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271049 Ed Minch <ruby1638@a...> 2020‑06‑01 Scraper blade narrow chisel
Whoops - forgot to include the second thing

Our local small-town used book store has a small shelf out front that is filled
with free books.  We always leave more than we take.  Found a 1978 hardocover of
a “Best of FWW methods” so decided to give it a whirl.  Not much useful in there
- just a reminder that we all know more as we get older.

One thing I had not seen before was this -

When you cut the tails of a blind dovetail joint, your saw is at an angle and
there is extra chiseling to do to get into the lower corners.  You can use a
scarper blade in the saw kerf as a very narrow chisel by tapping it down and
completing the cut.  I’ll have to give it a try.  Just thinking - a piece of old
saw blade would work too - just polish the arrises (arrisi?).  You could even
put a hardwood striking pad on it.

Ed Minch
271050 "John M Johnston (jmjhnstn)" <jmjhnstn@m...> 2020‑06‑01 Re: Scraper blade narrow chisel
This is apparently a Thing now on various woodworking pages. IIRC Rob Cosman has
been demonstrating this technique for some time and may even have developed a
handled tool version.

Cheers,
John Johnston

“There is a fine line between hobby and mental illness.”

Ed wrote in part:
When you cut the tails of a blind dovetail joint, your saw is at an angle and
there is extra chiseling to do to get into the lower corners.  You can use a
scarper blade in the saw kerf as a very narrow chisel by tapping it down and
completing the cut.  I’ll have to give it a try.  Just thinking - a piece of old
saw blade would work too - just polish the arrises (arrisi?).  You could even
put a hardwood striking pad on it.
271054 scott grandstaff <scottg@s...> 2020‑06‑01 Re: Scraper blade narrow chisel
Once you fall in love with scraping and cut up old saws to make 
scrapers............
  I'll cut scrapers for any occasion!
Long ones, curved ones, skinny ones, pointy ones, whatever I need.

I also have a drawer of old chisels too far gone for their original 
purpose, or just too crappy to want to save. You can grind old chisels 
into plenty of "save your life" tools too.  Even if its a one time 
occasion.
I just ground an old chisel square across (zero bevel) with just a bit 
of hollow grind. I needed a one tooth file for scraping a plane bed I 
was carving. It worked really well even in the most hostile wood I ever 
worked, ipe.

  Whenever I got to a tough place I usually just make a tool. Seldom 
pretty to start. If I like it and need it I'll either put some lipstick 
on her, or make a new more shapely tool.
    I can't imagine living any other way.

yours scott

-- 
*******************************
    Scott Grandstaff
    Box 409 Happy Camp, Ca  96039
    scottg@s...
    http://www.snowcrest.net/kitty/sgrandstaff/
    http://www.snowcrest.net/kitty/hpages/index.html
271056 John Ruth <johnrruth@h...> 2020‑06‑01 Re: Scraper blade narrow chisel
Scott,

A great master shipyard Machinist once wrote that the difference between the
average worker and a Master is that the Master can determine what special tools
are needed to do the job, and then s/he can MAKE the tools.

Pretty them up, indeed.  I recently encountered a 4” open-end wrench flame -cut
out of 1-1/2” thick plate.  Looked like whomever did it just put the finishing
touches on the inside of the jaws with a hand-held grinder and files.  The rest
of the surfaces were left “as torched.”

I presume that a “real” 4” wrench was either not easily / quickly obtainable or
was “not in the budget.”  Surely this “ersatz” wrench cost considerable labor,
but may have none-the-less been the sensible thing to do.

John Ruth
Wondering if any member of the “Flat Sole Society” has ever attacked the sole of
a Bailey with a Machinist Scraper, bluing, and a surface plate!
271057 Bill Ghio 2020‑06‑01 Re: Scraper blade narrow chisel
> On Jun 1, 2020, at 1:47 PM, John Ruth  wrote:
> 
> A great master shipyard Machinist once wrote that the difference between the
average worker and a Master is that the Master can determine what special tools
are needed to do the job, and then s/he can MAKE the tools.
> 
> Pretty them up, indeed.  I recently encountered a 4” open-end wrench flame
-cut out of 1-1/2” thick plate.  Looked like whomever did it just put the
finishing touches on the inside of the jaws with a hand-held grinder and files.
The rest of the surfaces were left “as torched.”
> 
> I presume that a “real” 4” wrench was either not easily / quickly obtainable
or was “not in the budget.”  Surely this “ersatz” wrench cost considerable
labor, but may have none-the-less been the sensible thing to do.


My father was a machinist at the outset of WW II and, when he got home from that
mess, he went fishing. Spent about forty years in the San Diego, CA tuna fleet
as a Chief Engineer, which meant a lot of time in and around the shipyard. He
had a friend there who was a master w/ a torch. Circa 1970 this guy presented me
w/ a wedding gift he had cut, free hand, out of 3/8” plate steel. It’s been
hanging on my wall ever since:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/77280442@
N.../49960980877/in/dateposted/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/77280442@N.../499
60980877/in/dateposted/

Bill
271058 Ed Minch <ruby1638@a...> 2020‑06‑01 Re: Scraper blade narrow chisel
Bill

That’s a treasure

Ed Minch
271063 Nick Jonkman <njonkman@x...> 2020‑06‑01 Re: Scraper blade narrow chisel
Speaking of scrapers. I love using glass for scrapers. I just take chunk 
of glass and give it a tap with a hammer and get all kinds of great 
shapes from that. You do have to be careful but I have never cut myself 
doing that yet, that is over a 40-50 year period,

Nick
271064 don schwartz <dks@t...> 2020‑06‑01 Re: Scraper blade narrow chisel
On 2020-06-01 3:28 p.m., Nick Jonkman wrote:
> Speaking of scrapers. I love using glass for scrapers. I just take 
> chunk of glass and give it a tap with a hammer and get all kinds of 
> great shapes from that. You do have to be careful but I have never cut 
> myself doing that yet, that is over a 40-50 year period,
>
> Nick
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
I have an old 'Turtles' tin filled with pieces of broken glass just for 
that purpose. It's a lot safer than it was with its original contents!

Don

-- 
"So it goes." Kurt Vonnegut

“Worry less, concentrate more, and above all relax.” James Krenov

“If you’re always hitting the target, it’s too close.” Wendell Castle
271069 gary may 2020‑06‑02 Re: Scraper blade narrow chisel
Hey Ed!  

    I think that's Tage Frid's trick from his "On Joinery"--- years ago, cutting
1/2 blind DTs for a little box, I read the tip, but my scraper was pretty thick
and I didn't want to hammer on them...I ended up using a Red Devil putty knife,
a real *flexible* putty knife with a thin blade that runs through a metal handle
so you can tap on the other end. It worked so well I put in Stanley W. May's
toolchest for next time. That day will come.

                                best regards---gam in OlyWA/USA------------
where pot stores are 'essential services'------------


How horrible it is to have so many people killed!---And what a blessing one
cares for none of them!
Jane Austen 

    On Monday, June 1, 2020, 05:41:07 AM PDT, Ed Minch  wrote:  
 
 Whoops - forgot to include the second thing



When you cut the tails of a blind dovetail joint, your saw is at an angle and
there is extra chiseling to do to get into the lower corners.  You can use a
scarper blade in the saw kerf as a very narrow chisel by tapping it down and
completing the cut.  I’ll have to give it a try.  Just thinking - a piece of old
saw blade would work too - just polish the arrises (arrisi?).  You could even
put a hardwood striking pad on it.

Ed Minch
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271071 Ed Minch <ruby1638@a...> 2020‑06‑02 Re: Scraper blade narrow chisel
> On Jun 2, 2020, at 6:43 AM, gary may  wrote:
> 
> Hey Ed!  
> 
>     I think that's Tage Frid's trick from his "On Joinery"--- years ago,
cutting 1/2 blind DTs for a little box, I read the tip, but my scraper was
pretty thick and I didn't want to hammer on them...I ended up using a Red Devil
putty knife, a real *flexible* putty knife with a thin blade that runs through a
metal handle so you can tap on the other end. It worked so well I put in Stanley
W. May's toolchest for next time. That day will come.
> 
>                                 best regards---gam in OlyWA/USA------------
where pot stores are 'essential services'------------
> 


OIn my “shop”,the wall-o-crap has many items like that that get forgotten at all
the right times.  I have a Stanley 95 (90° edge plane, Jeff) that i may have
used once or twice that I should use all the time, but my pea-brain can’t
remember it is there.  And like mist things, I cut dovetails so infrequently
that I have to ractically re-learn every time.  Big, steep curve here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ruby1638/22844534779/in/album-72157660810
896779/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/ruby1638/22844534779/in/album-72157660810
896779/ <https://www.flickr.com/photos/ruby1638/22844534779/in/albu
m-72157660810896779/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/ruby1638/22844534779/in/albu
m-72157660810896779/>

Ed Minch

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