beyond the base if you wish.  When used this way, you can center an edge between the bars in a clamping motion when you rotate the base until one bar is on each side of the wood.  That effectively puts the drill bit in the center of the edge and if you keep downward pressure on the plate it is perpendicular too.

I see that the company, PortAlign Tool Co. went out of business, but there are some imitations.  I love this one, and would not surrender it.  The drill is the same drill used in it from the start, so it too is a good 30 years old.  Boy, has it been abused!

Just this past year, I located a new chuck for it that did not need a key.  Curiously, a new chuck costs nearly as much as a drill anymore, so I avoided buying a new one.  But just a few months back, I ran across one on clearance for about $7 at Home Depot.  Believe me, I snatched it in a moment.  I hate chuck keys with a passion, especially the ‘L’ shaped one that came with this drill.

I will confess that when I dug this tool out of storage a year ago, it was kind of rusty.  But, a few minutes on the buffer and it was good to go again.  I put a little oil on it, and I will likely use it for many more years and many more projects.  At least on 3 more desks…

Hinging the Cover

By , 28 January, 2011, 1 Comment
Cover Pinned and In Open Position

Cover Pinned and In Open Position

Sticking with the plan to now work on just one desk, and solve the remaining issues, the biggest challenge is to get the cover to hinge properly.  According to the plan in the Craftsman magazine, the cover hinges on two pins.  The pins do not go all the way through the sides, making them nearly invisible.

The challenge is to get the pins drilled into the sides and into the cover exactly right so that the cover is square in the opening when closed, and sits snugly under the middle shelf when open so that it does not bind and does not sag or have a gap at one side or the other.

Like everything else on this desk, it will have to be perfect before the frame is glued together, since the pins cannot be inserted later.  It will be put in place during the glued up.

So, on this first desk, I laid the cover on top of a dry clamped frame and marked lines where the cover intersected when the cover was closed, and when it was open.  That left a little diamond shaped area where the lines intersected.  After marking the center of the diamond, I had my drilling point.

Cover Closed With Pin In Place

Cover Closed With Pin In Place

I carried a line from the drilling point to the top of the frame with another line.  I laid the cover in place with a gap at the top that allows the cover to open cleanly under the top shelf.  I transferred that position on to the cover to mark the location of the pins in the edge of the cover.

I have a tool that I bought nearly 30 years ago that I will comment on next time.  Using that, I drilled perpendicular holes centered in the edge of the cover.  The sides I drilled with the drill press.  It is extremely important that everything is centered and perpendicular in order for the cover to stay square when closed and open.

Here are pictures of the cover in place after a rough fit.

Miniature Plane

By , 24 January, 2011, 5 Comments
Veritas Miniature Shoulder Plane

Veritas Miniature Shoulder Plane

I have large hands, and they are not quite as limber as they were when I did woodworking 30 years ago.  The benefits of age though are many.  One particular benefit is the cash to buy some nice little toys that are cute and useful on projects.

Sometimes you need something small when you are working on something small. These desks contain a few small pieces of wood that fit into sockets.  I got them close with table saw and router, but finished the fit by hand.  One piece is 1 inch wide and the other is 1 and 1/2 inch wide.  Both are just over 3/8 inch thick.

Using the Veritas Miniature Shoulder Plane

Using the Veritas Miniature Shoulder Plane

With just a tiny bit of adjustment required, I started with my marking gauge.  I scribed a line all the way around each end to make a cut about 3/8 inch from the end which is the depth of the mortise into which the pieces will fit.

At this point, I needed to shave of a very minute amount of wood along that line to make it fit nicely into the mortise.  I started with a sharp chisel and then finished with the miniature shoulder plane from Veritas.  It worked very nicely.  The plane hugged my scribed line, giving me a nice sharp shoulder, and removed the tiniest shavings until I had a great fit.

This is the second occasion in which I pulled out this tool, and each time it was a delight to put into play.  So far, I have not sharpened it, using it just as it came from Lee Valley.  Highly recommended.

Toothpicks

By , 18 January, 2011, No Comment
Back Pieces Clamped Together

Back Pieces Clamped Together

I saw a cartoon as a youth in which a tree entered a mill, fell onto a lathe and after the chips flew a toothpick emerged.  Funny and it made an impression upon me.  This weekend, I felt as if I were making toothpicks from trees.

The desk plan calls for six pieces of dimensioned lumber that are 1/2 inch thick.  I also needed a couple of small pieces that are just over 3/8 inches thick for each desk.  I found it disturbing to plane down that 1/4 inch or more to get to 1/2 inch.  I dearly wished that I possessed a band saw and a re-saw attachment so that I could have preserved the rest of that wood instead of grinding it up.

I started putting the wood chips on the flower beds a few months back where they will provide plant nutrients in the coming years.  That makes me feel a little bit better, but I am determined to re-evaluate any plans in the future that involve the loss of that much good lumber.

Rest of the Backs Clamped Up

Rest of the Backs Clamped Up

As you can see from the pictures, I took all of the pieces after they were milled to size and clamped them together. Typically, lumber recently milled and this thin will have movement — that is warp, twist, cup, etc.

They shall remain clamped together now for a few weeks while I work other parts of the desks.  I hope they dry out without much movement.  A lot of movement would be difficult to work.

My experience with wood this thin is pretty limited, so cross your fingers with me if you would.

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