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Hello from Dursley

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Hello from Dursley

Postby Dr.Al » 04 Jan 2021, 19:00

Hello everyone,

I'd been wondering where a couple of regulars on a certain other forum had disappeared to and I think I've found them so decided to join this forum too. Hopefully I'll be able to add some things of interest to others here, although I'm very new to woodwork so I suspect I'll learn more than I'll contribute.

I've spent a lot more time over the years doing metalwork than woodwork, but I'm trying to adjust that balance now! My woodworking area is very small. My workshop is a single garage. Half of that single garage is allocated to metalworking tools (mainly a big metal lathe). Half of the remaining half is filled with a motorbike, which leaves quarter of a single garage for woodworking. Most of that space is a bench:

wood_workshop.jpg
Woodworking end of Workshop
(58.04 KiB)


I started woodworking last year in lockdown. My very first (and still my biggest) woodworking project was a small side table, made following lots of advice gained from @MikeG (and others) on the other forum.

table.jpg
Side table
(64.74 KiB)


It was made with a mixture of hand tools and power tools. All the mortice joints were hand cut, but the breadboard ends on the table top were cut with a router as I didn't have any suitable hand tools at the time (my collection has grown since then, so maybe next time...)

My next project was a monitor stand made out of lots and lots of little bits of maple, oak, European walnut and American black walnut, along with a stainless steel frame.

monitor_stand_1.jpg
Monitor Stand
(43.66 KiB)


For a sense of scale, it's about 800 mm long - big enough for two 24" widescreen monitors to sit on it. The legs are splayed out at 75°, which added some challenges from the metalworking part of the project, but I think adds to the style of it.

monitor_stand_2.jpg
Monitor Stand
(41.47 KiB)


Since then I haven't tackled anything big, although I have a few things in the "thinking phase". I have just made a set of grooving/plough planes and also what I'm calling a "kerfing saw":

planes_and_kerfing_saw.jpg
Home-made Planes & Kerfing Saw
(46.5 KiB)


With hindsight I probably should have taken them off the drawer unit to get a better photograph!

The planes are made out of beech and walnut, along with some gauge plate (O1 tool steel) for the blades. They're in pairs, two 3 mm and two 5 mm. The pairs are mirror images of each other so I can pick a different one depending on grain direction. Here are the 5 mm ones:

planes_on_bench.jpg
5 mm Planes
(46.9 KiB)


These two cut a 5 mm wide groove, 5 mm deep and 5 mm from the edge of a board. The idea is that they're used to make grooves for box / drawer bottoms without having to faff around setting up a plough plane (which I didn't own at the time I made these anyway) or router. This in-progress photo gives an idea of how they're constructed:

planes_inside.jpg
Inside the Planes
(46.59 KiB)


Most recently I finished making a "kerfing saw" out of oak, brass & a saw blade I bought for £10 on a well-known auction site:

kerfing_saw.jpg
Kerfing Saw
(31.72 KiB)


kerfing_saw_and_inserts.jpg
Kerfing Saw
(41.3 KiB)


It is used a bit like a plough plane crossed with a marking gauge to run a saw kerf (up to 16 mm deep) all the way round a bit of wood at a fixed offset (selected by picking one of the inserts, which I've made for 4 mm, 5 mm, 6 mm and 8 mm so far, but they're easy to make so more will probably come) from the edge of the wood. Having made that kerf, it's really easy to follow with a handsaw to cut the rest of the way through. In the first test of it I cut a piece of 9 mm thick cherry into two 3 mm thick (after planing) pieces, which felt to me like fairly minimal waste (especially considering my sawing skills!)

Anyway, that's me. Hello to everyone on this forum. I haven't actually had any issues personally from the other forum (and learnt a lot from some people over there), but I figure it would be good to see whether the grass colour looks any different over here, as long as I can manage not to get too frustrated by phpBB...

Hope this wasn't too long for a "hello" message!
My projects website: https://www.cgtk.co.uk
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Re: Hello from Dursley

Postby Blackswanwood » 04 Jan 2021, 19:06

Hi -I recall your first table from the other site - a very nicely proportioned piece.
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Re: Hello from Dursley

Postby Mike G » 04 Jan 2021, 19:12

Wow, you're leaping ahead, Dr Al. Great progress from someone so new to the hobby. And it just goes to show what can be done in quite a small space.

Great photos, and good to have you here. You've already got more planes than me! Some people call the kerfing tool a kerfing plane, but I've never understood that, as it is obviously a saw. Whatever it's called, it will certainly make resawing a lot easier and more accurate.
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Re: Hello from Dursley

Postby Cabinetman » 04 Jan 2021, 19:31

Hi Dr Al, that’s an impressive start you’ve made, including handmade planes, and good photos, and all in the right place and everything, I had better look to my laurels. Welcome Ian
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Re: Hello from Dursley

Postby Dr.Al » 04 Jan 2021, 19:54

Mike G wrote:Wow, you're leaping ahead, Dr Al. Great progress from someone so new to the hobby. And it just goes to show what can be done in quite a small space.

Great photos, and good to have you here. You've already got more planes than me! Some people call the kerfing tool a kerfing plane, but I've never understood that, as it is obviously a saw. Whatever it's called, it will certainly make resawing a lot easier and more accurate.


Thanks Mike & nice to "see" you again. I've got rather a lot more planes than I really intended to have, even ignoring the ones I made. Over the first few months of woodworking, I bought myself an Axminster #5, Axminster #311 (shoulder plane) and a Quangsheng low angle block plane. I had previously picked up some old wooden planes (including the 560 mm long one at the bottom of the picture at the top of the post) from a "junk" shop for next to nothing. The wooden jack plane, the Stanley 4, Stanley 5 (on the very top shelf), Stanley 5½, the Stanley block plane and the Record 80 (cabinet scraper) I inherited from my grandfather (I hadn't known about them when I bought the others). I then bought the rebate plane from someone on the other forum and out of the blue my Dad posted me his old Stanley #50 combination plane. All of a sudden I've got masses of them!

Still want a #62 low-angle jack plane and a #71 router plane though... I fear this is becoming an addiction!

At the moment, I mostly use the #4 and #5 for flattening the first side of wonky bits of wood and the #5½ on the shooting board. The others only come out occasionally. I've recently bought a Makita thicknesser and that's one area (getting the second side flat, parallel and to the right thickness) where I think I'll always stick with power tools. I guess the exception to that is if I'm cutting boards that are already flat and parallel in half - the kerfing saw makes that viable (and quite pleasant) with hand tools, but I'll probably still have put the original board through the thicknesser so that the outer faces are parallel.

I definitely want to gradually scale up the use of hand tools and scale down the use of power tools, but thicknesser usage and cordless drill usage are definitely here to stay!
My projects website: https://www.cgtk.co.uk
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Re: Hello from Dursley

Postby Dr.Al » 04 Jan 2021, 19:55

Cabinetman wrote:Hi Dr Al, that’s an impressive start you’ve made, including handmade planes, and good photos, and all in the right place and everything, I had better look to my laurels. Welcome Ian


Thanks Ian! I quite enjoy rearranging stuff to try to cram more in while still making it all accessible and visible!
My projects website: https://www.cgtk.co.uk
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Re: Hello from Dursley

Postby droogs » 04 Jan 2021, 19:58

You sir, are most welcome
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Re: Hello from Dursley

Postby billw » 04 Jan 2021, 20:55

Welcome Doc good to have you here :)

This post has reminded me to add your kerf saw onto my project list.
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Re: Hello from Dursley

Postby AJB Temple » 04 Jan 2021, 21:07

Welcome. What a brilliant start. Great thread. Best wishes for 2021. Adrian
Don't like: wood, engines, electrickery, decorating, tiling, laying stone, plumbing, gardening or any kind of DIY. Not wild about spiders either.
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Re: Hello from Dursley

Postby Chris101 » 04 Jan 2021, 21:54

Purposely not been eating apples Al.
*Purposely*
Look what I have done!
Mwahahahaha!!!

You're welcome.
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Re: Hello from Dursley

Postby Trevanion » 04 Jan 2021, 22:34

Image
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Re: Hello from Dursley

Postby AndyT » 04 Jan 2021, 23:03

Coming along rather nicely there!

Mike G talks sense about a lot of things but doesn't seem to understand about planes and how one leads on to another... I'll just say that you do not have very many at all (certainly not too many) and that even Mike seems to be dropping hints lately that he could do with one or two more... ;)
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Re: Hello from Dursley

Postby jvc26 » 04 Jan 2021, 23:20

Welcome! Nice output! The kerfing plane looks great!
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Re: Hello from Dursley

Postby Woodbloke » 04 Jan 2021, 23:30

Welcome from me :D - Rob
I no longer work for Axminster Tools & Machinery.
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Re: Hello from Dursley

Postby John Brown » 04 Jan 2021, 23:38

Welcome. I am just up the road from Dursley.
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Re: Hello from Dursley

Postby TrimTheKing » 05 Jan 2021, 01:20

Welcome Doc and great opening post.
Cheers
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Re: Hello from Dursley

Postby Phil » 05 Jan 2021, 09:31

Welcome.

Very nice work!
We don't stop woodworking because we grow old, we grow old because we stop woodworking!

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Re: Hello from Dursley

Postby Routermonster » 05 Jan 2021, 19:52

Welcome Dr Al.
All the tools - none of the skills!
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