I think the moral of the story is to avoid tailed apprentices!
I thoroughly approve that message.
Gary Katsanis
Albion New York, USA
-----------------------------------------From: "Paul Gardner"
To: "gary may"
Cc: "Dan Beck", "eppler.kirk@g...", "oldtools@g..."
Sent: Monday May 24 2021 7:14:57PM
Subject: Re: [oldtools] Galoots, I urge you...
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 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
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
Links:
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[1] https://groups.io/g/oldtools/unsub
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