shredaholic
New member
Now that I've been back from Uni the past week, I've managed to actually get started on my various building projects. The first few days I spent getting further acquainted with some of my tools, and also purchasing various accessories to help keep the tools in shape. Since most of my most useful tools are the ones left to me by my late Grandad who used to build boats, they needed a bit more care and so I went about removing rust, cleaning, tuning, honing etc on them.
First off there was the spokeshave, which I found like this:
It was quite rusty, and the blade edge was dull and left horrible chatter when used. Even with a sharp blade, there's the worry of leaving dirty rust marks all over the wood being worked on. After applying several coats of rust remover, scrubbing with a wire brush, and repainting with hammerite (not quite japanning but it did the job perfectly) here's the end result:
Carves through wood like butter, and looks a bit more presentable too. This is definately now my favourite hand tool, it's just so easy to use and will be invaluable for carving necks out in a matter of minutes. Plus, since this photo was taken the blade is now razor sharp and like a mirror thanks to oilstones and waterstones.
I still haven't had chance to tend to the wooden jointer plane yet, so to plane up the Sapele mahogany neck blank for this LP I used a power jointer to do the first few cuts and then the Stanley Bailey #4 plane my grandad had. I've dated this to 1940's - late 1950's, and it seems pretty well built. Besides the rust and gunk inside the body, it was in good condition so I completely disassembled it (inc. the frog), and went to work cleaning it out and using rust remover which worked a treat. After sharpening the blade, it glided across the mahogany to give a true and smooth surface on each side (although I'd still like to rough it up on the top with 100 grit sandpaper when gluing on the fretboard to hide the joint and provide some grip for the hide glue).
The template for the LP neck is just 1/4" MDF from B&Q cut out with a jigsaw, edged with straight MDF and a router follower bit, and finally the curves were done on my tabletop drill press with a small drum sander bit I nicked from the dremel which was just the ticket.
Speaking of planes, my other grandfather on my Mum's side showed me his cellar and said I could have whatever I liked since he'd like me to find a use for all his old tools. He couldn't remember what he had, but we were chuffed to find some clamps, vices, chisels, oilstones and a #3 Stanley plane in great condition!
It's basically the same as the #4 yet thinner, but the nice thing about it is that it's so much lighter. I think I may end up using it for small jobs like headstocks after it's been re-honed.
Anyway back to the LP, here's the router thicknessing jig I made from MDF from the plans on PG's forum over christmas being put to work on a Khaya body blank. The first of the LP's I build will get this, whereas the rest will get more accurate body woods (genuine mahogany).
The photo shows some honduran mahogany that has already been planed by the jig to 1 3/4" thick. Due to the limitations of router plunge depth, the side supports on the base of the jig are just over 1" thick up to half way and then they become over 2" thick for body blanks.
First off there was the spokeshave, which I found like this:
It was quite rusty, and the blade edge was dull and left horrible chatter when used. Even with a sharp blade, there's the worry of leaving dirty rust marks all over the wood being worked on. After applying several coats of rust remover, scrubbing with a wire brush, and repainting with hammerite (not quite japanning but it did the job perfectly) here's the end result:
Carves through wood like butter, and looks a bit more presentable too. This is definately now my favourite hand tool, it's just so easy to use and will be invaluable for carving necks out in a matter of minutes. Plus, since this photo was taken the blade is now razor sharp and like a mirror thanks to oilstones and waterstones.
I still haven't had chance to tend to the wooden jointer plane yet, so to plane up the Sapele mahogany neck blank for this LP I used a power jointer to do the first few cuts and then the Stanley Bailey #4 plane my grandad had. I've dated this to 1940's - late 1950's, and it seems pretty well built. Besides the rust and gunk inside the body, it was in good condition so I completely disassembled it (inc. the frog), and went to work cleaning it out and using rust remover which worked a treat. After sharpening the blade, it glided across the mahogany to give a true and smooth surface on each side (although I'd still like to rough it up on the top with 100 grit sandpaper when gluing on the fretboard to hide the joint and provide some grip for the hide glue).
The template for the LP neck is just 1/4" MDF from B&Q cut out with a jigsaw, edged with straight MDF and a router follower bit, and finally the curves were done on my tabletop drill press with a small drum sander bit I nicked from the dremel which was just the ticket.
Speaking of planes, my other grandfather on my Mum's side showed me his cellar and said I could have whatever I liked since he'd like me to find a use for all his old tools. He couldn't remember what he had, but we were chuffed to find some clamps, vices, chisels, oilstones and a #3 Stanley plane in great condition!
It's basically the same as the #4 yet thinner, but the nice thing about it is that it's so much lighter. I think I may end up using it for small jobs like headstocks after it's been re-honed.
Anyway back to the LP, here's the router thicknessing jig I made from MDF from the plans on PG's forum over christmas being put to work on a Khaya body blank. The first of the LP's I build will get this, whereas the rest will get more accurate body woods (genuine mahogany).
The photo shows some honduran mahogany that has already been planed by the jig to 1 3/4" thick. Due to the limitations of router plunge depth, the side supports on the base of the jig are just over 1" thick up to half way and then they become over 2" thick for body blanks.
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That looks cool man, good luck with the rest for sure!
