Posted by Paul Sellers on 26 Aug 2012 in Paul Sellers' Blog | 16 comments

Buying good tools at old prices There are many ways you can buy hand tools and related equipment, new or secondhand, and end up with really good results that will equal the best at a fraction of the cost. My blogs have alluded to this over the past year or two, and here are the nuts and bolts of buying secondhand or new. In my experience, secondhand markets seem to me inexhaustible because so many were made and even with the current uptrend in hand tool work, there will always be tools cycling Read More

Posted by Paul Sellers on 27 Aug 2012 in Paul Sellers' Blog | 5 comments

The engineer's combination square Today I begin with talking about my square. I have more than one for practical reasons, but the one I reach for the most is a standard engineer’s combination square. As the name implies, this tools was designed for the highe demands of the engineer.You will likely add more types and sizes as you grow your collection so patiently wait for them and buy at the right price. My old Rabone combination square I have owned a Rabone since I was around 15 years Read More

Posted by Paul Sellers on 29 Aug 2012 in Paul Sellers' Blog | 1 comment

I think all too often we want a one-size-fits-all tool we can suit to every task without compromise. I confess that’s how I see certain tools, for the main part anyway. Every so often I discover a new tool, use it for a while, even fall in love with it for reasons known and unknown, but I sometimes find that eventually I will return to the one once picked up more than any other. With knives I have come across and made I have always been mostly settled for long periods. When I began woodworking Read More

Posted by Paul Sellers on 31 Aug 2012 in Paul Sellers' Blog | 16 comments

With reference to buying via eBay. One thing that comes with age is the ability to look retrospectively at changes in culture. Someone walking along the street tapping their palm and staring into it didn’t happen anywhere in the world two decades and less ago. I think you might find everyone stopped and staring at you. Today, almost everyone you meet will have been doing exactly that within ten minutes of you seeing them. That’s significant cultural shift and for all I know they could be looking Read More

Posted by Paul Sellers on 2 Sep 2012 in Paul Sellers' Blog | 7 comments

On plough planes briefly. Someone mentioned out-of-parallel fences on plough planes. This can be a problem and happens often on old plough planes that were new decades ago but left unused and therefore unchanged but old. I actually haven't had that happen with the 043 or the 044 but I have had it happen with other models and the writer told me that he had had it with 44s, 45s, 50s and even 55 models. Beyond rabbeting and grooving I have never liked multiplanes for a variety of reasons Read More