orepass

Between very cold weather, and a nasty cold/virus/plague there has been almost no woodworking for a few weeks. However, I have been plotting and planning a comeback.

Saw Vise Planning Underway
Learning to sharpen saws last year has been a tremendous advantage. It was almost an epiphany when a freshly sharpened saw was placed into my hand by Paul Seller’s. The accuracy and speed of cut was only surpassed by the feeling of excitement when I finally understood the joy of sawing with sharp teeth. I have successfully sharpened my saws many times since; however over this winter, in a garage without natural light my sharpening accuracy has dulled. My vise until this point has been two scraps of wood holding the saw plate in the vise.

This has worked well and I encourage anyone to work this way, however I have decided that bringing the saw closer to my eyes and the light, should improve my sharpening accuracy. Currently I am considering two vise plans; The first a saw vise that was picked up by Paul Sellers and shown in his image below. The second is a vise I first saw on Peter Follansbee’s blog. The links should take you to the pages where I saw the vise images.

I like the simplicity of the Vise shown by Paul and it looks like a fun project that includes some mortise and tenon joints and cutting a hinge. I imagine I will end up building both.

Shop Stool

Placing a couple of stools in my shop has become a priority. I am content to sit on my saw bench, however I enjoy the chatter when my wife or children join me in the shop and want to make it more welcoming. Several weeks ago I began milling lumber for the stools using the plans in Woodworking Masterclasses. When the weather breaks this will be project number 2.