SPLINTERS

Issue .3 March 10,1986

 

FEBRUARY MEETING. LOTS OF IDEAS!

 

Phil Bishop brought in another great speaker for our February meeting. For the few of our members who missed Lloyd Long’s hints on sharpening, you really missed some good ideas. Lloyd demonstrated the jig he designed and built for circular saw sharpening and spoke of the type of file and the techniques used to get a new edge on a saw, one which will last. A former shop instructor at Franklin County High School, Lloyd has some unusual points of view based on his years of experience: buy three or more rip and general purpose blades. With more than one blade you can have one in the shop, one in the saw, and one ready when the saw mounted blade dulls. How about lacquer thinner to remove the pitch from your blades? It is Lloyd’s opinion that many blades are sent for sharpening when only a good scrubbing with a cleaning solvent is necessary.

Ever true up a saw blade? Lloyd showed the whetstone method of “rounding up” slightly out of round blades (not something I’d like to rush into!). After lowering the table saw below the level of the top and getting on safety glasses, a whetstone is held over the saw opening, the saw turned on, and the blade slowly raised. Lloyd claims it will work!!!

Thanks again Lloyd, we all enjoyed it.

 

CLOSE UP

 

Our Vice President and Program Chairman, Phil Bishop is in the spotlight this month. Phil is a true native. Born and raised in Winchester, he and his wife Shirley and their children Kimberly, Julie, and Wesley (also a club member) live on Holders Cove Road. Phil is a truly talented man who works full time with his dad and brother at Bishop’s Body Shop (only 12 to 15 hours a day) and spends the rest of his free time pursuing his woodworking hobby! In the club we all know him as Phil the craftsman, operator of Country Woodcraft, master of the woodshop, and the local kiln dried wood distributor and resident expert on the effects of improper wood curing.

Phil ‘s interest in wood drying came about as a way to get the hardwood he wanted, when he wanted it, and in the quantity he needed. His true woodworking interest is in furniture (although we’ve never seen a project he’s undertaken that hasn’t reeked of craftsmanship). Phil found it difficult to find just the right piece of wood for a project without driving all over the county and then buying at least a cord of it at a time! Along with his dad and brother he worked with the Dept. of Energy and UT to construct the solar kiln. That was about ten years ago and the Bishops have run many board feet of fine lumber through the kiln with consistently good success. Not content with mastering wood crafting, Phil has built “a couple” of houses, dabbled in remodeling, and run a sawmill! In his latest venture Phil has taken an active interest in getting our club off to a good start. His imaginative programs and interesting speakers add zest to the meetings. Thanks Phil.

 

A TYRO’S SANDPAPER LAMENT

 

I feel that some of my woodworking discoveries and new experiences are old hat to most of you. But that is the price a tyro must pay when he plays with the big kids. So, at the risk of everyone saying “you mean he didn’t know that!”, here I go.

I’ve known what sandpaper is since I was a child. My father had new and used bits of sandpaper ever since I can remember. As a child, sandpaper was a very simple matter. If it was gritty and made scratches on the furniture it was sandpaper. Later, during early adolescence, words like “emery cloth” started popping up. As I got older and more observant, sandpaper really got complicated when terms like “flint” and “garnet” began to cloud the subject. 

Even when I got interested in woodworking as a high school student I really didn’t pay much attention to sandpaper. Looking at projects I built as a high school woodworker , I think I didn’t pay any attention to sandpaper!

My first “very own” sandpaper came with a package deal I received for selling “Cloverine Salve”. I got a drill and all sorts of attachments for turning the drill into a table saw, sander, etc. (sort of a poor man’s Shopsmith). I remember that the sandpaper came in small square sheets and round discs. I also remember that the gritty stuff rubbed right off with its first taste of wood.

My next experience with sandpaper came when I purchased it at the local hardware store. These were much larger sheets and lasted much longer (in comparison with my package deal sandpaper). I was blissfully pleased with my new sandpaper discovery which I know now as Garnet Paper.

I used Garnet paper for many years. One of my problems was (is) that I never know for sure when to throw used sandpaper away. I know that someday I might need these used bits and pieces for something. I may have picked that up from my father.

When I recently got serious about woodworking, and started associating with serious woodworkers, I got the feeling that there was a sandpaper out there somewhere that was a little better than Garnet. I started asking around; even found a pamphlet called “coated abrasives products and applications” (for we tyros, coated abrasives are still sandpaper).

I now know that the “coated abrasive” recommended for wood has the technical name ‘‘aluminum oxide woodworking.” Several manufacturers offer it under their own brand. Norton calls it “ADALOX,” 3M calls it “PRODUCTION,” and Carborundum refers to it as ‘ALOXITE-ALO.”

 

In my search for a better sandpaper, I also found out about mineral grading, open coat, closed coat, bond, backing,

paper weight, etc., but that’s another story.

 

A Fellow Woodworker

TYRO— A beginner in learning anything.

 

JACK’S CLOCK SHOW

 

Word got around that our own Jack Townsend was going to be on TV! We tuned in to channel 6’s Tennessee Outdoorsman Show and anxiously tried to pick out Jack. Instead of Jack in the flesh, it was Jack’s clocks that made it on the tube! Sneaky guy that Jack: How many of himself could he have sold if he appeared on the show? Free color advertising, softie great shots of great Tennessee clocks, and more than a couple of compliments from the show’s hosts for the gifts from Jack. Nice job Jack.

 

NEXT MEETING

 

Tie a string on your finger, write it on the palm of your hand, tell your spouse — our meeting is next week! That time again and Phil has a video on an interesting aspect of woodworking lined up.  In addition, how about bringing any new woodworking—related purchases or recently finished projects to the meeting. We all want to see what’s going on in the club. Before I get carried away, the meeting particulars:

Where:         DREMEC meeting room

When:          Tuesday night, 7:00 PM

 

MEMBERSHIP

 

The club continues to grow but there is still room for a lot more members. We must have a good thing going, look at all the members we have and we’re only a few months old! Bring a friend to a meeting, even if they don’t decide to join we’ll at least give them the chance to see what we’re doing.

The membership list attached is current as of the beginning of the March meeting. Please don’t let me list your name, address or phone number incorrectly, let me know of any corrections -- the computer only puts out what I put into it! See you next week.

 

BASKIN         TOM               RT       3 BOX 166                              WINCHESTER           TN       37398
BISHOP          PHIL                RT       3 HOLDERS COVE RD         WINCHESTER           TN       37398
BISHOP          RICK               RT       3  KEITH COVE ROAD         WINCHESTER           TN       37398
BISHOP          WESLEY         RT       3 HOLDERSCOVE RD          WINCHESTER           TN       37398
CHATTEN      MERRELL                                                                   EST ILL SPRINGS     TN       37330
CHURCH        SUSAN           RT       2 BOX 62                                BELVIDERE               TN       37306
CHURCH        TOM               RT       2 BOX 62                                BELVIDERE              TN       37306

CLAYTON     MAYFORD     RT       3                                              WINCHESTER           TN       37398

COULSON     HOWARD                   BOX 127                                 COWAN                     TN       37316

COWAN         TOM   RI 3                 BOX183                                  WINCHESTER           TN       37398

DAVIS            HENRY           RT       1 BOX 413                              ESTILL SPRINGS      TN       37330

EUBANK        BILL                P0        BOX 206                                 ESTILL SPRINGS      TN       37330

GIPSON          ONEAL           RR       1 BOX 7AA                            COWAN                     TN       37316

HOLMES        MIKE              RT       1 BOX 275E                            WINCHESTER           TN       37398

KNIGHT         BILL                RT       3 BOX 191                              WINCHESTER           TN       37398

LEE                 RANDY          P0        BOX 36                                   NORMANDY             TN       37360

MORRIS         DAVID            RT #9                                                  WINCHESTER           IN        37398

PAWLICK      JOE                 RT 3    BOX 413                                 ESTILL SPRINGS      TN       37330

PENN  TERRY                        RT3     B0X416                                   ESTILL SPRINGS      TN       37330

TOWNSEND  JACK              212 SCHWARTZ ST                          ESTILL SPRINGS      TN       37330

WARMBROD BILL                RT 2                                                    WINCHESTER           TN       37398