Paul you wrote:
"I apparently relocated the wrench to some other convenient flat
> surface... in another dimension."
ROTFLMAO!
A tale told by a survivor, full of caution and care, signifying how easily all
our efforts can lead to disaster, and yet another reason to fear the tailed
demon, live with him though we must....thanks for sharing!
best to all; gam
How horrible it is to have so many people killed!---And what a blessing one
cares for none of them!
Jane Austen
On Tuesday, May 25, 2021, 04:45:45 AM PDT, Richard Wilson
wrote:
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
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