#christopher schwarz

[lookwhatibuilt]

Check out instagram user toddnebel's feed for a stellar example and walk through of his building of Christopher Schwarz's anarchist's toolbox.

[lookwhatibuilt]

Saw bench: I'm trying another one of Christopher Schwarz's designs, what he calls the $5.87 saw bench. It was more like $7-something for me, because the cleanest 2x6 I could find was 12' long, but still not too bad an investment. I forgot to document the process of cutting and cleaning up the notches in the legs, but lets just say it ended up prettier than it started.

[howmanybeansmakefive]

Although we do a lot of CNC routing and cut a lot of manufactured sheet material, there is always a place for more traditional working methods with some solid wood.  This bench, built from American Ash using the excellent work by Christopher Schwarz for guidance, is now ready for some action.  

[newcanuckworkshop]

Glued up, re-milled and cut. Working away on the first of two traditional sawbenches. (Mr. Schwarz has three iterations of the bench listed at the end) Finished up the 10° cuts at the top of the legs. Deciding whether to M&T the stretchers or nail them in place. Don't have any 6D cut nails so that might decide it unless I make an "emergency" run to the local Lee Valley. Oddly, the big boxes post pictures of cut masonry nails, but don't ever seem to stock them.

Original 2006 w/M&T

Simplified 2008 w/screws

Current 2010 w/nails

[jvandersande]

Reblog: Sharpening with Diamond Lapping Film

A great post on diamond lapping film... Categories:: Chisels • Chris Schwarz Blog • Woodworking Blogs | | Tags: Christopher Schwarz • Lee Valley • Sharpening Christopher Schwarz | Apr 04, 2012 | Comments 17 Add to favorites

Almost every system for sharpening tools works just fine, so the differences between the systems come down to speed, expense, portability and mess.

In December, Lee Valley Tools started carrying diamond lapping film for sharpening edge tools. I kind of ignored it as I was busting my hump building a Campaign Secretary under a tight deadline. But that project (and story) are now done. And after talking to some Lee Valley engineers about the stuff, I bought some lapping film during the Lee Valley free shipping promotion.

The Lee Valley engineers were blown away by the sheer speed of the abrasive. I was intrigued by the portability and low mess factor. The real question in my mind right now is the expense, but more on that later.

The diamond film is a monocrystalline abrasive embedded in a plastic-like film with a PSA backing – it’s peel-and-stick stuff. There are four grits in the set – 15 micron, 3 micron, .5 micron and .1 micron. Yes, point-one micron. The set is $22.50.

The 15 micron is for the primary bevel. The 3 micron is for the secondary bevel. The other two grits polish the secondary bevel.

I stuck the 3” x 6” sheets to small scraps of glass I bought from the hardware store ($2 total — always ask for scraps). The glass worked fine, but I really don’t want to travel with sheets of glass. If I travel with this stuff in the future, I’m going to stick it to Lexan, milled aluminum or scraps of solid surface material, such as Corian.

The difficult part of sticking down a film like this is that you sometimes get bubbles. And those bubbles could be weak spots where the material could tear. So be careful.

Lee Valley recommends using a light oil as a lubricant to carry away swarf. I used camellia oil, the same stuff I wipe my tools down with.

So how does it work? It does cut crazy, crazy fast. I can honestly say that it is the fastest-cutting system I have ever used, hands-down. When renewing the edge on a chisel or a block plane iron, I had to take only about six good swipes on each grit to remove the scratches from the previous grit. Impressive.

The polish from the diamond film is equally impressive. It gives you a wicked sharp edge with a high polish – and the polish will give you more durability.

The oil was a good recommendation, indeed. It made cleaning the film easy. And it coated the edge with oil when I was done sharpening – a good thing.

So what’s the trade-off? As with all sheet abrasives, it’s probably going to be the expense. I’ve sharpened 10 tools on the film and it’s holding up just fine. But who knows how many edges I’ll get out of this film before I have to buy a replacement sheet for $6.20.

And the bubbles trouble me. I got a bubble in the .1 micron film and tore it a tad. The stuff still works fine with the tear, but it does concern me.

The bottom line is that the stuff is amazing when new, but I do want to see how it will hold up in the long run for the way I sharpen. If it holds up, I think it could be an excellent portable sharpening system. So stay tuned. If you are interested in trying the stuff for yourself, you can get it here at Lee Valley.

— Christopher Schwarz

Want to learn to sharpen? Get Ron Hock’s excellent book “The Perfect Edge.” It’s written in plain English for woodworkers and includes a lot of straight talk on steel and abrasives. It’s an excellent part of a foundation library for anyone who uses hand tools.

Originally published on: http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-schwarz-blog/sharpening-with-diamond-lapping-film

[butchbyproduct]

This was my first experience with what I like to call "tool-shaped objects" - things that look for all the world like tools but don't really do the job required of them.

The Anarchist's Tool Chest by Christopher Schwarz

yeah... I was right. It's orgasmic

[newcanuckworkshop]

Hoping it is the end of good for the start of better.

[newcanuckworkshop]

They can’t put me out of business. Even if I had to let go of every single one of my employees, I’d still be there making planes until I died.

Thomas Lie-Nielsen via Lost Art Press