I got a new toy!

First off – Hi, I’m Dave!  I’m posting as myself today so I don’t have to feel weird about switching between first and third person every now and again.  I do most of the posting on the site, sometimes I’m talking for the band, sometimes about myself.  This one’s just about me.

I do woodworking in my free time, but the scale and quality of the things I can make are severely limited due to my lack of the two primary milling tools – a jointer and a planer.  The jointer is the first tool used to mill wood, it flattens one surface and ‘joints’ the adjacent surface square.  You then run the surface opposite the first through the planer, making the faces parallel.  With three sides done, you can cut the last edge on a tablesaw.

I just picked up a jointer!  It’s a vintage piece, a smallish Craftsman of a simple design with a 6 inch capacity, but the motor runs and the rest is serviceable.  I won’t complain about the lack of features, it only cost me $50.  Since I got it and posted a video of it in its raw state, I’ve taken it completely apart, brushed out all the cobwebs and musty sawdust, and sanded the rust off the top.  I’ve managed to get it all back together with some shiny new bolts and got it reasonably leveled out.  I’ll keep you posted on my progress as I go along.