Necessity is the mother of invention... in the workshop!

[sammy.se]

Hi All,
Starting a thread for everyone to contribute.
The theme is simple: Given that tool and timber merchants are closing, we may not have access to the materials and tools we normally are accustomed to.
Therefore, what clever (or not so clever) workarounds, hacks, and inventions have you found yourself doing to get stuff done in your workshop?

E.g. it might be a simple jig, making a tool, inventing a new gizmo etc.

(PS - even if your shops are still open/delivering - you can still contribute)

(hammer) (hammer) (hammer)

 

[Woody2Shoes]

I'm not sure if this is what you're looking for, but I've found my disposable gloves (normally used for handling expoxy/PU glue) and my face masks (sanding etc. etc.) very useful for going to the local grocery shop.

 

[sammy.se]

I'm not sure if this is what you're looking for, but I've found my disposable gloves (normally used for handling expoxy/PU glue) and my face masks (sanding etc. etc.) very useful for going to the local grocery shop.

haha, why not. It's in the spirit of the thread, but just not in the workshop...

 

[MikeG.]

Tomorrow, the day after.........whenever.....I need to do some turning on some long curtain poles (1.7 and 2.4m long). I don't have a lathe. I can't go out. I will be doing some turning..........

 

[kevinlightfoot]

Now then I need six sheets of oak faced birch ply,bee n on order for two weeks and no sign of it,I am pretty good at working around problems but this one has me beat,, (homer)

 

[Trevanion]

I've started planting trees so I have a steady supply of timber for this crisis.

 

[That would work]

I'm in the middle of making a Shaker candle stand table. The top is olive ash, lovely but has got some pretty extreme turnip grain. I have managed to loose my scraper plane a while ago... I will NOT use a belt sander on a shaker table!!! Might have to coble one (hammer).

 

[MikeG.]

I'm in the middle of making a Shaker candle stand table. The top is olive ash, lovely but has got some pretty extreme turnip grain. I have managed to loose my scraper plane a while ago... I will NOT use a belt sander on a shaker table!!! Might have to coble one (hammer).

Oooooh..............oooh please.........let me say it first.

Cap iron!

There, I went and said it. And beat DW and TTrees to it, to boot.

 

[D_W]

if we're going minimalist here, I would've suggested a loose brick or concrete block.

I'm not familiar with turnip grain. We have wheat, corn and soybeans over here primarily, and our turnips are vegetables.

 

[That would work]

I'm in the middle of making a Shaker candle stand table. The top is olive ash, lovely but has got some pretty extreme turnip grain. I have managed to loose my scraper plane a while ago... I will NOT use a belt sander on a shaker table!!! Might have to coble one (hammer).

Oooooh..............oooh please.........let me say it first.

Cap iron!

There, I went and said it. And beat DW and TTrees to it, to boot.

Yes but..... set at 0.1 0.3 0.5mm?
AND which grit to sharpen on?
Should I purchase an iron made from a different steel ??? :wink:
......... should I publish my results?

 

[Bm101]

I've started planting trees so I have a steady supply of timber for this crisis.

My Mrs is like the plant lady. Botany degree . We have a few tree ferns. My mate was always after them but could never imagine investing money into his garden. Few years back . Look at this! He goes. Got these babies off the internet for less than a fiver! Have a garden full in a year or two. Beat that he says. Smug writ large on his big daft head.
He holds up a bag of tree fern spores.
Bud. They take ten years to grow a foot ya gonk.
Looked like a kid who'd dropped his icecream.

 

[Argus]

Well, I live in the very rural middle of Wales – retired back here about 11 years ago. Somebody calculated the exact geographical centre of the nation at a place called Cwmystwyth, which I can see through the window as I type, a couple of miles away.

What we don’t have here is the mere concept of a timber supplier. There’s plenty of plantation ‘Pudd’n Wood’ around here but I wouldn’t put that stuff on the fire. I used to get timber, good commercial OakAsh, Southern Pine etc. from a professional worker down in Penwych when he ordered in bulk from the Midlands but he’s retired now and given up completely.

All that spiel means that I hoard what I’ve got….. have done for 40 odd years. I brought a lorry-load of timber when I moved back to Wales. The furniture-shifters thought that I was nuts! Quartered-Oak, Beech, Cherry, Walnut (not much of that, unfortunately) and a stash of Yew that came down in the 'Big Blow of ’87' somewhere in Hampshire.

Now that I’m likely to be banged up for a few months with a field-full of sheep for neighbours next door, I’m looking at finishing a few old pieces that escaped the final polish.

There’s a Bow-Windsor-Smoker that I started about 20 years ago. I got evicted by builders at the time and it went in the wood-store. It has a solid Elm seat, scarfed bow and Yew legs and stretchers. Another unfinished relic is an Oak Mission-Style Rocker. All that needs is an arm rest and final gluing… There’s other stuff too.

Then I’ll get around to the Bucket-List…..

 

[AndyT]

Sounds good - I hope you have time to take some pictures as you go!

 

[woodbloke66]

The only thing I did was to order a gallon of TBIII from Ax on Sunday night, which arrived just before before 'lockdown' - Rob

 

[That would work]

Quick look on Amazon, found myself a replacement scraper plane... a 'Faithful' for £18.99. Arriving Friday... fingers crossed.

 

[MikeG.]

I said I needed to do some turning, but didn't have a lathe.........

Well, I made a lathe:

:lol:

It works beautifully for sanding, I'll say that. For chisel work in seasoned oak?.........Not so much.

 

[Trevanion]

HUMAN POWER!? What is the world coming to....

I would've definitely rigged something up off the arbour of that radial arm saw :lol:

 

[D_W]

I said I needed to do some turning, but didn't have a lathe.........

Well, I made a lathe:

:lol:

It works beautifully for sanding, I'll say that. For chisel work in seasoned oak?.........Not so much.

Tried a plane on it yet? What are the chances of making a fixture to prevent the wood from bowing if you are trying to carve something in it, and lastly, tools that are sharp like a bench chisel, but with a long gradual bevel like 18th and 19th century tools?

 

[Ttrees]

Looks like this video might prove useful if you have a few more to do.
Not that I've ever sought it out, but I've not seen a good demo on a spring pole before this recent Highland woodworker with Don Weber
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFzjp-4CSwE
A good watch none the less

 

[Nigel Burden]

I made one of those based on a design by Richard Maguire. It does work ok, but in a 6 foot by 8 foot shed, there's little room for a good length of cord, also the pedal, if that's what you call it, is too short due to the lack of space. As I've never turned anything before, and don't have proper chisels for the job, my efforts are a bit crude to say the least, but I have made a couple of chisel/file handles successfully though.

Nigel.