Gratitude

Another year has come and gone, punctuated by another birthday.  One of the many highlights of the day was the gifts that I received from my loved ones. One that made me laugh was a fantastic t-shirt from my wife and children.

Am I really that bad?

I was also fortunate enough to receive some gifts for the workshop.

New additions to my sharpening kit.

As I have evolved into more of a hand tool woodworker, I have begun to realize the limitations of my former sharpening kit.  I had smaller soft and hard Arkansas stones in a smaller size.  The stones were fantastic for learning the basic processes involved in sharpening and the size of the stones were no hindrance when it came to sharpening chisels.  Having progressed to planes, I began to see some limitations.  Enter this gift.  Each of these stones measures 3x10.  Also, I have added the Black Arkansas stone for a much nicer polishing.  The Veritas MK II jig is also a useful addition, making it easier for me to create repeatable bevels on the wider plane blades.  The very next day I spent a couple hours finishing the restoration of my Stanley 4 by honing the blade and putting it to work.  After some fine tuning, I was very pleased with the results.  More on that in another post.

Continuing Education

Thanks to the sale at Popular Woodworking, I also added some new DVD's to my collection.  The next frontier for me will be saw sharpening and maintenance.  Hopefully these will be a good start.

And of course, my little gift to myself, the vintage Stanley 246 I mentioned last week.

A gift to myself.

I was able to download a great deal of original information from the web and have begun the dis-assembly and cleaning process.

The first of the parts being treated.

After the bath, more work to do.

Hopefully the weekend, will bring enough shop time to continue the process and make a major dent in the work remaining on this project.  And maybe even a little time to start viewing the new DVD's to gear up for working on the mating saw.  We shall see.

Finally, a heartfelt thank you to my wife, children, and parents.  I am truly blessed to have each of you in my life.  I hope to spend many more birthdays with all of you.

Today in (Mostly American) History

1777 The Stars and Stripes is flown

1783 Treaty of Paris ends the American Revolutionary War and establishes the United States of          America

1861 Confederate forces march into Kentucky

1919 Woodrow Wilson begins a tour in support of the League of Nations

1943 Allied invasion of Italy begins