baok

Taylor Guitar company has a magazine which, this month, has a series of nice articles on where their wood comes from and how it's used. You can read it online here: http://www.taylorguitars.com/sites/default/files/Wood-Steel_Winter-2015_EN.pdf

Wow lwllms. That may be the best response I've ever seen in an online forum. Thanks very much. I wish I was old enough to retire - I'd come over there and apprentice just to learn some of that deep knowledge.

OK, I found this reference: http://www.nortonindustrial.com/uploadedFiles/SGindnortonabrasives/Documents/Catalog_PDFs/NortonCatalog-Bench-Pedestal-Wheels.pdf That answers the question of which grits I want. No mention of the blue ones though.

This is probably well-trodden ground but I’m hopeful that someone will have gone through this before and can help. I have a nice set of oil stones that I use for ordinary sharpening and they work great. But I still struggle when I get my hands on an old plane or chisel and have to regrind the bevel or just grind nicks out. I have a bench grinder that came with the typical gray wheels. These things are super slow and I’ve seen many people in magazines using the white and blue-green grinding wheels but I can never find those. I’ve looked in my local Woodcraft and a couple of tool places but they don’t have the Norton brand. I am unfamiliar with the other brands and so don’t know if they cut as fast or not. Once long ago, I stumbled across a 3x6” DMT diamond plate for cheap ($35). It is a steel plate marked “Dia-Sharp Coarse” on the side. This cut really fast for awhile. After a long session of trying to flatten the back of a plane iron, it seemed to slow its cutting speed dramatically. I did clean it more than once with water but that didn’t speed up the cutting at all. The surface left behind on the plane iron was very shiny so it made me wonder if I had somehow worn the abrasive out. I read somewhere on this forum that diamond plates have this plateau; as if they begin life more coarse than the rating suggests and you soon wear them down to that. I don’t know but I do know that the one I have is no good for basic regrinding of anything. So here’s my questions: Do diamond plates have this “plateau” effect or did I possibly just get a bad one? Given that I only want to use my bench grinder for coarse regrinding of a new bevel, which grits of grinding wheels should I buy? I’m assuming I can find them online at multiple places so I just need to choose some grits. What’s the difference between the white wheels and the blue ones?

Very interesting. I should probably consulted the MSDS myself. Now that time has passed, the finish has hardened up. The whole thing looks quite nice - it doesn't look new of course but we're happy with it. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Then there's Dan's Whetstones in Hot Springs, AR. Quarried right there. Nice oil stones. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Not crap. I like these types of videos as well as any other. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I watched the Epic Beard Guy at Silver Dollar City hew one side of a log with an axe so straight and smooth that it looked planed. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it. Kind of puts me in my place. He said "You could do it if you'd done it as long as I have." Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks folks - some good ideas here. You're right; they planed down to 5/8. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I removed some faux beams from my living room ceiling on Saturday. They were painted a dark chocolate brown. Before taking them to the dump I thought I'd run one through the planer to see what it was. This is what came out: straight grained cedar. Pretty soft stuff but I have a lot of it. I think I'll keep it. Not sure what I can make from such soft stuff but perhaps someone here has some ideas. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I wanted a box to carry around my black powder stuff so I made this. The dovetails are a bit sloppy but that doesn't really matter much. They are still sturdy and the box is square. This is cheap pine that I stained with some General Finishes Gel Stain. The pistol case is real cherry though. I used mostly hand tools for this project. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Very nice. I'm inspired. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Beautiful. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I was in Eureka Springs last year and called him on the spur of the moment. He invited me over to see his shop and I spent an hour or so playing around with some of their planes. Nice guys. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I feel the need to throw in a complement here even though I have nothing original. Nice! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk