Thread: What are you working on?

Well, this morning I was working on acquiring some new (used) tools for my workshop. Found an add last night on Kijiji for a drill press and a 12" band saw for $100 a piece. I called him right away. Turns out he's a 91 year old wood worker, who just doesn't have the strength to make things anymore. Him and I hit it off right away and he gave me a few things for free as well.

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Drill press is an old JET, and is a fantastic unit. Band saw is an old Craftmaster that's pretty old, but runs fantastic. He threw in the steel cabinet and the clamp on fence. Think I might mount my grinder to the steel cabinet.

These should help making new scales for all the razors in need of repair.

Nice score Andrew,

If that old Craftmaster saw is made as well as the Craftsman one I recently helped my buddy Ski with (it was his dad's and made back in the mid 50's) then it will out live you! The Jet looks like a well built unit also.

I'd say that's a pretty sweet deal. Looks like he took good care of his tools.

It's a great thing to see tools get passed on to create more art.

SCORE!!!
won't be saying that again till the fall
Sweet tools Andrew. Enjoy..

What a great score. They don't make tools as well now as they did then. Society is way too concerned about getting the cheapest price these days. I think in combination it was awesome. The old guy got to pass on stuff he loved to someone who will love the tools and make cool things.

Ya, I was pretty happy with both. I wasn't too sure about the saw, but once I saw it in person I changed my mind. Both are great.... I wanna use both RIGHT NOW, but I'm off to a wedding in a half hour. TONIGHT! if I can stay away from the bar..... Hehehe.

I think the drill press was designed for a midget. Too big to be on the bench, and too small to be on the floor. I'm going to have to build about an 18" platform for it to sit on.

Originally Posted by Gasman

Thanks all. I got a loupe Rez. Also got a USB microscope but I'm still having issues. I got a nice solid TNT going on this one then progressed. And the end product was just not right. Went back to the 4k and tried again and still no go after some stropping. It feels about right with a thumb pad test as Lynn does but just not quite there yet. Havent tried the shave test. I'll wait for morning for that. I aint giving up yet. If it was a smiling blade I might set it aside and try again in a few weeks as I'm NOT getting those at all yet, but a straight edge or close too straight, I've been able to get them with time. I got faith I'll get it. This is a personal vendeta that I have with this one and I WILL WIN!

Gasman, that's a great razor and I love the personalized scales. I wanted to raise something from my own experience, could be true for you too (or not). People's beard hairs vary a lot, just like the hair on top of their heads. I have thick beard hairs. If I get such a close shave that I can't feel any beard with or against the grain, a perfect BBS, I look in the mirror and I have a five o'clock shadow. In fact, I can see every beard hair sitting there -- they're that thick. So even if I use a really sharp brand-new double-edge blade like a Feather, unless I do proper beard prep I can't shave against the grain along my jaw or under my chin or on my upper lip -- the razor pulls and skips. Some people say they get 5 or 10 shaves out of a double-edge blade -- I envy those people; my third shave with a high-quality DE blade is pretty unpleasant.

So if you have thick beard hairs, you might just need a sharper edge than you can get at 8K. When I first started honing my own straights, my finest stone was a Norton 8K and I just couldn't get a comfortable edge on a razor with it. It was just impossible to get a good shave. When I started using a Shapton 15K, then for the first time I started to be able to shave with razors I honed. Maybe you're honing a great edge for 8K, but you just need a finer grit.

Originally Posted by HARRYWALLY

I think the drill press was designed for a midget. Too big to be on the bench, and too small to be on the floor. I'm going to have to build about an 18" platform for it to sit on.

Send it to me !