2021 is done. Beware, there is absolutely nothing about politics in this post.
Last month, I embarked on a reorganization of the shop. This month, I’m still at it. It began as an effort to get my (far too many) hand planes stowed and out of the way. After some experimentation, I came up with a cleat arrangement that holds them vertical against the wall. I didn’t really have a detailed plan, only a general idea of what I wanted. I started by working around an electric outlet since that wasn’t going anywhere. After getting 18 of them up I decided I needed to save some room for the other tools.
Then there was the pegboard. I had put that up shortly after the garage was built in 2019, but I never liked it — Every time I’d go to pull a tool off of a hook, the damn hook would come off, too. A real pain in the ass.
The salvaged pine I had was all used up, so off to the building supply store for more knotty pine. They only had a smallish stack that was left over from another job, and they were only selling it as a lot. It was way more than I needed, but the price was good. One can never have too much wood. I think there’s enough left over to do the upstairs bathroom.
But first, the shop. Priorities, you know. Taking the pegboard down was easy. Demolition usually is.. I cut and nailed up the new boards and then lathered on about 29 coats of stain before saying “Fuck it, it’s close enough for a garage.”
So I now have a new blank slate to work with. Cool.
Here’s the new wall in the process of being populated. So far, I have the hammers and screwdrivers up, along with a couple shelves. The color of the new wood doesn’t quite match the old, but like I said, it’s close enough.
Next, I need to make a saw till and a file rack. The hand saws will go over on the right hand side near the window and the files will fit in between them and the screwdrivers. I’m out of red oak (The wood I like to use for making tool holders) so those will have to wait until next week.
I’m organizing the tools by function. More or less. Implements for grabbing, holding, and gripping — Wrenches, pliers, vice grips, etc. — go together. Then come the tools for slicing, shaving, gouging, or peeling wood. Those would be be the various planes, chisels, spokeshaves, scrapers, routers, and so on. These are followed by the drills, augers, bits, etc. Then, around the corner, the assorted hammers and screwdrivers. That’s the master plan, until it changes.
I did have some scrap pallet wood lying around, and there was enough of it to slap together a shield for the bench grinder. The end result is nothing fancy, but it’ll keep debris from spewing all over everything behind the grinder. I’ve been meaning to make this for months. Mister Procrastination, that’s me.
Another side project. I have this 3/8” tungsten-carbide rod I use for burnishing (putting a cutting burr on the edge of) scrapers, but it didn’t come with a handle. I have some small pieces of purple heart — A hard, dense, fine-grained wood, perfect for this purpose.
The drill press really made it easy. Here’s the finished burnishing tool, sporting a brand new, nicely-balanced handle.
Yet another side project. I’ve had a crappy offshored bench vice since the eighties. I’ve hated that vice for 30+ years. Back on Labor Day weekend, I picked up a better one at a garage sale, and I finally got around to setting it up.
Since this’ll be a working tool, I simply took it apart, cleaned it up with mineral spirits, applied some oil and a little grease, and put it back together. No need to strip it down to bare metal and repaint — I’m going to be abusing it with hammers, mallets, pry-bars, sledges, etc. The whole thing took less than an hour. I’ve seen people on YouTube take these old vices and turn them into jewels. I don’t really see the point, if you’re planning to use it as a vice.
Here’s a sneak peek at a future diary. I recently got this very Art Deco toaster on eBay for $45 (plus shipping, of course). I’m going to take it apart and do the usual things to it.
Finally, Michigan’s getting their asses handed to them by Georgia as I finish this. No National Championship for the Wolverines this time around.
Oh, and the power went out tonight around 9:00 PM. Estimate is it may be restored by 1:00 AM. Getting that generator back in the day was a good idea..
Have a healthy and happy 2022, everyone, and keep safe!
-ER