Blistering

Now I don't want to shock you or anything, but just for fun, some tool-related musing. Two things caught my eye that amused me, and there's a remote chance they might amuse someone else.

First up, I thought Amazon surprisingly frank in their product description when they describe this Am-Tech duo as a "double blister".

Then, as we head towards kick-off, this Official England Toolkit caught my eye. The very thing for hasty rebuilding of defences at half time, one presumes.

Of course being a football kit, they'll probably have another one of a slightly different design for sale in a month's time...

Let's Rock

Had some interesting pre-owned finds in the last few weeks, the most gloatable of which (to my mind) is this solid brass rocker blotter.

Hey, that's totally a tool, isn't it? Plus probably also an offensive weapon, owing to its 1lb 11oz weight.

You know me, though. A new old tool through the door, and I'm hitting the interwebs to find out more about it before you can say "History Nerd". Which I duly did. No maker's marks to go on, but despite the more ornate (and frankly, rather nicer) knob and lighter weight, it seemed to me to bear all the hallmarks of these. In particular, the standard size model.

So I cheekily sent off some pics and asked Desk Accessories if it was, indeed, one of theirs. Impressively, I got a reply back in mere hours, and yep, an earlier incarnation of same. Nice. A lot more recent that I had expected when I bought it, but that's not a matter of any concern to us users anyway.

Thus I'm now blotting in high style, with added muscle building courtesy of the sheer weight of brass. Plus it does double duty as a desk toy - reaching out to give it a little nudge to set it rocking every so often is strangely satisfactory.

All rather a relief, as it happens, as I can now quietly retire the wooden knocked-together-in-twenty-minutes "proof of concept" version I had been using. The best that can be said about it is it's a good example of why you want sharp blades in your bandsaw...

A Load of Buhl

Okay, I confess; tool nomenclature annoys me. There are perfectly good terms to differentiate one tool (or tool feature) from another, and some blighter comes along and tries to change it. One of the most annoying aspects of this is when they're actually changing it backwards to something it was before, so you feel that you probably can't even really get justifiably annoyed about it at all.

Oh, but I can. Easily.

Viz: Bench hook meaning a metal planing stop. Correct - technically - and yet oh-so annoyingly misleading these days. Bezel for bevel. 'Cos we've learnt to spell now, this is very irritating to me. And so on. Do not, absolutely not, get me started on the attempt to make "fillister" (however you want to spell that) mean "cross grain rebate". (Yes, that's rebate, you 17thC dwellers. We're all in the 21stC these days, y'know.)

In which spirit, let's talk about Buhl Saws.

"Do what now?" I hear you double-take. Well according to R Salaman's well-regarded (and occasionally not-at-all helpful) work, the Dictionary of Woodworking Tools, that's what we'd call a Fret Saw back in the 19thC. By a Fret Saw, obviously I mean a Buhl Saw with a frame, and not a Fret Saw that was back then, apparently, more like Keyhole or Pad Saw.

Get it? Perfectly clear. No problem. Terminology has evolved and we all know where we stand.

All well and good, except what do I mean by Fret Saw with a frame? I know what I mean, and what Raphael meant. (He provides both description and drawing, just to be sure) 12-20in deep (usually) metal U-shaped frame frame with a fine saw blade generally held by clamps. Handle on the end in line with the blade. Hobbies made thousands of them.

These days? Some blighter - and I'd like to know exactly who so I can put them in my Hall of Influential But Mildly Annoying Woodworking People along with Mr Dunbar, Mr Follansbee et al - some blighter has taken to calling Jeweller's Piercing Saws "Fret Saws".

Argh!

Why?!

Just 'cos they take the same blades? Does that make my compound mitre saw a table saw if it can take the same blades? No!

So everyone gets confused, and then people go truly insane and start confusing Piercing Saws with Coping Saws and any minute now some poor sap will call a Junior Hacksaw frame a Fret Saw and I WILL SCREAM.

*and breathe*

So, in this spirit, and in order that when someone says "Fret Saw" in a forum discussion I can just point them here and say "Which of these are you actually talking about as opposed to what I think you're talking about?", I give you

What Alf Thinks You Mean By *Blank* Saw.

Fret Saw. 

Takes fine, unpinned blades referred to as "Fret Saw" or "Scroll Saw" blades. It's not a Scroll Saw - a Scroll Saw usually refers to a mechanical saw. A Fret Saw is for Fret Work. i.e. Fine detailed sawing likely to make you fret more than somewhat.

Jeweller's (Adjustable) Piercing Saw.

Also takes unpinned blades referred to as "Fret Saw" or "Scroll Saw" blades. Is neither a Fret Saw or a Scroll Saw. It's a Piercing Saw. Piercing Jewellers with it is Not Advised as they have many evil tools of their own that would Hurt.

 Coping Saw.

Takes pinned blades referred to as "Coping Saw Blades". Designed with the "Coping" or "Scribing" of mouldings in mind. It could have been called a Scribing Saw. It wasn't. It's a Coping Saw. It's a modern invention; there is no 17thC spelling for it, so don't go looking. It's a 20thC tool. That's one of the reasons I like it.

 Another Coping Saw.

Also referred to as a Totally Unjustifiable Over-Indulgence. It was my birthday present to me; that's all the justification I needed. If you can't be nice, go away. Takes pinned blades referred to as "Good Lord, there are different TPIs available?! I must go mad and try lots of them." (Yeah, there was likely going to be a review-y kinda thing, but you got lucky and the Old Man broke his leg instead. He's doing better, btw. Thank you for the good wishes.)

So there you have it - what happens when Alf is feeling a little stressed and having to do Domestic Things like Bake Cakes and Remembering To Do The Laundry instead of playing with her new toy. No offence intended to any Influential But Mildly Annoying Woodworking People or 17thC dwelling North Americans. Love you all madly with your quaint terminology. Bless.

Tool Erasers

Without having first seen a picture, I got hopeful that these were for erasing mistakes made with tools. You know, instead of the mythical but much-desired "board stretcher", you could at least have the "saw cut eraser". The "mortise hole mover" maybe.  But no.

On the other hand, as an office-friendly means of demonstrating your tool addiction, they're kinda fun. You never know when a rubber hammer head in the pen pot could draw out a connection to real tools. Although little plane-shaped erasers would be even better...

Kingshott's Kit

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 Woodworking, which seemed to me was always the forgotten magazine of UK woodworking. Anyway, on with the kit:

Basic Kit

Jack plane

Steel smoothing plane

9in try square

2ft steel rule

Marking knife

26in crosscut saw, 8 or 9 ppi

10in Tenon saw

Combination mortise and marking gauge

Firmer chisels 3/8in, 1/2in, 3/4in, 1in

Mallet

Warrington 8oz hammer

Medium oilstone

Screwdriver, 8in cabinet pattern

Fine nail punch

Bradawl

Pincers, 8in

Ratchet brace, 8in or 10in sweep

Twist bits: 1/4in, 3/8in, 1/2in, 3/4in [Auger bits for the brace]

Countersink

-x-

As a Basic Kit goes, this is not dissimilar to Charles Hayward's - and, I reckon, lacks in much a similar way. Not a bevel edged chisel among them? And in RJK's case, none of them smaller than 3/8in, forsooth?! And no means to efficiently make rebates or grooves either. I'd also have recommended anything but a combination mortise/marking gauge. They seem like a good, and economic idea, but those things eat fingers. So, thus far I'm a little ho-hum. Onwards:

Supplementary Tools

Panel saw 20in, 10 or 12 ppi

Dovetail saw, 22 or 24 ppi

Coping saw

Fore or panel plane in metal [RJK was, of course, a big fan of the infill plane]

Block plane, 60 1/2 or 9 1/2 (both if you can afford them)

Metal fillister Record No.778

Bullnose plane, 1in cutter

Shoulder plane, 1 1/4in cutter

Plough plane or combination with cutters

Router

Bevelled-edge chisels; 5/8in, 7/8in, 1 1/4in

Gouges (obtain as and when needed)

Screwdriver bit [Presumably for the brace]

4in and 12in try squares

Mitre square

Sliding bevel

Cutting gauge

Dividers with screw adjustment

Pin hammer, 3oz

Spokeshaves, one flat sole and one round sole

Fine oilstone

-x-

Well this is more like it, and again a lot of similarity with Hayward. Still no narrower chisel listed though, which surprises me - unless we should be blaming a typo somewhere, about which I'm starting to wonder. On the other hand, "plough plane or combination" makes my combination plane-loving little heart swell with love for the late RJK...

Recommending two block planes strikes me as interesting though, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, many a woodworker, the more they do, the less they find themselves using block planes at all - I'm one of them, which is slightly ironic given how many of the darn things I have. The old school, classically-trained woodworker, will often seem to regard the ownership of a block plane at all as utterly superfluous and tend to look at the modern amateur a trifle pityingly for even wondering about getting one. But two?! One low angle and one standard angle? If I recall El Presidente correctly, LV only make a standard angle 'cos the educational establishments call for it - owing to the ham-fisted yoof in days of yore having an uncanny ability to bust the more delicate low angle bed on a 60 1/2. So you gave them a more robust 9 1/2 instead, right? But this is a kit for a novice joiner and/or cabinetmaker - a kit whose list includes an expensive and equally vulnerable shoulder plane - so robustness is not an issue. And if it is, you wouldn't be recommending a 60 1/2 in the first place, would you?

In short, I am, I freely confess, utterly perplexed at the double block recommendation in a supposed Starter Hand Tool Kit. Any reader who cares to enlighten me, the comments box welcomes you with open arms - there may even be tea and biscuits.

On the whole I'm still inclined to favour John Brown's list as being the most comprehensive and avoiding the trap of trying to give a pared down list of "basics" that really, IMO, fall just short of being truly useful. Only black mark is his lack of a plough plane. Sigh. Anyway, comparing them all, it does give a fairly good idea of what really are the essentials, and which are the individual's pet likes. You never know, that might be useful to someone.

Anarchy in the UK

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 of shunning power tools in favour of hand tools was a practical choice for a modern woodworker. In short, he was pretty much ahead of the game.

As we've already covered Charles Hayward's recommended beginner's tool kit, thought the reader might be interested on JB's selection, first printed in the autumn of 1997 and based largely on what was available from the Axminster catalogue of the time. I'd include the prices, but it'd only depress us all...

-x-

John Brown's Anarchist Woodworker Tool Kit - Autumn 1997

Saws
26in Rip Saw
26in Crosscut
22in Panel saw
8in Gents saw
Coping saw
12in Turning saw
Junior hack saw
8in regular taper saw file
6in slim taper saw file

Hammers
20oz Claw
12oz Crosspein

Planes
Jointer No 7
Jack No5
Smoothing
Block 60 1/2
Rebate 778
Router 71

Chisels
1 1/4in paring
1/2in paring
1in register
1/2in register
1/4in bevel edge

Boring Holes
10in Brace
Hand drill
1in Jennings bit
3/4in Jennings bit
5/8in Jennings bit
1/2in Jennings bit
3/8in Jennings bit
Bit roll - 9 pocket
1 1/4in centre pattern bit
13 piece twist drills, IMP
Countersink

Measuring and Marking
36in Rabone Blind Man's Rule
5m Tape
12in Try Square
10 1/2in Bevel
Mortise Gauge
Cutting Gauge
Knife (Sloyd)
2in Bradawl - square blade
Stanley Knife 199

Miscellaneous
8in Screwdriver
4in Screwdriver
6in Pliers
10in Pincers
12in Wood rasp

Adjustable mouth spokeshave

Cabinet Scraper

Burnisher
Handgrinder
O'Donnell Tool Rest
Fine Bench Stone - 8in x 2in Norton India
Slipstones

Holding and Cramping
Vice - Record 10 1/2in plain screw
Vice - Mechanic's - Record 4in
G Cramps
Sash Cramps - Paramo box section 2 x 36in
Sash Cramps - Paramo box section 2 x 72in

Add to this list such items as pencils, chalk, masking tape, rags, brushes, Danish oil, paint etc. Also, a 36in (or better, a 48in) metal level, useful as a straight edge.

-x-

The plan was to write a book, I believe, but it never came to fruition, which I always thought was a terrible shame. As it turns out, I needn't have worried; wait long enough and another anarchist will come along, just like buses. ;)

Beginner's Tool Kit

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 the years. Viz: a starting tool kit for a beginner. It's a question that crops up on the fora pretty regularly too; indeed it just did again while I was prepping this blog post. I imagine Charles Hayward got asked the question more than most and it struck me it'd be a place to, um, well... start. Then I thought "Y'know, I reckon I have all these. Be kinda fun to see what it actually looks like."

Yes, I got sorta side-tracked again... The most surprising thing is I didn't actually have all the specified tools after all.

The Essential Tool Kit, 1939, as chosen by Charles Hayward:

Small, isn't it? Want a list? Or course you do. Hayward first, then what I had available to fill the slot in brackets.

Handsaw, x-cut, 22", 8-9 ppi. (Spearior 88 22", 10ppi - all my panel saws are 10ppi, oddly enough)

Back saw, 10", 14-16ppi. (Could have used an Onions "Governor" brand 10", 13ppi but...)

or

Tenon saw, 14", 14 ppi & Dovetail saw, 8", 20ppi (Douglas & Sons 14", 13ppi & L-N, 9", 15ppi

)

Jack plane, wood, 2" cutter (A B Salmen, marked Late Chas Nurse, Technical jack, 2" cutter)

Smoother, metal, 2 3/8" cutter & Fore plane, metal, 18" long

or

Smoother, wood, 2 3/8" cutter & Trying, wood, 22" long

(Plane choice can be mixed and matched, and as I don't actually have a #6 (!), I went with the metal smoother, Stanley #4 1/2, and the wooden trying plane, an Atkins & Sons with 2 1/2" cutter)

Chisels, firmer, 1/4" & 3/4" (Hales Bros. and an unknown)

Screwdriver, 8" cabinet (Spear & Jackson)

Screwdriver, 3" ratchet (Yankee #15A - seems to be the variety shown in the accompanying drawing)

Hammer, Warrington No.4 (Stanley 8oz Warrington)

Mallet, 5" (Coachbuilder's mallet, may be 5" if you measure it at the right point...)

Pincers (Um, yep. J W Ward, Sheffield)

Nail punch, fine (2mm)

Gauge, cutting ("BugBeared" Nurse & Co)

Bradawl, medium (The text extolls the virtues of the birdcage awl, and I concur)

Brace, ratchet, 8 or 10" sweep (Stanley #901 10" - might as well start the beginner with a nice one...)

Bits: Twist, 3/8" (The text suggests a dowel bit, so one Marples example)

Countersink (Text says snail, so one J Howarth example)

Shell, about 3/16" (For screw holes apparently; mine is unmarked)

Centre, 3/4" (Text says "One or two" but sticking with the list, here's an Alfrid brand 3/4" improved pattern variety)

Square, try, 6" (The wooden stock variety are given the thumbs down and I only had an engineer's 6" all metal)

Oilstone, 7", India or carborundum, medium, or combination fine and coarse (Um... 8" slate, fine - I like the box, 'kay?)

Scraper, 5" (Scraper, 6", Roberts & Lee)

Rule, 2ft, folding (Text suggest 2 or 3 ft, so I went with a Rabone 1380 3ft)

The main thing I'm thinking is "Two chisels?!" at this point. What about you? But that's the bare essentials; Hayward then lists the tools that are likely to follow, some of them quite quickly.

That looks more like it. The chisel and measuring/marking departments both look much healthier.

So the "extras":

Bowsaw, 12" (Marples, 12")

Bullnose plane (Drawing shows an infill, but all I can offer is a Preston #1355. It's a hard life)

Rebate plane, metal (Marples 78)

Toothing plane, 2" cutter (Friends, I do not own one! First failure)

Spokshave, wood, 2 1/4" blade (It's wood, but 2 3/4" blade. Lee Valley kit)

Plough (Text says the 040/043 sort are fine, but the larger is better, so a Record 044 it is)

Chisels, firmer, 1/8" & 1/2" (Marples and one of the Sorbys - it's hard to make out which one)

Chisel, bevelled edge, 1 1/2" (C Johnson and with a thinness of blade you wouldn't believe)

Chisel, mortise, 5/16" (I know why I got it into my head it should be a sash mortise chisel, but I'm utterly wrong. It's shown as an Oval Bolstered, which I have in 5/16". But this is 1/4". These days, with 3/4" stuff being more common than 7/8-1", a 1/4" is probably more useful anyway)

Gouge, outside ground, size to suit (I threw in a Ward & Payne 3/8", which I find rather handy myself)

Hammer, pattern maker's, fine (Basically something for fine work. This is the best I can do, but it needs a new handle)

Gauge, marking (User-made cam action - seemed appropriate as the design is given a couple of times in the Woodworker)

Gauge, mortise (Screw adjust is advised, so herewith one modern abomination from Crown)

Bits: Twist, 1/4" & 1/2" (The 1/4" is advised for boring mortises. A couple of nice strong Irwins seemed appropriate)

Centre, 1", or as required. (Don't seem to have an 1", so 15/16" instead)

Square, try, 12" (The hate against wooden stocks presumably continues, but this Robert Sorby is really all metal with a wooden infill)

Square, mitre, 10" (Um. Er. I don't have one. Failure number two)

Bevel 8" (8" by Moi)

Rasp & File (Unspecified. I went with Grobet 10" 2nd cut cabinet rasp and 8" bastard cut half round file)

Sash cramps, pair, 3ft, or as needed (They're on the floor, okay...?)

G cramps, 6".

Handscrews (Text favours handscrews over G cramps, so a pair of those)

In addition, the tyro is directed to make his own mitre block (8"), mitre box, shooting board (about 3ft) , straight edge (4ft), square (2ft blade), parallel strips (winding sticks), oilstone case, veneering hammer, and bench hook.

So now what are you thinking? (Apart from "I'm not brave enough to be a beginner woodworker in Charles Haywood's world") I'm thinking how it reminds me of the scarcity of tools in young Thomas' kit in The Joiner and Cabinet Maker, but more so. (Interestingly, just 15 short years later in the 1954 magazine, this has already changed a surprising amount.) I'm thinking how every forum discussion guides beginners away from bullnose planes too. But mainly I'm thinking there's a dovetail saw but virtually all firmer chisels.

At least there's one bevelled edge chisel, and a beauty. But even then the text says "not a necessity but no man who has once had one would like to be without it. It is a really splendid tool for paring" Well said, Charles - it is, indeed, and this woman has no plans to be without it either. But in a time where the bevelled edged chisel is king, the preponderance of firmers is a little hard to get your head around. Thought-provoking though, if not necessarily provoking the thoughts I'd intended. But it did highlight that I have that beautiful chisel, and I don't use it nearly as often as I might because it's hidden away in a drawer, and thus how important good tool storage is.