tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90691632012-01-30T13:46:10.548ZA woodworker's whitteringsAlfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.comBlogger6931100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-53722195182258825782012-01-30T10:26:00.000Z2012-01-30T10:28:31.585Z

Did you know one Monday this January saw National Handwriting Day? Well in the States, anyway - something to do with John Hancock's birth or death or summat like that. It's a 'Murrican thing. Anyway, one of the steady trickle of advertising emails I get to this blog was promoting something or other to do with handwriting (clearly not very effectively, as it escaped me as to what it was) and told

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-34474191083574116332012-01-27T10:04:00.001Z2012-01-27T10:04:00.328Z

"The cheapest things are bought in India; as much labour or manufacture may be had there for two pence as in England for a shilling. The carriage there is dear, the customs are high, the merchant has great gains, and so has the retailer; yet still with all this charge, the Indians are a great deal cheaper than equal English manufacture"Considerations upon the East India Trade, 1701.Most people

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-44754518410051415382012-01-25T09:57:00.000Z2012-01-25T09:57:01.085Z

The reason why I put up with stuff like this in my other online lives, is so I can run across stuff like this:Perplexed? Full and better details here. (And yes, I'm aware I'm a full eleven months behind the times here, so apologies of it's old news to you.)Now aside from the artistic aspect - and personally I think the sort of 3D mosaic effect is trés cool and definitely the best use I've ever

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-60980348452285703962012-01-23T10:38:00.002Z2012-01-23T10:38:00.141Z

A little belated this, but as tool chests are "in", I sought permission from TTS to let the reader drool all over the pics of this tool chest. Well I had to suffer, so why not spread the agony around...? Solid mahogany throughout. Solid mahogany. Oh, brother.Luckily its already gone to enjoy a new life on the Scilly Isles, so we're all safe from temptation *dashes persp from brow in relief* And I

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-37218118294357610272012-01-20T16:02:00.001Z2012-01-20T16:08:46.399Z

As part of my Christmas pressie to myself, but that wasn't really - and as I've still to actually get to most of it anyway, it could still end up being an unexpected Easter Egg after all that - as part of that I finally got myself a copy of The Anarchist's Tool Chest. Naturally just after I'd given up hope and ordered from Forn Parts, announcement came of UK stockists, but so it goes. The world

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-83635536200106132132012-01-16T14:05:00.004Z2012-01-16T14:29:23.750Z

Today I discovered the Swedish for shooting board is "stötlåda", and translates as "box for shooting". Who knew?* In Ikea it's probably also the name for a bookcase... Here in Merrie Olde Englande, a shooting box is a small house to accommodate shooting parties. Apparently. Who knew (again)? See? Doesn't even take a foreign language to surprise me.But as a result, in my head I now have an image

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-78118001294361849432012-01-13T12:55:00.005Z2012-01-21T19:37:47.311Z

So were you expecting a trip into the deepest corners of the w'shop to find the Mythical O-Ring fields, wherein these useful fittings grow in plentiful profusion, just ripe for harvesting. You weren't? Just me then.No, I knew exactly where the O-rings were, so that was the easy bit. See? Add in a length of nylon cord that I got in amongst a bag of reel ends from a chandlers about 25 years ago (

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-74843297372445865112012-01-13T09:20:00.002Z2012-01-13T09:28:03.384Z

As promised, The Tall Scotsman, local tool pusher well known to these pages, has sent me info on his emporium down in Hayle. It's a little light, tool-wise, but it does have the all-important contact details. Yes, it's an actual web presence, no less!Remember This(Caution if you're having a goof when you shouldn't be - it's all singing and dancing so make sure you have the volume on your speakers

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-7442334466566652302012-01-12T11:58:00.003Z2012-01-21T19:37:47.311Z

I like beads; indeed I've written on the matter and how much I like them before. Many are the sizes and variety of bead-making tools Chez Alf. Unfortunately absolutely none of them were any good for the kind of bead I needed in order to make some Do It Yourself Spectacle Chain fittings. I needed a bead with a hole. Like a Polo, but less minty.Now any self-respecting workshop (Or, in my case, any

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-82514552632312488742012-01-11T11:24:00.004Z2012-01-11T11:57:27.359Z

Sorry for keeping you waiting; really intended to post on Monday, but the Cold/Flu/Pneumonic Plague that's hung around me all over Christmas and New Year seems to have a nasty habit of coming back for brief encores and upsetting the works. I'm not big on New Year's Eve celebrations as a rule, but one does hope for better than the tricky choice between sitting up, bleary-eyed and sneezing; or

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-63238660161998352222012-01-07T14:50:00.002Z2012-01-07T14:58:34.928Z

It's not too late to wish the Reader a Happy New Year, is it? After all, it's only the last first Saturday of January 2012. Heck, given the 11 days swiped from us in September 1752 when we changed from the Julian to Gregorian calendar, technically I'm too early...In a perfect world, 2012 will be the year I get back in the workshop, make some stuff, maybe sell some tools. Back here in the real

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-80880216967862423032011-12-12T15:57:00.006Z2011-12-12T16:26:57.906Z

The Parcel Farce man cometh - eventually. Much loveliness, most of which will be put away for more careful study around Christmas (except the tool-covered shopping bag, which will lighten my mood during the weekly shop tomorrow), but if you're curious, I did seem to get fairly carried away in the measuring section of the LV website. Hey there's no point accurately cutting to a line unless the

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-52813708732588412232011-12-09T11:22:00.003Z2011-12-09T11:27:51.883Z

A ransom demand from Parcel Force has arrived. A parcel from Canada. Woot! Okay, so opting for surface mail clearly hasn't worked to avoid the customs duty (Sigh), but it does mean I've pretty much forgotten what I ordered (Surprise!)Except I now have to wait until Monday to find out.Something tells me it's going to feel like a long, long weekend...

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-70544126724802358932011-12-08T11:01:00.004Z2011-12-08T11:30:59.430Z

A few weeks ago, I got an email from Katie Penna at Tresamble Trading, a new venture purveying fine tools. Mainly gardening, but branching out into woodworking tools too - and locally, here in the back of tool beyond that is Cornwall. Woot. How I didn't feel the pull of rust in the vicinity, I know not, but I know of it now, and as I was in the area, stopped off yesterday at the market in Truro

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-67549193983735006802011-11-25T15:41:00.004Z2011-11-25T15:59:45.093Z

If the reader would cast their mind back a little to here, you'll recall I asked for thoughts on what those particular narrow trapezoid-shaped chisels one sees about the place were specifically sold as. I meant to follow this up much sooner, but Life and all that jazz intervenes, as it is wont to do.Anyway, here are a couple of other 1/8" chisels we have sculling about the w'shop, which seem to

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-34200081244770210192011-11-17T10:32:00.002Z2011-11-17T11:25:26.152Z

Never underestimate aunts; just ask Bertie Wooster. Unlike Mr Wooster though, my aunts have tended to be fairly pleasant coves and one has outdone herself this week. A parcel from same arrived in the post yesterday, and unwrapping it revealed to my wondering eye the following:One virtually pristine No.260 tape measure by Rabone & Sons.In its slightly battered, but rather fetching original box.All

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-13191655725872122692011-11-15T18:53:00.003Z2011-11-15T19:10:08.556Z

I just ran across this in one of my other online lives (Yes, I have several, and we're all very happy in our different online worlds, thank'ee. We're never short for conversation amongst ourselves, and we're even quite entertaining sometimes.)(But I digress.) Now I believe one is probably supposed to think how picturesque (or picture-skew as we have it here at Alf Towers), look at the light,

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-60866274188245254882011-11-08T15:28:00.004Z2011-11-08T15:51:58.299Z

Would you believe it's seven whole years today since I started this blog? No, me neither. Don't bother going and looking at the inaugural post though - it's not 'ticularly interesting. Anyway, apparently Copper or Wool is the traditional material to mark seven years. Pish, sez I. Yea, even Tush. Iron and steel it is then:Despite everyone's best efforts to get me to buy more chisels on Saturday, I

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-31979431298377762702011-10-17T18:26:00.003+01:002011-10-17T18:35:57.660+01:00

According to my mother, my style of speaking changes when I've been reading old Woodworker annuals. More emphasis on detail, apparently. Hopefully the effects of 1930s workshop practice won't spread to my appearance, because I'm not sure the tie, waistcoat and moustache look is really me...

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-90764852338357955602011-10-12T18:23:00.005+01:002011-10-12T18:43:43.781+01:00

Apologies to the reader - didn't intend to leave things for a week without further postings. Things cropped up, not least the thorny subject of chisel nomenclature. That, as you're probably aware, is a deep, dark swamp into which many have ventured and few have emerged with credit. In fact I now attempt to dodge the bullet and offer up a chisel or two and ask the reader what he/she would call

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-83944335540399498132011-10-03T11:52:00.002+01:002011-10-03T11:57:18.016+01:00

Now this could be incredibly brilliant planning on my part (except it's not) but while we're in chisel mode chez Alf, first pics of the eagerly (and long) awaited chisels from Lee Valley/Veritas whisper their way onto the interweb. Viz, here and here. Unfortunately both posts on WoodNet, who's archives go to the big virtual wastepaper basket in the sky after one calendar year, so I hope the OPs

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-6168431934227675702011-09-30T13:34:00.002+01:002011-09-30T18:10:49.458+01:00

There seem to be two schools of thought on the validity of The Way It Used To Be Done. Until recently, the most prevalent seemed to be "Progress is good, two feet bad". I may have mixed my slogans a little there, but you get the gist; improvement is the goal and we know heaps more than those ignoramuses who came before us. This is clearly not always the case. (Please see good old Barry Bucknell

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-59475279028512893892011-09-29T13:29:00.005+01:002011-09-29T13:29:00.050+01:00

My only butt chisel. Which I acquired the old fashioned way - or what I suspect was the old fashioned way - by repurposing a rather worn down and handle-less Marples & Sons 1" bevel edged firmer.Rehandled with boxwood - something I tend to avoid now, however much I love it (and I do). You know how folks lust after completing sets of Marples chisels with the boxwood carver handles? Well I've got

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-76915425780195526012011-09-28T13:25:00.000+01:002011-09-28T13:25:01.511+01:00

So I thought I'd go into some of the other candidates suggested as the "odd one out". PeteW came up with lots to work with. Viz:Extreme top-left, appears to be your only oriental-style chiselWhich is quite true. The Japanese set I was curious about and decided to try was kicked into touch many years ago now; the hollows in the backs just didn't suit me and that was that. Now contain your surprise

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-12362179527662005142011-09-27T18:38:00.004+01:002011-09-27T18:59:30.139+01:00

Pausing from the chisels for a moment, in the comments box here, Dave was inexplicably moved to ask:"God knows why the question just occurred to me, but Alf (and anyone else reading) - out of all of your thousands of tools, do you have a special favourite? A desert-island-tool, if you will!"Scraping the desert island factor (if we're not to drown in axes, machetes and Leathermans) suppose you had

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-76556929470645564682011-09-26T14:53:00.001+01:002011-09-26T20:08:56.167+01:00

As I seem to be in the mood, this blog might just focus on chisels for a while. (Surprise) Kinda like Shark Week, except it may or may not last as long as a week, depending on my mood. Or maybe longer than a week. And there are no sharks.Having said which, the odd one out I had in mind was indeed the "Where's Waldo?" candidate. (Or as it's called here in Blighty, "Where's Wally?". Possibly

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-11003019996958351682011-09-22T10:44:00.003+01:002011-09-22T10:57:52.718+01:00

... so, apparently, am I to chisels and gouges. I knew this, but... not to this extent. Now you can see why it's taken me many months to get up the courage to return to the Spring Cleaning and stare my chisel problem squarely in the face.Having looked it squarely in the face, I shall now run away and sit in a corner, hugging my knees and rocking back and fro. This is not a wide range of tools

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-49891037400149074112011-09-14T10:25:00.001+01:002011-09-14T10:28:13.606+01:00

Found another entry for our occasional series of British Woodworking Writers' Suggested Tool Kits, so thought I'd share. In this case, Mr Jim Kingshott from his book on The Workshop. For some reason RJK seems to be rather better regarded across the Pond than here in his native land, possibly helped by the availability of his four videos/DVDS over there. Plus he used to write for Traditional

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-6939271731292258172011-09-12T12:40:00.003+01:002011-09-12T12:48:58.180+01:00

The Hat Has Spoken, and... Bad luck, you're in Slytherin.Saints forgive me, I've just referenced That Damn Wizard in my blog. Shoot me now.But before you do, congrats to Nick and Evergreen, to whom a shiny, un-thumbed copy of the LV catalogue will shortly be winging. Just as soon as I've got over the poorly concealed daylight robbery that are UK postal charges. Hmm, anyone got an owl I could

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-62975319310634292982011-09-10T11:31:00.004+01:002011-09-10T13:45:37.414+01:00

Coupla folks in the comments box expressed wonder and amazement at how I was able to take a photo of my own hands. A more reasonable question might have been "Why?", but moving on... I did briefly like the Bionic Man/Steve Austin idea, until I remembered that didn't the action figure have a hole in the back of his head so you could see through his "bionic" eye? Or was that an Action Man? Either

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-38661354258677637612011-09-07T08:38:00.003+01:002011-09-07T09:07:43.689+01:00

Dunno about you, gentle reader, but there's been a definite autumnal (or fall) vibe about the place already. You know how sometimes summer drags its heels and you're surprised that it's September already? Well this year, around here at least, the world hung up its metaphorical flip-flops and started to wonder where it had put its boots and gloves pretty much as soon as the last weekend of August

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-9616550772844922462011-09-04T09:18:00.005+01:002011-09-04T10:32:00.038+01:00

I get quite a few requests for tool identification, one way of another. I quite like the ones on an open forum, because generally discussion expands and everybody learns something. Email requests of the "I'm about to sell these tools on eBay - what are they and what are they worth?" I'm less enamoured with. No-one learns anything but the seller, a complete stranger, who - not to put too fine a

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-40180313168139358312011-08-24T16:37:00.002+01:002011-08-24T16:45:56.966+01:00

As The Bard almost said; some are great, some have greatness thrust upon them, and some watch greatness wander off owing to their own ineptitude. Now I'm quite at home with my own ineptitude. We're old friends and see each other on pretty much a daily basis. But there's one monumentally stupid thing I did that still manages to kick me in the wotsits even nine years later. Viz: I deleted some

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-13943026776149057582011-08-18T13:36:00.004+01:002011-08-18T13:43:42.906+01:00

Is it not one of life's little ironies that as soon as the subject of making your own canvas tool rolls comes around, the members of the Old Tools List (dedicated solely to the discussion of hand tools) all chime in with advice on one particular theme. Viz: What you need is such-and-such a sewing machine. Never fails to crack me up. Me, I'm as old school as you can get and use a needle and thread

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-31164175693991404742011-08-14T16:39:00.003+01:002011-08-14T17:09:58.093+01:00

July |joŏˈlī|noun1. the seventh month of the year, in the northern hemisphere usually considered the second month of summer2. the month in which Blogging Does Not Happen Mind you, August isn't looking too hot, blog-wise either, is it, reader? Sorry about dat. But hey, you know me, if I was actually in the workshop I wouldn't be able to resist telling you all about it, so rest assured you're not

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-53758652388872792662011-06-27T10:20:00.004+01:002011-06-27T10:41:18.801+01:00

The perennial "Shiny tools don't make the craftsman" argument is bubbling along on one of the fora again. I confess it maketh me to yawn mightily. To my mind, making it a point of pride to use the crappiest-looking tool for the job is just as crazy as buying a fancy one and thinking that's the solution to woodworking genius. Oddly it only seems to be an issue in the wunnerful world of hand tools,

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-13516057612073963572011-06-06T10:34:00.001+01:002011-06-06T10:34:00.207+01:00

Not sure how it happened, but I currently have three Eclipse #77 saw sets in my possession. Now I know I've definitely sold two, maybe even three, over the years, but they just keep coming. I feel a bit like Mickey Mouse when faced with the remorseless tide of bucket-carrying brooms.At one point it looked like the Eclipse was going to become Saw Set Flavour of the Month, like the Stanley 42x and

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-17890932357798078502011-06-03T10:37:00.002+01:002011-06-03T10:37:00.083+01:00

Yes, I thought many of the readership was too well-versed not to recognise the dog's wotsits when they saw them - the rush to identify them was swift and sure. Joiner's or Pinch Dogs it is.These came in the Patternmaker's Mother Lode, which makes a lot of sense, as clamping up awkward shapes such as wooden patterns is something they're apparently rather good at. And just as soon as I need to do

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-74912676988727519012011-06-02T10:06:00.002+01:002011-06-02T10:16:40.696+01:00

As we haven't had a Woodworker's Wotsit for a while, I offer up this tobacco tin of potential - and currently rusty - puzzlement. Not that I think it'll puzzle some people for any time at all, so don't be surprised if your comment doesn't appear straight away - it'll probably mean you're correct... Bonus points if you've ever had cause to use some. I haven't - yet.

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-42184450369931541422011-05-27T13:59:00.001+01:002011-05-27T14:00:06.105+01:00

Not exactly cutting edge news, this, but as the reader is probably aware, Chris "Mr Workbench" Schwarz has announced he's giving up the editor's chair at Popular Woodworking Magazine. It's take me over 24 hrs to go through all the stages of reaction to this.1. Denial.Noooooooo! Such an influential mover and shaker for the wunnerful world of hand tools, wandering off into the wilderness instead of

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-37581327420937058222011-05-23T10:38:00.000+01:002011-05-23T10:41:23.499+01:00

Or A Close Shave.I have a feeling I skipped the shaves, so as I'm not actually moving in a forward direction at present, let us instead back-pedal a tad. Now in general it seems to be considered pretty much par for the course to have a, um, wide range of spokeshaves and associated tools from which to choose. Or maybe that's just the company I keep... But it's not just a case of rampant

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-4914880417955971202011-05-16T10:00:00.003+01:002011-05-16T10:33:37.836+01:00

Deary me; I thought I'd left the reader in the lurch for a week tops, and was feeling guilty about that. but it's nearer a fortnight. My apologies, but I've been suffering from a severe bout of JODTAA (Just One D*** Thing After Another).Alas, I'm in no position to make it up with tales of woodworking daring-do, or even particularly exciting tool waffling. At present I'm - slowly, oh, so slowly -

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-10307369884137761352011-05-03T13:02:00.001+01:002011-09-11T14:41:09.676+01:00

As publication of The Schwarz's "Anarchist's Tool Chest" approacheth, inevitably my thoughts turned to an earlier self-styled woodworking anarchist, chairmaker John Brown. He wrote a series of articles in his column in Good Woodworking magazine, choosing a kit of readily available hand tools and then using them to build saw horses, a bench, tool storage and so forth, to demonstrate his philosophy

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-33531062629822314682011-04-26T15:15:00.000+01:002011-04-26T15:16:28.733+01:00

A brief flurry-ette of interest in the expansive bit, so I will, um... expand.The design I have is the under-every-rock Clark Patent. Here is one in a box I made for it, with label cooked up on the computer - all many years ago now, when I wasn't swamped in too many tools so I could devote proper care and attention to each of them.For those not familiar with the beast, the adjustable cutter (

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-33753338207581375882011-04-22T15:22:00.002+01:002011-04-22T15:36:34.283+01:00

I swore I wouldn't do it, but as I returned to the tool cleaning fray and looked down the barrel of 50+ auger bits needing cleaning, I wilted. And put them away unsorted and uncleaned. *slaps self on the back of the head* Bad, bad me. But honestly, it wasn't even as much fun as painting the Forth Bridge, and a bored tool cleaner is a tool cleaner doing a lousy job. However, I did get all the

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-19112015217446145192011-04-19T13:29:00.003+01:002011-04-19T13:50:24.207+01:00

For this blog entry, if the reader would cast his or her mind back to January this year, and the overdue replacement of the parrot perch's critical component. Viz: The bit to land on. Well when finished, it looked like this:It's not Chippendale, but it met with psittacine approval, and that's never guaranteed. Anyway, just a few short months on, and I think we can safely say that rigorous testing

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-44389730331628050502011-04-15T14:19:00.003+01:002011-04-15T14:43:07.215+01:00

Solely because it was driving me crazy playing "guess the issue" every time I wanted to find an article in the archives of the Lee Valley woodworking newsletter, I eventually gave in and typed myself an index of sorts. Well, strictly speaking it's just a list of the articles and authors in the order they were published, but it's still proved a lot quicker to find the desired article when you only

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-47339995609138704132011-04-11T10:39:00.003+01:002011-04-11T13:08:17.993+01:00

'Tis a curious thing that as soon as I resolved that I was over the old tool rust hunting and would devote myself to clearing up the backlog of existing rust instead, I seem to have found myself regularly at the car boot sale. It's not entirely my fault, honest. But anyway, I've been very good and stern with myself for the last few weeks. No buying - unless it's something unusual, special, or

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-5447842506142531732011-04-08T13:49:00.003+01:002011-04-11T11:36:07.535+01:00

If you don't mind me interrupting your normal programming - or lack of it - I crave indulgence to pick the reader's brains. Below is where I have so far to send questing combi owners for parts and cutters, but I'm sure there are other obvious places that I've overlooked. Specifically I'm looking for sources overseas, 'ticularly the US and Australia. Also, are there any master lists for old tool

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-27628844511056063212011-04-07T19:30:00.003+01:002011-04-07T20:19:16.548+01:00

Sorry, kids - didn't intend to leave you happily whittering-free so long, you lucky people. The lurgy turns out not to be some sensible 24 or 48hr variety, but rather the sort that seems to settle in and seriously consider getting furniture delivered so it can be really comfortable. My comfort appears a matter of no importance at all. Grrr.However, the emails don't stop, and as seems to often

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-83756120701687230752011-03-31T13:27:00.004+01:002011-03-31T16:40:24.391+01:00

I admit it I'm off-colour with a lurgy at the moment and am not at my brightest, but I can't help feeling this design of wooden square has a fundamental flaw.How can you use it for internal corners with the blade sticking out at the end like that? That's a useful thing to be able to do. I can understand the urge to make a wooden square that's different just, 'cos, well otherwise it's just another

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-43820267212587764712011-03-30T11:37:00.002+01:002011-03-30T12:06:23.786+01:00

Another day, another centre bit. Considerably less remarkable than the last, except for the local connection. Yes, I do kinda collect anything marked as being made or sold in Cornwall. I know what you're thinking - just as well I don't live in Sheffield...Last time I dabbled in local tool dealers in times of yore, I found myself tracking down ironmonger J B Haddon of Penzance, but now we find

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-80403477224002170912011-03-25T17:18:00.003Z2011-03-25T17:34:19.628Z

Well I'm getting along at a reasonable pace. Or I was. You tend to hit a slow spot when faced with this:I've done, I suppose, about a fifth of them so far, but I don't want to talk about that - after all, it only means I have four fifths still to do... However, a few bits of interest as I go along, which helps. Possibly the most curious is this one:Big deal, you say. It's a centre bit. So jolly

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-52605674326613757662011-03-23T12:13:00.003Z2011-03-23T12:32:21.887Z

As I careful cleaned up a drawknife (Ward & Payne, about 10") I repeated a mantra to myself over and over; "Drawknives are evil and will try to bite. Be careful of the edge. Drawknives are evil and will try to bite. Be careful of the edge."Then proceeded to slice my finger on the edge.Sigh.New - edited - mantra: "Drawknives are evil and will try to bite. Be careful of the edge. That means you too

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-48086286011035337962011-03-22T20:31:00.004Z2011-03-22T20:37:08.957Z

Are you sick of rust removal? I certainly am. In fact I'm taking a bit of a break, and as everything is set up to make woodworking a bit on the tricky side just at the minute, I can't even do that instead. I could post pics of the ridiculous number of tools, but really, you must be sick of that too and might start throwing things. So, um... bear with me. Maybe come back in April if you're looking

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-72878339065169270542011-03-18T10:29:00.000Z2011-03-18T10:29:56.640Z

First, electrolysis. Coupla folks have mentioned it, and pretty much someone does every time I play with citric acid. I know many folks swear by it, and it's probably brilliant. But I am fundamentally a coward, and as far as I'm concerned electricity and water don't mix. 'Course, if I happened to have the means to try it about my person, I probably would have been tempted, but as I don't, well,

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-66838934335373797842011-03-17T08:44:00.001Z2011-03-17T08:44:00.527Z

Continuing from the last post, having tried the gel, I now wanted to compare the Restore solution with my faithful old stand-by, citric acid. So the victims were to be a pair of firm joint inside callipers and a pair of wing compasses or dividers. The firm joint outside callipers were a serious basket case, so I thought I might sling them in my usual hot soup as a sort of control. I also threw in

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-29404718459672601702011-03-15T13:50:00.000Z2011-03-15T13:52:27.215Z

As I gathered together all the tools from the fifteen corners of the w'shop, one thing was abundantly clear - I had a lot of rust removing in my future. So I decided to take the plunge and try the Shield Technology Restore Rust Remover stuff that Matthew at Workshop Heaven's been plugging like it's going out of fashion. I've been curious to try it for some time, and figured I'd have plenty of

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-42933184113669916412011-03-14T15:42:00.001Z2011-03-14T15:47:27.402Z

..with an embarrassingly wide range of tools from which to choose.I'm not sure at what point I thought it was a good idea to flout one of the fundamental rules of galootdom and put all my hand tools in one place, but learn from my mistake and don't do it. Just don't. Yeah, so you find a few things you were looking for (plumb bob) and others you didn't know you had (six glass cutters. Six?! I've

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-48624872625541786772011-03-10T16:23:00.000Z2011-03-10T16:23:00.405Z

Pausing to de-cobweb my hair and cease moving things from box A to box B and back again, how about a tool moment? Last Saturday I indulged the Chisel Monster again (and its close cousin, the Gouge Glutton) and purchased the following. A nice cleanish Marples 1/2" in-cannel gouge, and an oval bolstered mortise chisel. The latter had evidently been re-handled (and has some sort of putty in lieu of

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-67794880694234461582011-03-09T13:22:00.000Z2011-03-09T13:22:28.275Z

Depressingly, I think this tidying business is going to have to continue. I did start on something else, and almost immediately had to stop and conduct a 10 minute search for a tool I needed in order to continue. It's madness. So Spring Cleaning it is.The most obvious place to start is here. Not good, is it? Still not absolutely sure where to put the Moore & Wright chest - it seems less than

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-49510461853745827932011-03-07T11:41:00.000Z2011-03-07T11:42:08.281Z

There are many moments of accomplishment available to the woodworker. The first saw cut that actually has some vague relationship to 90°; the first plane shaving; the gleam of a newly restored tool; that first exotic wood handle. Even, so I'm told, the buzz of a completed project is pretty good. All these things are good to share with your fellow wood torturers. They will demand pictures; they

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-65650151782484078432011-03-05T14:16:00.005Z2011-03-05T14:36:44.993Z

Okay, enough already. Veritas replacement rear totes was one thing, but now this? Extolling the virtues of the Record #043 mini plough/plow plane? Geez, Chris, go and find your own material, will ya...? ;P*plug*Making a replacement rear tote for the LA Jack.The Record #043 page.*/plug*And yes, chillun', that's the second thing Schwarzed within a week. Maybe the plan is to "Schwarz" so many things

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-84667818470061367012011-03-01T10:51:00.003Z2011-03-01T11:26:48.110Z

Kids, if you've been looking for a hand-cranked grinder and haven't found one yet, brace yourselves for the hunt to suddenly get a little bit more competitive. The Schwarz has struck!Must admit I was slightly taken aback by Chris' gung-ho approach to the grinder. Personally I prefer to avoid getting to the point of needing to quench the edge at all, but he's probably fitter than I am (most

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-90364497863393483402011-02-28T20:58:00.002Z2011-02-28T21:19:24.575Z

Just now I followed a link to a newly marketed bench strop. It's a block of wood with a couple of socket head screws to take bits of MDF with leather on. Or not. Depending. Some number of dollars are asked for it. I genuinely thought it was an elaborate joke. I looked at the other products and there's a surface plate "cover kit" (soft fleece, no less - cosy) and a piece of ply with, um, a hole at

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-83345159537067409982011-02-28T10:29:00.001Z2011-09-11T14:40:53.143+01:00

I've read a few articles on making tool cabinets over the years, and believe me, I'm reading a few at the moment... But they all tend to have one laughable idea in common - you should decide what tools you need to put in it. Hah! Are they mad? I could be here for years. But it happens to coincide with my re-re-re-reading of Woodworker annuals, and an article that crops up a couple of times over

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-91442210478985500122011-02-25T11:44:00.002Z2011-02-25T13:01:47.777Z

So while I continue to put off boring some deliberate on the position of holdfast holes, my thoughts turn to another little problem I have:See? This is why I prevaricate, shilly-shally and generally beat about the bush - to prevent precipitate purchase of pinus palustris. aka The Bench That Never Was. Or is it? Here's the options that have, so far, waddled to mind:1. Build a bench anyway. You

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-42926999096040959652011-02-23T08:47:00.004Z2011-02-23T09:33:50.971Z

Before we start, apologies to BB - I forgot about his board jack suggestion. I have used something similar before. Well clamps anyway. A clamp:As you can tell from the vice and drill, and indeed the ply, this is a carefully and recently staged photo to demonstrate the use of a handscrew for the purpose. This is because I don't have any pics of me using it "in stock". And this is because I'm a

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-15335873332139251602011-02-22T21:01:00.004Z2011-02-22T21:06:51.274Z

Today I have read forum posts that worry about how best to support a granite surface plate to keep it flat for flattening a hand plane, and a woeful situation where shavings and sawdust keep falling on the lower shelf off a workbench and how can this calamity be prevented?Have I fallen down a rabbit hole and not noticed...?Wasn't going to blog today, but felt compelled to roll my eyes a bit.

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-11389371526242891932011-02-21T13:08:00.006Z2011-02-21T14:03:05.206Z

"I'll tell you what I've heard myself," continued Captain Smollett: "that you have a map of an island, that there's crosses on the map to show where treasure is, and that the island lies—" And then he named the latitude and longitude exactly.Treasure Island, by Robert Louis StevensonNo treasure here, but if you were to add a couple more hold fast holes, where would you put them? I have a notion,

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-59232816493789627382011-02-18T13:21:00.005Z2011-02-18T13:51:52.951Z

Thought I'd give the workbench stuff a break, for your sanity as much as mine. Although what to do with a big stack of 2" southern yellow pine is playing on my mind more than somewhat, so I've been flicking through the old Woodworker annuals again, idly wondering if it might be fun to drag bench making into the 20thC and make the "Hayward Bench" just for the hell of it. Must be something in the

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-26155252499947379592011-02-18T01:14:00.000Z2011-02-18T08:14:13.137Z

These are just the sources of information/supply that I used; there are others, but it's amazing what you find after you've started...The Iron Hand for general information, especially Emmert Vise Anatomy.Previous Emmert fitting experiences:Russ AllenJohn GuntermanRoger Van MarenJames WatrissThe Workbench BookOriginal instructions:Union Hill Antique Tools are the clearest.Assorted hints and tips:

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-61230074147143425932011-02-17T08:57:00.000Z2011-02-17T08:57:00.907Z

With the vice all apparently working, the unskilled labour was drafted in to help me flip the thing over so I could flatten the top. After all the bumps and dings the top got during this whole process, I'm glad I decided to leave the refinishing 'til the end. The Emmert's hinge mounting plate was deliberately set slightly below the bench surface to facilitate that, and it worked fine.The Millers

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-75514930809459783182011-02-16T09:40:00.000Z2011-02-16T09:40:16.568Z

An Emmert vice that doesn't rotate is an abomination. Really, if you think about it, it's virtually any old face vice but with big dreams. That won't do, so allowing it to rotate was essential. (I dunno, should I really call it a "vise", it being 'Murrican an' all? But I digress...)I have to say my inability to think in 15 dimensions really didn't help at this stage. It took me ages of paring and

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-23246577118417509472011-02-15T12:06:00.001Z2011-02-15T12:06:00.694Z

In the first instalment I left you hanging from a router-infested cliff; would our heroine survive another encounter with the Power Tool of Her Nightmares? Read on...You may imagine how I agonised over the whole thing, my record being what it is. But I made a template and used the guide bush and it was... okay. In fact it was fine. I managed to be a muppet and lightly graze an area of bench top I

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-50575975686078690262011-02-14T17:01:00.005Z2011-02-14T18:14:47.366Z

Ah, starting a blog entry with Max Bygraves; never a good sign. Now strictly speaking I'm not done, but I promised more detail and the theory is that if I do this in instalments, by the time I get to the end, I will actually have, um, got to the end. That's the theory.So, last March, I think it was, I got an email telling me "You're about to get a weird email". Arguably I'd just received one, but

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-52162875248052149972011-02-11T17:17:00.003Z2011-02-11T17:27:34.018Z

Still restrain yourselves from getting excited, but things all appear to tilt, rotate, and tilt'n'rotate like they're supposed to. Of course this is when it's upside down, so it may only work the right way up in Australia...Just a few minor things still to do, like flattening the bench top, thinking up a wizard scheme to solve my board jack problem and so forth. Oh, and of course at the moment

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-89841121103507803472011-02-08T19:38:00.004Z2011-02-08T19:47:03.156Z

Don't get excited; it may look like it's virtually done, but actually I'm at the finicky stage of the fitting and the whole thing's taking approximately 500% longer than I anticipated. My own fault for being too tentative at the main stock removal stage. It's not the first three inches that are the difficult bit; it's the last 1/8th. Or rather 1/4. I need to allow more room, but am loathe to

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-62016284232074562292011-02-05T12:49:00.002Z2011-02-05T12:53:33.258Z

Reader, I believe now would be a good time not to come up with a convincing argument not to do this.And yes, I felt physically sick doing this, thanks for asking. My poor baby. What am I doing to you?!

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-42070025001329137662011-02-03T14:38:00.004Z2011-02-03T15:08:29.812Z

Well, The Schwarz was effective - in all the wrong way.First up, and most unhappily, it didn't make me want to build a workbench any more than I did before. i.e. Not at all. I'm just not convinced that your "Roubo" didn't go out of fashion for darn good reasons. The not-really-Nicholson just screams "You will curse that apron each and every time you have to fumble beneath it to pop up a bench dog

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-5144898584560343642011-01-31T13:51:00.004Z2011-01-31T14:25:08.268Z

For best effect, this post should really be viewed in black and white...The longer-term reader may have been wondering to themselves "My, my, but Alf's been very quiet on the progress of her workbench build. She must have practically finished it by now..." The really long-term reader will be laughing at the idea and just assumed nothing's happened.Go on, guess who's right. The vice still waits,

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-71509956809509086492011-01-26T13:14:00.002Z2011-01-26T14:08:02.633Z

If the reader would cast their mind or their browser back to earlier this month and the Rogers Patent Mitre Planer? Well I'd been doing a pretty good job of not thinking about it. I'd looked over the tools I had in a fit condition to sell, and it wasn't ever going to come close to the necessary quantity of lettuce, so not thinking about it was the sensible option.Then last Friday, TTS drops me an

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-87974533063385359602011-01-24T15:45:00.003Z2011-01-24T16:40:07.597Z

Allow me, if you will, to remind you of a useful thing to bear in mind when undertaking a project; it will always, but always, take longer than you think. Then add on twice as much to allow for finishing.These days I've given up making things for people's birthdays or Christmas. I've actually given up giving, or receiving, anything at all for either event, and rejoice in the freedom and lack of

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-8912073051514957382011-01-21T13:19:00.003Z2011-01-21T13:44:02.766Z

You know the ones. The little insignificant tasks that have been on the To Do List since the dawn of time but just never seem to get done, except they'd make life fractionally more pleasant if you actually did them? Yeah, those. Well I've actually got a couple of them off the list.First, the frightfully exciting replacement of a short (and subsequently broken) post on the base of the adjustable

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-67589357417963715122011-01-18T18:54:00.005Z2011-01-18T19:14:33.182Z

Been a bit busy during the last week. So busy, in fact, that step-by-step pics have fallen by the wayside. I know, the horror. The idea was if I didn't do them it'd speed things up and I'd be able to focus more. Yeah, well, all I can say is I've never made this many mistakes in so little cubic inches of timber, so maybe stopping to take photographs is a better idea. On the other hand, the main

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-33339386655410253182011-01-12T11:45:00.001Z2011-01-12T11:45:00.857Z

Following on from yesterday's entry, the inevitable. After a closer inspection, it seemed to me that the Disston, at least, might be salvageable. So I had to try, didn't I? Apparently yes, I did. First up, remove the nuts and handle. Look! Once upon a time it really was shiny steel. Who'd have believed it?Tools of torture: scraper, wet'n'dry wrapped round a block, some white spirit (mineral

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-81313251496461240262011-01-11T11:47:00.001Z2011-01-11T11:47:01.034Z

Enough of this workshop productivity; time for frivolity. Dunno about the rest of the country, but Saturday morning dawned bright and clear, and the mood came upon me to go out into the big wide world.Okay, so to be strictly accurate, it came upon me to go and look at some rust that wasn't mine. The tool gods apparently thought this was a Good Idea and smiled upon me, for barely had I reluctantly

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-51925494191550293552011-01-10T10:08:00.006Z2011-01-12T11:18:46.186Z

A couple of times in recent weeks, the subject of shooting boards has cropped up across the various fora. It often does. In particular the discomfort of using a regular Bailey pattern bench plane for the task. Now I confess I don't actually use a regular Bailey pattern bench plane for the task; I'm bevel-up/low angle plane rich and use one of them. Mainly the L-N low angle smoother, funnily

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-40555796747367153872011-01-05T11:42:00.003Z2011-01-10T11:24:12.942Z

Quite obviously I can't, and won't, keep up this relentless pace, but for some reason w'shop activity has hit a bit of a high at the moment. It's not a conscious new year resolution of anything - I wouldn't be so daft; they never work. It's just happened. Long may it continue.So a bit of background to this one. Way back in 2006, somehow or other, Mike Wenzloff and I got into an exchange of tools.

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-56565802319376258592011-01-04T16:50:00.004Z2011-01-04T17:33:26.735Z

So, 2011, and my relentless pursuit for woodworking excellence continues on apace.What? What's that? Are you laughing, gentle reader? Yeah, me too... And so it is that my first completed project of the year is not something impressive in mahogany or walnut, but rather the long overdue refurbishment of the "interim" parrot perch. By "interim" I mean "In daily use for the past 10 or so years and

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-4601136010650138182010-12-24T11:54:00.003Z2010-12-24T12:08:19.018Z

The best laid plans of mice and woodworkers gang aft agley, as they say. Well they do if they're a Scottish poet without a spell checker anyway... Thus it is I once again I have found myself with nothing to blog about. You might have noticed. But enough was enough, and suddenly an odd urge to make something and complete it came upon me. Why a spoon, and frankly not a great spoon either (in any

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-91224264611163619622010-12-13T13:47:00.001Z2010-12-13T13:48:45.137Z

As I happened to suddenly be spending so much time in the w'shop - and with the camera handy - it occurred to me I could snap a pic of those single twist, lead screw-less augers. Amazingly I knew exactly where they are; hanging safely on the wall of the timber store. Alas, I'd forgotten what lay betwixt me and them in the narrow gangway of said timber store...Bedlam. And I must find somewhere

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-38240155225829225532010-12-11T13:43:00.000Z2010-12-11T13:43:29.901Z

I can give this up any time I want. Yup. But I had to try the edge trimming plane idea, didn't I? Of course I did. Don't you roll your eyes at me...So I raided the exotics scraps box. Bearing in mind what I keep in the regular scraps box, you may imagine I hang onto the minutest fragments of such things as Rosewood, Box, Purpleheart, Nutmeg (Yes, Nutmeg) and Ebony, and you'd be right. I used to

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-30498227109229858582010-12-10T11:07:00.000Z2010-12-10T16:42:06.378Z

Before we start, a little blog admin (blogmin?). As you may have noticed, I'm now requesting commenters put a name to their comments. This is an attempt to make dealing with the ridiculous number of spam comments slightly less time-consuming. If you don't put a name to your comment, I will treat it as spam. We'll see how it goes, but if this doesn't help I may have to change to only allowing

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-68854022412488392832010-12-09T11:32:00.011Z2010-12-09T15:07:50.034Z

Or How I Remembered Why I Hate the Router.The tailed router, obviously. The hand router I like. If you were to see how many I have of the darn things (and in truth, I'm not absolutely sure myself) you might say I have a router problem. This is not so; they've just kind of accumulated. At some point there's going to be the mother of all tool sale lists, honest.No, it is the Tailed Demon that I

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-39152129145949003202010-12-03T12:37:00.002Z2010-12-03T13:29:41.351Z

So we have some theories. I quite like the idea from Michael and Stephen that it's the lead screw that makes it an auger rather than a drill bit. Except what about the bull nose Single Twist or L'Hommedieu variety with no lead screw?Wadda you mean "The what?" You don't all have them in assorted sizes...? I do. (Auger problem? What auger problem...?) But unfortunately I have a slippery slope of

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-81741030349532213142010-11-30T14:19:00.003Z2010-11-30T14:38:01.773Z

Weather's not so hot here in Blighty at the moment. When I say "Not so hot", I don't just mean figuratively speaking either. It's bloomin' perishin'. Just the thought of laying hands onto the cold metal handle of a #044 or a #78 rebate plane chills me to the bone. So in a bid to avoid actually having to venture out into the icy wasteland that is my workshop, my mind turned to things to muse over

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-55548244805996681212010-11-29T18:04:00.004Z2011-08-23T13:15:05.666+01:00

Right, as promised, the flip side of tool decoration. Anyone easily offended may wish to look away. Hang around in the world of tool acquisition for long enough, and you'll eventually hear the phrase "The Mother Lode". I'm not absolutely sure who coined the phrase, but the gist is pretty obvious. You've hit the seam. There's gold in them there hills. In short, it's often a lot of particularly

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-1163780816479136712010-11-24T16:12:00.003Z2010-11-24T17:02:53.951Z

If there's one thing in tool marketing that annoys me more than any other, it's an over-priced piece of tat that's aimed at the female market by virtue of being pink. Or having flowers upon it.Or - at its zenith - it has pink flowers on it.I do not see flowers; I see red. By all means put flowers on tools and make them pink if you must, but is there really a law that says you can't at least apply

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-55767969712460396862010-11-22T13:04:00.007Z2010-12-10T16:42:06.378Z

Sometimes I'm really, really glad I bit the bullet and learnt to hone freehand. Like, for instance, this time:Okay, so I didn't actually try it in a honing guide, because... Well, I mean, come on. Although before you come on, do pause to appreciate that fine machining for the blade bed. Okay? Got that? Right.So faced with this stonking great big hunk of A2 steel, I bethought me to turn to the

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com2