Day 132: A Little Register Progress

I was able to make a little progress on the first upper register and will be drilling it out tonight as a test. I'll use a fence on the drill press and work it like a production line.

If it doesn't go well, I have a Plan B, but I'm hopeful. Mr. Miller's eBook Most Excellent hasn't failed me, yet.

Progress has been admittedly slow lately. As I've said in the past, the client is in the mirror, so my sense of urgency is not as great as it usually is for the pro builders. Lately, I've been working on acquiring a few nice hand tools, as well as working on the 6" jointer loaned to me by Alan Ollivant.

Along with this, I'm replacing Little Buddy with a larger Grizzly 14" saw, which will show up in the shop this coming week.

I'm sad to my Little Buddy go, but the only constant at Tortuga Early Instruments Worldwide Headquarters is change, so I must embrace it and move on.

A back saw kit recently showed up in the shop, as well.

This is a kit from Ron Bontz. I'll be making a handle over the next couple of weeks. Then, once it's sharpened up, I'll keep it close at hand - it's nice to have a small saw for quick crosscuts and this one fits the bill perfectly; it's 14 tpi and pretty shallow, which is fine for my purposes. Now, what should I make the handle from? Perhaps walnut...?

Another surprise that showed up this past week was a Lie-Nielsen Large Scraper Plane.

I found this one on Lumberjocks and it was just too good to pass up. I'll be using it quite a bit over the next few months. Also on the list: a low-angle jack plane and a 60 1/2 block plane. Once these come in the door, I'm good for a while, at least on the hand tool front.

Finally, I picked up a pack of tempered steel, laser-engraved rulers - 6", 12", 18" and 24" - at Random Roger Green's suggestion. I can't tell you how many times I've needed each of these and only had a crappy Harbor Fright debacle to work with. Now, I'm all set.

Until next time...