Pender Fab Lab

Updates from the Fab Lab:

The story continues... Yes, cardboard. Thanks to Uline boxes, a very accurate tablesaw, and a bit of time, we have a very large supply of prototype materials for...

Anybody got a spare drawknife or spokeshave they want to part with? I just had a tonne of fun making a traditional milking stool and I figure the kidlets might enjoy it as an option next year too!

NOT RESTORING TOOLS! Nope. Just getting them useful again! Yep, that's a 78 shoulder plane, and it's cutting like a dream. Lots of English and Swedish steel ready for honing, and wooden tools oiled up. My friend Blair came by yesterday with a truckload of goodies, and it's gonna be fun.

Yes, that newly sharpened ripsaw is a Crapsman, but was great practice. Now I have 3 Disstons to get in shape, and I know how!

Thanks, Ernie S. whoever you are! Who knew that the Bailey #5 you donated to SD64 so many years ago (maybe 30??) would still be working great? Ernie the Plane came to us in great shape except for the iron, which had been sharpened in a cement mixer, I swear. Now it's the first one the kids reach for when something has to be really straight. Now, anybody got a 7 or 8? At the Mayne shop we used to use a #7 with 2 kids at a time, one pulling and one pushing!

Today's restoration projects! There's no substitute for good steel, and the kiddos need tools for their toolboxes.
Pictured:
Hoppe No 4 (does not smell like bubble gum :(
Stanley 80 scraper (mine)
Sorby sculpting gouge (mine)
Stanley paring chisel
Bent Swedish butt chisel (That's the name of my next band)
2 mortise chisels in bad shape
1 mortise chisel with a very sad handle

Soooo, any more rusty bits out there? Wood-handled screwdrivers? Block planes? You see the kind of damage we're prepared to deal with, you probably won't fix it yourself, and you know it's too good for the bin. We'll take it!!

New post up at the Fab Lab blog. What a fun course!! Next one starts Monday.

Yep. It's a Real Shop Now! Before, it was mostly a room full of tools and benches and a teacher who was terrified of all the things he'd forgotten to do. Now, it has...

Wearing down brand-new English chisels; sharpening suggestions welcome!
The kids are cutting mortises. In the hardest maple I've ever met. They're doing an awesome job on their joiner's mallets. I know there are 3 easier ways to make them, but tapered handle in tapered mortise will last generations. Anyway, I promised the kids that if they used the tools well, I'd keep them sharp. 600 stone, 1200 stone, and 1500 grit paper on plate glass.

I might teach them how to keep them touched up with the 1500 paper (probably should) and I know I can get them much sharper, but this is working for now. I'm also getting some good guides, 'cause eyeballing it only gets me so far.

Sharpening suggestions welcome!

Footnote: Kudos to Narex for shipping their chisels in reasonable shape. They went straight to the strop (they're crank-neck paring chisels, not dovetails). Boos to Record for sharp (maybe 600 grit) and flat (not). Weird prize to Irwin for a nicely ground chisel with the handle on crooked!

Yay! We're just about open for business. I'm grabbing some sticks from Pender Home Hardware tomorrow to get started, but now's the time I start begging for lumber donations. Got some? If it ends up in the school parking lot (concrete is still drying on the shop apron) I'd be overjoyed! Anything from tasty bits of hardwood for tool handles to rough cut boards. We'll give it love and get some great learning out of it. Sharpie your name on it so we can acknowledge it here. Or call the school... we'll figure something out!

Tested the Nova lathe. 2 hours later...
I've discorvered the Time-Turner!

No pic today - the place is a mess. But Dave and Alana are doing an amazing job through the weekend to get paint and cleaning done. There really wouldn't be a shop without them!

Just in case y'all want to play around (and aren't already using Sketchup or something better), we at the school use the heck out of Tinkercad. It's free, pretty robust, works on any computer (you'll want a mouse instead of a trackpad), and is pretty rational to learn.

I like it for designing for a few reasons. It works in inches or cm (but not both at the same time like Canadians usually do) which is nice for both wood and composites. The inches function is funny because you input decimal inches (like a machinist would) and it spits out fractions if it can. Yes, there are some math lessons to be done! To make it more fun, my saw's kerf is .125in, 1/8in plywood is .118in, and my spacers for making finger joints are somewhere in between. Yes, I have some sorting-out to do.

Tinkercad also has an interesting workflow that can mimic the operations one does in the shop. If you want a rectangular solid with a big bevel, you make a rectangular solid, make a triangular solid, and use the second to cut a chunk out of the first. You're just starting with simple shapes and adding and subtracting to make complexity. The 'Board-Stretcher' function is almost as problematic in software as it is in reality!

So, TLDR: It's great beginner software that anyone can try. I should probably move to Fusion 360 (a more professional program), but there are real advantages to using the same stuff that the kids know. We jump all the hurdles together.

PS: Yes, we'll also learn how to use pencil and paper. Nothing like drawing stuff up on the back of a Tru Value receipt in the CRD office while the project hangs in the balance. It's a life skill.

Ok, it's a drill. Specifically, a 3/4 inch Forstner for making dog-holes in the bench tops. 70 perfectly straight and clean holes through 3 inch hardwood benches. If that were one hole, it would be 17 1/2 feet long. I've got a routine for them now which includes much measuring, pilot holes, sharpening the bit, and much waiting for stuff to cool down. I'm sure I could make it more complicated if I worked at it! Then again, there's a probably a video out there of Paul Sellars making perfect dog-holes with a brace and spoon bit. That's a little rustic for me.

You may recognize the top pic as Mark Watney doing some heroic perforating in the movie The Martian. Spoiler alert: it doesn't go great for him. 14 to go - wish me luck.

And if someone happens to have a better way to do this, go ahead and tell me. I might ignore it 'cause there's only 14 left, but fill yer boots.