Graphite stick, an under appreciated tool

[Ttrees]

Hello folks
Just making some blocks up for a drilling operation, and thought this is maybe
a more sensible use for a graphite stick, rather than what I normally use it for.
I use these all the time while making little blocks for jiggery and whatnot.
You can go bananas if you like using this and achieve a precision scraped pattern if you liked,
this is just rough work, and a good enough job as is.

Can't imagine these cost that much probably a quid, and last forever, I have two ends of this
which hasn't seemed to wear down in the few years of occasional working.
I wouldn't fell like recommending it if it were consumptive
(These are Faber Castell "Pitt graphite crayon 9B" and about 2 quid a pop)

Also great for jobs where a carpenters pencil might be too light.

I use various blocks of aluminium, aswell as the bench itself for transferring,
but some cast iron would be more efficient, as it doesn't wipe off the cast easily atall.
Real messy if you didn't know it were there.

I'll see if I can find one of these Faber Castell sticks online, as I'm not sure which hardness this is.

Here's some more applications where it's likely well over the top on most occasions, but might save someones bacon sometime.

Jammed against the far side of a mortise gives much better results like this

Rather than this, although it's still better than what you can see by eye.

Very slow to use on the opposite wall of the mortise, and I try and flip the work if I can anymore, although I suppose this is not the realms of normal practice,
as not many would plug a door mortise

Tom

 

[Ttrees]

One could even use the same methodology to make some timber straight edges
if someone had no bench, or had something less than desirable for planing on,
they could get two lengths very precise without ever using a hand plane before, compared to fighting with the tool and adjusting the cut too deeply.

On stock which is enough not to deflect too badly, it makes adjusting the cutting depth until its suitable a breeze, as it will never have one attempt to plane into a hollow,
and start off all those bad habits like adjusting the cut too deeply,
but yet still only achieving the same depth of cut! (in the wrong places, I might add)

Here is the same thing with some crayon, when I first started to attempt planing.

Makes it obvious to see how fine one could get things, the black or dark crayon is
even more obvious to see the high spots

Once you get two surfaces mated, mark them and make them parallel with something like a pencil gauge and repeat on the other beam, so you can flip the work around to make sure these two beams of timber haven't warped over time.
Then you can forget about the above... apart from knowing how deep of a cut a shallow setting on the plane can actually take,
and use your eyes instead.

With the help of a good long reach angle poise lamp, (can get something which might prove useful for a tenner in eikea called "terital")...
and maybe some tips from Cosman and Charlesworth, concerning honest accuracy and fool proof methodology.
Which granted might be a ways away from working on something like a workmate, compared to a bench which is more than a spoiled elevation for holding the work.

Just making note for folks who might be trying to emulate something on say youtube, but not yet realised that there is a lot of popular channels in which folks are clearly not giving you the full picture, or for worse reasons again.

No lamp evident and no checking is a recipe for error, but rarely a mention does a good lamp get, as it's often in the way of the "shot"
That being one sure way of setting you up for failure, while keeping some mystic lure of skill you can yet learn from the master.

If you don't have a good lamp, and making do with some overheads, then you simply cannot see these things!
Even for the skeptical, fairly evident for the likes of sawing, where one needs to see on a certain side of the saw.

Tom

 

[Ttrees]

Going back to transferring with graphite, not strictly for flat surfaces either.
Not having upgraded my belt and disc sander yet and turned it into an edge sander with ample table, my plate of aluminium and graphite made this easy to clean up the job for this tippy operation.
Even managed to make a lower spots on the disc with that attempt of a table,
as evident with the burning, which tells me a table for the belt would need to be a bit larger than the wee cast table on this sander.

Bill Carter's blunt chisel method would do the rest of the job down to the line.
To me transferring of graphite is a hand in hand methodology along with the above.
Pretty foolproof for lots of things.

 

[CoolNik]

One could even use the same methodology to make some timber straight edges
if someone had no bench, or had something less than desirable for planing on,
they could get two lengths very precise without ever using a hand plane before, compared to fighting with the tool and adjusting the cut too deeply.

On stock which is enough not to deflect too badly, it makes adjusting the cutting depth until its suitable a breeze, as it will never have one attempt to plane into a hollow,
and start off all those bad habits like adjusting the cut too deeply,
but yet still only achieving the same depth of cut! (in the wrong places, I might add)

Here is the same thing with some crayon, when I first started to attempt planing.

View attachment 130222

Makes it obvious to see how fine one could get things, the black or dark crayon is
even more obvious to see the high spots

Once you get two surfaces mated, mark them and make them parallel with something like a pencil gauge and repeat on the other beam, so you can flip the work around to make sure these two beams of timber haven't warped over time.
Then you can forget about the above... apart from knowing how deep of a cut a shallow setting on the plane can actually take,
and use your eyes instead.

With the help of a good long reach angle poise lamp, (can get something which might prove useful for a tenner in eikea called "terital")...
and maybe some tips from Cosman and Charlesworth, concerning honest accuracy and fool proof methodology.
Which granted might be a ways away from working on something like a workmate, compared to a bench which is more than a spoiled elevation for holding the work.

Just making note for folks who might be trying to emulate something on say youtube, but not yet realised that there is a lot of popular channels in which folks are clearly not giving you the full picture, or for worse reasons again.

No lamp evident and no checking is a recipe for error, but rarely a mention does a good lamp get, as it's often in the way of the "shot"
That being one sure way of setting you up for failure, while keeping some mystic lure of skill you can yet learn from the master.

If you don't have a good lamp, and making do with some overheads, then you simply cannot see these things!
Even for the skeptical, fairly evident for the likes of sawing, where one needs to see on a certain side of the saw.


View attachment 130223
View attachment 130225

Tom

Hi Tom, thanks for pointing out the necessity of a decent lamp that can be pointed at wherever the work point is. As a brand new woodworker wannabe, I am taking all my cues from YT and you are quite correct, the lamp never shows in the video!! Sometimes it’s the most obvious details to the experienced teacher, that are the least obvious to the student!! So, thanks for these posts, Robyn

 

[Ttrees]

Hi Tom, thanks for pointing out the necessity of a decent lamp that can be pointed at wherever the work point is. As a brand new woodworker wannabe, I am taking all my cues from YT and you are quite correct, the lamp never shows in the video!! Sometimes it’s the most obvious details to the experienced teacher, that are the least obvious to the student!! So, thanks for these posts, Robyn

Good luck finding one of these old ones though, which seem a bit larger than those territal versions, which might or might not be nice if one is very cramped and has to make do with a shorter bench.
They aren't the easiest thing to find, but could be worth searching for.
If those seemingly smaller possibly fit the bill, then might be worth experimenting should the shade not at least be 7.5"
I messed about making these before and found it to make a big difference compared to a smaller shade, so might be worth having a mess around with some white cardboard
if you have some.

There's not a better reasonably priced (i.e not dentist or whatever job) style lamp available compared to this "angle poise" or long reach/long arm/architects/retractable lamp and I've tried a few.
It is probably the single biggest factor in learning to do good practice,
Having the light on the work side of the saw or chisel, and not the waste makes it much easier to see whats happening.



Not seen but a single one of those territal lamps on the auzzie workbench forum, so it might not be as large as it may seem, but thankfully appears a whole lot larger than what can be found on the bay new for a tenner. ....
well the last time I looked anyway!

Good luck
tom