Miscellaneous Item's
Update Thursday 25/9/08
This is a picture of Louise and Phil who came to spend a week with us so that Louise could make a plane for her husband Phil.
This is the finished plane. (10 out of 10)
Louise and Phil went to Mike Cawthorn's timber yard on Friday and Saturday and made this solid Walnut box for Phil's plane. She doesn't hang about.
Sunday 3/8/08
I have borrowed back the most ornate jointer that I have ever made, for the show at Westonbirt. It has 8 cupid bows scattered about, some of the best Rosewood I ever found and I made it in 1991.
Tuesday 17/6/08
This is a picture of my new second hand Inca bandsaw, showing a boxwood insert around the blade I made by hand. It is 5/8" deep with 3/32" flange running around the top. A tricky little job. In the background, peeping out, is Charlie's 1958 Lambretta and his little plane partly made resting near by.
A picture of my 2 mallet's, on the left the ash one I made 51 yrs ago, having found a felled log in the bottom of the hedgerow. Fortunately the log was well seasoned. After I made my mallet everyone in the shop wanted one out of the same log. The one on the right is Lignum Vitae, a friend bought me this from a David Stanley sale.
These are my peening hammers and my punch. I love the big old one on the left. Karl Holtey made me the punch. Thank you Karl.
Wednesday 4/6/08
Jointers
Our thanks to John at David Stanley Auctions for sending these pictures of 3 of my 36" jointers. The one in the middle had cupid bow dovetails, which nearly killed me to make, I made 6 in total. At a later date I cut 2 down to 28 1/2" as Norris made. Karl Holtey made the leaver caps, the irons and the adjusters. Ian Houghton did the engraving by hand on the lever caps and the adjusters. Both Carl and Ian's work was perfection.
This is a piece I cut off at a later date. People have said you must have hesitated when you offered up the hacksaw to both the front and back of the plane. I do set myself some tasks, because when I had sawn the front and back off, I then had to shape both ends in place, which involved reshaping the Rosewood, the Bronze sides and the steel base whilst in place. As you can imagine this was far more difficult to do than to shape the separate pieces before assembly. One of the sawn off rear ends went to the USA, with the plane to be used as a sandpaper block. This must have been the most expensive sandpaper block, labour wise.
If you were wondering why I reduced them in size, one of the reasons was, when people lifted them out of my car boot at a sale, they would very often knock my car in so doing, I put this down to the weight which they were not used to lifting in a restricted space. This didn't do the plane or the car any good. I hope you get a smile out of this.
Oil Stones
This is a massive Charnly Forest oilstone in a Maple and Mahogany box. These stones have been quarried for a known period of 400 years and probably a lot longer. They were highly prized in English cabinet makers work shops, until in the 1890's when the first Washtita's came over to England , they proved to be far superior and from then on interest in the Charnly stone's dwindled.
This shows an Elm box with a 2" thick stone, the true colour of this stone is karki, I have no idea where this stone came from, but I do know it is the most wonderful finishing stone, equal to a Arkansas and it's origolan box when found, appeared to be easily over 200 years old, and yet the stone was perfectly flat. This stone appears to be indistructable, I have only ever found one other like it. I used to collect stones.
In this oak box is a 3" wide black Arkansas modern stone, everyone knows about these.
This shows the Oak lid of the previous stone upside down with some of my Sheffield made marks I use on my planes.
This is a scanned picture of a Burr Elm oilstone box, such a simple thing I made, but it turned out to be one of my very best items.
Friday 18/4/08
Bill saw on Konrad Sauer's site, date November 14th 2007, where he had bought a blue Norton grinding wheel, mine came today from classic hand tools Needham market and it is truly wonderful, I will never use any other wheel. If only it had been around 20 years ago. Bill ground a plane iron 10 times faster than on his old wheel and without water. "Magic."
Wednesday 16/4/08
Boxwood logs making a feature in the fire place, at the same time drying out.
Tuesday 15/4/08
A group of Miniature Smoother's 11/8" long.
The List of 60+ Tools & Materials Used In Making Miniature Smoother's.
3 Saws. Knife. 1 Hacksaw.
3 Planes. Bench & Vice. Electric Grindstone.
Shuteboard & Plane. 4 Files. Oilstone & Oil.
Pencil. 2 Sandpaper Blocks. 1 Jar Acid.
Ruler. & Sandpaper. 1 Jar Linseed.
Square. 3 Makers Marks. 2 Soft Jaws.
Drill & Drill Bit. 1 Letter Stamp. Packing Pieces For Vice.
Mallet. 1 Number Stamp. Gun Blue.
7 Chisels. 3 Bevels. 1 Paint Brush.
1 Chisel Scraper. 2 Hammers. 1 Anvil.
1 Tree Trunk Support. Black Wax. Rag To Apply.
Polishing Mop. Boxwood. Steel.
String & Scissors. 5p. Water.
In one of David Stanley's early sales a 11/8" beech smoother turned up and fetched £150.This was the smallest smoother Bill had seen and because of such a high price, Bill went home and made over 100 in boxwood, in a straight run, he made more at a later date.