Couple more saws got finished up. One needed new teeth. Both are ready to go. I prefer that the handles get shipped too so I can test cut, but I made do.

Shopsmith 10er pieces got another coat of paint. They are drying while I finished the 2nd saw.

I’m taking my time, taking apart every piece, every screw so far. For the most part, cast iron is getting a nice thick brushed on layer and the thin steel or aluminum pieces are getting spray canned. Pieces are coming along nicely.

The old 2x8s were warped, and since I want drawers i decided to go witha solid piece. So I ripped some 2x6s and glued them together. Bench is assembled and looking good.

More hand saws have gotten sharpened but in-between those, my main focus has been my 1952 shopsmith 10er. Two years ago I picked it up and its been on my list to repaint ever since.

I use it constantly with the 12 inch sanding disc and before I got my stand alone drill press it was mounted upright for a good while. Now I’d like to get it all cleaned up and repaint it.

I’ve started collecting various shopsmith 10er accessories and I think I’ve slept on a couple functions. This is a stout machine and with the speed changer’s variable speeds it can get, should make it a great lathe. I say that because I’ve seen a lot of people make great things with theirs online, but…. I still need to learn how to turn!

There is also the horizontal boring capability. I read somewhere once that with the adjustable height table and the support for long pieces, shopsmiths are popular in cabinet shops. I personally haven’t visited any cabinet shops but who knows. I’m sure if they do its probably newer ones though. There are a lot more 500s for example out there.

And I’ve also gotten it in my head that I want to see how well the table saw works on this old tool. Cleaned up, adjusted, and aligned, I think it’ll be great. I have my unisaw, but I’m curious lol.

I’ve had a couple 500s, and I learned how to use a table saw on a shopsmith 520 but I sold it when I got the unisaw. I have to admit, I miss the bandsaw and I want the 6×48 sander. I recently got SPT adapters and will keep an eye out for those again.

This older shopsmith has a certain classic old iron charm that I love and I’m happy I have it. Once I’m done cleaning it up I plan to mess around with a couple accessories. I want to use my mill and lathe to see how much effort it would be to make speed changer parts and SPT adapters. Maybe parts like these can help pay for tooling like sharpening saws has helped me pay for woodworking tools.

Couple pictures before and during new paint. I’ll post again when I’m done.

My son gets excited when a box is at the door. And everything its another saw for me to sharpen he gets all bummed out because its not something he can play with, mess with, or put together. Saws come and go pretty consistently and I use the money I make to buy myself other stuff garage related. My son was very happy to use his little toolbox and help me put on a new belt on my jointer. And he also “helped” he put on a new safety switch on it while I was at it. These things were fun for him, but saws are not fun yet haha.

What he does like is helping me box up, label and carry the saws to the shipping place by our school. At this age its a constant I can hold it, I’m strong, I got it. Saws might not be “fun” yet but he’s still a great Helper.

Two new saws I’m working on have very small teeth. 20tpi is a real pain. Marking fluid and a magnifying glass are not only helpful but required. I took these on because its a maintenance sharpening, no setting needed yet. Setting such tiny teeth is the real challenge. One I avoid if possible. I’d rather not file down and modify a setter if I hardly ever see these saws. This 20tpi I think it’s the 2nd one I’ve come across.

Finally got around to doing something that’s been on my list for awhile. When I first did my bench top I admittedly didn’t do the best job. I had some high and low spots and depending on where I put a board, it would wobble. I kept saying I’ll redo it but I never really got around to it. Using the bench top to clean up tools and make saws didn’t require a flatter top and I haven’t done hardly any real woodwork. But I’m not a stay at home dad anymore, extra money I’ve made rom saws isn’t going to bills anymore. I’ve slowly bought back a lot of my hand tools I’ve sold and bought a couple cool toys for myself. Like the mill and the Burr Saw Filer and retoother.

I kept too busy making money with saws and tool flipping to upgrade garage and help with bills that I never got around to using the workbench for hand tool woodwork. Well that changes now, I’ve moved it away from the wall, and put the tablesaw on casters. Originally the bench was away from the wall but as I bought a few things I moved it. Tablesaw made its way in the middle of the garage and a second one filled in the space beside it. I wasn’t sure if I needed a fence system that could handle a 4×8 sheet but I told myself I’d use the table saw as is for awhile before making the decision to cut the rails shorter.

I’ve now decided making cuts like that will not be in my regular woodwork. I’ve cut the rails and put the table saw on retractable wheels. I don’t use it all that often and want to use handtools more anyway. Plus, I kept piling stuff on it and using it as a workbench! Its now against the wall and I’ll pull it out as I need it.

The 2nd tablesaw won’t fit next to the 1st one now that I’ve cut the rails. I was about to sell it when I thought, I have a great use for it. Now that the workbench is in the middle of the shop and I can go all around it, I wanted the Burr Saw Filer off of it. I was going to make a cabinet for it and sell the 2nd tablesaw, but why go through the trouble? It fits great on the tsblesaw and looks cool haha.

Garage is still a mess but its coming together.

I mentioned catching up on personal projects and one project I’ve decided to tackle is to make a violin from scratch. I have zero experience but I have enough scrap lumber. Initially I started looking into building a guitar, had that project on the back burner for a while. Once I started looking into it and looking through what lumber I already had, I decided I could either glue up small pieces, buy new lumber, or build something smaller. I decided on the violin. I’ve always liked the violin and after I recently saw a guy do a challenge in a local woodworking club build one from a piece of 2x material from the big box store, I’ve had the idea in my head.

This was an excuse to buy a few oddball tools too lol. I have the material to start the mould, and I’ve planed, resawn and will soon glue up what I think is some mahogany for the back.

I’m very fortunate in that I can say my shop work pays for my shop stuff. I’m not making a living making and or sharpening saws, and that’s not the goal, but it does sustain me when it comes to buying tools and materials. Sure, I occasionally use money from our incomes for some things, but most everything shop related, especially the the more expensive purchases, are paid for mostly from saw work.

I sometimes flip tools, but lately I haven’t really felt the need to constantly search and slowly upgrade what I have and sell the old that I’ve cleaned up. Which is saying something, because I spent most of three years constantly chasing slightly better tools and buying and selling the old. I was determined to let shop stuff pay for shop stuff, it meant having to be patient but its pretty rewarding. Sometimes you meet just the right people too. Went for a router, came home with a $200 8 inch powermatic jointer for example. All there, nothing wrong with it. The guy loved delta, bought an auction lot, sold off non delta cheap just to get rid of it.

And, it definitely helps if you are willing and able to take on projects. Things like bearings are cheap and if you can take apart electric motors…. well that just opens up opportunities. Before I was a teacher, I was a mechanic and after taking apart and rebuilding personal car projects including body work, painting, engine, electrical, ect… tools aren’t so bad.

But to start to even buy tools I needed a way to fund the searches. Saws have been a constant, and I think even as I jump from project to project, saw sharpening will always be in the shop.

I thought it was funny today how I have this Burr mfg saw filer and I slid the filer part off to the side and used the vise to hand sharpen the saws I worked on today. The filer is still new to me and takes a little practice to get used to. I decided not to practice on small teeth yet and especially not customers saws lol. The vise itself is pretty great though. The second vise from the other filer is set on a stand for now just because I like it and I’m not ready to put it up.

I really like these little saws. I’m taking a small break from making saws to catch up on some personal projects but when asked for one of these I decided to go ahead. I really think more woodworkers should give this saw a chance. I’ve compared it to the no 5 jack plane. It’s not a specialty plane, smoother or jointer for example but its a great all around plane to have. I feel this saw falls in that category. Cutting down lumber or doing some joinery, and you don’t have to keep grabbing or carrying various saws. Just something to think about.

Yesterday I found another saw filer, a Foley f61. And this one had an original foley stand! I’ve never come across one before and I’m glad I got to it before the owner decided to trash the filer and use the stand for a grinder or something. The top is shaped for the filer base and the original pieces to hold bandsaw filing attachments ate still in place. I won’t be sharpening any bandsaw blades but I’m very happy to get this filer. This one came out after the f16 and before the 200 and 387s.