OK. Here I go again! Here is what we are actually admiring. This Stanley 5061 gauge is the best commercial-grade mass-made gauge that ever entered the woodworking market and if you can’t find one then make yours according to the patterns I gave in the previous blogs. You won’t regret it. Here…
Ok.Now that you have altered the pin direction you should reshape the stock of the gauge, an irreversible step. The shape is not really so much symmetrical as simply rounding. The shape is optional but here are my steps, I used a 1″ chisel and a coping saw for initial shape cutting followed by…
What kind of plane creates this? It was advertised on eBay last week as a toothing plane, which any woodworker worth half his or her salt will know that it’s not. These planes were fairly common in joiner’s tool boxes at one time , but as their use became redundant, they gradually disappeared from most woodworker’s tool…
As a follow up on scarce finds on eBay I thought it might be useful to convert and existing gauge to approximate a similar but home made retro-make design that will work equally well. The critical advantage of the Stanley 5061 gauge is the ease with which the trailing edge marks combined with maximum visibility of the point itself….
Looking at the tools I find they often seem quite ordinary on the web pages, but knowing some history and handling them in daily work often reveals remarkable creativity in those who made them. I left many of my hand tools in the US so that when I return to teach I have good tools…
Here I tackle another concern about an article about benchtop sanders in Fine Woodworking issue #221 September/October 2011 by Roland Johnson. Right off the bat Johnson states up front in the title that Benchtop sanders “…tackle trimming and smoothing quicker than hand tools do – with no sharpening needed.” That’s absolutely not the truth. What…
Magazine articles that mislead I have tried to work through some issues relating to “freedom of the press” to see if that means licensed to lie or that magazines remain unfettered in terms of truth and content. I have decided to bring balance wherever possible to flamboyant statements that unashamedly flaunt truth and misrepresent key…
Yesterday I found myself in a group of people from mixed backgrounds: An MP and his wife and daughter, a clothes designer/manufacturer and his wife and daughter a retired dentist and his friend, also a retired dentist. I began asking a question I ask many people at least once a day. What did it take…
The root word for joinery is harmos, which is where we get the word harmony from. When I look at these gates I feel the certainty of peace. The oak used is mainly quartersawn white oak and the gates are all mortise and tenoned throughout. This type of work is becoming scarcer and scarcer but…
Stanley 5061 Marking Gauge Over the past few months I have purchased many rarities on eBay. Tools such as my I Sorby 5 ½ plane… …my 4 ½ Woden and many others. Looking at the tools I find they often seem quite ordinary on the pages, but knowing some history and handling them in…
