A Few Neat Tricks

 I found this the other day on the Internet.  Not the empty potato chip container, a thread on how to sharpen rasps and files.  I use these a lot when I carve the knuckles on my chairs and over time they get dull.  I suspect they actually get clogged with shavings, but cleaning them is next to impossible.   I found this about using battery acid for 5 to 10 minutes and being very careful, all that.  But then I found one that said you could use vinegar overnight and it would do the same thing, and was a lot less risky.  So I filled a container with vinegar, left overnight, and it really did make a difference.

Here you can see the bubbles as the wood jammed into the crevices is eaten away.  This is actually a regular double cut file.  These files are pretty easy to clean with a card file, a small stiff brush.  This file was really dull, so it was a good test for this.

 I cleaned the file and rasps the next day with a stiff brush and baking soda, which neutralizes the acid and provides a bit of grit to clean the file or rasp.  Then I dried them with a heat gun and checked them to see if it made any difference.  With the rasps, they felt sharper but it's hard to tell if they are truly sharper or if they are just cleaner.  Either way they cut better, but I have a hunch that they are sharper, that the acid eats away the dull edge and leave a sharper edge.  But on the file, which was free of debris going in, it really is sharper.  It cuts better and faster, so I guess the process works.


 Here are a couple shots of the files and rasps I use to carve knuckles.  Nicholson #49 and #50, and a cheap one I think from Lee Valley, which actually works really well.  And the file I finish the surfaces with.  I do wish I could carve better, but until that day comes, I use rasps and files. 

 You can see here they are cleaner.  I was gonna order new rasps, that's how slowly these were cutting, but a simple ( and cheap ) fix and they are good as new.  Saves money and resources, which is also good.  One thing I do want to note is when you buy a file, try to find one with a safe edge (no cutting teeth on the edges), that way you can finish right up to an adjacent surface without marring it.  You can see that the rasp below does not have safe edges.

This is where this all leads.  Some people are better at carving and don't have to use rasps and files and I envy they're ability.  But these tools get me where I want to go, so I will continue.  I also think that some look down their noses at this technique, which is fine.  More power to them. 

   





  

And in the spirit of recycling, here are a couple pics of a small piece trimmed off a leg I was turning.  I split the pieces from a dead green log, split and then turn the rough pieces in to 2 1/4" rounds, then I let them dry for a few days and then turn them.  Anyway, one problem is end checking.  Usually this isn't a big deal, but by painting the ends with old shellac, the ends don't check at all.  Anchorseal works great too, but then I gotta order it, and pay for shipping   The shellac I had laying around anyway, so again, I save money and resources.  And the shellac works great.  I get the shellac based primer, Zinser.  Plus, when you get Anchorseal on a smooth concrete floor, it's a whole different kind of slippery.  So with shellac you avoid the whole clean up mess.  And, because it's alcohol based,  it won't freeze so I can use it most of the winter.

Below you can see the untreated end and the treated end after a few days in the furnace room, so you can see it really does work.  Wood dries quickest out the ends, which cause stress as the rest of the piece dries, and the result is end checks.  That's one reason why you never check moisture content on the ends of boards.

Unpainted

Painted

 Last trick---take a piece of sandpaper about 4" by 4".  Rip a slot in the center and fold one piece down

Fold that half, now a quarter sheet, over the other half.  Then fold the top single sheet over...

The trick here is that at no point does the sandpaper rub on sandpaper, see below.  It also makes the piece easier to hold and use.   I picked this up from an old painter who worked off and on for my family when I was growing up.