Stories of family, creativity, and diverse distractions.

Tag: shop projects Page 2 of 4

Posts about things done in the shop – metal, plastic, wood, etc.

A Real Life Hack: Getting the Most from Hacksaws

Does your arm hurt when you even think about cutting steel with a hacksaw? Mine used to hurt too. But I learned a few things about how to use hacksaws, and it made a huge difference. Today you can learn some hints too. Your arm will thank you!

File This One Under Tool Talk: The File

Even though I have some fancy power tools for shaping metal, I still reach for files every time I’m in the shop. As I mentioned in the shop tour, I have quite a large collection of files, in many shapes and sizes. Today I want to talk about them.

Let’s Test How Square My Square Really Is

I may be getting old, but I still don’t believe it’s hip to be square. Nevertheless, I expect my carpenter’s square to be at least as square as Pat Boone. But how do you test a square to find out?

Is Your Level Really Level?

Let me level with you: a lot of levels at the stores aren’t actually level. If you use such a tool to hang a picture or mount a shelf to the wall, you’re not going to like the result. Today I’m going to show you how to test a level before you buy it.

Hammer Time With The King of Tools!

Shop textbooks call hammers “the king of tools”. Maybe that’s because the first human tool use probably involved smacking something with a rock. Or maybe it was because blacksmiths used to make all the tools, and they mostly used a hammer to do it. But either way, today we’re going to have a look at hammers.

Collapsing Stock For a Custom Crosman 1322 – Part 3

In my first and second posts on the subject, I only really discussed the metal parts of the collapsing stock for my custom Crosman 1322. Those are important, of course, but we’ve left out the part that actually touches the shooter – the shoulder pad. I chose to 3D print it, so I would have a lot of design flexibility. That worked, but I made some mistakes along the way. I learned a lot, and maybe you can learn something too!

Collapsing Stock for a Custom Crosman 1322 – Part 2

In my last post I detailed the design process for a collapsing stock for my custom Crosman 1322. Now that I had a design, it was time to start making!

Collapsing Stock For A Custom Crosman 1322 – Part 1

In a previous post I wrote about modifying a Crosman 1322 air pistol into a rifle. I did that project for someone else, but I have a Crosman 1322 too. I wanted to make my own custom rifle. Mine would be a little different, though. I wanted something very compact, that would easily fit into a small backpack and quickly deploy into a rifle capable of hunting small game.

Restoring a Gerstner Tool Chest: Part Two

In part one of this set, I discussed how I acquired my Gerstner tool chest and the how I started the restoration process. I carefully taped over the hardware I couldn’t remove and cleaned the chest with Murphy’s Oil Soap and with a rag. I scrubbed it fairly hard to get all the dirt off. A bit of linseed oil to brought the shine back up on the chest.

Restoring a Gerstner Tool Chest: Part One

A few years ago, Walt and I were at a model engineering show checking out the many cool engines and tools. There were a couple of dealers who had older Gerstner tool chests for sale. I managed to sweet talk one of them down in price a bit and walked away with a rough looking but solid tool chest – for my studio.

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