Vol.11 / Issue 5         Tennessee Valley Woodworkers             Editor, Richard Gulley                 May 1996

Well, it’s time to put my shoulder to the wheel, my hand to the plow and my nose to the grindstone to get out another issue of Splinters. I don’t exactly know how any of that will produce a newsletter - seems it would only lead to sore shoulders, a bloody nose and blisters. Methinks folks who thought up old sayings were gluttons for punishment. Let’s move on.

If you’re a hammer kinda guy and you were at the April meeting / tour you’ve got to be saying "Wow, What a GREAT place to be".

This month should be just as impressive for the toy freaks in the club. Crocia will be showing off her toys and, if memory serves me right, I recall the urge to make sketches and patterns so it would probably be the better part of wisdom to bring pencil and paper.

I don’t know if you’ll receive this in time, but the Spring Seminar will be held at Tom Cowan’s place on the 18th of this month. Call Tom Cowan or Henry Davis for more information.

Another item that needs to be high on your social calendar is the Tenth Anniversary Potluck Supper Banquet Woodworkers Thingy in June at the Decherd Church of the Nazarene. I was planning on making a banner but I don’t think it would fit in the building.

What were the woodworkers doing at DREMC in April of ‘86? Watching a video on woodturning. That’s one of the many things I like about woodworking. The basic skills never change but someone is always pushing the limits of those basics with new ways and techniques. Let’s get back to the here and now.

At last months meeting Ross gave me a list of things he had for sale. Being the great organizer I am, I filed the list away in my billfold - - - or my truck toolbox - - - or on the computer desk - you get the idea. However, I do remember vaguely the contents of said list:

1. A 6 inch jointer (Craftsman ?)

2. A Grizzly dust collecting unit

(semi-new)

3. A Shopsmith 4 inch jointer and jigsaw (must be attached to a Shopsmith unit)

For more information on this great stuff contact Ross Roepke at 455-8301 or see him at the meeting.

It’s probably not the best time to make this announcement but if you have anything you would like to have listed in Splinters just let me know and I will take care of it. :-)

by Thomas Clark

My woodworking addiction has given rise to an unanticipated side effect. It's turned me into a furniture watcher. Whether at the movies or while watching television, I often find myself more interested in the assorted woodwork and furniture than in the plot line. I can recall with perfect clarity the massive rosewood headboard in one movie classic, but I can't remember the movie's title, let alone what happened or who the actors were.

This odd habit sometimes annoys my family, of course, as I blurt out comments on the furniture in the middle of the dialogue.

"Do you see that graceful little washstand behind Meryl Streep?" I might say as Robert Redford spins off a line.

This perverse habit has even affected my taste in movies and television. My family, for example, thinks that I watch "Masterpiece Theatre" on the Public Broadcasting Service because it's cultural. They're wrong; it's the furniture. The host, Russell Baker, holds forth from a magnificent Gainsborough throne that features bold carvings towering over his head. I just wish he'd get up and move around a little during his monologue so I could get a better view of the 18th-century chair.

"Masterpiece Theatre" productions have many wonderful British and European settings, so I get a chance to revel in a diverse selection of woodwork. The viewing can tend to get a bit heavy with ornate pieces, of course, so I stay alert for programs that have rural or small-town settings.

One recent two-part episode was ideal because the plot revolved around an historic cathedral in an English town. There was a wonderful mix of ornate cathedral woodwork, humble home furnishings and a few contemporary pieces. But don't ask me what happened: something about choirboys and beady-eyed ministers, I think.

I do wish the "Masterpiece Theatre" casts would stop standing around so much. They have a habit of blocking the view while delivering their lines. It seems to me that it's not too much to ask for a little movement so I can see the furniture behind all those actors lurking about. My frustration at this can sometimes lead me to prompt the actors to, well, move it.

This kind of urge also annoys my family, especially when I use a bit of body English to induce the actors to move aside so I can see the woodwork.

"Come on, a little to left, that's it, a touch more," I'll mutter as I try to shove the actor into the side of the picture tube.

Some folks may quibble with my taste in furniture watching. After all, shows such as "Masterpiece Theatre" aren't the only venues for quality furniture and woodwork. And they're right, of course. I actually do sometimes catch commercial television. "Northern Exposure", now defunct, had an eclectic array of woodwork, and "Frasier" has some inventive contemporary pieces.

I especially like the chess table I spotted on the "Frasier" set. The "Frasier" producers even seem to be furniture savvy, using a decrepit overstuffed chair as humorous counterpoint to the designer interior.

Another way to add variety to furniture watching is to take a trip to the video store. An advantage of watching movies on video, of course, is that you can stop the action wherever you want.

If, for example, you suddenly stumble on a seaside setting revealing a wooden skiff pulled up on the beach, you can stop the action at a convenient spot - such as when the hero has just moved off camera. The images tend to be fuzzy, of course, so you wind up rerunning the segment until you can discover how the stem is put together and what kind of wood is used in the transom.

This behavior also tends to annoy the family.

I found this article on sharpening hand saws and thought some of you might be interested.

The following article was written by Geoff Mason and is, in his own words "some personal experience and some information plagiarized from a 1930 Disston saw manual".

JOINTING:

To even or flatten the top of the saws teeth along the length of the saw. Similar to jointing the edge of a board with a plane, except using a file. Jointing is done if teeth are uneven or irregular. Setting of the teeth can only be done when teeth are all even. Jointing can be done freehand, or there is a device that is used for holding the file square to the saw, these seem to be quite common at flea markets.

Joint only the highest teeth first, then shape the teeth that have been jointed. Joint the teeth a second time until all teeth have been touched. Be sure to keep the jointing file square to the teeth.

SHAPING:

Shape the teeth only after jointing. Gullets must be of equal depth and the fronts and backs of teeth must be of proper shape. Don't worry about the bevel (cutting edge) at this time, keep the file square (90 degrees) to the saw. If the teeth you are filing are of unequal size, file toward the teeth with the largest tops, that were filed flat by jointing, until you reach the center of the teeth.

The most common tooth angle is 60 degrees. Any steeper than that can cause the saw to suddenly hang up during the thrust, often kinking or breaking the blade. The analogy used to demonstrate this point is a illustration of two knives being dragged across a surface. A knife dragged at a low angle would smoothly flow across the surface while cutting. A knife held perpendicular to the surface would catch, grab and skip.

SETTING:

Alternately setting each tooth of a saw to the left and right provides a kerf that is wider than the thickness of the blade. This provides a clearance that minimizes friction and prevents binding. Setting is not always required after giving the saw a light sharpening, and it is always necessary after jointing and shaping. The teeth of a handsaw should be set before filing the bevel to avoid injury to the cutting edges.

Depth of set should not go, at the most, lower than half the length of the tooth. This is important, if deeper than this there is a chance to spring, crimp, or crack the blade, if it doesn't break the teeth. Hammer and anvil setting requires considerable skill and it not recommended for the amateur.

Setting with a saw set is the recommended method, although many so called saw set are impracticable because they give too deep a set. Be sure you use a better quality pliers type saw set. Too much set causes more work for the sawyer, and the set can be out of proportion to the strength of the blade causing broken teeth. Saw sets are another very common flea market item, be sure to get one with fine adjustments and an undamaged anvil pin. Most people who are selling them, don't seem to know what they are and you can get them from fifty cents to a few dollars.

FILING THE TEETH:

There is much debate over the bevel of the teeth (angle of sharpened edge). In filling saws for cross cutting, the file is held at an angle, and, therefore the teeth are sharpened on an angle or bevel. This angle is usually 45 degrees for cross cutting saws and none to little for rip saws. Some people will sharpen a saw for hardwood with the back of the tooth at a lessor angle than the front of the tooth, or other angles for wet wood, dry wood, etc.

The bevel angle is very important in that it also affects the final bevel of the tooth's point. To much bevel will cause the point to score deeply into the wood without being able to crumble out the waste. This causes the saw to act more like a rasp. Picture sawing with a blade sharpened to a knife edge, verses the normal chisel like edge. It is best to copy the original bevel pattern if possible, close to the handle where there is minimal wear. If the bevel angle is questionable, keep with the standard 45 degrees on the front and back of each tooth.

A saw vise or clamp should be used during filing, preferably a strong one to prevent chattering. Top of vise should be in line with operators elbows and 1/8 inch below the bottom of the teeth. Any lower will cause chatter and/or screech, which will quickly dull the file. Again, saw vices seem to be very common and inexpensive at flea markets.

A Disston "Special Extra Slim Blunt Saw File" is recommended, they are sized by length. (New Disston saw files are sold in my local in Ace Hardware store). The Following chart indicates which length of file to use. Also, some file manufactures grade files as slim, x slim, xx slim, etc., they normally have a chart on the bubble pack to match the file to the saws points:

Note: Point is number of teeth per inch.

1. 5 and 5_1/2 point cross_cut teeth, 7 inch.

2. 6, 7, 8, and 9 point cross_cut teeth, 6 inch.

3. 10 and 11 point cross_cut teeth, 5 inch.

4. 4_1/2, 5, 5_1/2, and 6 point rip, 7 inch.

5. 4 point and coarser, 6 inch taper files.

FOR SHARPENING CROSS CUT SAWS:

A light jointing is done first, for use as a guide. Start with saw handle on your right, and stand just to the left of the saw's point, or toe. Find the first tooth that is set towards you and place the file in the gullet to the left of that tooth, at a right angle. Then, swing the file to the left, about 45 degrees or until the file finds it's own bearing. Be sure it is well into the gullet.

The file will cut on the push stroke cutting the tooth on the left and right at the same time. With the file held level, file until you cut away half of the flat top made during the light jointing. File every other tooth until you reach the handle, completing that side.

For the other side, reverse this process with the handle on your left and standing to the right. File every other tooth that was skipped before. File until you cut away the other half of the flat top made on the teeth as a guide, and the teeth are sharpened to a point.

FOR SHARPENING RIP SAWS:

With one exception, this method is exactly the same as that given for cross cut saws. That exception is that the rip saws are filed with the file held straight across the saw at a right angle to the blade. No bevel is needed, although some people prefer to file a slight bevel in rip saws.

SAW CARE:

Saws can be hanged up to minimize damage to the cutting edge. Saws kept in tool boxes should have some sort of edge protection. I have seen people use slit rubber hoses or a piece of kerfed wood held on with rubber bands. Plastic file folder binding strips can also make good edge protectors.

Rub down the saw with oil after use to prevent rust, which causes much friction. Accordingly, sperm oil is the best, and I don't mean sperm oil from a master baiter. These days you will have to find something else to use like a spray on wax. For reasons not explained in this article, avoid the use of silicon spray in your shop.

As an interesting foot note, those sought after brass backed dovetail saws were brass plated, starting at least in 1930. The most expensive dovetail saw was $2.30. In those days you would have to shell out a whooping $10.65 for the top of the line two man timber saw.

Geoff Mason

gmason@tcf.com

Hand Cut Dovetails:

Required Tools:

A sharp, thin kerf, back saw.

A marking gauge or scribe.

A dovetail marking template <or> a bevel gauge.

A _small_ Engineers Square.

A razor knife.

A sharp pencil.

A semi_coherent brain.

A "clear head"

A great deal of patience.

Lots of scrap wood to practice on.

1) Scribe all you pieces.

Set your marking gauge to the thickness of the wood to be joined. Note: When joining two pieces of wood that are not of equal thickness: be sure to set the gauge to the thicker board and use that setting to mark the thinner board. then set the gauge to the thickness of the thinner board and scribe the thick board with that setting.

2) Mark your tails.

Measure out the spacing you are going to use on the top edge of your piece. I prefer to use a 7/16" spacing for my tails but use whatever you like.

3) Draw your angles for the tails.

I prefer to use that expensive (ca. $20._) German made brass template. A bevel gauge set to the appropriate angle (20 deg. I think) works just as well. Note: I found it best to "X_out" the areas you are removing.

4) Cut your tails "proud" (leaving the lines)

I use a thin kerf pull saw to do this. Note: Pay attention to which side of the line you are cutting on.

(The "X's" help here.)

5) Using a razor knife deepen the scribed line at the base of the tails. On soft wood you can almost cut the tails out completely.

6) Pare out your tails.

When paring on the scribe line, hold the chisel slightly angled in.

This will produce a slightly "dished" surface which is helpful in making a tight fit later.

7) Use your tails to mark your pins.

Place the piece that will have the pins into a vice. Lay the tail piece at a 90 Deg. angle over the edge of the tail piece and use your tails to lay out your pins. Using a small engineers square transfer the layout lines from the top to the sides. Again, it is helpful at this point to "X_out" the portions to be removed. I've messed up and removed the wrong sections more than once. ;_}

8) Cut your pins "proud". (leaving the line and then some.)

9) Using a razor knife deepen the scribed line at the base of the pins. Be careful not to go too deep when cutting the "fat side" of the pins.

10) Pare out the pins.

Note: I found it is best to pare the wide side first then the narrow side. The narrow side will add support while paring the wide side.

Again...When paring on the scribe line, hold the chisel slightly angled in. This will produce a slightly "dished" surface which is helpful in making a tight fit later.

11) Test fit the joint.

It should be tight and the tails and pins should slightly extend over the mating pieces face IMPORTANT NOTE: When the joint does not fit, trim the PINS not the tails. To figure out which pins to trim: slightly force the wood together. you will be left with an indentation in the wood that you can use as a guide when you trim the pins. If the joint is sloppy.... Get a new piece of wood and repeat steps 7 through 11 till you get it right. (or fill the gaps w/ shims made from plane shavings).

12) Glue the joint together if you wish.

13) Sand the excess off even w/ the face of the boards.

14) Reach over left shoulder with right arm and pat yourself on the back.

John Gunterman

(a.k.a. Duct Tape)

Hooksett, NH

gunterman@eworld.com

Chips and Shavings

I’m thinking about going to four full pages mailed in an envelope for future editions of Splinters. It takes a lot of stuff to fill four pages back and front so keep your eyes out for wood related articles (or anything else you think fellow woodchuckers might be interested in.) If you’re into the computer thing, it would be nice if you brought your stuff in on a 3.5 inch floppy. Not necessary - just nice

Woodworkers are like tea bags - they don’t do their best work till they’re in the hot water.

A great leader comes along about once in a generation - and great problems come along about three times a week

I think a few immortal quotes would make a good closing for this months rambling. By the way, don’t forget the meeting Tuesday the 21st.

To do is to be --Marx

To be is to do --Nietzsche

Do be do be do --Sinatra

And as always - Do Be watching out for SPLINTERS.