Oscar- the "Little older men with files and carbon lamps" may not be a myth. When my late Grandfather did his apprenticeship as a machinist in 1913- you were given a rough slab HRS-the "bark" on it- a vise (maybe a Parker and Snow series) a try-square and your selection of files (Simmons usually) all the way from mill bastard to finish grade- and you had to make a perfect CUBE- as judged with the try-square- to pass. I have many of his hand tools in my basement "Den" and a solid workbench I made in 8th. Grade for a woodshop class project! GrandDad's best friend was a master carpenter- Anthony Sussex who taught me- and he told me that "You're not a finish carpenter until you can: sharpen your own chisels and plane irons, and your own saws with proper tooth set-and mortise and hang a 3 hinge door- I am a retired welder who does carpentry for my gals and for various groups to aid seniors- and the Holy Trinity of "Plumb, Level and Square" applies to tack welding girders and beams with Lincoln LH-70 (AWS 7018 Low Hydrogen code rod) as well as setting studs on plates on exact 16" centers with a air driven framing nailer- I never go on any carpentry job without: sharp chisels, a plane, a cross-cut handsaw and a combination square- all tools from over 100 years ago. The std. 16" x 24" framing square with the 1 and 1/2" wide tongue and the 2" wide blade was first developed in pre-Civil war days by a Vermont blacksmith- the Vice-Grips we all use were developed in late 1920's by a Danish blacksmith from Nebraska-good hand tools (US made-not the cheap Chink crap that Big Box marts peddle) transcend all time, just as a fine Parker or Elsie made in 1898 is a vintage treasure to someone. Hope you find a TIG welding shop nearby, best process I know for what you need- the other gent is correct- MIG will give you an excess of "build-up" to be machined and filed and burnished off later- RWTF
Last edited by Run With The Fox; 09/21/08 06:51 PM.
