Shoutout to the old guy at the tool library who saved my project

I was at the Seattle Tool Library last Saturday trying to fix a wobbly chair and this retired carpenter named Dave showed me how to use a hand plane instead of sandpaper. Took me 10 minutes to flatten the leg, no noise or dust involved. Has anyone else gotten good tips from strangers at community shops?

3 comments

3 Comments

lunaf671mo ago

WAIT... motor oil??? For a chisel? That guy is absolutely insane. Good luck getting used motor oil off anything without some industrial degreaser and a prayer. At least Dave actually showed you the technique instead of just talking in riddles with a wink. Some of these old shop guys treat their "secrets" like state secrets, but no amount of mystery wisdom is worth ruining a good tool over. I would have walked right out of that metal shop after hearing that motor oil nonsense.

milesbailey1mo ago

Motor oil? For real? Used motor oil is loaded with metal shavings and grit. That guy might have been messing with you or just didn't care about ruining your edge. I'd rather use plain water than gamble on some mystery sludge from a drain pan. Dave at least showed you the cut and let you try it yourself, which is way better than getting some old timer's "secret trick" that sounds like it came from a bad YouTube video.

the_spencer1mo ago

MAN that is EXACTLY the kind of thing that makes those shops worth their weight in gold! I gotta ask though - did Dave explain why a hand plane works better than sandpaper on a wobbly leg? Because I swear half the advice I get from those old-timers is just "trust me it works" without any actual reason behind it. Like one time a guy at the metal shop told me to quench a chisel in used motor oil instead of water and just grinned when I asked why. So did Dave actually break down the wood grain direction and cutting angle stuff or did he just hand you the tool and show you the motion?

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