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Inside The Secret Underground Laboratory

#161
Hey Kev;

I don't plan to be doing any heavy cutting with it. Mostly experimenting with satin finishes on aluminum instrument parts. Occasional cleaning of antique machine parts. In the old machine, I'd been using common play sand, and it worked quite well. This afternoon, testing out the new cabinet, I blasted some aluminum scraps with the play sand, and the result was pretty close to what I'm looking for. I was running around 90 psi.

I want to try to go a little smoother than what I'm getting. A softer abrasive and lower pressure? Do you have any suggestions for satin finishing aluminum? Parts with delicate edges.
 
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#162
Bruce Johnson said:
Hey Kev;

I don't plan to be doing any heavy cutting with it. Mostly experimenting with satin finishes on aluminum instrument parts. Occasional cleaning of antique machine parts. In the old machine, I'd been using common play sand, and it worked quite well. This afternoon, testing out the new cabinet, I blasted some aluminum scraps with the play sand, and the result was pretty close to what I'm looking for. I was running around 90 psi.

I want to try to go a little smoother than what I'm getting. A softer abrasive and lower pressure? Do you have any suggestions for satin finishing aluminum? Parts with delicate edges.
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I have never done any Soda blasting on aluminium... but I think you are on the right track there.
OR
Glass Bead.
Somewhat high mesh at fairly low PSI. Like 50 or less depending on the gun...

But here again, even trying to "satin" polish gently with glass bead... if you're using a cheap siphon gun, it can get frustrating if you aren't throwing enough media... so you turn up the pressure... and wind up smashing the expensive glass bead. Then it's broken & "cutting" (for a while) rather than giving that nice satin polish. Counterintuitive, because thinking of "grit"... usually gets dull as it wares down.

At any rate... if that aluminium polish is the main focus of the cabinet... don't use it for anything else then try & go back to polishing ... without changing back to clean media.
 
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#163
This thread is so cool, thanks for taking the time to do it Bruce.

When we had the fire at our house they soda blasted the basement to clean the cement, one of the contractors we interviewed (but didn't use because his quote was stupid) said in historic properties they blast with dry ice as it won't take the patina off the old wood.
 
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#164
And speaking of essential fine tools for the craftsman's shop......You've got to have a good pencil sharpener!

I use regular wood pencils for most of my general marking and writing. My favorites are the Dixon Ticonderoga Black #2 with HB lead. I have one or two on each workbench around the shop. I also use a lot of various mechanical pencils, but there's something nice about wood pencils.

Anyway, for years, my pencil sharpener was this 1950's Berol Chicago. The classic seen in offices and schoolrooms back in our youth. It works pretty well.

IMG_5935B.jpg


But now, I've upgraded to the Cadillac of pencil sharpeners: a 1920's Dexter #3. This is a serious pencil sharpener, a fine little machine. It's adjustable for different diameter pencils, and makes an amazingly fine point. This is what you'd see in any drafting room or office, back when wood pencils ruled the day.

IMG_5936B.jpg


IMG_5937B.jpg


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I found one of these about a month ago for $10 in one of the Fillmore antique shops. It was a little more beat up and missing part of the cover shell. But it worked great. I liked it enough that I scoured ebay and found this one for $15 plus shipping. I gave the other one to Keith; he loves it.

Keep your eyes open for one of these; a Dexter #3. Pristine collectable ones can go for $75, but there are plenty of lesser grade ones around.
 
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#166
mark5009 said:
Bruce, do you also use the sharpener for shaping dowel ends prior to swaging them? I have to admit to doing this more than once, then I don't have a excellent sharpener, just an X-Acto new one.

Time to hit ebay :)
Click to expand...

No, I can't say that I have. But I'm sure the Dexter would have no problem putting a nice point on a dowel, or just beveling the end. The cutters are sharp and leave a smooth surface. The Dexter #3 will adjust from 3/16" to 7/16" diameter pencils. Other model Dexters don't have that feature.
 
#167
Bruce, thanks for the cool post! I’ve used the Berol Chicago, and Dexter in schools back in the day, and they are so smooth! I’m definitely going to be on the look out :)

I have to admit that every time I go to IKea about 1/2 dozen of those little pencils wind up in my pockets¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

Do you ever use a marking knife to pre-score lines? I haven’t fully embraced that yet.
 
#168
Check out this beauty that I inherited with the "shop" in the garage of my rental house! :woot:

It's a Model B, adjustable too. Not sure what that little lever does...
IMG_20180802_185140174.jpg


IMG_20180802_185229463.jpg


*edit: I think it sets the depth, allowing either a super pointy or more blunt end :)
 
#169
I-Am-The-Slime said:
Check out this beauty that I inherited with the "shop" in the garage of my rental house! :woot:

It's a Model B, adjustable too. Not sure what that little lever does...
View attachment 3102559

View attachment 3102560

*edit: I think it sets the depth, allowing either a super pointy or more blunt end :)
Click to expand...

Cool! I'm not an expert on Dexter pencil sharpeners (yet), but I think the Model B is a later model, more like the 1940's or 1950's. Same basic machine as the Model 3. It appears that this company Apsco at some point bought Dexter, and later Berol, to rule the pencil sharpener world!

I think that lever releases the cutters to remove them. On ebay, you can even find NOS replacement cutters for a Dexter #3. Back in the day, they must have manufactured millions of them. And people actually wore out the cutters.
 
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#172
We had one of those Dexters at home when I was growing up. I'd forgotten all about it until now. I wonder where it went.

Re: that lever, I think I may have been under the impression back in the day that it might have helped to eject a broken-off lead that got stuck in the end. I could be remembering wrong.
 
#173
#174
Ha! A blast from my past. The elementary school I went to in Philly was built in the 1930’s, they still had all kinds of ancient gear, including the desks with the inkwells. I remember the Dexter sharpeners, bolted to the wall near the teachers desk, I had my turn cleaning them out and clapping the erasers. They had a basement “fallout shelter” (duck and cover, surely crouching under your desk will protect you from the Hydrogen bomb) full of rotting crates of emergency rations and gas masks. They had given up on all pretense of Civil Defense by the late 60’s, but all that crap was still there.
 
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#175
Then you have the proper drafting (wood) pencil sharpeners, which don't sharpen the lead at all. They pare back the wood, and then you use a lead pointer (also usable on mechanical pencils and lead clutches) which sands (rather than cuts) a precise point on the lead. I actually wonder if that's what the lever is doing (but we see a bit of residual point from the previous sharpening.)
 
#176
T_Bone_TL said:
Then you have the proper drafting (wood) pencil sharpeners, which don't sharpen the lead at all. They pare back the wood, and then you use a lead pointer (also usable on mechanical pencils and lead clutches) which sands (rather than cuts) a precise point on the lead. I actually wonder if that's what the lever is doing (but we see a bit of residual point from the previous sharpening.)
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You may be on point about the residual point. I should try it with a freshly broken one!
 
#178
By golly, I think you guys are right! I just played around with the little lever on mine, and it does seem to be an adjustable depth stop for setting the sharpness of the point. It doesn't have a lot of range to it; sharp to super sharp. But it does make a difference and it is consistent. Cool. My Dexter definitely makes a sharper point than my Berol.
 
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#179
chinjazz said:
Do you ever use a marking knife to pre-score lines? I haven’t fully embraced that yet.
Click to expand...

No, I've never been into the marking knife thing. I know it's an old traditional woodworking technique. For precision marking on wood, I prefer a fine pencil line from a 0.5mm mechanical pencil. It's easier to see, can be erased, and doesn't leave scratches in the wood. I often leave layout lines that extend beyond where I'm cutting, so I don't want to scratch the wood.

Marking knives are for guys who don't have cool Dexter pencil sharpeners! ;)
 
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