[Cillian's bio snipped, but not forgotten]

An observation: I've noticed that a number of us porchdwellers started
out in cramped apartments/flats, which accounts for the handtool
preference. But at least I had a whole 1/2 of a bedroom to start in!

Re Galoot roots : Unless I've missed someone (and forgive me if I have),
you're the first Irish-born neanderthal to surface here on OLDTOOLS,
although there are a number of us (many named Paddy) with an Irish
heritage. So when you ask

> Well, that should do the trick?

I say "Fine for now, but we expect a description of handtool/handwork
oriented places & folks back in your home country." We've gotten pretty
good reports from UK, AU, AZ, and SE (any others?), so I request you
give us something on IE. And I'd also like to hear from anyone else who's
not given us some idea of what it's like finding/using/learning handtools
in their homeland to step up to the front here, too. Don't be shy, now.

It's great reading, especially when it's the only oldtool exposure I
get in my week. Thanks in advance!

Tom Dugan
Whose surname probably derives from dhub gabhain. Find 'em all over.

First, my question: I was following the recent 'in praise of Scary Sharp (tm)'
thread, and I have to admit that I too have some (lots) difficulty in getting
that 25 degree bevel, although once I've got it there the results are indeed
amazing. I say this even though the finest sc paper I can get my hands on is
1200 grit! Would it make sense to invest in a coarse diamond stone just to
produce the basic bevel? Ideally I'd like to get my hands on a hand grinder,
but
these don't seem to be cheap. My planes are OK, but Ive jsut acquired an old
Sorby firmer chisel which has been ground to an angle of 20 degrees  or so (as
well as having a slight dip in the centre!) and the prosepct of getting this
into shape with sc paper alone is not a happy one. Incidentally, although I've
gone down to 60 grit, this seems to clog very quickly, and I seem to get better

results starting off with 100.

OK, now for the bio. I thought I'd introduced myself sufficiently a month or
two
ago when I signed on, but a recent reference to 'shameless lurkers' has stirred

my conscience. Ahem...

I'm relatively new to the sawdust and shavings game: while I learned the
rudiments at school, I haven't really progressed beyond this stage since then
(which is a few years ago now I suppose). My main output to date has consisted
of bookshelves, but my renewed interest in woodwork stems from having made a
cradle for some friends just before Christmas: this brought it home to me how
little I actually knew, not to mention how poor my skills were.

To my shame, I have to confess to owning a couple of tailed apprentices: the
most recent of which is a circular saw which SWMBO bought for my birthday after

I made the cradle. This is not a fun machine to use, and I'm beginning to wish
I'd bought a couple of good handsaws instead: not least because we live in a
studio flat, and it's not nice to have dust sprayed all over your sitting room
(bedroom, kitchen, study...)

I don't really have any Galoot roots: my dad only ever owned one chisel in his
life, and I don't think he ever used it. His father was a blacksmith however,
although he died long before I could ever see him in action. I do have an uncle

who makes furniture, although he's a strict MDF and machinery man... My wife's
dad was a cabinet-maker who has strayed from the true path and now restricts
himself to french polishing the odd antique (no, not Mom in law...). The next
time we're back in the Emerald Isle (we're in London for the last few years
trying to get an education an so on) I plan on having a good snoop around the
workshop! I'll keep you all posted!

Well, that should do the trick?

Cillian McBride.

         Replies               Author              Date
   31377 Re: Scary Sharp & Bio Tom Dugan           Wed  6/17/1998
   31405 Re: Scary Sharp & Bio Michael D. Sullivan Thu  6/18/1998

On Wed, 17 Jun 98 14:34:35 GMT, C.MCBRIDE@l... wrote:

>First, my question: I was following the recent 'in praise of Scary Sharp (tm)'

>thread, and I have to admit that I too have some (lots) difficulty in getting
>that 25 degree bevel, although once I've got it there the results are indeed
>amazing. I say this even though the finest sc paper I can get my hands on is
>1200 grit! Would it make sense to invest in a coarse diamond stone just to
>produce the basic bevel? Ideally I'd like to get my hands on a hand grinder,
but
>these don't seem to be cheap. My planes are OK, but Ive jsut acquired an old
>Sorby firmer chisel which has been ground to an angle of 20 degrees  or so (as

>well as having a slight dip in the centre!) and the prosepct of getting this
>into shape with sc paper alone is not a happy one. Incidentally, although I've

>gone down to 60 grit, this seems to clog very quickly, and I seem to get
better
>results starting off with 100.

You need to get some coarse Alumina-Zirconia belts and move from ScarySharp to
InsanelySharp.  The 3M version is purple (on the back they say that 3M has
trademarked the color purple, believe it or not), but there may be other
brands.
These are VERY aggressive cutting grits.  For heavy-duty work (major
flattening,
setting a new bevel), get something like 50 and 100.  Then you can move to SiC
paper for SS finishing.

>OK, now for the bio. [snip]

Welcome to the porch!

>To my shame, I have to confess to owning a couple of tailed apprentices [SNIP!
]

Shame on you.  Spitoon duty for 24 hours!  (Just like the rest of us)

-- Michael D. Sullivan, Bethesda, Md., USA
-- Email: ,