Highland Staff

Contemplating the Patternmaker’s Vise

Aug 162009
 

I had heard of the Emmert Patternmaker’s Vise for many years. People talked about it in awed whispers with their hands cupped next to their mouth and you just knew it was something special. I never got to play with one, so the other day when Chris and I were examining the Emmert patternmaker’s vise clone that they sell at Highland Woodworking, I got interested.

First, you may not know what a patternmaker is. A patternmaker is about the ultimate woodworker, called upon to make the pattern for a metal casting out of wood (or these days, plastics or other modern materials). In days past, patterns were more likely made out of wood than anything else. Since (most) metal shrinks as it cools, the pattern has to be made slightly larger than the finished product. Try to picture making a wooden precursor to all the cast metal parts in a Model T Ford, making sure they are 1.5% bigger than the finished product.

Patternmakers Vise.jpgBeing able to hold the wood securely while the pattern is being sawn, carved, drilled, filed, sanded or however else formed is the whole purpose of the patternmaker’s vise. You can clamp almost any shape, then twist the vise in almost any direction without taking the piece out of the vise. Does your vise allow you to twist your work up and make it parallel to the top of the work bench — without taking it out of the vise? Mr. Emmert figured it out back in the 1880s and his company continued making them up through the 1970s.

I checked on eBay and you may be able to find an original for sale today at anywhere from $500 to $900 depending on its condition. There are several Web sites dedicated solely to the Emmert, and the one which appears most often is called “The Iron Hand“. I kept trying to figure out why they called the site “The Iron Hand” until I finally had this image of a guy sitting under the bench with his iron hand holding the piece and turning the work in whatever direction you needed it to go, including laying it down flat on top of the bench. I guess if they were still making them, you would probably be able to give it voice commands by now. Anyway, go look and see what this thing will do.

When you get through looking at what it will do and you get through lusting for an Emmert, go ahead and search eBay and check deep within your soul to see if you really want to pay that much to have a secondhand original. (Its shipping weight is about 90 pounds by the way.)

After you get the answer, come on over and buy the clone at Highland. Our imported Patternmaker’s Vise (manufactured nicely in Taiwan) is $399.99, and is based on the original design. It will do virtually anything any normal less-than-a-patternmaker woodworker is EVER likely to do. (Do study the installation instructions since it usually involves a fair amount of modification to whatever workbench you attach it to.)

If you could just figure out a way to use your new vise to hold the bench while you install the vise — well, you get the idea.

Sell That Stuff

Aug 032009
 

You keep making all this stuff and it keeps piling up in the dining room and all your family has more than they want, but you just have to keep making it because it’s what you do and who you are. What do you do now?

Here’s one answer. Put it up on line and sell it. I tried it and it works. You will be constantly amazed at what people are willing to purchase from you (no offense to either party) and if you work at it some, you will be able to sell more than you can make. 

130131.jpgFor instance, I am shipping today a bag full of cedar shavings swept from the floor of my shop from a bowl off my lathe, (a beautiful Oneway 1640 from the High by the way), to a lady from Illinois who uses them to make little cloth cedar pillows to put in stinky tennis shoes. She is paying $30 plus shipping for two quart bags of shavings I was going to sweep into the dust collector and use for mulch. She turns around and sells the bags for $15 per set and both of us giggle on the way to the bank.

There are several choices on line for selling, but my choice is a site called “Etsy”. www.etsy.com) pronounced like Betsy. They only allow handcrafted and vintage items and it is really simple to use. First you have to pick a name nobody else is using; “www.thewoodshop.etsy.com” is taken by the way. (See me sneak that one in. Look at my new shop sign from Highland.) If it is clear, then just walk through the steps and put your stuff up there. Get a digital camera and upload some good pictures, decide on a price, write up a description using words like “found lumber’, “recycled”, and “green” , check your shipping costs and go for it. It costs something like twenty cents per item to list it and then something like 2% commission when it sells.

PICT0100.JPGSet up a PayPal account, which is really simple to do and people will pay you through PayPal before you ship. On top of that PayPal will print out a shipping label with two clicks and take the postage out of your PayPal account leaving you with the net. Call the Post Office and they will pick up the box off your back door steps. How cool is that?

I average a sale a month and there are things on my site which over 300 people have looked at, including people from England, France and Afghanistan. My record so far is a large salad bowl for $ 105 to a lady in California who gave it as a wedding present. Go for it!! Get that stuff out of the house!! Make some more!! Buy more tools from Highland!!

Recommended Improvements for SawStop Tablesaw

Jul 312009
 

sawstop8.jpgWell I have read all about the SawStop tablesaw and watched all the demonstrations and I like it a lot. I have analyzed this new technology carefully in light of long years of woodworking experience, some close calls, stories from friends and other legendary tales, including the guy who worked for me once making survey stakes who left his left index finger lying on the saw table. Cut it right off. Clean. They couldn’t sew it back on because he was a smoker. When he got mad at somebody later and wanted to poke them in the chest to make a point, he had to use the other hand. Couldn’t do that magic trick where your finger comes off anymore. Well, you get the idea.

However I think the SawStop tablesaw is missing two things and I hope somebody from SawStop reads this and takes immediate action to improve their already excellent product.

My last pick-up truck had OnStar® in it to summon emergency help in case of an accident and I was not able to use my phone to call for help. If I am using the SawStop tablesaw and come that close to cutting off a finger, the saw better be calling for somebody to come and get me because I guarantee you I will be lying on the floor passed out. The good news is they won’t have to sew my finger back on. OnStar for SawStop.

Secondly, it has long been a standing joke in our family that if we ever have a serious accident, you need to call for an ambulance and a Porta-John. That is the other thing the SawStop tablesaw needs, because again, even when my fingers are safe, we still gonna need it.
You will notice I did not recommend a surgical field kit, tourniquet, large bandages, ice packs to deliver the finger to the emergency room, or any of that other stuff you would need in similar circumstances on other brands.

There you have it. I know many corporations depend on feedback from experienced users to improve their products and I am happy to participate in that process. I hope you will bring your suggestions to them in the same spirit, although I cannot imagine how anyone could improve on a table saw equipped with SawStop’s safety technology that’s also backed up by OnStar® and a Porta-John.

Going to the Dogs

Jul 242009
 

I saw a video once of the guy who invented the bullet proof vest police officers wear, shoot himself in the stomach while wearing the vest. He stood right up and took out two watermelons. Pretty good proof of the usefulness of the vest.
PCS240.jpgJim Yahres left a comment on Chris’s post below about the new SawStop table saw. In it he referenced a YouTube video showing the famous “hot dog” demo. At the end of the video, the host challenged the inventor to put his finger in the saw. He did. Wow!

Drop by Highland tomorrow (July 25th) and see which unlucky hot dog gets to risk life and limb on a SawStop table saw. 10:45 and 2:45 Live in the Store.
Hot dogs all over the City are crawling towards the back of the meat cooler. Inventors too.
Do Not Try This at Home!!

Router Bits

Jul 202009
 
routerbitcase.jpgSometimes you just need to clean out and start over. Could be the refrigerator, the cupboard, the den, the barn, your wood shop, your life. In my case, some of those things do need to be cleaned out, but one thing I have decided to clean out and start over is my collection of router bits. In the past I bought router bits for two reasons: I thought that a proper woodworker ought to have router bits. You can’t be a woodworker without router bits. The second bits I bought were pattern maker bits, the bits with a bearing on the bottom, which I used when trimming sheathing from the window openings when framing a house. Punch a hole in the sheathing and then let the bearing follow the window framing.

The first set of router bits I purchased was from a department store and has about ten basic bits in a cute little plastic box with a removable stand to hold the bits. Not knowing any better, I bought quarter inch diameter shafts with high speed steel (non-carbide) edges. I guess I got what I paid for, but they are not much.

Somewhere along the way I upgraded the router and the new one had two collets to accept quarter inch or half inch router bits. It was soon apparent that those little quarter inch steel router bits were not going to cut it, so to speak, so I started to buy a few new bits as things came up in the shop. I always made sure that any new router bits were half inch shaft and carbide edges. That is pretty much all I buy these days and life is much simpler.
cabinetmaking router bit set
As is typical for many items at Highland, there are not just a few router bits for sale. There are three walls full of all different styles, brands, profiles and sizes of router bits. You can buy sets of router bits to make kitchen cabinets. You can buy sets of router bits to make raised panels. You can buy sets of router bits to make divided light doors. You can buy sets of router bits to make crown molding.
fudge.jpg
You can buy sets of router bits to make chocolate fudge ice cream. (Well, maybe not.) But Highland Woodworking has a wide selection of router bits in a wide range of prices from several different manufacturers. If you can’t find the router bit you need at Highland, you probably didn’t need it anyway.

Hammering for Humanity

Jul 122009
 
I have been working for my local Habitat for Humanity Affiliate this week framing up houses. We nailed together four houses this week in the warehouse and we will stand the walls up on the site for a total of eight houses in a few weeks. Few people get the chance to change somebody’s life as dramatically as this in such a short time.

hammers.jpg I am a fan of hammers and take every chance to look at what people select when they know they are about to do some substantial work on a house. Since we have been framing this week, everyone brought their framing hammer. Unless you are really into hammers, you may not know that you can spend just about any amount on one. Considered the top of the line is the hammer made from titanium and designed to strike with maximum force and minimum weight. Some of these high end hammers can go for $250 and more per each. Try to explain that to your wife when she can’t even get you to cut the front lawn.
Framing Hammer.jpg
Highland carries a wide range of hammers, from the three and half ounce cabinetmaker’s hammer

all the way up to the

twenty three ounce framing hammer. Talk about putting a nail into a stud, this one will do it. The joke on site amongst us graybeards is that the number cast into the hammer head for the weight is actually an age limit — you need to be less than 23 years old if you are going to drive that hammer all day. Nonetheless, it is a beautiful thing, and when you walk up on the site with one on your tool belt, people in the know will gasp in awe at the sight of it. These are the same people who will pour water on your face trying to revive you when you are lying flat on the ground about two that afternoon from trying to run that hammer when you exceeded the age limit clearly cast into the hammer head.

Take a look at Highland’s selection of hammers, pick out one which fits you and your tasks, and then find your local Habitat chapter and give them a hand. You will be glad you did. Then go home and cut the front yard.

Volunteer for Habitat!

Liquid Wood and WoodEpox = Wooden Concrete

Jul 062009
 

The customer service guys at Highland have noticed a real run on two products lately, both by the Abatron Company. The first is called WoodEpox and the other is Liquid Wood. Now when I studied concrete in college (did you know there are people who take entire college courses in concrete?), they told me that the Egyptians and Romans were the first to make extensive use of concrete in construction. Look at the aqueducts and the other major engineering projects still standing in these cultures and you can appreciate the massive use of concrete even in that time and place.

Look around you anywhere in our cities and try to picture making any kind of large structures without concrete and you get some idea of how important it is to be able to make a solid permanent shape by preparing a form and pouring in a semi-liquid. Then along comes Abatron’s WoodEpox and Liquid Wood, allowing civilization to take another step forward.

With Liquid Wood, simply mix it up and paint it onto a decayed wooden surface and it will absorb into the wood and return the wood to something very close to its original condition. For instance, if you are turning a bowl and find a punky spot where normally you would put in a little CA glue to harden it up, this stuff works much better. You can sand it, cut it, turn it, shape it and paint it just as if it were the original wood. If some of the wood is missing, you apply Liquid Wood first to firm up the underlying layer and then use WoodEpox to reshape the part that is missing. The guys at the store say the mixture is about the consistency of a dry pie crust dough (don’t ask me if any of them could actually make a pie) so you can shape it, make a form for it, and work it close to the finished shape before it hardens. You can also tint or stain it if you want. Then after it hardens to a compressive strength of 5000 psi (about twice that of regular concrete), you can continue to shape and sand it with regular woodworking tools until you achieve the final shape. You can paint it if you need to and it’ll blend right into the surrounding work and nobody but you will ever know it’s there.

The possibilities are endless, but one big usage that comes to mind (particularly in neighborhoods like the one where Highland is located) is window sills. The houses there were mostly built in the first third of the last century, and some (well, many) of the window sills are beginning to go. This stuff is perfect for repairing them — knock off the really rotten stuff, paint the rest with Liquid Wood, reshape the window sill with WoodEpox to match the remainder, prime and paint, and you are off for the rest of the weekend. How can you beat that?

The Romans would have been proud. You may even find yourself thinking about building an aqueduct next weekend.

MORE INFO ON WoodEpox & Liquid Wood