Down the Rabbit Hole
I’ve had a small air compressor in the shop for over a dozen years, and it’s served me well. Inflating tires, brad nailers, blowing dust — even some small air tools — it’s been fine. I turned it on recently, and it sounded much different. It’s always been noisy being one of those oilless types, but this sounded much worse.
The annual San Antonio Radio Fiesta was a few weeks ago, and I inadvertently purchased a few radios. That wasn’t my intention, but circumstances got the better of me. — I should explain.
I enjoy flea markets, and there’s a great one near Fredrickburg, Texas — about an hour from our Hill Country home. We go almost every month. Last October we came home with vintage cast iron pots and skillets, a UT Longhorn-branded Crockpot and — best of all — an old Stanley No. 5 jack plane for just $8!
With the new handle installed, it was time to sharpen. The steel was pitted from its time in the woods, but had plenty of metal and potential. With my new-found interest in woodworking, I’ve been working on my sharpening skills. I’ve tried several systems from wet/dry sandpaper on a glass plate to carborundum, whetstones and diamond plates.
In the course of working on some friends’ Tiny House, we learned that the non-standard nature of it had a big effect on cost. For instance, the Tiny House required a front door that measured 78 inches by 27 inches — very non-standard. We could find one manufacturer that would supply a door that size, only it cost $1400. Not very practical. So, we decided to design and build our own door.