Paul,   

One of the great posts..  up there with tractor collecting and dog control.


Richard Wilson
Yorkshireman galoot



> On 25 May 2021, at 00:14, Paul Gardner  wrote:
> 
> Gary, I think you may have written this specifically for me and it's spooky
> how prescient your advice turned out to be in my case.  I read your post
> yesterday morning before heading down to the shop in the afternoon.  I'm
> currently working on a project that is going to have staked, tapered
> octagonal legs with a decorative insert of walnut at one end that should
> look interesting when turned down to the requisite cone on the lathe.  The
> legs are 1.5" square at this point so the plan was to route a stopped .5" x
> .5" x 3.5" channel on center on all four sides and glue in the Claro walnut
> inserts. For the sake of expediency (or so I thought) I decided to
> (literally) dust off the old portable Porter Cable router table and reunite
> it with its tailed demon counterpart and an appropriately sized chewing
> utensil.  Then I clamped the whole shebang to my table saw.  Things were
> going fine right up until getting to my third to last cut when a more than
> expected amount of smoke from a knackered cutter began emanating from deep
> inside the cut.  I turned the infernal machine off and waited a beat, but
> the smoke stubbornly refused to dissipate.  I backed the work out and sure
> enough found a tightly packed clump of maple sawdust glowing happily from
> inside the groove.  Also revealed was a compressed, incandescent mass
> welded to the apex of the router's "cutting" bit.  It was more hookah than
> router at this stage of the game.  I let that smoke in place while I turned
> the leg piece over and dealt with ember trapped within, administering the
> tappy tap tap treatment to it against the table saw top.  Despite there
> being only a smattering of saw dust on the table, this missionary ember was
> surprisingly successful at converting the natives to join it in its new
> state of enlightenment.  No Boy Scout could hope to produce this kind of
> efficiency during a fire starting competition at the jamboree without being
> sarcastically reminded by officials that cheating ran counter to Scout Law.
> Grabbing the only thing I had to hand, a medium sized adjustable crescent
> wrench, I launched full berserker mode into pummeling any orange or yellow
> threat aiding in this conflagration.
> 
> Having completed that I returned my attention to the Beacon of Gondor atop
> the router table.  Wrench still in hand, I try to ginglery pry the burning
> goo from the bit but it proves difficult to shift.  That is, until it
> suddenly becomes very easy.  I then watch with horror as the blob of Greek
> Fire arcs majestically beyond the saw table, onto the floor, and out of
> view. The floor around the saw is not the dandruff like dusting of fibers
> underneath the router table.  It's the kind of pillowy mounds of finely
> grated cellulose that dedicated Sampson Boat Co. fans will instantly
> recognize every other Saturday beneath Tally Ho!  The frantic hunt that now
> commenced to find the ember by this Electronic Neanderthal to would have
> easily secured me a call back in any "Quest for Fire" audition for the part
> of "Fire Keeper" for my poignant yet panicky portrayal of the scene in
> which the custody of the flame is lost.
> 
> As luck would have it, I found the wayward ember quickly.  As luck wouldn't
> have it, the once unified mass had now split into dozens of smaller copies
> and dispersed like dandelion seed across the floor.  I'm going to need a
> bigger wrench.  A mad, grape stomping dance commenced in concert with the
> hasty moving any object that could be shifted within a five foot
> radius. This continued for 5-10 minutes before I felt confident the
> immediate danger had passed.  But now a careful and meticulous cleaning of
> the whole... what the hell?!!
> 
> The router is still smoking!  No longer from the cutter head but from a
> place lower down, beyond view. Thus, I quickly need to remove the router
> from the base bolted to the table. Prior to improvising its use as a
> cudgel, the wrench had been employed to make fast the locking bolt
> controlling the depth adjustment.  The ability to shift the bolt by hand
> was now beyond the capacity of my Low-T infused fingers.  And the wrench
> was nowhere to be found. During the stomping episode, or perhaps just
> prior, I apparently relocated the wrench to some other convenient flat
> surface... in another dimension.  A shortish sprint to the mechanics chest
> was now in order to fetch a substitute, but the pathway lay sufficiently
> encumbered by a freshly minted obstacle course thanks to the hasty
> relocation of aforementioned objects.  The router was still smoking by the
> time I got back.  I blew out whatever detritus remained under the router
> table (proving I'm capable of learning from past mistakes), loosened the
> bolt and gently twisted the router down until it was free.  Diligently
> smoking away on the metal housing by the collet was a burning pellet of
> compressed maple that would have made any employee at Traeger beam with
> pride to claim it one of their products.  The pellet was quickly dispatched
> with the fiendish relish one doles out to a tick removed from much beloved
> dog.
> 
> The clean-up took about 30 minutes with a dustpan and brush as at this
> point I was loath to introduce forced air (from either compressor hose or a
> vacuum) into the mix.  I cleaned the cutter with carburetor cleaner and
> elbow grease and honed the edge on the diamond stone.  I reinserted the bit
> and quickly reinstalled the router to the base.  With any luck I could
> finish the last two passes and put this whole shambolic episode behind me.
> Oh, I think to myself, before I start I should put that 2nd coat of paint
> on the wooden staircase that I recently repaired from the ravages of dry
> rot. That way, it will be dry by the time I finish with this leg business
> and can call it a day and walk up that staircase. Twenty minutes later I
> was back at the router table, checking the fence alignment and adjusting
> the featherboard.  I turn the power switch on at the table and a cacophony
> unleashes. Within seconds the vibrations overpower whatever fastness I
> thought I administered to the locking bolt and 26,000 RPM of American made
> fury drops onto the cast iron table saw.  I jump back as the router has
> evidently tipped over, the bit engaging with the table and sending the unit
> ricocheting around the small confines of the portable table with the
> fierceness of a bobcat trapped in a pillow case.  Moments later the router
> is vomited out and comes to sufficient rest where I deem it safe enough to
> approach to kill the power.  I find the cutter bent 15 degrees from the
> shaft and a burr lined divot newly engraved in the cast iron table.  That's
> it, I'm done.  Twenty minutes later the whole mess is put away and I've
> scraped the cast iron to remove the burrs.  One shouldn't imbibe too
> quickly on the heels of such a debacle.  I let a good quarter of an hour
> pass before any bourbon is poured.
> 
> Paul, in SF
> 
> 
> 
> On Sun, May 23, 2021 at 2:38 PM gary allan may via groups.io  yahoo.com@g...> wrote:
> 
>> ...especially if you have never done it:  Set fire to a decent pile of
>> planings in some safe place, like a BBQ, or a fireplace, and be prepared to
>> wonder at the sudden and tremendous release of energy. This is why we sweep
>> up, and why we are so careful about sparks in our shops. I'm about to do it
>> myself, a little ritual I do every spring/summer.  I do it every year
>> because it's SO amazing, and humbling.
>>  I'm not saying my shop will never catch fire---that would be SO
>> wrong---but if it ever does, it won't be on account of ankle deep shavings
>> covering the floor from last week.
>>                         all the best to all galoots, everywhere; gam in
>> OlyWA/USA
>> 
>> 
>> How horrible it is to have so many people killed!---And what a blessing
>> one cares for none of them!
>> Jane Austen
>> 
>>    On Sunday, May 16, 2021, 08:49:35 AM PDT, Kirk Eppler via groups.io
>>  wrote:
>> 
>> On Sat, May 15, 2021 at 9:57 PM Dan Beck  wrote:
>> 
>>> . When I opened it I came across all sorts of interesting odds and ends,
>>> and I'm hoping you fine gentleman might be able to tell me what these
>> items
>>> are. Here are some photos:
>>> 
>>> https://groups.io/g/oldtools/album?id=264159
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> I agree with Alex except on picture 5732.  That may be a watchmakers tool.
>> If there are little indentation on each tip, then pretty sure it’s a
>> watchmakers.  I can’t find a vintage catalog right now.  Mine has indents
>> where this has nubs.
>> 
>> 
>> https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-E-F-B-Co-Truing-Caliper-Watchmaker-Tool-
Bench-Repair-/113998572134?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Kirk in Half Moon Bay, very little productive yesterd
>> 
>>> --
>> Sent from my iPad, apologies for the Auto Correct errors. Kirk
>> 
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-- 
Yorkshireman Galoot
in the most northerly county, farther north even than Yorkshire
IT #300