So you've heard of palm routers...

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 line's in the correct place, right?

However, couldn't resist having a teeny look at a teeny plane, as has become tradition in recent years.

You'd think by now I'd have got over the "Oh my word, it is small, isn't it?!" reaction to these, but nope, apparently not. I am once more utterly taken by its cuteness and therefore have become its slave forever. Arguably this slavery happens pretty much with every plane, regardless of size, but the cuteness is completely irresistible.

Oh, El Presidente? Could we have a miniature felling axe next year, so I may cut down a small fir tree to be decorated with these as the ornaments? Pretty please? Or a miniature spokeshave might be fun. Or, ooo, maybe a tiny chisel... Oh, who am I kidding? Look, let's just cut to the chase and go straight for a miniature toolkit in a miniature tool cabinet. Or miniature tool chest, for those so inclined. Brilliant, right? Fire up the R&D elves and I'll start saving now...

Kidnapped!

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...

Tools in Them Thar Hills

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 to say "Howdy" in person.

Kids, it was a good thing I had no cash on me, because a rather nice panel gauge (which you can probably spot in the dismal pic that is all my iPod is able to divvy up) and a very spiffy chamfer plane (Which I failed to include in the frame, but registered highly on the gizmocity scale for a woodie) both sang their siren song. But I was good and plugged my ears. I may have lain awake thinking about them for only a couple of hours last night and wondering if I was foolish not to hightail it down the road to the bank and withdrawing the necessary then and there. But no, I was good. And I may have blown my non-existant tool budget just recently anyway...

Anyway, there is a website, but there are plans to include more stock on it and so forth, so I'll probably blog again when that happens and I add it to Ze Master List.

More local tool purveying is always a Good Thing, and there do seem to be quite a few interested parties knocking about so the interest in old tools is certainly alive and well in Cornwall. As Katie observed, it's a shame there isn't a local gathering of same really. Apparently even the Devon & Cornwall branch of TATHS has ceased to be, which is a shame.

Although I can talk - I've never joined TATHS. Whenever I considered it and how the events and meetings are all far up country, when it came to the crunch and the question of the membership fee I couldn't help thinking "But I could buy tools with that!"