One of the hand saws that I bought from eBay was an old Disston rip cut saw. It arrived in pretty poor shape, but I hadn’t really paid anything for it, not much more than the postage really.
The teeth were all blunt and misshapen, and it was difficult to tell how many points per inch (ppi) it was. Needless to say, it couldn’t cut through a blancmange, let alone a piece of wood.
Sometimes, you find yourself with a piece of wood that is just too damn thick for what you need it for. You might have a nice plank of walnut, say, or maple, that is just over 2″ thick, but what you really need is two planks, each about 1″ thick. Or, maybe you just need a plank that is ½” or ¾” thick. What are going to do? Continue reading “Resawing by hand”
When I was building my shed, it really was a predominantly power tool affair. With one exception. I decided that I would use a good old-fashioned chisel and mallet to chop out the notches for the noggins and studs. There must have been nearly two hundred of them. I needed to learn to sharpen my chisels.
All I had was the coarse/fine reversible oil stone and honing guide that came with my chisels, and that did the job nicely, a bit crude, but fine for the rough work I was doing in softwood.
So, here is the inside of my new shed. I took a water supply from the house and plumbed in a janitor’s sink that a friend gave me. I put up a few hooks and put my tools neatly on them. I procured some hardwood offcuts from a nearby saw mill. I just need to knock up a lean-to for the bikes and I can build myself a woodworking bench from a beam I salvaged from the old shed.
goatboys woodshop 