Crafts / Craftsmen / craftswomen (craftspeople, I suppose)

Amazon dude just showed up. A little late for today's caper. Next time.

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I'm very happy with my mini Dewalt, very useful wee thing. First and hopefully last router.

The katsu with the plunge base and a set of bits was only £80. Loads of features so should be more than enough for me. Doesn't have the variable speed of the dewalt, but again, for me it's just fucking about making a mess. If I get something nice/usable at the end of it, I'm happy.

Planes and router bits are 2 things you can never have enough of! Sharpening tools is a whole thing too. I’ve not gone mad but probably have close to £1k in sharpening kit alone. Occasionally I spend a whole day sharpening. That said I’m at it most days so there are plenty of opportunities to wear an edge out.

I’ve got a really nice veritas apron plane for finer stuff but the record block plane that comes in at around £20 is great value, it’s a little heavier which helps and the adjustment is rudimentary but you can set it with the tap of a hammer when you get used to it. Once you get into the expensive planes they are incredible, very fussy about setup and blade angle but superb at the job. Everyone should have a rebate plane too, very useful for making/adjusting channels.

When it comes to hand planes buying vintage is ideal. They will restore well within an hour or two.
I bought a Bailey no4 for £10 off eBay and it is as good as any Lie Nielsen.
It's probably worth about £50 and an appreciating asset.
As the older generation start passing on and leaving behind good quality Sheffield built tools there are bargains to be had.
But they are getting harder to find now.
Paul sellers YouTube Channel has great videos on restoring and using these things.

Try Clifton planes, I’m not sure the Bailey would stand up to that! Totally agree about vintage though, well worth it. For chisels try and pick up some Ashley Iles, I used to call his daughter and she’d pick them up from him at the weekend and post them to me :)

It's nice to see that superb quality tools are still available new manufactured in Sheffield.
http://www.flinn-garlick-saws.co.uk/index.html
This company has a portfolio of classic names they manufacture under but the prices are beyond the reach of a hobbyist/diy.
The equivalent no4 Clifton plane is £300.
I wouldn't be surprised if the company realise on American order where carpenters can actually earn a really good income and venerable old English brands hold much cachet.

Just looked at the chisels.. as suspected they are beautiful but pricy.
Unfortunately the mass producers such as stanley and Irwin have all fled abroad and all that's left is small niche high end manufacturers, it's the equivalent of the car industry if aston Martin and rolls Royce where all that's left.
The japanese have some great chisels and other wood tools and reasonable too. Amazingly.

I’ve not gone mad but probably have close to £1k in sharpening kit alone.

I used to enjoy sharpening my small set of chisels on a set of waterstones, but after a few years of trying to maintain a good edge on a growing collection of carving gouges, I gave in and bought a machine.

One of the best additions to the workshop ever :-)

I use the Tormek T5 and 2 different diamond ‘stones’ with various jigs. I get great results but the very hard chisels take forever if they get chipped especially the 2” + sizes. Plane blades tend to see less damage and they only get sharpened on the dmt diamond plates. Your little machine looks neat, does it generate any heat in the blade?

I did have a Triton ( basically cheaper Tortec copy ) for a while, and it did a nice job. It was very slow though. Good for sharpening, but I needed to use a sererate grinding wheel to re-cut the bevels, or fix a damaged edge.

The Sorby machine does generate some heat. Not as much as a regular stone grinder, but enough to have to pay attention to what you're doing, and keep a pot of water at hand. It has a range of belts from 60-3000 grit which work really fast. Also a small polishing mop, which is great for regular stropping as I work.

Decided to see if I wanted a router table. I think I do.

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Thread bump

Scored this fresh fallen Giant Redwood branch. About 75cm by about 20cm diameter.

I should let it dry out? For how long?

Unsure what to do with it after, no idea if it's good for woodworking particularly.

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Give it 10 years and see how it feels.

made an icosahedron today.

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Neat! Now paint numbers on it and impress everyone at your next D&D session.

more laser cutting.

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That's a very satisfying set of photos.
What are you doing with these once they're built?

No idea really. Just making them to learn new skills. Will probably put a light inside the 2nd one and see how that looks. If that looks good then will make a stand for it.

I don't suppose anyone has a Pfeil 2aR/3 gouge for sale ?

I'm making these for xmas gifts. 6mm ply, laser etched with a wine glass motif. The kind of thing you might want to have on show when you have friends coming round, or if you just want easy access to wine at all times. And there's nothing wrong with that.

I'm making a two glass version too, but no pics yet.

I've had some orders at £14 including delivery. Anyone on here interested? Will make a forum donation for each sold.

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more making. some giant redwood ended up being made into these fridge magnets. cut slices on the bandsaw, then shaped and smoothed on the belt sander. just a very light coat of varnish.

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then inbetween making wine glass holders i laser etched and cut these penguins. designed by and coloured by moocher jr

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^ Love the penguins