Change in focus? Flour and horsepower?

You might notice, in the time to come, that the focus here at the Monastery is going to change a bit. Let's face it, on my list of priorities, woodworking is third. In front of it are bikes and baking, my other two interests. None of these three hobbies are cheap, by any stretch of the imagination. They are all very time consuming as well. As such, most of my resources go to the first two.
I only have a couple woodworking projects on the slate, maybe two or three.
Baking? Well...I bake something at least once a week. Boredom with the ordinary has driven me into more advanced stuff. Cheesecakes are easy-peasy. Pastries are the hard stuff.
Bikes? LOML is a 67 Triumph chopper. Been with that machine for several years now. She's getting a new engine as we speak. I also have a new (to me) Aprilia RSVR 1000 Factory (135 horsepower, say it with me...). I plan to spend a lot of time with both.
Machine tools have become part of my interest in bikes. I first got into machining in high school. Mills and lathes come in handy for building custom bikes. I've renewed my interest there.
Woodworking has to take a back seat. That's not to say that I'm selling my tools, far from it. You're just not going to see as much of it going on.

Anywho, here's to flour and horsepower!

Glue sniffing horsepower freakazoids...

Are you into horsepower? Sniffing glue? Mayhem? Vans? General kookiness? If you are, then you need to check out my good friend and shopmate at  The House of Heavy Horsepower. See the link to your right. If you are not into any of the above, well...um...ignore everything I just said.

New Lathe

Picked up a new machine yesterday. A South Bend lathe. Case of beer for payment, can't beat that, even for a basket case. Pre-1947 Going to see how deep of a restoration I can do. More to come...

Geez, it's a box...shut up

How much can a guy go on about a simple box? Well, it's winter in Wisconsin, and I don't have a life. So there.
Anywho...since I shot my mouth off about sharpening, here's a big, fat, glaring error to look at so that we all know that this beginner doesn't think he's an expert just because he has the internet at his fingertips...

I glued the shelf in backward. There's a tiny bevel that was meant to be on the backside. I spose that's what I get for doing it at 4:30 a.m. before I have my coffee. Just because I'm a morning person doesn't mean I don't need my coffee.

Sharpening rant

I just want to rant about sharpening for a minute. When I first started out in this hobby (which is about 3 years ago, so you could say I'm still in the beginner's stage), one of the first lessons I learned was the false economy of the so-called "scary sharp" method of sharpening.
(the reason for this rant is a comment someone made about having the "right" tools to do the job, and told the other person to buy more sandpaper...c'mon)
The idea is that you stick sand paper down to a flat surface, say granite or plate glass, and go through progressive grits of paper to get your edge. It sounds good, in fact it sounds great. Some woodworking stores even sell kits to get you started. Ironically, the store that markets that kit hardly caters to hand tool workers. (I won't name them, but their initials are R.O.C.K.L.E.R., a place I now refuse to shop at because of the arrogant staff that look down on beginners and anyone that isn't dropping $5k on the latest laser guided nuclear powered chop saw, seriously it's an effin' chop saw)

Oak box IV (that's 4, right?)

Well, since my cedar for the back of my box came in sooner than expected, I was able to get some more done. As of right now, the box is glued up on my bench. Only finishing the shelf remains. Let's have a look at what has been done since the last time...

The three pieces for the back cut to length. I cut them just slightly oversize, but close enough so that a few swipes on the shooting board would make 'em fit.

Veritas beading tool

Before I sound like an advertisement, this isn't a review. Just a look at filing a cutter for the Veritas Beading Tool. I just got this tool a couple of weeks ago in my box-o-goodies. I want to use it on the back panel of the oak box that I am making to add a little something. While I'm waiting on the glue to dry for the panel, I thought I would document filing a cutter.
The beading tool comes with a single point cutter and 5 blanks. If you file each end of all 6 cutters, that gives you 12 different bead profiles. I pulled out a blank, and opted for a two point cutter. Here goes...

The beading tool, with a blank acting as a place holder.