Ahhh hadn't considered ship building - that makes a lot of sense! I thought about timber framing on buildings - but why have a range of dowel sizes? Not that I know anything about timber framing!
And no, you can't have them for marlin spikes
Enormous Augers - and an unusual handle
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Ahhh hadn't considered ship building - that makes a lot of sense! I thought about timber framing on buildings - but why have a range of dowel sizes? Not that I know anything about timber framing!
And no, you can't have them for marlin spikes
Ahhh hadn't considered ship building - that makes a lot of sense! I thought about timber framing on buildings - but why have a range of dowel sizes? Not that I know anything about timber framing!
And no, you can't have them for marlin spikes
Timber framers do use more than one dowel size. Well, Ben Law does anyway. The size depends on the size of the joint. That said, the bigger sizes in your selection are much larger than anything I've seen used for framing.
Timber framing needs a lot of sizes indeed. Every chisel you use must have an auger of the same diameter. And then there is auger for wooden pegs also, they are the smallest ones. If that's a working augers it would make a great timber framers set combined them with a couple of plain chisels.
...well I hope they will be a working set when I have de-rusted, sharpened and re-finished them
I confess I know very little about timber framing (or ship building come to that)...but a man can learn
I confess I know very little about timber framing (or ship building come to that)...but a man can learn
...well I hope they will be a working set when I have de-rusted, sharpened and re-finished them
I confess I know very little about timber framing (or ship building come to that)...but a man can learn
...and it is fun doing so. There are quite a few timber framing courses around and they are great fun if you enjoy using tools.
What a wonderful set!
I'd wire-brush them first, myself. The really crucial thing is to make sure the cutting faces form the largest diameter. If any of the helical thread is larger, it will jamb in the hole.
I'd wire-brush them first, myself. The really crucial thing is to make sure the cutting faces form the largest diameter. If any of the helical thread is larger, it will jamb in the hole.
Just staggered in. Yeah definitely worth running the wire wheel over them first, except keep it way from the cutting edge and gimlet of course. The citric acid works best if the waters boiling to start. For long things like these I use a bit of tubing corked at one end but they are so wide you are looking at drain piping or doing them sideways on in a bit of guttering. Or scrape a small trench and peg a rubble sack or something like mini lined pond. I once tried to use a 2 litre pop bottle, the boiling water made it contract around the piece I'd forced into the cap end and once it was pickled I had to cut the damn thing off. Interesting and all alarming to watch at the time as as it shrank boiling water spewed out of th top...
After a couple of hours they will have pickled as much as they are going to. They should be shiny bright on being pulled out of the liquid but will , if they behave like some I've done, turn black/brown very quickly as the cleaned surface seem to be incredibly prone to rusting. In theory I've read you could leave it as a finish but it sticks in my craw so I give mine a light run over with the wire brush which seems to remove this super easily corroded layer of molecules.
Some I've seen are painted down to all most were the helix starts, some have been all blackened chemically and som bright metal from new. It's what ever floats your boat the helix is usually polished
Best thing to do now is try it on some scrap wood as I've got to this stage and the thing, under the rust, has been as sharp as when the last user prepared it for the next job and put it away.
If its not sharp then it's pretty much what you said you'd do, a bit of filing. Would those small stones I sent be of a size to put a final edge on?.
Since they are all two foot long I'd guess they were for ship building, for the big copper bolts and treenails. Even a small ship would need surprisingly long holes in it! The 40s are quite haphazardly stamped on so probably applied at a yard where they would be a set owned by the firm rather than a workers personal property. They belong to a age when you'd have your name stamped on your own stuff. I keep threatening to have a stamp made up for mine but am too cheap!
Very good point about keeping the cutting end wider than the rest of the helix. I don't touch them if the working ends more rusted than the rest as that will be eaten away by the citric acid and you'd have to grind the rest down.
ATB
Tom
After a couple of hours they will have pickled as much as they are going to. They should be shiny bright on being pulled out of the liquid but will , if they behave like some I've done, turn black/brown very quickly as the cleaned surface seem to be incredibly prone to rusting. In theory I've read you could leave it as a finish but it sticks in my craw so I give mine a light run over with the wire brush which seems to remove this super easily corroded layer of molecules.
Some I've seen are painted down to all most were the helix starts, some have been all blackened chemically and som bright metal from new. It's what ever floats your boat the helix is usually polished
Best thing to do now is try it on some scrap wood as I've got to this stage and the thing, under the rust, has been as sharp as when the last user prepared it for the next job and put it away.
If its not sharp then it's pretty much what you said you'd do, a bit of filing. Would those small stones I sent be of a size to put a final edge on?.
Since they are all two foot long I'd guess they were for ship building, for the big copper bolts and treenails. Even a small ship would need surprisingly long holes in it! The 40s are quite haphazardly stamped on so probably applied at a yard where they would be a set owned by the firm rather than a workers personal property. They belong to a age when you'd have your name stamped on your own stuff. I keep threatening to have a stamp made up for mine but am too cheap!
Very good point about keeping the cutting end wider than the rest of the helix. I don't touch them if the working ends more rusted than the rest as that will be eaten away by the citric acid and you'd have to grind the rest down.
ATB
Tom
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Nah, the library here lets you have 20 books out at a time and you can guess the weighty tomes I have them digging out of the reserve collection. Stuff that never gets Kindled. Possibly used as kindling but not scanned in...
ATB
Tom
ATB
Tom
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