SPLINTERS
FEBRUARY MEETING. LOTS OF
IDEAS!
Phil Bishop brought in another great speaker for our February meeting. For the few of our members who missed Lloyd Long’s hints on sharpening, you really missed some good ideas. Lloyd demonstrated the jig he designed and built for circular saw sharpening and spoke of the type of file and the techniques used to get a new edge on a saw, one which will last. A former shop instructor at Franklin County High School, Lloyd has some unusual points of view based on his years of experience: buy three or more rip and general purpose blades. With more than one blade you can have one in the shop, one in the saw, and one ready when the saw mounted blade dulls. How about lacquer thinner to remove the pitch from your blades? It is Lloyd’s opinion that many blades are sent for sharpening when only a good scrubbing with a cleaning solvent is necessary.
Ever
true up a saw blade? Lloyd showed the whetstone method of “rounding up”
slightly out of round blades (not something I’d like to rush into!). After
lowering the table saw below the level of the top and getting on safety
glasses, a whetstone is held over the saw opening, the saw turned on, and the
blade slowly raised. Lloyd claims it will work!!!
Thanks
again Lloyd, we all enjoyed it.
CLOSE UP
Our
Vice President and Program Chairman, Phil Bishop is in the spotlight this
month. Phil is a true native. Born and raised in Winchester, he and his wife Shirley
and their children Kimberly, Julie, and Wesley (also a club member) live on
Holders Cove Road. Phil is a truly talented man who works full time with his
dad and brother at Bishop’s Body Shop (only 12 to 15 hours a day) and spends
the rest of his free time pursuing his woodworking hobby! In the club we all
know him as Phil the craftsman, operator of Country Woodcraft, master of the
woodshop, and the local kiln dried wood distributor and resident expert on the
effects of improper wood curing.
Phil
‘s interest in wood drying came about as a way to get the hardwood he wanted,
when he wanted it, and in the quantity he needed. His true woodworking interest
is in furniture (although we’ve never seen a project he’s undertaken that
hasn’t reeked of craftsmanship). Phil found it difficult to find just the right
piece of wood for a project without driving all over the county and then buying
at least a cord of it at a time! Along with his dad and brother he worked with
the Dept. of Energy and UT to construct the solar kiln. That was about ten
years ago and the Bishops have run many board feet of fine lumber through the
kiln with consistently good success. Not content with mastering wood crafting,
Phil has built “a couple” of houses, dabbled in remodeling, and run a sawmill!
In his latest venture Phil has taken an active interest in getting our club off
to a good start. His imaginative programs and interesting speakers add zest to
the meetings. Thanks Phil.
A
TYRO’S SANDPAPER LAMENT
I
feel that some of my woodworking discoveries and new experiences are old hat to
most of you. But that is the price a tyro must pay when he plays with the big
kids. So, at the risk of everyone saying “you mean he didn’t know that!”, here
I go.
I’ve
known what sandpaper is since I was a child. My father had new and used bits of
sandpaper ever since I can remember. As a child, sandpaper was a very simple
matter. If it was gritty and made scratches on the furniture it was sandpaper.
Later, during early adolescence, words like “emery cloth” started popping up.
As I got older and more observant, sandpaper really got complicated when terms
like “flint” and “garnet” began to cloud the subject.
Even
when I got interested in woodworking as a high school student I really didn’t
pay much attention to sandpaper. Looking at projects I built as a high school
woodworker , I think I didn’t pay any attention to sandpaper!
My
first “very own” sandpaper came with a package deal I received for selling
“Cloverine Salve”. I got a drill and all sorts of attachments for turning the
drill into a table saw, sander, etc. (sort of a poor man’s Shopsmith). I
remember that the sandpaper came in small square sheets and round discs. I also
remember that the gritty stuff rubbed right off with its first taste of wood.
My
next experience with sandpaper came when I purchased it at the local hardware
store. These were much larger sheets and lasted much longer (in comparison with
my package deal sandpaper). I was blissfully pleased with my new sandpaper
discovery which I know now as Garnet Paper.
I
used Garnet paper for many years. One of my problems was (is) that I never know
for sure when to throw used sandpaper away. I know that someday I might need
these used bits and pieces for something. I may have picked that up from my
father.
When
I recently got serious about woodworking, and started associating with serious
woodworkers, I got the feeling that there was a sandpaper out there somewhere
that was a little better than Garnet. I started asking around; even found a
pamphlet called “coated abrasives products and applications” (for we tyros,
coated abrasives are still sandpaper).
I
now know that the “coated abrasive” recommended for wood has the technical name
‘‘aluminum oxide woodworking.” Several manufacturers offer it under their own
brand. Norton calls it “ADALOX,” 3M calls it “PRODUCTION,” and Carborundum
refers to it as ‘ALOXITE-ALO.”
In
my search for a better sandpaper, I also found out about mineral grading, open
coat, closed coat, bond, backing,
paper
weight, etc., but that’s another story.
A
Fellow Woodworker
TYRO—
A beginner in learning anything.
JACK’S CLOCK SHOW
Word
got around that our own Jack Townsend was going to be on TV! We tuned in to
channel 6’s Tennessee Outdoorsman Show and anxiously tried to
pick out Jack. Instead of Jack in the flesh, it was Jack’s clocks that made it
on the tube! Sneaky guy that Jack: How many of himself could he have sold if he
appeared on the show? Free color advertising, softie great shots of great
Tennessee clocks, and more than a couple of compliments from the show’s hosts
for the gifts from Jack. Nice job Jack.
NEXT
MEETING
Tie
a string on your finger, write it on the palm of your hand, tell your spouse —
our meeting is next week! That time again and Phil has a video on an interesting
aspect of woodworking lined up. In
addition, how about bringing any new woodworking—related purchases or recently
finished projects to the meeting. We all want to see what’s going on in the
club. Before I get carried away, the meeting particulars:
Where: DREMEC meeting room
When: Tuesday night, 7:00 PM
MEMBERSHIP
The
club continues to grow but there is still room for a lot more members. We must
have a good thing going, look at all the members we have and we’re only a few months
old! Bring a friend to a meeting, even if they don’t decide to join we’ll at
least give them the chance to see what we’re doing.
The
membership list attached is current as of the beginning of the March meeting.
Please don’t let me list your name, address or phone number incorrectly, let me
know of any corrections -- the computer only puts out what I put into it! See
you next week.
BASKIN TOM RT 3 BOX 166 WINCHESTER TN 37398
BISHOP PHIL RT 3 HOLDERS COVE RD WINCHESTER TN 37398
BISHOP RICK RT 3 KEITH COVE ROAD WINCHESTER TN 37398
BISHOP WESLEY RT 3
HOLDERSCOVE RD WINCHESTER TN 37398
CHATTEN MERRELL EST
ILL SPRINGS TN 37330
CHURCH SUSAN RT 2 BOX 62 BELVIDERE TN 37306
CHURCH TOM RT 2 BOX 62 BELVIDERE TN 37306
CLAYTON MAYFORD RT 3 WINCHESTER TN 37398
COULSON HOWARD BOX 127 COWAN TN 37316
COWAN TOM RI 3 BOX183 WINCHESTER TN 37398
DAVIS HENRY RT 1 BOX 413 ESTILL SPRINGS TN 37330
EUBANK BILL P0 BOX 206 ESTILL SPRINGS TN 37330
GIPSON ONEAL RR 1 BOX 7AA COWAN TN 37316
HOLMES MIKE RT 1 BOX 275E WINCHESTER TN 37398
KNIGHT BILL RT 3 BOX 191 WINCHESTER TN 37398
LEE RANDY P0 BOX 36 NORMANDY TN 37360
MORRIS DAVID RT #9 WINCHESTER IN 37398
PAWLICK JOE RT 3 BOX 413 ESTILL SPRINGS TN 37330
PENN TERRY RT3 B0X416 ESTILL SPRINGS TN 37330
TOWNSEND JACK 212 SCHWARTZ ST ESTILL SPRINGS TN 37330
WARMBROD BILL RT 2 WINCHESTER TN 37398