More on the Ruler Trick, part 4
Heartwood
by Rob
11M ago
Ironically, I do not use a ruler for the Ruler Trick. As I described in a post about five years ago, I like a 0.020″ strip of plastic cut from shim stock and roughened on the bottom for a better grip on the stone. This is about the same thickness as a 1/2mm ruler. One advantage of using shim stock is for short blades. In the photo above, I am using a 0.015″ shim to raise the spokeshave blade to approximately the same angle as a 0.020″ shim raises a full size blade that fully straddles the stone. Perhaps this adjustment matters little but it helps keep my sharpening technique consistent and it ..read more
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More on the Ruler Trick, part 3
Heartwood
by Rob
11M ago
Should your honing motion for the tiny Ruler Trick bevel on the back of the blade be parallel to the edge of the blade or perpendicular to it? Does it matter? The late David Charlesworth demonstrates the technique in his You Tube video moving the blade perpendicular to its edge, i.e., across the edge. He starts with the blade edge beyond the long edge of the stone and pulls it back “two or three times.” He states that he does not “like to trap a wire edge underneath the blade.” He then moves the blade back and forth – barely over the edge of the stone and no more than 10mm onto the stone, whi ..read more
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More on the Ruler Trick, part 1
Heartwood
by Rob
1y ago
The late David Charlesworth’s “Ruler Trick” is a wonderfully efficient addition to your sharpening methodology. For those unfamiliar with it, please see his short video – it is easier to appreciate than a verbal description. It basically is a simple way to hone the steel only just behind the cutting edge on the flat side of a plane blade without having to work the entire flat side. The resultant tiny bevel is only about 1/2°. (See the thin bright line in the photo above.) Thus, you create two meeting surfaces of finely honed steel to make a sharp edge.  It is often promoted primaril ..read more
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My favorite finishes, part 6 – nothing
Heartwood
by Rob
1y ago
A finish that gets little attention in books and articles about finishing is no finish. Consider it. Here are two examples. The panel in the frame-and-panel back of the cabinet shown above is quartersawn Port Orford cedar. The surface is exquisitely smooth direct from the hand plane with barely a touch of superfine sanding. I think it is a terrific look but just as nice is the spicy fragrance that greets you when the cabinet is opened. Any finish would spoil the fine appearance and would block the fragrance. The rest of the piece is finished.  Two Japanese-style toolboxes that I made abo ..read more
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My favorite finishes, part 5 – clear water-based
Heartwood
by Rob
1y ago
When I am considering no finish at all but just want to add some sheen, silkiness, and decent protection, I use a clear water based finish that produces no (or trace) color change and stays that way. The best example is pearwood to preserve its delicate beauty. Oiling pearwood should be considered a felony crime. Port Orford cedar, with its Zen-like beauty, is another example, though I usually use another finish for it, which I will discuss later in this series.  General Finishes Water Based High Performance – Satin, a water based polyurethane-acrylic blend, is my go-to player for this ..read more
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My favorite finishes, part 4 – oil-varnish mix
Heartwood
by Rob
1y ago
You can go a little crazy trying to sort out “oil” finishes, mostly because there is rampant misleading and uninformative labeling among manufacturers who often try to create a mystique surrounding their products.  There are a few key points to help keep things straight: 1. Varnish, including wiping varnish such as Waterlox Original, should not be termed an “oil” finish, even though oil (along with a resin) is used in its manufacture. Varnish is a film finish; it cures hard and builds into film thicknesses on the wood. 2. Actual oil finishes, such as linseed oil and tung oil, do not cure ..read more
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My favorite finishes, part 3 – varnish: brush-on/wiping combo
Heartwood
by Rob
1y ago
For tabletops that are expected to receive more punishment, there are two options that I employ as I briefly mentioned in the previous post. When I want the look of a non-film, “close to the wood” finish, I go with several coats of oil-varnish mix. This strategy sacrifices protection for easy reparability. Sometimes though, I want a more protective film finish, yet I still want to avoid an overbuilt, “plastic” look. For this latter option I use a strategy that I first learned from an article in Fine Woodworking magazine #81 (March/April 1990), page 75, by Greg Johnson. He used one or two coat ..read more
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My favorite finishes, part 2 – wiping varnish
Heartwood
by Rob
1y ago
Wiping varnish, a term coined by the Moses of finishing knowledge, Bob Flexner, is simply varnish thinned with mineral spirits to make it easy to wipe, rather than brush, onto the wood. The coats are therefore necessarily thin compared to brush-on varnish.  So, the great advantage of easily applying virtually problem-free coats carries the possible disadvantage that the coats are less protective. Most of my work, such as a wall cabinet or the lower part of an occasional table, does not need lots of protection. For those situations where more protection is needed, such as a tabletop, wipi ..read more
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Really now, why should you bother?
Heartwood
by Rob
1y ago
You have an idea for a piece – a compelling, strong idea. The more you think it through, the more it grows and the more you think, “I can do this. It’s going to be worth it.” You research design options, wood, and joinery. Things seem to be coming together. Along the way, however, you find some dangerously impressive work of the general type that you have in mind. This happens to me when I look at woodwork by Tim Coleman, John Cameron, and Craig Vandall Stevens, to name a few. How did they do that? And you begin to wonder: “OK, it’s not a competition but, good heavens, I love that piece ..read more
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My favorite finishes, part 1 – shellac
Heartwood
by Rob
1y ago
This series will explain the wood finishes that I use. I will tell you the specific finish formula, how I apply it, and explain where and why it works.  The finishing systems that I present here are anecdotal and based on my preferences and experience. I can tell you that through many years and many trials, I know these work for me, and I think they will work for you as long as you use them in appropriate situations. For expert comprehensive discussions of finishes, there is no better source than Bob Flexner’s book Understanding Wood Finishing.  We’ll start with: SHELLAC I turn dewa ..read more
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