Recently looking for a cheap fix for a gaping hole in a door (that will be replaced soon enough). The prospect of pouring $10 or more worth of commercial filler into it did not appeal, so paper mache was used. The filler pictured is made only of shredded newspaper (soaked overnight and pulped with a drill powered paint mixer) plus a small quantity of bondcrete.

In hindsight, I would experiment with the additional of a small amount of plaster to speed up the drying process. Results definitely warrant the consideration of paper mache as a viable under-filler which could then be skinned with your choice of builder's bog, plaster, etc.

Applied paper mache filler (wet).

Two Weeks Later, fully dried, very strong. Shrank less than expected.

I, Beerbot.

Getting the best tools money can buy

It took me a while before I was ready to give up on cheap tools. Maybe it is the wisdom that comes with age that helps you realise the pleasure of slowly acquiring tools that are an absolute pleasure to own and use. I think in every person there is a desire that goes way back to childhood to own certain things that perhaps were out of reach when we were younger. Be glad if for you that desire can be met by purchasing a large television or a set of chisels. Pity help your wallet if your heart won't be at peace until you are behind the wheel of your own fully customised German sportscar.

The problem is it is actually often quite difficult to go and spend a seemingly outrageous amount of cash on some obscure piece of equipment. The reason being that the kind of people who make such purchasing decisions without a moment of doubt are always broke.

Right now I have $4500 sitting in a savings account. Every penny of it has been generated from activities outside of my normal day job. This is to say, it's mine. It's not family money, rainy day money, or savings, it is there to spend. The things I did to get that cash (recycling unwanted items, trading on ebay, repairing things for friends and acquaintances, not to mention the odd bit of freelancing, was an exchange of my free time that otherwise could have been devoted to turning some timber or carving the next piece in my ever growing collection of replica truncheons. 

On a daily basis I am tempted. Currency fluctuations combined with the ever increasing advances of technology make the things I wanted as a kid seem cheaper every day. Yet in spite of this, I don't find it easy to go out and spend like there's no tomorrow. Always looming in the back of my mind is the thought of the next set of unexpected school fees, dentist bill or whatever the case may be.

At least on the plus side, this means the cash keeps piling up for that next big purchase.

Putting your blades under the USB microscope

Whilst researching low price USB digital microscopes, I found many forum posts asking about the suitability of these devices for assessing blade sharpness on knives and other cutting tools.

I ended up with the Digitech QC3247 1.3 Megapixel USB microscope which claims to go up to 400x zoom, purchased for $99 Australian over the counter.

For others interested in seeing how sharp their blades are at the microscopic level, the image above shows the somewhat shocking state of disrepair one of our Global knives is in, having been shoved in the drawer and dumped in the sink repeatedly. This was taken at the highest zoom I was able to get a focus with.

If you can't afford a Tormek Sharpener just yet

It took a lot of late nights doing work on the side to pay for the Tormek and all the wonderful goodies that came packed with it. What surprises me is that the thing I really like most about it is the leather honing wheel .

This is basically a friction drive rubber wheel which has been fitted with a raw leather belt on the outside. To condition it you first give it an application of light machine oil to help the honing compound bind better with the leather. Then you fire it up and even at the very slow speed that the Tormek runs at, the fine scratches left by the grindstone disappear to leave a mirror finish.

Unlike buffers which run at startling speeds and as such are extremely dangerous should projectile motion be achieved (ie Highspeed + Chisel = bad), the Tormek just happily chugs along letting you safely hone your edges to a razor finish if desired. The biggest problem I've had so far is carelessly nicking the handle of a knife on the grind stone whilst using the honing wheel. For a really important job it might be desirable to temporarily remove the stone.

If finances are not agreeable, I think there would be a lot to be said for rigging up a honing device using a stepped down electric motor (thinking a simple belt drive with a high speed small wheel turning a larger slower one) and some scrap leather glued to a wheel - perhaps even a bowl turning blank or a few circles of MDF stuck together. Add a bit of polishing compound to it and you woul dhave a pretty good imitation of one of the Tormek's best features.

The Tormek Sharpening System ... sweet as!

Between posts, I've been working on fitting out a corner of back shed to do a little bit of meditative wood turning. Rather than jumping right in and actually turning something, I thought it wise to invest some extra time and cash in getting some sharpening gear together.

Enter the Tormek T7.

The Tormek system is to a bench grinder what a surgeon's scalpal is to a meat-axe. Even the packaging is nice. It must be the first tool or machine I've ever owned that came with its own instructional DVD and hardcover instruction manual. Even one of the optional jig sets came with another complete instruction manual, along with a high density foam packing case that can be screwed to the wall as a storage unit.

Yes, it's a bit expensive but...

The Tormek system has a stepped down electric motor (90 RPM) and a water trough to continuously bath the grindstone. There is even a little magnet under the trough to collect any iron-based filings that come of the stone. The stone is so smooth and gentle you can run your fingers across it without injury (probably not recommended, but you can). According to the manual, the Tormek is safe to use in flammable and explosive environments as it generates no sparks at all.

This cost more than my first car but...

The finish that this thing delivers puts my previous attempts at tool sharpening to shame. The leather clad honing wheel brings the stone finished edge up to a mirror finish - literally. If you want tools that can shave the hair off the back of your arm, this is a great place to start. The only thing I can think of that compares to the type of finish you get is a set of Japanese water stones I saw a cabinet maker use once.

Biggest problem apart from the expense?

Kitchen knives - it turns out that sharpening knives freehand on the Tormek is as relaxing as wood turning... and once you sharpen one knife on this it makes all your other knives seem blunt. Get your friends and family in on the racket and you have more work than you can handle. My first tube of polishing compound that came with the Tormek is almost used up and I've yet to put a wood turning chisel anywhere near it.

Why are Spear and Jackson Compressors so popular?

Following an earlier post about our new little spear and jackson oil free compressor, this blog has been hit with a continual stream of visitors google searching this exact topic.
Our new Spear and Jackson compressor
I think there is something about this unit that appeals to the compressed air new-comer. The plastic body has that look of low maintenance and user friendliness - the same hallmarks perhaps that would turn a veteran towards a more industrial looking machine.

In hindsight, the spear and jackson is still meeting expectations. It never boasted about having any sort of serious capacity but its great for small short bursts of air - cleaning down tools witha spray from the air wand, inflating tyres, driving a small brad nailer, it all works. As compressors tend to be, its still a pretty noisy thing when its running and I guess it never promised not to be.