Below are some pictures of the progress so far.

Idler roller	Partially assembled
Drive roller (unmounted)	Springs/tension piece

All this is via plans from PlansNow.com. So far, I’d highly recommend buying these plans: everything seems to be solid and well-designed.

When a card scraper is sharp, and it hits the back just right, it will peel off a nice layer of material. Here, it was peeling off thin layers of the herringbone pattern.

Such a simple, yet versatile too: long live the card scraper!

It’s a new cordless drill from Bosch. It’s closely based on their incredibly successful PS20 Pocket Driver. But this time around, they’ve added something that’s indispensable to me: a chuck.

Having read all of the positive reviews, and having tested it out a few times at the local hardware store, I was well aware that the PS20 is a great drill. But, one of the main features I was looking for in a drill like this was the ability to drive in tuning pins: this meant that it would have to be able to grip the modified tuning wrench shaft that I use, not to mention the substantial torque required to drive in these pins. (The driver bit is simply the shaft of a T-handle tuning wrench, with the handle stripped off.) But, the 1/4″ quick-change socket on the PS20 prevented its use.

Looking at the pictures above and below, you can see that the new PS30 Cordless Drill has no problems gripping my specialized driver: owning to the fact that the PS30 has a 3/8″ keyless chuck.

To the left you can see how the drill is used to drive the tuning pins into the psaltery’s body. Previously, I had used a much bigger (and heavier) 18v NiCad cordless drill to accomplish this task. Considering that this new drill has nearly the same amount of torque, (driving these pins in requires quite a good deal of torque from the drill), but weighs only 2.2 pounds (!), now I can consecutively drive all 60 pins without stopping due to discomfort or fatigue. (You wouldn’t think of it, but holding an 18-volt, 5-pound brick for a drill can get quite tiring rather quickly!)

Plus, because of the chuck, I can use it for a lot of other odd jobs with non-standard bit sizes: like 6mm brad point, etc. As soon as I read about the release of the PS30, I knew it would be perfect. To me, it really replaces two tools: the PS20, (which thankfully I hadn’t bought yet), and my older 18v cordless drill. (I still have my bigger 18v drill on hand for really tough jobs, but for the vast majority of the time, I find the PS30 superior.)

So, since the PS30 has replaced two tools for me, here’s my breakdown as to its advantages over both types of tools:

Bosch PS30’s Advantages over PS20 and other “Pocket Drivers”

• 3/8″ Keyless chuck allows you to grip a much wider variety of bits and drivers, you’re no longer limited to just 1/4″ hex shank
• Two-speeds allows this drill to be used to drill holes much faster than other drivers, as it can spin at up to 1,100 RPMs
• Develops more torque in low-speed mode than most other drivers in its class: 221 inch-pounds of torque! (Nearly triple the torque of the PS20, and over double the torque of Milwaukee’s M12 Sub-Compact Driver.)

Bosch PS30’s Advantages over Larger Cordless Drills

• Much smaller and lighter, without much sacrifice in terms of speed and torque: 0-380 rpm in first gear, 0-1,100 rpm in second gear; 221 inch-pounds of torque
• New lithium ion battery technology can be recharged at any time, (i.e., trickle charge), without any memory effects
• Batteries stay charged longer in between long periods of inactivity. So if it’s unused for several months, the batteries will still be at full charge and ready to go.
• Compact design lets you get into tighter spaces that other drills cannot
• Only weighing 2.2 pounds can signifcantly reduce user fatigue if you are doing a lot of repetitive tasks (I know this quite well firsthand)

This is just about the best drill I’ve owned or used. Since I originally got it, I’ve only had to reach for my bigger drill a couple of times, and that was because I needed the capacity of a 1/2″ chuck rather than a 3/8″. My only other complaint is that it would be nice to have some sort of on-board driver-bit storage. I like to have a #2 square driver and either a torx or a phillips on-board the drill at all times.

Check it out on Amazon to see more!

Today I used a new rotary tool for the notching: a Dremel Stylus. (Model # 1100-01, which is the only model of stylus available from Dremel, as far as I know…)

The verdict: I love it. In the above picture, you can see how small it is, with the bowed psaltery that I’ve just been working on in the background. What you probably can’t see in the picture is the perfect notches on that psaltery that were just cut with the Stylus.

The Dremel Stylus is small, lightweight, and well-balanced. I really like how much control it gives me in doing fine detail work like this. The variable speed is a plus too, though I’ll mostly be using it at full speed anyway.

I now own 5 different rotary tools, both corded and cordless, from Dremel, B & D, and Ryobi. This new one is without a doubt my favorite. About the only thing that I don’t think the stylus would be superior at is in very heavy/rough work, which is when I will bring out a corded tool; but in almost all other regards, I find it excellent.

I think one of the biggest advantages in a tool like this is the lithium ion battery. These new generation batteries run longer, and are much lighter than traditional NiCad or NiMH batteries. They also stay charged longer between uses, and can be charged in the middle of a cycle – IE before the battery is dead, or after only slight use. I really like the fact that this Dremel comes with a charging cradle, and since the battery can be charged at any time, it basically ensures that whenever I pick the tool up, it’s ready to go.

To the left you can see an example of its work: a multi-piece striped bowed psaltery back. (This is going to be another one of the “Candyshop” bowed psalteries.) It is made of quilted maple and purpleheart.

Ordinarily, it would take me a very long time to clean up all of the glue lines and get everything sanded perfectly flat and level. Additionally, with the quilted maple, I was unable to use a planer or jointer on the piece, as the knives would simply tear out the grain. (But the sander is gentle with the maple’s figure and preserves the board’s integrity.)

Now, I can just set the bowed psaltery back on the conveyor belt, and let the sander do all of the work for me within seconds, and with a much greater degree of accuracy than is possible with hand sanding.

Well, as you can see from the photo on the left, here’s my cheap, somewhat quirky solution. Stash a whole bunch of pencils or other writing utencils in the miter tracks of your power tools. You could put pens, pencils, chalk, crayons, etc. in the standard miter tracks that come on many table saws and bandsaws. They sit below the surface of the table, and don’t interfere with regular cutting operations (unless you’re using a jig that makes use of the track, of course). Plus, they’re always in plain site and easy to find.

This has been another groundbreaking tip from Phantasy Psalteries.

(And no, in case you were wondering from the photo, I’m not a Clevland Browns fan – it’s just a random pencil that I had lying around.)

I got this small saw to help me cut the bindings for all of my bowed psalteries. A full sized tablesaw seemed too big and wasteful, and a bandsaw still gave me fairly rough cross-cuts.

So now, this little saw fills that gap in nicely. It can easily cut the miters for the binding, and still leaves a smooth, finished cut. Best of all, it doesn’t take up very much shop space.

Just what’s so great about this thing?

Well, for starters, it basically never gets clogged. Ever. Sure, some finish can ball up on the surface, but it can always be blown off by a blast from a air compressor hose, or just by taking it off the sander and beating it between your hands.

Secondly, and the most important for me, it allows you to dry-sand a finish all the way up to 4000 grit. (Yes, 4000 grit.) The pad shown in the picture is actually a 4000 grit pad. It is amazing to me that it is possible to sand at this fine of a grit, without a lubricant, and still get a smooth, consistent finish. It sure beats MicroMesh, at least up to 4000 grit.

Third, they do seem to last a good long while. While the initial gritty feel to the surface of the disc is quickly lost, it still seems good at cutting long after its first use.

About the only downside is that since the pad is so soft, it is not good for leveling. For that I use a regular finish sander with standard sandpaper. But once any drips, sags, or any other surface irregularities are removed, Abralon really excels.

Well, the only other downside would be its price. Not exactly cheap at all, but certainly worth it in time saved in the arduous task of finishing the finish, at least for me anyway.

What I’m talking about is a 5″ stainless-steel sanding disc meant to fit all hook-and-loop 8-hole random orbit sanders. It’s called a “Microplane” sanding disc, and I’ve tried all the grits (40, 80, and 120) and my favorite is definitely the 80.

Basically, instead of using sharp particles of abrasive to sand the surface like regular sandpaper, this product is made of perforated (and probably laser-cut) steel.

As with anything there are pros and cons. Here’s my take on this:

The Pros:

• It cuts a lot faster than regular sandpaper. The best way I can describe it is that it cuts about as fast as you wish sandpaper would cut – not too fast, (like a belt sander), but not too slow.
• It lasts a lot longer than regular sandpaper. See that picture above? That’s my only medium-grit disc that I have right now. I haven’t worn it out yet.
• It’s just about impossible to clog or gum up one of these discs. It has a very open design, which allows the sander to collect a lot of dust, and also prevent any kind of clogging.

The Cons:

• The Coarse (40 grit) and Medium (80 grit) both leave visible swirl marks in the wood, though they usually aren’t terribly hard to sand out. Basically, I disagree with their grit ratings, and would equate their medium grit with something closer to a 50-grit in regular sandpaper. And what they call coarse would be…. very coarse.
• I feel that the coarse is simply too aggressive for all but the most extreme of situations, and depending on what kind of sander you have, (high quality, balanced handling help), it may be difficult if not impossible to control properly. Likewise, the fine (120 grit) isn’t all that different from regular sandpaper anyway. I really like just the medium disc.
• You can’t do the trick where you tilt the sander on its side to focus in on one area. The sander must be kept completely level at all times. (Which can also be a “pro” too, because I like to use these discs for leveling surfaces.
• It is mildly annoying to remove them from the velcro bottom of the sander. You can’t just yank them off like regular sandpaper, you have to be gentle with them so you don’t put a bend or crease in the metal.

So there’s my little mini-review. From looking above it may seem like there are more cons than pros, but I really like this product. The pros I listed are really good qualities to have, and most of the cons are mostly petty small stuff.

I recommend the Medium (80-grit equivalent) as a great way to sand out planer and saw marks, glue squeeze out, pore and grain filler excess, and a lot of other jobs that require fast, somewhat aggressive sanding. These discs last a long time.

By using two cutters, I can cut out both the inner and outer diameters of the ring simultaneously, and the arms are much more balanced.

Here’s a shot of the tool, along with the ring it cut in a matter of seconds. It was cut from a reinforced double-ply of burled walnut veneer.