I paid a visit to workshop heaven towards the end of last year, as they’re only up the road. If you ring ahead and tell them you’re coming the owner chap (whose name i can’t remember) will be happy to show you loads of tools and try the demo ones in his workshop area. I bought a pull saw (for fine work) and a few other things.
Watch it though, the place is loaded up with luxury tools that you will want. You can easily feel the benefit of spending more (and more) on saws.
Im probs going to head up again over the Easter break to buy some chisels.
Japanese ftw
Got my eye on a set of Narex ones tbh, they’re very good value and for my skill level more than enough for the time being. The one I do own is very decent.
I’m determined to master basic dovetailing this year.
They’re very good. A mate of mine has a few, I like them.
Newkiton (Chinese) marking gauge turned up today, very ok for the money, fine adjustment as well. Has come with fixed and bearing cutters.
Some sort of new fangled turntable bearing, no ?
I realise I am probably going to start needing to acquire a few more tools for this house renovation project. This could be fun.
Having to do some work on my mums place before we sell it.
Part of this is to take a wall unit off the wall. Sounds easy in the same way that ‘invade poland’ or ‘solve the energy crisis’ sounds easy… To understand you have to realize the enormity of my dad’s constructional paranoia. Yes this unit is a beast of a thing, designed by him to hold a large number of books and have a fold out desk part so he could pursue his calligraphy hobby. However using 3 large steel, L brackets on the bottom and 2 thick wooden battons screwed to the wall to which the unit is nailed to. Oh and these brackets and batons are screwed to the wall with 6 inch screws, well when I say screwed into the wall, what he did was drill some holes for wall plugs, fill these holes with araldite, push in the plugs, wipe off the excess and then screw the fuckers in.
So that was the mountain I had to climb.
Luckily a few of the screws were able to be removed with a screwdriver and some skinned knuckles. the rest, weren’t budging. After trying various methods both subtle and violent I decided that the best option was to go and buy an angle grinder, a cutting disk and pray I didn’t set fire to anything. I managed to cut the brackets enough to wrench them off the wall which meant I could get a good purchase on the screws with a pair of pliers. This let me loosen them enough to unscrew most of them. 3 or 4 however were too stubborn to come out cleanly so they got cut off flush - ish with the wall and polyfillered over.
This was my first experience wielding an angle grinder, it was both exhilarating and terrifying and I can’t wait to have another excuse to do it again…
Our (small) front garden is stone slabbed and almost all of that work was done by a neighbour who was a landscape gardener. He had a huge cutter with a diamond-edged disc which he lent me once or twice to do little tidying up jobs. It came with dire warnings and had a terrifying kick to it. Then one day he told me he’d sold it. He said he’d come so close to cutting his foot off with it that he just didn’t want to take the risk any more. He bought something smaller and slower but more controllable.
VB
Are you sure it wasn’t structural? Maybe some acro props are in order
The right option, and now you know why
More tools have arrived.
3 decent chisels, the dove tail guide and a posh right handed marking knife.
The knew concepts fret saw is on back order so have wait another week or two for that.
Nice looking chisels. How much were they Graham?
£14 +/- £1 depending on size.
Finally got round to a deep clean and service on my Record No. 3 Plane
And next to my Record No. 3 Vice… Next on the to do list!
All of the above were inherited from my Grandad quite a few years back but never got round to cleaning/servicing them.
along with quite a lot of chisels that need sharpening too…
There are also a whole host of Vernier Guages, all look pretty mint and most likely Friday 5PM discount from when he was a machinist. We have many duplicates, a lot more with my Brother. It was only after he died we found he was a hoarder, not just a shed full of tools, he only had Three Jumpers but over 50 pairs of shoes but only ever wore one!
I can see a slide rule in that bottom pic, have you ever used one Rob?
(God knows why you would if you have a calculator)