John, Logan, and I try to fill out a full 45 minute sauna session in this week's podcast.
Woodsmith & PopWood Swap Meet
Woodworking publications collect stuff. I donated some excess tools to our local ReStore. And John wondered about hosting a periodic swap meet at the Woodsmith mothership to release our scrap wood, extra hardware, and other miscellany out into the universe of the woodworking world.
I'd like to know who would be interested in coming for such an event. Let me know.
Tool Modding
In the last episode, I talked about a marking gauge that Logan gave me from a box lot of old tools he picked up. I'm in the process of fixing a chip and I'm thinking about what to do with the pin-style cutters.
I believe that tools are meant for modding. It might be as simple as regrinding a new bevel angle, making a new handle, an auxiliary baseplate, or minor repairs. In more involved work, this work could include making new parts, adding aftermarket gear, or mechanical upgrades. In any case, the effort seems worthwhile to make a tool work for you.
Turned Lamp
Our final episode of the Woodsmith Shop for season 19 is a trio of home office-related projects. Logan turned a lamp. His first inclination came from a lamp from Alan Lacer. Then he stumbled across a vintage pattern book. He modeled his off a candle stand.
Pencil Box
Chris made a pencil box that was designed by Dillon Baker. Not strictly for the office, since it's perfect for holding drawing gear for travel or just for fun.
Desk Set
My project is a desk set: one part is a Post-it notepad holder. The other is a small canister for pencils and narrow tools. I think it has a Greene & Greene vibe. For the material, I'm using some of my stash of fine-grained Douglas fir.
I got it from Bryan Nelson years ago. A couple of the pieces actually were cut as 2x4 construction pieces. This tight grain works well for the small scale of these projects.
While it may be designed for a desk, my versions will mostly likely find a home in my workshop housing small tools near the bench.
Transcript
Here's the transcript for this episode.
Phil (00:09.632) Hi everybody, welcome again to another episode of the Shop Notes Podcast. I'm your host Phil with Logan and John today. It's episode number 232. On today's podcast, we're going to talk about tool modifications, listener comments, and more. We always appreciate you listening and for your questions, comments, and smart remarks that you send to us, either on the YouTube channel or as emails, that would be great.
at woodsmith.com is the usual place. This episode of the shop notes podcast is sponsored by Harvey industries when good enough is not good enough. See all our new tools at harveywoodworking.com.
Phil (01:06.796) All right, let's check in with last week's.
Phil (01:13.43) last week's comments.
Phil (01:21.004) Kevin Thomas says, having fun watching the dogs being annoyed by the cat.
Logan Wittmer (01:27.715) Yeah.
Phil (01:27.906) who isn't really
Congrats Phil and Logan from Terell. Well hey Terell.
John Doyle (01:37.422) No mention of me though.
Phil (01:39.86) Nope, no mention of you.
Logan Wittmer (01:40.505) Mm-mm.
John Doyle (01:41.069) Wow.
Terell, we got beef.
Logan Wittmer (01:43.524) Sorry.
Phil (01:46.818) Puppy Doc Bob says, hmm, upcoming episode of the Woodsmith Shop TV show presenting home office related projects. Seems like an opp, seems like an opportunity for someone to maybe earn points with the spouse. I won't say who, but we all know. But then I have nothing to say because I've been working on my work bench for two years and making little progress, but.
Logan Wittmer (01:58.958) Seriously, Bob?
Phil (02:13.814) He ordered the Lee Valley Tail Vise right after last week's podcast and it arrived today. So he has inspiration to get back to it.
John Doyle (02:22.369) You know, if we haven't, I was gonna say, if we hadn't already met PuppyDoc slash Bob, I would think that's your wife's burner account. Like.
Logan Wittmer (02:31.961) Yes, I was gonna say that I think Bob's just been too busy playing with the sawmill. You know, if he'd spend less time milling logs, maybe he'd get something done in his shop. Speaking from experience.
John Doyle (02:38.764) you
Phil (02:39.327) there you go. Could be.
Phil (02:47.38) Right?
Phil (02:51.606) Ian McCullough says if Logan has a shop mansion, does he also employ a shop butler to keep the place in order and provide him with drinks as required?
Logan Wittmer (03:04.697) I think that my shop is less of a shop mansion. It is more of a modest, low cost of living state house.
Phil (03:13.154) Okay.
Logan Wittmer (03:14.873) No Butler here. A shop cat, but that's it.
Phil (03:18.976) Yeah, it does a terrible job of bringing beverages.
Logan Wittmer (03:24.044) Yeah.
Phil (03:27.166) Daniel Els says in response to our discussion of your tool haul and the fact that you just dumped a bunch of tools in the trash that we could dump good tools at the local Habitat for Humanity restore. Which is fair. However, the tools that you were putting in the garbage slash recycling were not worth more than the scrap that they were there.
Logan Wittmer (03:45.9) Mm-hmm.
Phil (03:56.362) I wouldn't say those were, I don't say those were good tools.
Logan Wittmer (03:56.663) Her.
Logan Wittmer (04:00.195) The wrenches were half decent, but...
At some point, the habitat for Humanity Restorer is going to throw them away just as well as I am.
Phil (04:12.404) I would agree.
Logan Wittmer (04:13.421) because I don't think somebody's gonna buy those.
John Doyle (04:17.78) I like to think that somebody is gonna dig those out of the garbage and bundle them with some half decent rusty tools in an old toolbox and sell them to you again on the side of the road somewhere. It's just the circle of life.
Phil (04:32.725) mean, you're not wrong.
Logan Wittmer (04:32.856) It would be full syrup.
Phil (04:39.566) and I did take, we had a clean out day. I don't know. was that? Like two months ago where we had just kind of collected stuff that's been sitting around here and we've gathered over the years and stuff. I, we created a free table for employees and folk at the company to take what they wanted and people did, but there was still a good amount of stuff left. So I.
Logan Wittmer (04:48.087) Yeah.
Phil (05:09.922) took a bunch of that over to the restore because those were.
modern tools in good shape, still with plenty of useful life left in them. It wasn't like your
your drawer of to be sharpened drill bits that needs to either get recycled or resharpened or whatever.
John Doyle (05:35.902) I always thought it'd be an interesting experiment to have like a parking lot garage sale during the summer because it seems like we collect a lot of shorts, lumber, pieces of veneer, like stuff that's useful to most woodworkers, but just piles up here. Just have some sort of parking lot shot, swap meet or giveaway or I don't know what we do, but it'd be interesting. Have a get together.
Phil (05:57.985) Right.
John Doyle (06:06.059) So.
Phil (06:09.098) I could see that, that would be kind of fun to have a.
Yeah, just show up, check it out, help us clear out lumber racks and stuff like that.
Logan Wittmer (06:23.745) Sounds like a perfect thing to happen in October.
Phil (06:23.746) Yeah, because we get the same thing.
John Doyle (06:27.039) Yeah, maybe.
Phil (06:27.777) Right.
Phil (06:33.058) Cause we also get the same thing with hardware where we're choosing hardware for a project. And sometimes you get a set of hardware in and it's like, no, those handles are too big and some stuff we can return. And sometimes it's not easy to return. And so we'll just get extras.
John Doyle (06:47.53) Yeah.
John Doyle (06:51.283) or we need six of something and it only comes in boxes of 100 or, you know, and then that just, it just piles up.
Phil (06:56.139) Yes.
Phil (07:01.186) Which is often the case with stuff that you get from McMaster car, because you could buy one, but it's, you know, $15 with $45 of shipping, or you buy a bag of 50 and it's $60 and zero dollar shipping.
Phil (07:33.11) maybe put that on the calendar. I would be interested to know how many listeners, viewers of the podcast would make a trip or are local to Des Moines, local enough for Des Moines to make that worthwhile. So put your vote in on the comments, send an email, that would be kind of cool to find out.
John Doyle (07:56.042) Yeah, because we're trying to get rid of projects at times too. I mean, not that we'd hold on to every project throughout the year, but if we had some to get rid of during that time, that'd be fun to put them into the hands of readers or listeners and move them along.
Phil (08:12.544) Yeah, yeah, that would be cool.
John Doyle (08:14.919) or half-finished projects from the TV show that somebody wants to finish.
Phil (08:23.404) bunch of stunt parts that could be turned into a project at some point. The as is sale at Woodsmith.
John Doyle (08:31.337) That's right.
Logan Wittmer (08:32.608) Do we really want people to be looking in our closet though?
John Doyle (08:36.467) That's true. That's true. It takes from the magic.
Phil (08:37.248) Ha ha ha ha!
Logan Wittmer (08:41.651) It does.
Phil (08:48.886) look behind this. These guys really don't sand
Logan Wittmer (08:52.145) I don't think we've ever claimed any different.
John Doyle (08:58.387) We don't even scrape off all or sand away the dried glue before we start finishing. Learn that the hard way.
Logan Wittmer (09:07.119) I don't generally leave dry glue for the next guy.
John Doyle (09:17.161) It's just a little rookie hazing.
Logan Wittmer (09:19.187) Peace.
Phil (09:23.904) All right, let's see, were there other comments? Nope, that looks like that was it on
me check the previous episode because we we had some technical difficulties and had two episodes go out last week.
Logan Wittmer (09:38.199) god, we did that to the people?
You know what? It kind of serves them right, so...
John Doyle (09:44.553) Yeah, we probably have half the people listening to this one because so many people unsubscribed after getting so much of Logan in one week.
Not Jim though. He's already gone.
Phil (09:54.56) Yeah. Nope.
Logan Wittmer (09:56.563) Nope, Jim was gone. He was gone.
John Doyle (10:01.629) Never forget, never forgive.
Phil (10:03.348) Yep. And how cap says he was quoting. I was told I wasn't going to be fact fact checked. And thanks for the spit take, John.
Phil (10:18.082) ijwtbotdad says Jim's comment made me crack up the ridiculousness is why I'm here
Phil (10:32.63) There you go. And that's it for new comments on that one. So yeah, it's nice because Jim is going to give us, you know, plenty of material for a little while here till that settles out.
Phil (10:50.562) All right, one of the things that I was thinking about was that marking gauge that I got from that tool haul you picked up, Logan, was it's got a mortise gauge on one side, like I was saying. And there's some chipped out sections on the beam of the mortise gauge. So I'm working on cleaning that up. And I have it in the finish room right now because I kind of rubbed it down with some turpentine and steel wool just to clean off the gunk.
and pulled out the pin that was used for the marking gauge part of it. And I was trying to decide if I actually replace it with something or just leave it as a mortise gauge. And I'm still sort of undecided. And then if I do put a new pin in there, what do I do? Because I'm just not normally a fan of pins because of...
Logan Wittmer (12:54.547) Mm-mm.
Phil (13:07.18) can't really use it cross grain then. It turns into a, it just turns into a scratcher, yeah. So there's that. And then that kind of brought up the fact that, you know, replacing some chipped out sections of wood with some fresh, fresh meat on there. So like, what's your level of tool modification on something like that?
Logan Wittmer (13:10.418) Yeah, a scratcher.
Logan Wittmer (13:37.331) I... So I don't...
Logan Wittmer (13:45.254) I don't generally modify tools like that very much. I kind of leave them as is.
To me, like that marketing age, I have other marketing ages, I wouldn't mess with that. That's why it's like, here you go Phil. The most I would do, if it's something like that, is I'd tear it apart for pieces.
Phil (14:05.185) Right.
Logan Wittmer (14:16.423) You know what mean? So it's like, if it was like a Rosewood one, I would tear it apart because I then use like the, not the stem, but the bigger part of it. I've used those to repair like totes on hand planes or knobs on hand planes. Cause it's a hunk of old Rosewood that matches Stanley Rosewood pretty well. So like that type of stuff, I don't usually modify. The closest idea is modifying something like a chisel.
to do a certain task like an old chisel, turn them into a scraper blade or something like that, a scraper chisel, or like these three handsaws that came in this tool purchase, two of them had pretty kinked totes on, or pretty kinked plates, enough that I'm not like, I don't wanna mess with them, so I will slice those apart into scrapers.
So.
Yeah.
Phil (15:16.034) Yeah, I can see that.
There was a, I believe it was a user modification already on there in the sense that the adjustable pin for the mortise gauge section had on the opposite end of it, a tapped hole and a brass screw in there to essentially fix it at a given width. So I'm guessing that whoever had that
Logan Wittmer (15:29.702) Mm-hmm.
Logan Wittmer (15:43.814) Mm-hmm.
Phil (15:46.966) drilled and tapped that hole, put that screw in to match their mortising chisel or drill bit or whatever they used on it.
Logan Wittmer (15:58.543) Yeah. Did- I don't- I didn't ever look at that. Was there a name on that at all?
Phil (16:04.044) There isn't, there's a patent number on there, patent number and date. And I just haven't, I don't have it. I'd have to step out and grab it. So anyway, I just was thinking about that. Like, what's the, how far would you go? Because it's a continuum, I would think, because with a hand saw or a hand plane, you could repair totes and knobs or replace them, and then goes all the way up to through power tools.
And part of what made me think of it, Logan, is you were looking at a Northfield bandsaw.
Logan Wittmer (16:55.585) I to be rearing all this dirty laundry.
John Doyle (16:57.254) You
Phil (16:58.21) That would, yeah, that would need some help on it. So for example, that Northfield bandsaw.
John Doyle (16:59.942) This is a safe place.
Phil (17:08.788) Old bandsaw probably needs some paint, but one thing that it was missing was a rip fence, like a stock rip fence.
Logan Wittmer (17:10.223) Yep. Yep.
Yep, doesn't, yep, doesn't seem to have a rip fence on it.
Yeah, so I guess at that level...
Logan Wittmer (17:27.089) I feel like I there's part of me that just always wants to return it back to how it came How it was intended to be So in that instance if I would decide to pick up this Northfield I would reach out to Northfield and try to get a fence for
Phil (17:35.756) Okay.
Logan Wittmer (17:49.905) Instead of, you know, we talked about it, like there are aftermarket fences, like I think Craig makes one, Carter makes one, maybe not for us all that size, but there are fences available. However, you know, the part of me that really likes the vintage stuff, I want it back how it came from the factory.
because having been around machines my entire life, I know that there's reasons things are certain ways generally. So that's kind of how I would want to return it. So yeah, like we talked about, you could probably rig up like a Beesmire style fence on it, get an old table saw fence, cut it to length, and there you go. But I would probably reach out to them.
Phil (18:47.692) Yeah. I mean, you say that, but then you are also in the process of getting a spiral insert cutter head for a Moac jointer.
Logan Wittmer (18:54.957) Okay.
Yes, yes I am.
Phil (18:59.134) Hahaha!
Logan Wittmer (19:02.03) There are, yes, certain advancements were a benefit. So back in the 40s, there were not helical cutter heads with carbide tipped inserts. So yes, there are certain advancements that are better. Also why I have carbide tipped blades in my big crescent bandsaw, because they are just better.
You know, so yeah, there were certain advancements. Also why I'm not like pulling off the refurbished guards and stuff like that that's on the crescent, you know, because I like my fingers. So yeah, I guess at some point, know, some level I want to back out how it came from the factory with the caveat that there are certain advancements that have happened that
may necessitate an upgrade. Another one is like bearings. Most of these machines came with oiled bearings, bearings that rode in an oil bath. And there is a large portion of the vintage tool community that says those run smoother than a modern bearing that is sealed because the bearings kind of wear in.
Phil (20:27.681) Okay.
Logan Wittmer (20:30.287) and they are quieter and I agree with that however the the flip side of that is if you keep oilers you know it's kind of cool kind of like yeah look it takes motor oil I gotta shove motor oil in it like it's kind of cool however then you have like felt wipers and like all this stuff and dust guards and all all this
other crap that you gotta deal with. So, you know, that is, again, a modern advancement shielded bearings that I will take the trade out on. With that said, if it has Babbitt bearings, I'm keeping the Babbitt bearings because they're not a generally, I mean, Babbitt bearings going to roller bearings. It's a complete overhaul. You're changing a lot of things. I can flip out oil bearings for
shielded bearings without anybody knowing the difference. I can even keep the oilers in place.
Phil (21:43.948) Yeah. Like I said, it's a continuum and I, you know.
Logan Wittmer (21:45.582) Now, yeah, yeah, it is. Yeah. Now, I mean, there are, there are certain levels where, trust me, I tried to go down this route. If it's a vintage tool that had like nickel plating on it and the nickel plating shot, I've tried to figure out how to nickel plate in the shop and you can do it. And I've turned a couple pennies to nickel plated pennies and stuff. Like you can do it. It just doesn't, it just doesn't.
look the same. So, you know, like that router plane that was in this toolbox, like it's probably going to get painted black because the nickel plating is pretty shot on it. like there are modifications like that where it's like, okay, the amount of effort I'm putting into it or the amount of money I'm putting into it is significantly less to change it away from how it came. So.
John Doyle (22:44.301) Did you just low-key admit to counterfeiting? Trying to turn pennies into nickels? Wow. Secret Service is going to be all over this.
Phil (22:54.668) Yeah. I don't know if it's counterfeiting so much as like currency alchemy.
Logan Wittmer (23:00.898) Yeah, currency fraud.
Phil (23:07.522) Well, you got to start somewhere.
John Doyle (23:07.682) Yep.
Logan Wittmer (23:08.898) Yeah.
Phil (23:10.658) I mean, I remember what was it, high school chemistry class where you could dip, we like soaked pennies in like a lie or something like that. And then you hit them with a torch and then they turned like a gold color. Did you ever do that?
Logan Wittmer (23:26.464) Mm-hmm. We did not That was too close to making meth to where you know where John and I grew up. So it's like it's not he did
John Doyle (23:31.97) Yeah, yeah, yeah. You don't mess with Iowa.
Phil (23:32.406) Yeah.
Phil (23:38.22) Yeah.
Logan Wittmer (23:47.757) Yeah. But no, here is that level that we were talking about. It has the sights on it. Oh, the camera's not focusing. So like, you would look through this one and then look through the little wire one up there. So kind of cool on this little spinny stand. The stand appears to have been nickel plated at one point. I it still has nickel on it. Just not super clean.
Phil (23:53.236) yeah.
Logan Wittmer (24:16.258) But what I just realized is this is kind of cool. This is a cover that rotates to cover the glass in the level. So if you were traveling with it, you could cover it up. So now all the glass, because they're actually glass and they would break, they're now covered, which is kind of cool. So, yeah.
John Doyle (24:46.785) I can just imagine mounting a candle and some lenses on that to make a makeshift laser back in the day. I think that's how that works.
Phil (24:47.842) That's cool.
Logan Wittmer (24:54.295) That's right.
That would be sweet.
Phil (25:05.868) Well, I mean, that level was still pretty cool anyway, so.
Logan Wittmer (25:08.513) Yeah, yeah.
Phil (25:14.262) All right, John, have you ever restored tools or fixed up anything that?
John Doyle (25:18.721) I've restored some hand planes here and there, but when you talk about modified hand tools, what comes to mind for me is I have a modified keyhole saw where there's a notch in the blade of it. And how you create one of these is you take it and plunge it into like the drywall of your wall and start sawing until you see a flash, you know, an arc of light, and then all the lights go off. And then that'll create that little little notch in the in the blade.
I don't know what to use it for right now, but that's a tool modification that I have. And I still have that saw, so the front half of the blade still works. So you're like, making little cuts. But that's one tool I've modified.
Phil (26:07.488) Okay. All right. I can see that. That would be.
So keeping that saw is kind of like keeping the cartridge from a saw stop after you trigger it.
John Doyle (26:19.392) You know, it's a reminder. It's like one of your nine lives.
Logan Wittmer (26:29.088) You know, there is the one tool I do modify fairly regularly and anybody that turns does this is turning tools. Like you'll buy tools with a certain grind on them, but then you'll change the grind to, you know, do what you need. And, you know, I'm using the modify in a very loose term. I'm just sharpening them differently for different tasks.
Phil (26:29.506) All right.
Logan Wittmer (26:54.177) But that's a pretty common one. Yesterday on that lamp for the TV show, I used a modified spindle gouge to do a couple of the beads. I've ground it into a beading tool and that works pretty well. So that's that type of thing where it's like, okay, guess, yeah, you could call that a modification.
Phil (27:15.926) Yeah. And I would call that a modification because it's,
It's not quite the same as, you know, a regular woodworking chisel that you're just going from 25 degrees to 35 degrees on the bevel angle. You're actually reshaping it into something that's fundamentally different. I would see the same thing to make the comparison between turning tools and other woodworking tools where you would make a new handle for a chisel to into something that you would like, you know, and I think turning tools that turners have.
Logan Wittmer (27:29.386) Yeah. Yeah.
Phil (27:51.494) forms and styles of handle that they like better than what would come stock necessarily.
Phil (28:03.148) Cause I also think of the, I got a chisel from you that had, I think it was a firmer chisel, half inch wide that I turned from a single bevel chisel into a double bevel for carving.
Phil (28:17.932) would be another modification on it.
So, or, and sometimes the modification is something super simple, like taking a Palm router and making an extra large base plate for it to replace the tiny base plate that goes with it.
Phil (28:37.914) or 3D printing dust ports for new tools that had terrible dust collection to begin with.
Phil (28:50.85) So anyway, that was just, like I said, it was just one of those things where one little thing stands in for a much larger universe of tool hacking, so to speak.
Phil (29:07.2) Now you mentioned the project you were working on for the TV show on our office, home office projects, and you did a lamp design. I think you originally were gonna pick one that was, that had appeared in an old American woodworker.
Logan Wittmer (29:23.691) Yeah, yeah, yeah, there was one from Alan Lacer, who's a turner up in the Twin Cities. And he had done a lamp out of ash that was a glued up lamp. So it was glued up out of four pieces, two outsides and then kind of the deli meat in the center, but with a groove in it for the cord. And it was kind of a chunkier form.
And I was looking at it, I'm like, all right, I mean, kind of cool. We already have the plan obviously done for it. But then I started thinking, okay, what can I do that's a little different than that? A, because I wanted to put it somewhere in my house and I didn't care for that shape. And I started looking and I found a link on one of the AAW, which is the American Association of Woodturners forums.
Somebody was linking a book from the 1930s, I think, and it is on the archive.org, which is, I think, a Library of Congress type thing. So it was a digital copy of this book, and it was almost 400 pages of woodturning patterns. So flipping through the pages of this thing, there was...
patterns for, you everything from shaving stands to picture frames to candle stands to lamps, smoking stands, like there was turned umbrella holders, like things like that, which I thought was really cool. So I started looking at the lamps, the lamp designs, and I didn't care for any of those, but one of the
Candle stands really kind of appealed to me and it was much smaller scale so I just doubled it up. I enlarged it by 200 % and that's what we did. So I turned it out of three pieces of ash, one for the base, one for the pedestal, and one kind of for the topper. know, hindsight, probably could have done it out of two pieces but breaking it up into three worked pretty well. And you get a little bit less vibration with the shorter pieces.
Logan Wittmer (31:40.682) And I think it turned out pretty well. Yeah, the shape was a little, a little thinner than I was going for, but trying to get some good clean cuts on that curly ash was, you know, the driving factor of it. So yeah, worked out pretty well.
Phil (31:59.19) Yeah, what I liked about it was the original pattern that you had from Alan Lacer, he did some kind of an ebonized sort of finish on it.
Logan Wittmer (32:09.863) Yeah, was like maybe, yeah, maybe ebonized and like a lime wash or something.
Phil (32:18.892) But most of the time when you see at least the stuff that I've been familiar with, I would not have thought ash for a project like that. Just because it's an open-grained hardwood, which a lot of times you see a closed-grain hardwood that can get polished up to something super shiny. Fully knowing that ash gets turned into baseball bats, but that's a totally different purpose.
But when you got that one done, like I thought it had a nice shine to it.
Logan Wittmer (32:48.616) Yeah.
Logan Wittmer (32:53.598) Yeah, yeah. And I mean, it is open grain still, but it's pretty smooth. So yeah, it was, I think, honestly, I the pedestal on that one got a little thinner than I wanted because I've doing these shaker side tables. I turned four of the pedestals now and it has that swooping neck down.
Phil (32:59.969) Yeah.
Logan Wittmer (33:20.073) And I just say, mean, like, that's the mode I was in. So just, that's what I did. And I was like, oh, that was actually supposed to be a little chunkier. But yeah, it turned out really well. I didn't realize there were some intricacies of choosing lampshades, I guess. I mean, know, design and proportion is a big thing in not only the woodworking world, but turning in any design.
Phil (33:40.331) Okay.
Logan Wittmer (33:49.865) proportion is a big thing. So there is a very particular size that people say a lampshade should be for the base. So I blindly was like, well, I'm doubling up the size. So here's the rule of thumb size that this lampshade should be. And I ordered one and it's a little large. I don't think it's awful, but it's a little bigger than I think it needs to be. I think it should be maybe a hair smaller, but it turned out
pretty well. I did come to realize how big a difference
Quality hardware is And it's funny I this morning I was looking at handles for these church doors with one of the guys from the church and You know kind of same thing church door hardwares very expensive but I had ordered I had ordered the lamp hardware off of a website and It wasn't I wouldn't say was terribly expensive. I mean, you know hindsight I think
the entire set for the lamp, the bulb holder, the cord, a plug, and the, what they call the harp, the part that holds the lampshade. I wanna say it was maybe like $17 or $18 per lamp. I ordered a few sets, because I didn't know what color was gonna be the best. And then it didn't arrive in time.
So I ran to Menards and bought a set from Menards for $25 for the set. And it is significantly different in quality. Like the Menards stuff feels like plastic. mean, it might be. So yeah, I guess the lesson is if you have the time, you know what you need, order it from a dedicated hardware supplier.
Logan Wittmer (35:56.068) is because I think you'll get a much better product at a similar cost to go to a big box store.
Phil (36:09.282) That's true. I'll put a photo up on the show notes page of the lamp, because I think it did turn out pretty cool. like the, you got a straight sided drum shade for it, which I think compliments the shape of it and it turns out really cool.
Logan Wittmer (36:18.94) Yeah.
Phil (36:27.66) So yeah, Chris is working right now on a pencil box that we did in the magazine.
It was a design that Dylan had come up with based on a vintage one. And I remember seeing one in American Woodworker from years ago. So you slide open the lid and then you can pivot open the pencil box. So there's a lower tray and an upper tray and then a little section for like an eraser or a pencil sharpener. So Chris is working on one in pin oak, I think is what we discovered, right?
Logan Wittmer (37:03.781) Yeah, that's what I think it is. Walking by it, I'm like, that sure looks like the pin oak we used for the tabletop on that farmhouse table or harvest table, whatever it was called.
Phil (37:12.992) Yeah. Yeah. So anyway, and then I'm working on a desk. I'll be doing a desk set, which is a little post-it note pad holder, and then a small canister for holding pencils and other kind of gear that
would be great for on a desktop like that. Yeah.
Logan Wittmer (37:36.305) Just like mine, yeah, yeah. This is some of that same ash. So, yeah.
Phil (37:41.478) cool.
Phil (37:45.526) Although mine might find its way into my workshop just for holding compasses and pencils and little exacto knives and things like that. So it'll be pretty cool. And I get to use up some old Doug fur that I had gotten from Brian Nelson years and years ago. And he had two pieces of, they were two by four that were fur.
Logan Wittmer (37:48.71) Yeah.
Phil (38:14.89) and had super tight grain on it. So he ended up holding onto those, not for whatever construction project he was going to, he had purchased them for, but used them for small boxes. And the desk set isn't small in scale, so the really fine grain on there works pretty well. So I'm excited about that.
Logan Wittmer (38:33.924) Is that the, you may not know this, but is that the same fur that he did that little fold out toolbox that I ended up with from you, I think. It's really nice. Cause I think, like most of us, you know, we think fur, we're like, yeah, like you might find, you might find an okay piece at like a big box store, but like this is nice.
Phil (38:42.549) Yes, I believe
Yeah, I believe that is that same for you.
Yeah.
Logan Wittmer (39:04.942) I'd poach that tree out of a national forest for sure.
John Doyle (39:07.706) Wow. If the Secret Service weren't on you already. Now you got the National Park Service?
Logan Wittmer (39:11.31) Yeah. Hey, they're defunded. There's nobody to come after me, right?
Phil (39:13.815) Yeah.
Yeah.
John Doyle (39:20.088) That's right. It's the wild wild west out here.
Phil (39:24.874) Yeah. So I actually have a section of that two by four. I'll put a photo of that with some of the pieces that I was working on. So I was creating the blanks and parts that I needed for that last night in my shop. I had also, think I had gotten some of that for two and bigger pieces from him that I used on vice hardware from my old workbench. And I kept the jaws of those vices just because it was nice first. I ended up.
starting to slice and dice pieces off of that for.
that.
Phil (40:03.65) for real.
John Doyle (40:04.794) sure.
Phil (40:06.498) So anyway, I'm excited about it and it's a fun little project to use up pieces and fits very well in my vegan woodworking mode that I've been in.
Logan Wittmer (40:17.157) Yeah, I've been having to slice up pieces of this mahogany to avoid these stupid wormholes. These things are haunting me. Like, I can't get away from them. I'm trying to do the panel. I actually working on the panels before we started podcasting. And I'm like, I can't get away from these stupid wormholes. I'm having to glue everything up, which is fine. Like gluing up stuff's fine, unless you're gluing up plywood. And...
Phil (40:25.633) Ha ha.
Phil (40:44.098) Whoa!
Logan Wittmer (40:44.769) Yeah, but it's just like, man, like this is not what I want. I don't want like a glue line in the, thankfully most of this mahogany is kind of like quarter sawn. So it's pretty straight grain. The glue lines pretty much disappear. But it's like, man, like I cannot get away from this, these stupid wormholes. So, and now it's like, I am afraid that when I start routing,
the There's like an og profile in these panels i'm afraid that when I start routing the og profile on these panels that all of sudden i'm gonna uncover wormholes so I don't know what what happens when that If that happens, you know, I don't know what to do about that. It's like do I epoxy? do I just try to plug? I don't want to try to plug them. It's gonna look like a plugged hole then You know, it's like do I just glue it up a new one? Probably what i'll do
Phil (41:47.522) come up with some sort of a filler that you could use.
Logan Wittmer (41:50.765) Yeah, I mean, half of the holes are already filled with like a pack of sawdust. Like, you know, I don't know if it came from the mill that way or if that is a universally accepted mahogany blemish if it is packed with sawdust. I don't know. I don't know. So we'll figure that out. I hope by the time we podcast next week that I these stupid things glued up and stained on them.
Phil (42:18.914) Okay. That'd be fun to see the progress there.
Logan Wittmer (42:23.705) Yeah.
Phil (42:25.462) Now this is a question that I know John is asking himself right now is if a group of sawdust is actually called a pack of sawdust or if there's another name.
Phil (42:41.91) I don't know, maybe.
Phil (42:47.222) Just like a group of bears is called the disappointment.
Logan Wittmer (42:55.257) Did not know that.
Phil (42:55.682) Packer fans will know.
John Doyle (42:59.032) you
Logan Wittmer (43:01.235) Oh No, oh no, right to fill two more minutes so the sauna session can finish up Or or do we become bears and disappoint him
Phil (43:07.554) Yep.
John Doyle (43:16.088) Phil (43:16.47) Yeah, could be that too.
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