I bought three #80 bench cabinet scrapers this week. I wanted to try one made by a UK supplier called Faithfull. The tools arrived neatly boxed and looked like any Stanley #80 scraper I’ve used over the decades. The main body seemed as good as any Stanley minus holes in the handles, which I drilled…
For those who asked for the source for the lovely Slovakian carving chisels and carving tools here is the link to MStein chisels. The site is in english as well. I really liked using them and would love to buy a set for future use. I liked the look and feel in the hand and…
I think that it’s remarkable listening to the radio recently when they talked extensively about alternative ways of learning and gaining a recognised higher education degree that’s internationally accepted. They are saying that alternative ways of gaining higher education will continue in years to come and indeed explode to unrecognisable proportions as internationally, countries around…
This is Joe. I forgot to ask him if he ever used a bench plane, but I know he didn’t use one well tuned and set up like ours. It was graceful watching him this morning as he skirted the perimeter of his new box. Bevel up or bevel down is of no consequence. Both…
Today is Sunday. It has been a lovely day all round. I met with friends in the morning and then milled more oak in the afternoon ready for Tuesday. The coffee tables are coming along well and by Tuesday evening we should have the end frames made and much of the superstructure done. Then we…
A scary process for most people and often with disappointing results. People don’t always realize that it can often be easier to file off all of the teeth and recut than to try a reshape to each of the teeth. Here is a method that works well for me and you may want to try…
I love the charge of intenseness in the workshop. I’ve experienced it in so many ways and hundreds upon hundreds of times. One year we worked through many nights to complete two designs for the White House that I had done. It was intense for weeks. Another time my son strung up his first instrument,…
Veritas Low-angle, bevel-up jack plane a great hit! Sometimes I wonder about newer planes. After all, how many planes do we really need? This project relied heavily on straightness, twistlessnes, alignness and the organic stuff only possible with hand work and hand tools and people working opposite one another, beside one another and together. The…
My day twists and turns according to many questions. Wood splits, and grain rises against us in short, quick distortion contorting willfully to destroy the pristine glassy surface we hope results from beneath the plane’s sole. We counter with a shift and the surface fibres pull like string and no matter the twist and turn…
In the solitude of another early start These are the scenes I like early on in my day. Before the students arrive I like to reflect on yesterdays work because I see them, the students, in my minds eye working on their projects. Uncertainty in some and absolute confidence in others. Some forthright and determined,…