Plum File Handle

Follow-up to October 8, 2008 post.

Last year I was ripping apple wood and cut some nails, so I needed to sharpen the chain saw. The file didn't have a handle, so I made one out of a branch of plum tree that grows in our yard. I started with a draw knife, cutting through the heart and sap wood so the grain would contrast light and dark.

Then I used a rasp to shape the handle. I was going for a kind of peanut shape, which was always my theme for everything I made in highschool (like a carved paddle which we made with a spoke shave). Not too successful on the peanut theme but the shape came out OK.

I cut a ferrel from a piece of half inch copper pipe. Then I marked the handle for cutting to accommodate the ferrel. First I marked a tenon saw with masking tape so I wouldn't cut too deep.

Then I chiselled the unwanted material off. The chisel is from a set I have had since I was little. I don't know where the green paint came from. Maybe my brother had it for a while and painted it for identification. The mallet I made in Dad's garage with some wood Rhoda left (kauri for the mallet, and cherry for the handle). I added the dowel much later because the handle kept working it's way off.

Finally I sanded the handle. I had to wrap it with a rag because the oak in the vice jaws was marking it. I thought oak would be nice and hard for vice jaws, but now I realise that a soft wood is better. Anyway I put the grain the wrong way in the vice jaws and the front one has split (still not fixed either!).

The handle has been sitting around for nearly a year because I couldn't find the file after all that. It turned up recently...in the file drawer! It was hiding in a corner, the sneaky little fellow. Now to sharpen the chain saw and get some firewood for winter.

Alphabet Stamps

For a long time I have wanted alphabet stamps. I remember seeing them for sale overseas, but didn't buy them. Since then I have never seen them for sale. I decided to have a look on ebay and found a few options. For about $20 (half of it shipping!) I got the 3mm size (made in China). It has the alphabet and numerals. The kids have been stamping all their books, and any leather, wood, or paper they can find. I just tried it out on my new hair clippers tool. That steel proved a bit hard but made a legible impression. Sheet metal or copper should work nicely. Now, the 3 mm is a bit small; shall I buy a 6 mm set now?????

Making a Tool for the Hair Clippers

About 10 years ago I made tool to adjust my hair clippers so it wouldn't make that loud clackity sound. Usually the clippers would need adjusting as they warmed up so the tool was very handy and I was ruining scissors trying to turn the adjustment screw with them. The first tool was cut out of thick sheet metal with a hacksaw. It looked like the key to a wind-up toy and it worked fine. However, it's been missing for years.

I have been getting by without it by letting the clippers warm up before using them. But last time I tried to use them, they wouldn't work at all, even after a warm up period (they buzz softly, but the blades do not move). So it was time to make another tool. I looked around for some more thick sheet metal, but then decided on a different design. This was made cold (to save the bother of firing up the forge). I hammered a steel bar flat at one end; shaped it further on the bench grinder; then drilled a small hole near the end. This hole was opened up with a hacksaw, and then smoothed out with a rat tail file. Then I put it in the vice cold and hammered a turn in it; cut the handle to about 100 mm with a hacksaw, and cleaned the whole thing up a bit. Now we are all looking smart with our summer haircuts! Beware dog! You're next!

More New Tools

The person who gave me the scythe just gave me some more tools as she cleans out getting ready to move.

1. Cross cut saw (Disston PHILA)
2. Tenon saw
3. Three small specialty spanners
4. An unknown crimping tool. I have another of these but I haven't figured out what it is for. The handle clamps closed. It may be for shaping hot iron, or holding various shaped stock for hammering.
5. Two small screwdrivers.
6. Three drill bits, two of them for brace and bit.
7. A steel cube for hammering nails straight.
8. A plumbing clean out snake.
9. A wonderful heavy vice, which unfortunately has some steel broken off so that there are three or four dead winds when changing direction. (PARKER MERIDEN CT. / PAT JUNE / 20, 1954 / EXT'D. [reverse:] PAT MAY 28 / NOV. 26, / DEC. 17 1867 / No. 1)
10. Bevel. I have never had one of these before, although my father has one. (CRAFTSMAN)
11. Some kind of impact drill. Maybe it is not supposed to have a drill bit in it. The other small drill bit is sharpened the same way: to a chisel edge (i.e. one flat edge instead of two chisel edges for drilling).
12. A sawsall blade.
13. A hacksaw blade holder (SKODCO-HAWERA, INC. ELM GROVE VILLAGE, IL 60007)
14. A beautiful two-man saw with handles perfectly intact (they are usually gone or badly broken) and very sharp; nearly no rust. I think this is the best example I have ever seen (DISSTON & SONS / STEEL WARRANTED / PATENT GROUND / PHILADELPHIA / US PAT OFF).

Boat Naming Competition

I picked up a 1970 17 foot O'Day sailboat and trailer today, free from Freecycle. It takes a main sail and a jib. The hull is fibreglass and the mast is clear anodised alumunium. The keel retracts, and the tiller pulls out. There is a mount for a trawling outboard. It needs cleaning and a couple of small patches; new woodwork; and new tyres. Otherwise it is complete. The man who gave it me had a Harley Davidson and was rebuilding a motorcycle engine (lying in pieces on his work bench). The trailer takes a 1 7/8" ball, and I have a 2" ball, so he found a ball for me (and had to heat it to get it off his towbar. I know nothing about sailing and have never been sailing, but I'm sure we'll have fun once we get started! Our town has a landing and all I have to pay is $5 a year for the parking. Boat and trailer will have to be registered with the state too. So, what shall we name it?

Escort Brakes

Three years ago I changed the brake pads on our 1997 Ford Escort. Last year a mechanic told us that we needed new discs and pads. I was hoping to put it off until September this year when the busy summer was over, but the chatter was bad and I realized it would not pass safety inspection this June. So I got replacement pads as they were under lifetime warranty from Autozone, and bought new discs. The discs were so bad. I have never seen discs anything like that. After an exciting afternoon, everything is back together. The brakes feel great with very little travel in the pedal (before the pedal would go to the floor). Now if we could just resolve the transmission fluid leak in the Windstar (without finding out that a new seal is needed!).

Fire Place Window

The fireplace window in our house has been slowly deteriorating. When I took out the grate a burning log fell and scorched the plating. I painted the worst of that black to disguise it. The hardware has also become loose and worn, and the doors were falling out easily. One day the door dropped when I wasn't around. The toughened glass shattered, and there was little hope of repair, and little point since the hardware might cause the glass to break again.

A new one came up on Freecycle, a little smaller, and it actually fits better, looks a whole lot better, and even works. Now we're ready for winter with glass doors to keep the smoke going up the chimney, and to keep the furnace heat from going up with it.

New Tools

A cache of tools from the freecycle person who gave me the scythe. Thanks!

1. Axe (Bell system. True Temper. Flint Edge. Kelly Works)
2. Wallboard hatchet
3. Hot chisel
4. Claw hammer
5. Retractable punch (Western Electric. KS-2348)
6. Centre punch (Craftsman)
7. Cold chisel (Snap-on 3/4 PC824. USA 9)
8. Ring spanner (3/4 1224 PROTO MFD. U.S.A. 3/4)
9. Open end spanner (3/4 MADE IN USA 1/2 [reverse:] M-1026 BILLINGS VITALLOY)
10. Ring spanner (5-8. MADE IN USA [reverse:] CHROME VANADIUM STEEL)
11. Open end spanner (17 MADE IN USA. DROP FORGED)
12. Two bike spanners
13. Combination bike spanner (HARDENED STEEL)
14. Glass cutter (Fletcher MADE IN USA. No. 01)
15. Feeler gauge
16. Small rasp (NICHOLSON MADE IN USA 4in HAND)
17. Small half round file (BEL SYSTEM 47x116 SIMOND)
18. Smooth file (BELL SYSTEM CNCO)
19. Large rasp (STOKES BROS. IMPROVED. FRESHOLD M4 USA)
20. Fibreglass driveway markers.
21. Rake and broom rack.
22. Small packet of brads
23. Saw horse brackets
24. Four (wire fence?) strainers with cords attached (double purchase on each end)

Scythe

I just picked up a scythe from freecycle today. The first time I tried it, it didn't work at all. Then I sharpened it with a carborundum stone (not a proper scythe stone). This time it worked very well, and the whole family came out to have a try.

Here's an interesting scythe website: http://www.scytheconnection.com/index.html

Apple Grafts Two Weeks Later

These are the apple grafts two weeks later. They're growing nicely.