A Fall & A Fix

The picture above shows a rustic bench I made many years ago. It is on the small deck outside the door to my house. It has been there through many winters and rain. It is a useful bench for occasionally sitting on, but more often for staging things that are going in and out of the house. 

A couple weeks back, a killing frost was in the forecast and I decided it was time to cut down my wife’s morning glory vines…

I stood on the bench to reach up and do some cutting, and one leg of the bench broke. I fell down. God blessed me in the fall because I fell onto the deck, not the other way, further down, into the little pond my wife created beside the deck. I wasn’t injured.

So the beach was useless with a broken leg and its usefulness was missed. I decided that if I made the bench then I could certainly repair it. So I cut down a dead ash tree in my backyard and selected out several appropriate sections of the tree for new bench legs.

I clamped one section in my bench vise and used an old draw shave to remove the bark and shape the tenon. A bench vise is not the ideal tool for draw-shaving, but it will suffice in a pinch. It tool about a half hour of work, and I had a new leg...

I cut a saw kerf in the tenon and drove a wedge in to secure the leg.

Yes, I plan to replace all the legs, but I don’t have time to do it now. When the time comes for that (next summer, perhaps) I will probably uncover my outdoor table saw and use the unique table saw tenoning technique that I developed (which you have never seen before) and show in This YouTube Video 

There is a lot of satisfaction to be had when repairing something, and I was reinded of that with this little project.

What's the last broken thing that you repaired?

Yeoman Furniture Part 3 (All Done)

Back in Trad-Man’s-Daily Article #30 I explained what Yeoman furniture is and provided a 15-photo overview of the simple Yeoman cabinet construction techniques. Then, in Article #31 I covered the construction of the cabinet door. In this essay I will show the finishing process…

I used this milk paint to finish the cabinet. The picture above shows the cabinet right after painting. The paint doesn’t usually go on real smooth and it dries to a dull, unattractive finish. But that is not a problem because the the dried paint gets sanded smooth, then coated with an oil finish.

The picture above shows how messy the sanding process can be. The black dust is like soot. It reminds me of when I used to clean chimneys back in the 1980s. Sanding is best done outdoors!

I stained over the sanded black with some MINWAX Sedona Red 222 stain. Once that was dry, I put on four coats of WATCO Danish oil wood finish (picture above). The oil finish is painted on, left for a few minutes, then wiped off. Thin layers remain. The finish provides a decent protective sheen. 

This next photo shows the turn-latch and handle. The handle is made from a section of dead-and-dry maple tree branch.

Here (next photo) is a close-up of the handle and turn-latch. As you can see, the cabinets a primitive production. That is typical Yeoman furniture.

So the cabinet is now done and I’m pleased with the finished project…

I am planning to make custom Yeoman matching bedside tables (a.k.a., nightstands) for in our new bedroom, and perhaps even lamps for them (I’ve wanted to make some lamps for years).  Time will tell if I manage to get those projects done. Before I end this article...

This next picture shows a Yeoman woodbox I made many years ago. It was sized to fit a specific section of wall in my house, and finished with milk paint. We changed our  house layout and firewood situation a couple years back. The woodbox went into storage. I ended up selling it. 

A Nice Little Automatic Battery Charger

I own an old-school battery charger, but I rarely ever use it. The small battery tender you see in the photo above is more convenient to use and has served my battery charging needs for many years.

The tool is made primarily to charge (and/or maintain a full charge) with smaller 12-volt batteries. But it will charge a car, truck, or tractor battery too… it just might take a whole lot longer with the bigger batteries.

It’s a no-brainer to use (I like that). Simply attach the alligator clamps to your battery and plug the tender into a power source. The indicator light will show red when charging and green when the charge is full. And that’s all there is to it! The tool has never failed me.

My Battery Tender Junior (Amazon link) is an older model. Newer versions have a slightly different appearance. Judging from the reviews at Amazon (5 stars), I’m not the only person who genuinely appreciates this little charger. It is the kind of tool that, if you get it before you really need it, you’ll be glad you did!

The tender currently sells for only $39.98. It’s a small price to pay for the service it provides.

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Important Note: Trad-Man’s Daily does not do paid tool reviews. I personally purchase, use, and evaluate tools reviewed on this site.

I Love Radial Arm Saws

There was a time in America, not so very long ago, when every well-equipped home and professional workshop had a radial arm saw. Before I converted my workshop into the international headquarters of Planet Whizbang I had a radial arm saw exactly like the one shown in the picture above. It's a craftsman 10 inch. Craftsman probably made 1 million of these, if not more.

The saw in the piucture was at a local antique store. You'll note that it was marked down from $75 to $25. I would be surprised if anyone bought it for the $25 price. You can't even give them away for nothing these days! It's a crying shame if you ask me.

My radial arm saw was the second most used stationary tool in the shop, after the table saw. It was a versatile tool. I used it mostly for simple cross cutting, but the large table allowed me to set up stops and jigs to make repeated angle cuts. And I used it often to make dado cuts. 

Yes, I realize all of those things can be done on a table saw with a crosscut sled. I’ve made YouTube videos showing my BIG old crosscut sled, which is an indispensable accessory. But there is one cutting operation that the radial arm saw is uniquely equipped for…

That picture shows the entrance to my home. If you are familiar with architectural details you will notice a dentil molding. Dentil is a decorative trim featuring a repeating row of small, tooth-shaped rectangular blocks separated by open spaces. Here is a closer look at the dentil molding…

I made that dentil molding very easily using my radial arm saw. There is no easier way to make it. Here is another dentil molding in my kitchen, also made with my radial arm saw…

The radial arm saw is now a relic of the past. It has been replaced by various iterations of the motorized “chop saw” which, is lighter and takes up less space. The chop saw (which started showing up in the early 1980s) also replaced the backsaw and miter box for interior trim cuts. When I started working in the building trades, we used the backsaw. I don’t miss that!

Someday, I would like to have another wood shop. If it happens, I will waste no time getting another radial arm saw… if they haven’t all been dumped off at the local scrap yard.

Do you (or did you) have a radial arm saw? 

How To Wash 8,000 Filthy Pennies

I was looking for tool treasures in the garage at an estate sale. I lifted a hardhat off the top of a pail and saw that it was half full of pennies. I paid $20 for the pail and it's contents.

When I got home I weighed the pail... 52.8 pounds!

How many pennies are there in a 50 pound container? That was the question I asked AI. The answer depends on what year the pennies were made. Pennies made before 1982 contain 95% pure copper, and weigh 3.11 grams each. But pennies minted after 1981 are 97.5% zinc, and weigh only 2.5 grams. A 50 pound container of mixed dates averages out to around 8,100 pennies. Well, I guess I got my money’s worth.

I bought the pennies to sort through. I've saved wheat-back pennies since I was a kid. In recent years I have started saving the pre-1982 pennies. It’s an investment no-brainer because a pre-’82 penny currently has over  4 cents worth of copper in it. There are people selling pre-’82 pennies by the pound on Ebay for nearly 5-cents each.

Mark my words, those one-cent coppers will be worth ten cents each someday. 

As I started sorting through some of the coins (and tossing the occasional cigarette butt in the trash) I realized they were unusually filthy. They were, in fact, disgustingly filthy!

So I headed to YouTube to find out how to clean pennies. The answer was there. All I needed was vinegar, salt, and water. An outdoor sink is also kind of nice too.

Instead of washing the whole lot of them at once, I decided to wash a 32 ounce plastic deli cup of the dirty money. Every large task is less intimidating, and easier, if you break it down into several smaller tasks.

Three pounds of pennies fill half a deli cup. AI informed me that there are approximately 500 pennies in 3 pounds.

I filled the cup with water to just cover the pennies. Then I poured in an inch of white vinegar. Then I added some generous shakes of salt. The pennies on the top almost immediately turned shiny (see photo above).

I put the lid on my penny washer and gave it 100 vigorous shakes. Here's what the cup looked like after 50 vigorous shakes...

After the full numberof washing shakes, I poured the dirty water off, added fresh water, and shook again (the rinse cycle). Then I dumped the contents into a little screened garden sifter I made (a veritable colander) and further  rinsed the pennies with a water spray from the faucet.

I then dumped the little copper gems onto a towel out in the sun to dry. The shiny surfaces oxidized away a little bit but the pennies cleaned up remarkably well! They are not all equally clean but they are all significantly cleaner. They are now respectable pennies! 

The dates are easier to read, and sorting through all of them will be a much more enjoyable winter project.

Do you save your pennies?

Make A Third-Hand Funnel Holder

The classic Trad-Man, with his tools and the brain God gave him, is a problem solver. He sees something that bothers him and he fixes it.

The fix may be as simple as placing a couple drops of oil on a noisy door hinge. Or the fix may require considerably more hands-on effort, coupled with imagination and creativity. That was the case with the third hand adjustable funnel holder you see in these pictures.

Here is the situation that led me to make the funnel holder…

I maintain a supply of gasoline that I keep in 20-liter military surplus Jerry Cans. I fill the cans at a gas station. Then I distribute from those larger cans, as needed, into several smaller, lighter, more convenient to use gas cans. Pouring from the larger Jerry cans into smaller containers was always a hassle. That problem (like most problems) was a creative opportunity.

I produced a YouTube video showing how the funnel holder is made, how well it works, and how easily the three pieces it consists of come apart for storage. This link will take you to the last 6 minutes of the video, which is where I cover the most pertinent details.

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P.S. — I purchased several of the NATO surplus Jerry cans back in 1998/99, as I was prepping for Y2k. I wanted enough gasoline to supply my small generator for a couple weeks. I've kept the cans filled ever since, and rotate through them for lawn mowing, snow blowing & etc. And they have supplied my generator when needed a few times over the years.

Garland Buffalo Rawhide Hammers

I paid two dollars at an estate sale for the old hammer pictured above (and below). I assumed it was made by a company that is no longer in business. But I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Garland Manufacturing in Saco Maine is still making non-marring rawhide faced hammers. They've been making them in Saco since 1899! Better yet, Garland is a sixth generation family owned and operated business.

It appears from their website that Garland has managed to not only survive but even thrive over the years because they diversified into UHMW plastic products in the 1950s. They have a modern 84,000 square foot manufacturing facility in Saco.

I'm sure that rawhide mallets must now be a relatively small part of their business. I mean, how much demand is there for  rawhide face mallets these days? Were Garland owned by a private equity company, those mallets would've been dropped years ago. So it is that the Garland family is to be commended for keeping their heirloom hammer business going! 

The hammers are top-shelf (and priced accordingly). Even if you have absolutely no need for a non-marring mallet I recommend that you check out the mallet selection on Garland’s website. They are beautiful tools.

My two dollar find is a solid-head hammer. New rawhide inserts are still available (Garland sells all replacement parts) but an arbor press is needed to get them installed.

The better option (in my opinion), and surely more popular, would be Garland's split head hammers. The split head design allows you to simply loosen a locking nut to remove the rawhide. Plastic and copper faces are available.

You can purchase Garland’s split-head hammers at Amazon (new solid-head hammers are hard to find). The model 31001 split head is their smallest size (1.5 pounds) and comparable to my solid-head 41001. The 31001 currently sells for $100. 

Klein Utility Shears

I bought a pair of Klein’s seven-inch long T2107 utility shears at Lowe's last year. They cost less than $20 and looked like a useful tool I should keep in my EDC (every day carry) tool bag. Turns out they were so useful that I bought another pair to hang on the wall over my tool bench!

The shears are a hybrid cross between scissors and metal snips. They'll cut thin materials from paper, to carpeting, to sheet metal, and can also serve as surprisingly nice garden pruning shears. The one material I found that they will not cut is a bubble mailer envelope!

The blades are stainless steel with a titanium coating. I wondered if the titanium thing was just marketing hype. It isn't. Titanium coatings for tool steel have been around for 60 years and have a track record for significantly extending the functional lifespan (3x to 5x) of cutting blades. 

The application that impressed me most was a length of aluminum carpet trim that I needed to cut to fit in a doorway. I didn't have a hacksaw so I grabbed the Klein shears. To my amazement they cut through the thick aluminum material, and the cutting action wasn't any worse for the experience.

Two of my sons own these shears and use them a lot. One son eventually broke a blade cutting through an auto wiring harness. But he didn't hesitate to buy another pair. For the second pair, he decided to get the Klein T2111 high leverage shears. He likes them better because of they really do provide higher leverage when cutting.

Bottom line: I like these shears and I think you’ll like them too.

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Important Note: Trad-Man’s Daily does not do paid tool reviews. I personally purchase, use, and evaluate tools reviewd on this site.