STANLEY No. 2 Plane Restored

This little gem came from an abused home, bought it for a $1.50 but had to invest in an ebay handle for $17 to make it complete
Never heard nor seen one my discerning eye knew there was something different and snagged it at an estate sale.

It had has lots of issues the worst being a cracked sidewall but it is still completely functional.
I think the beauty of the No2 is the front handle; many planes at this size are one handed tools and so don't have the control.

It has some of the craziest screw sizes; it uses several 12-20 screws

It rounds out the set of large vintage planes in my cabinet.

Sherline Lathe 1/4 inch Carbide Insert bit Alternative

Those little triangle carbide inserts are OK although there are some "not worth buying" ones out there so be careful ordering the cheapest.

I was trying to get to a carbide bit for my wood turning project when I came across these diamond shaped inserts and went ahead and made a holder to use with the standard tool post

One is 3/8 square and the other is 1/4 x 1/2

good so far

I think the goal is to use more conventional bits that are easier to find locally

FoodSaver Adheasive & Epoxi Storage

Yes I have become a storage freak

I found the FoodSaver vacuum pump and decided that its real value was in the shop not the kitchen!

Very simply, the bags are good for a few uses, sometimes only one

I have never determined the exact cause of the reuse failures but I suspect it is dirt in the seal?

The boxes are beautiful and completely reusable.

I feel that after opening these expensive materials it is worth the effort and piece of mind to vacuum seal them

Shereline CNC Lathe - Awl Haft turning

There are lots of details here and not a lot of them were outlined anywhere that I could find. Turning wood on a CNC lathe took a lot of experimenting. The main problem was the bit; there were no guidelines for what I was doing and so after many attempts with a metal cutting bit I realized that the size and shape of the bit was going to have to be my own design and hand ground by me.

This haft is designed especially for the shoe makers hand stitching the Goodyear welt.

I determined that the bit needed a lot of back rake and end relief angle so I hand ground this piece of HSS to this shape. 0.100" wide with 0.050" rad, this is rubust and easy to put into the cutter path software.


After many attempts I determined that the secret to getting the brass end perfectly centered in the wood handle was to put it in 1st!

With the brass pressed in it doesn't matter how off center the wood is because the turning process will align the two pieces.

The brass end fits onto the live center.

The finish pass

The awl is inserted carefully

Vintage Senco Air Stapler

At an old house on Lake St Clair I found this 50's Senco air stapler and 30,000 staples for about $2.

I could not test it but I figured it is so simple I would give it a try.

It looks like the beginnings of the pneumatic revolution was rather simple.

Found lots of patent drawings to help get it back together after an almost complete tear down.

The thing works really well but does not have a pressure adjuster on it so you have to have an air regulator on the line.

DIY Harrow Blade - Sun Dial

Started thinking about the lake again and decided we needed a substantial Sundial. There are soooo many types to choose from that I had to apply my "just make something" rule. It is also just a beginning and next year may bring something different.

The lake is located at 44.66 Lat. and on-line there is a plethora of materials for designing and making them.

I picked a 45deg pattern as a guide and rummaged around the shop for a piece of something and found a harrow blade that I had purchased for another project.

The curvature is a problem because it causes the shadow to curve.

In CAD I developed the curved hour marks. 3 points for each curve.
I laid it out old school; clamping the disc to a piece of plywood so that I had easy X & Z axis.

I got to use my newly restored CSE height gauge.

Then I got to use my Accu-Arc for the 1st time to scribe and then mark the curves.

And lastly I used my chalk board compass with the gold marker to stripe the circles.

Mostly complete.
Drilled 3 holes for 1/4-20 screws.
Don't drill thru Harrow blades, takes a couple of bits per hole and it turns out I didn't need them.

Some other mounting / leveling method would be easy enough.
I didn't want to weld onto the disc and burn off the finish.

The next post will be on Memorial Day when it gets positioned by the lake.

FYI turns out daylight saving time offsets the numbering system!

After the first summer in use I wanted to fix the issue of numbering and the color issue.

I went with a light camo green, black (Sharpie) markings and a clear cote over it
I still got the numbers wrong so I substituted the stickers, maybe next year I will get it right.

Serendipity says; with the hemispherical shape of the blade you can read the time of day from your seated position!!

Shereline Lathe - Adjustable Tailstock

I've always been wishing I could tune in the tail stock alignment with an adjustable system.

Looking around I see that A2Z came up with a nice one and so I decided to design and make my own.

Using the original Sherline tail stock I realized that there was enough space between the head and the base to put an aluminum section.

The other advantage is that I can now put a riser under the L section and finally get to the larger diameters that need tail stock support.

The design concept is that just slightly oversize holes for the attachment bolts will be all the adjustment necessary.

Also I focused on using the heaviest section (3/8" wall) and largest bolts (5/16-18) possible.