My apologies to Lee Valley/Veritas

I have loved every tool that I have ever purchased from Lee Valley. They make some of my favorite tools. Except for one.
I have hated on the dovetail saw and guide combo more than once.

The action shot, killing some cherry.

Hated.
Like, I said some mean s%&t about that tool. Until now. I think I finally realized that it is a very handy, useful, and well made tool.
If, like me, you don't spend a lot of time cutting dovetails, your hand sawing isn't always up to snuff. I have handsaws that are sharpened and tuned to perfection. I can make some damned good cuts. But I have this problem...when I cut a dovetail, I completely forget how to use a saw. This little saw guide really helps me out. I can make clean, accurate cuts now. In the past, the problem was me, not the saw.
So, if you're a part time-wannabe-hardly-practicing woodworker like me, and you want to improve your joinery a bit...this little thing works a charm.
Apologies, Lee Valley, from me...to you.

Baker's Bench Scraper

I have made a couple of Baker's Bench Scrapers. Otherwise known as a pastry scraper. A necessary and extremely useful tool in the kitchen.
I think I have nailed down the way I want to make them, and just need to speed up my process. My goal in the upcoming months is to make these for sale, amongst other items. My timeline is getting stretched a bit due to requirements at my day job, but I'll get there.

Top left is the run of the mill mass produced one that I bought at the store several years ago. Top right is my first scraper. It has walnut handles, cherry dowels, and an 18 ga blade. Bottom is the new one. A thinner 20 ga blade, bubinga handle, and Loveless handle fasteners.

Swingarm pivot, pt 3

Finished it. Here's the final steps.

Gotta make one of these.

Swingarm Pivot, pt 2

Sunday was a good day. I made a lot of progress on the swingarm pivot. It is nearly done:

Getting started on the nut. 1.5" hex stock. I need to bore this and machine a .800"-20 thread.

Racin' Parts: Swingarm pivot

A good friend of mine road races a 500cc Triumph. He's getting his bike ready for next season and asked me to help by making a new swingarm pivot.
It's an interesting project and not the easiest thing I've ever made. I got about half way through it today:

Here's the original pivot. It consists of a shaft, washer, nut, and adjuster quadrants. The shaft is hollow, with a .800"- 20 thread. That thread is far from standard. The quadrant on the left side is welded to the shaft.

Chopperin': oil tank mounts and axle adjusters

Little more bike progress today.

I wanted my axle adjusters to be more than just hex stock. I milled a little out to break 'em up and add a bit of visual appeal.

Woodworking: prepping some new chisels

I have a couple of small woodworking projects that I would like to work on. Indirectly, I have some stuff on the drafting board that will require a small amount of woodworking as well.
As we all know, I sold off most of my wood tools. Included in those sales were my Lie-Nielsen chisels. I have a few antiques and a few new Stanley's, but nothing compares to a Lie-Nielsen chisel.
I set off into the land of internet shopping and ordered a 1/2" & 1/4" chisel. As I expected, my new chisels are super nice and I'm all in love with them and stuff.
This morning, I wanted to take care of the prep work to get them ready for use.

Here goes:

Some time ago, I made a sharpening set up based on the Lie-Nielsen design available on their web site. I'm not going to get into the construction, as it is pretty basic. You'll get the idea as we go along. I made it so that I could clamp it onto my work bench using my surface vice and a dog.