Fireplace Mantel --- I think my tools of choice are beginning to hate me just a little bit....

Well, the old back ain't what it used to be....not that it was ever a bastion of strength to begin with, but this is getting ridiculous!

I've been kind of laid up now for about going on two weeks. That means not being able to do much of anything. Even sitting for any length of time working on the computer has been impossible. So, being able to withstand the physical exertions required by shop work and bending over the project I'm working on has been out of the question, too.

Frustrating!

Fortunately, now that the back is getting a little better and time at the computer isn't as painful as it was just a couple days ago, I thought it might be a good time to at least catch up on my blog writing in order to also catch up to where I actually am in the process of making a fireplace mantel for Alan and Mendon. And therein lies the reason for multiple posts rapid fire, so to speak.

This blog post deals with my preferred tools of choice for carving, shaping, sanding, and grinding.

The angle grinders in the photo below have been outfitted with either a carbide grinding wheel rasp (far left in photo below) or a flap sanding wheel (center of photo).

Flap sanding wheels are particularly useful because they come in varying grits and remove stock very well leaving a minimum of striations to sand out when finish sanding.

The long neck die grinder is outfitted in this photo with a ball rasp that works for most applications when getting into those difficult nooks and crannies. If this rasp is too big to fit, I do have smaller rasps not shown that usually work for those tighter fits.

One of the difficulties encountered in working with the type of wood being used for the columns in this project is pitch accumulation. The stumps that make up the columns are what we fondly call "pitch balls" or "resin root balls". It doesn't matter what they are actually called, but suffice to say the pitch/resin gunks up the works pretty darn fast when it's as thick as it is in these pieces.

And that's why I titled this blog post "I think my tools of choice are beginning to hate me just a little bit". The pitch makes the tool work harder and longer to get desired results than it would if another kind of wood were being used. So, after toiling away for what seems like interminable time frames, no wonder those tools look at me with those nasty glares....well, not really, but I gotta wonder if my nasty glares at the column pieces is the same thing? Perhaps transference?

The photo below shows just how bad the pitch buildup can be. This build up causes undue smoke and actual burning if it's left on the tool for too long a period of time.

But removal can also be problematic in that taking a wire brush mounted on a bench grinder or some other portable power tool, such as another angle grinder, to it doesn't work and can be downright dangerous! A hand held wire brush simply does not work!

So, what to do? What to do? A dilemma for sure.

And it's not only the angle grinders that suffer this fate.

The good news is there is an answer to this dilemma....some of my woodworking buddies on Lumberjocks.com told me that a mineral spirits or acetone "bath" works about the best of any methods out there to clean up and remove the pitch build up on tools. Both require adequate ventilation and other safety precautions such as spill prevention and being careful to wear nitrile gloves to prevent accidentally getting it on the skin. I chose acetone.

As the grinding wheel rasp in the photo below shows, acetone is pretty darn effective, and, while it does remove at least some of the "finish" on the rasp, it doesn't affect the integrity of the rasp, itself.

Sorry, but I don't have a photo of how this worked on the carbide rasp ball. You're just going to have to take my word for it that it's also almost as good as new.

Now on to clogging them up again if my back would ever heal to a point where I can actually DO IT!!!