• Hi all and welcome to TheWoodHaven2 brought into the 21st Century, kicking and screaming! We all have Alasdair to thank for the vast bulk of the heavy lifting to get us here, no more so than me because he's taken away a huge burden of responsibility from my shoulders and brought us to this new shiny home, with all your previous content (hopefully) still intact! Please peruse and feed back. There is still plenty to do, like changing the colour scheme, adding the banner graphic, tweaking the odd setting here and there so I have added a new thread in the 'Technical Issues, Bugs and Feature Requests' forum for you to add any issues you find, any missing settings or just anything you'd like to see added/removed from the feature set that Xenforo offers. We will get to everything over the coming weeks so please be patient, but add anything at all to the thread I mention above and we promise to get to them over the next few days/weeks/months. In the meantime, please enjoy!

Post a photo of the last thing you made...

AndyP said:
I do not usually get the opportunity to bake, I guess I taught and encouraged the kids too well.
Needs must as the missus had committed to make something typically British to take to work for one of their international themed days. Not having enough time to make a trifle and then not having enough time to bake a cake she delegated.
Mrs Beeton’s birthday fruit cake is under home made royal icing and shop bought marzipan.
We decided the rough and ready look to the icing rather than glass smooth was more suitable;). I just hope the icing hardens off overnight.

View attachment 29317
Click to expand...
Nae, this is a cake.

DSC02613.jpg

Swedish prinsesstårta. And, yes, that is mainly cream. Even looking at it will make your arteries clog up.
 
I got an unusual commision (well for me at least). It involved this bit of 2" thick Scottish Elm as well as a 4" block. The elm was too thick and well seasoned (translates to bloody hard). I needed an 11" x 1" board about 22" long. Cutting to length was easy as was squaring off and cutting to width but thickness was another matter entirely, I ran it through my table saw which only could cut 3" in from each edge and went back to my roots and broke out the handsaw (this was when I remembered that they invented power tools for a reason and I'm pretty sure that reason was hard elm). Anyway all parts got roughed out and left in the house to acclimate for a couple of weeks.
20241020_180053.jpg

First to the 4" block it was to be turned and made into this shape.

20241019_175955.jpg

It was then inserted into the end of this old 75mm shell case, British army circa 1972 (I had alread fixed the badge on by this point).

IMG-20241019-WA0012.jpeg

The shell case belongs to an old family friend who served in the SAS Regiment and was involved in the Battle of Mirbat in 1972 (https://alanmalcher.com/2021/12/14/...-july-1972-22nd-special-air-service-regiment/), the shell was one which his friend had been firing (he was operating a 3 man gun on his own against around 250 charging insurgents, the chap firing the gun was firing, unloading and sighting down the open breach until he saw the enemy in the barrel, loading and firing. he stayed in that gun emplacement until he was shot and died from his wounds. I was asked if it were possible to mount a cap badge to the shell case (this in itself took a bit of finding as apparently the SAS are one of the few regiments who only have cloth cap badges), plug the end of the shell and mount it on a stand. The ultimate goal is that it will be presented to 22 SAS and will live in their officers mess as a memorial to those that died in the battle.

So, hand cut a couple of shallow mortices and stub tenons.and made a couple of brackets to hold the shell.

20241020_160116.jpg

There is a plaque being made which will sit on the elm board, unfortunately I dont have it yet.
20241020_175838.jpg
 
Well, that is a really unusual project. The simplicity of it looks just perfect.

The interesting thing is how you came across a job like that?
 
I'd say that was an ideal use for a special bit of wood such as that. Well worth the extra effort sawing.
 
Mike G said:
Well, that is a really unusual project. The simplicity of it looks just perfect.

The interesting thing is how you came across a job like that?
Click to expand...
Thank you for that Mike, as I said it's an old family friend that served in the regiment and was involved in the battle. He took the case from where his comrade was killed as one of the last shells he fired and had kept it all these years, in his 80s now he didn't want this dissappearing after he goes and decided to give it back to the regiment. We had a chat about it and this is what came of it.
 
Last edited:
Fish small.jpg

Playing with my laser cutter, this one is not stuck down to the backer board yet, but was more a proof of principle in terms of image manipulation and made with the coloured veneers I had to hand, hence the grain direction not being consistent either - this was originally a stained glass image. Approx 12cm in diameter
 
A slip case for a hardback 1998 edition of 'The Enormous Crocodile':

IMG_3560.jpeg


IMG_3561.jpeg

Puffin, in their infinite wisdom (who now publish the Roald Dahl books), 'wokified' the text in many of his classic children's book to remove all 'offensive' phrases etc that might have upset the delicate sensibilities of the current readership. As our first grandson is due and this was my son's favourite RD book, we bought him a 1998 hardback edition in almost perfect condition, with the caveat that he has to read it to his son as I did to him.

There was much consternation and gnashing of teeth over Puffin's decision (even the last PM said it was daft and disapproved) so that now it appears that the publishers have reversed their former decision and the books with the original text will be again be on sale - Rob
 
I'm currently in the middle of a small project (making a Japanese style box) which was intended as a brief interlude from making a garden table. This was a brief interlude from making the box!

A lot of the old Stanley planes have slotted (yuck) screws. I currently tend to get a screwdriver bit holder handle and then rummage around for a bit that's the right size. I've got some bigger Wiha heavy-duty screwdrivers that would do the job too, but I wanted something fairly short and dedicated to dealing with old-fashioned woodworking tools.

Starting with a couple of bits of silver steel, I ground these to shape on the bench grinder, filed a flat on the shank (to help some epoxy bind them into some yet-to-be-made handles) and then hardened to cherry red and tempered to purpley-blue (as per the recommendations for screwdrivers in the little book I use for reference). I then gave them a good clean up with wet and dry paper:

screwdriver-blades.jpg

Above the screwdriver blanks you can see two of the screws that they'll be used with.
 
I don't think I've ever posted work in this thread, but a mallet doesn't justify a thread of its own. I made this today for my son in law from beech left over from building my bench last christmas. I always add a couple of extra wedges to the traditional design, and the head never comes loose. I once borrowed someone's round-handled mallet, so would never use anything without a rectangular section handle:

IMG_7521.jpg

IMG_7522.jpg

IMG_7523.jpg

IMG_7524.jpg


It's a mallet, for goodness sake........not a wedding gift! And I am a bit handicapped, literally, at the moment.
 
Last edited:
Considering your injury that’s beyond the call of duty, the mallet that is very similar to yours that is half made sits on my bench taunting me to finish it, but mine has a tapered mortise with a corresponding tapered handle, self tightening in use I suppose.
Edit, yours is too, so why the wedges?
 
Well, it's now wedged in both directions. How many times do you have to bang a pick-axe on the ground to re-seat the head on the handle? My mini-wedges overcome that issue.
 
Nice one handed job.

My favourite mallet is a round carving one. That has a wooden screw thread into the head and is a good design I think. My wooden mallet similar to Mike's was part of my childhood toolkit. Beech. Still use it. So I think your son in law will be using his in 40 years as well. Stamp your maker's name on it. My dad made mine and it has his initials and mind stamped on with a toolmaker's punch set. (Still have that too).
 
Woodbloke said:
A slip case for a hardback 1998 edition of 'The Enormous Crocodile':

View attachment 29406


View attachment 29407

Puffin, in their infinite wisdom (who now publish the Roald Dahl books), 'wokified' the text in many of his classic children's book to remove all 'offensive' phrases etc that might have upset the delicate sensibilities of the current readership. As our first grandson is due and this was my son's favourite RD book, we bought him a 1998 hardback edition in almost perfect condition, with the caveat that he has to read it to his son as I did to him.

There was much consternation and gnashing of teeth over Puffin's decision (even the last PM said it was daft and disapproved) so that now it appears that the publishers have reversed their former decision and the books with the original text will be again be on sale - Rob
Click to expand...
Sorry a bit slow in replying. That looks very smart. In the past I have made a slip cover for a set of books for my son out of wood, but it was much chunkier than that. How did you make yours?

Thanks

Mark
 
Weekend_Woodworker said:
Sorry a bit slow in replying. That looks very smart. In the past I have made a slip cover for a set of books for my son out of wood, but it was much chunkier than that. How did you make yours?

Thanks

Mark
Click to expand...
2mm thick cardboard for the broad faces front and back. The sides were made from 3mm thick oak glued on to the board; mitred at the corners. The tricky thing is to work out the allowances for the thickness of the papers, ensuring that the book needs to slide smoothly in and out; I left about 0.5mm on each face. I also made a former to fit inside to ensure that the boards glued squarely. Papers glued onto the board with TB3 and I found the best place to get some suitable colours was the art section of WHS. If you're after themed papers, the best place to look is at the Waterstones selection of large gift bags:

IMG_2565.jpeg

This is one I did earlier this year to hold SWIMBO's collection of miniature Hokusai sketch books. Top and bottom in black with the sides and end in a Waterstone's 'Great Wave' paper from one of their gift bags - Rob
 
Woodbloke said:
2mm thick cardboard for the broad faces front and back. The sides were made from 3mm thick oak glued on to the board; mitred at the corners. The tricky thing is to work out the allowances for the thickness of the papers, ensuring that the book needs to slide smoothly in and out; I left about 0.5mm on each face. I also made a former to fit inside to ensure that the boards glued squarely. Papers glued onto the board with TB3 and I found the best place to get some suitable colours was the art section of WHS. If you're after themed papers, the best place to look is at the Waterstones selection of large gift bags:

View attachment 29509

This is one I did earlier this year to hold SWIMBO's collection of miniature Hokusai sketch books. Top and bottom in black with the sides and end in a Waterstone's 'Great Wave' paper from one of their gift bags - Rob
Click to expand...
Thanks Rob. That’s good to know if I get another commission at some point.
 
Dr.Al said:
I'm currently in the middle of a small project (making a Japanese style box) which was intended as a brief interlude from making a garden table. This was a brief interlude from making the box!

A lot of the old Stanley planes have slotted (yuck) screws. I currently tend to get a screwdriver bit holder handle and then rummage around for a bit that's the right size. I've got some bigger Wiha heavy-duty screwdrivers that would do the job too, but I wanted something fairly short and dedicated to dealing with old-fashioned woodworking tools.

Starting with a couple of bits of silver steel, I ground these to shape on the bench grinder, filed a flat on the shank (to help some epoxy bind them into some yet-to-be-made handles) and then hardened to cherry red and tempered to purpley-blue (as per the recommendations for screwdrivers in the little book I use for reference). I then gave them a good clean up with wet and dry paper:

View attachment 29500

Above the screwdriver blanks you can see two of the screws that they'll be used with.
Click to expand...

The screwdriver blades (if that's the right word) I made yesterday gained handles today:

two-finished-screwdrivers_800.jpg
 
Thanks both.

duke said:
Did you also turn the brass ferrules?
Click to expand...

Yes, sort of. I bought some brass tube, 17 mm OD, 1 mm wall thickness (so 15 mm ID). "Turning the ferrules" was just a case of cutting to length and cleaning up the ends on the lathe. I've previously made ferrules from solid brass bar but it always seemed a bit of a waste to be drilling most of it away!
 
AndyP said:
Very smart. Are these actually single use screwdrivers?
Click to expand...
Not sure what you mean: they're the right size for (at least) most of the screws on my Stanley #45, the screws on my Rapier #43, the screw that goes through the middle of the lever cap on most of my bench planes and probably other things too. I expect they'll do the job just fine on the frog locking screws on the bench planes (the ones hidden underneath the plane), but probably not on the frog adjusting screw (the one at the back in line with the tote/handle), as that will probably need a longer shaft to get past the tote. Similarly I don't know whether they'll work on the "bedrock" cam-lock screws for locking the frog down on my Clifton #4½ as the tote might get in the way there too.

If you mean that the "single use" is adjusting woodworking planes then yes that's probably true, but only because I go out of my way to avoid slotted screws for any use other than where it's absolutely necessary!
 
I have a 405 heirloom multi-plane and I guess my “this one will do” approach to finding the right size screwdriver from a random draw full is why the screw heads show a bit of “wear”.
I am in awe of your approach Al.

What would you use though instead of slotted head screws in those applications? Cross heads would not look right surely.
 
AndyP said:
I have a 405 heirloom multi-plane and I guess my “this one will do” approach to finding the right size screwdriver from a random draw full is why the screw heads show a bit of “wear”.
Click to expand...
That's pretty much what I used to do (except with screwdriver bits rather than screwdrivers), although I also had a long and rather unwieldy screwdriver mounted on the wall:

1730104953488.png

That one worked, but was much too long to be comfortable for use when adjusting planes, hence the desire to make something shorter. Depending on how I find frog adjustment, it's likely that the big red screwdriver will get consigned to the "where tools go to die" drawer.

AndyP said:
What would you use though instead of slotted head screws in those applications? Cross heads would not look right surely.
Click to expand...

I know that my dislike of the aesthetics of slotted screws is unusual, but I'd choose a torx head or hex socket (Allen) head over a slotted screw any day - for aesthetics as well as function. Phillips and Pozi heads are just as bad as slotted in my opinion.
 
Dr.Al said:
I know that my dislike of the aesthetics of slotted screws is unusual, but I'd choose a torx head or hex socket (Allen) head over a slotted screw any day - for aesthetics as well as function. Phillips and Pozi heads are just as bad as slotted in my opinion.
Click to expand...
The one advantage of slotted screws of course is the ease at which gunk can be cleaned from the slot. I’d hate to come across a torx or hex head screw full of paint, not that you nor I ever would ever paint over screw heads.
 
I remember an episode of Tally Ho several years ago where they decided to go back and change something that had already been done, which required removing screws that had been counterbored and, like most things on a wooden boat, covered in watertight gunk behind the wooden plugs. He made the comment that this was only possible because they exclusively used slotted screws and could scrape out the slot well enough to unscrew them. There's a slightly more extreme and much more deliberate version of the paint scenario.
 
Slotted screws seem to be universal in gun making as well. I've never seen a shot gun with anything other than slotted. Not that I'm an expert. I rather like them.

Oddly enough I've just refinished an old table where the cross member between the legs was secured with 4" steel slot head screws. Not entirely sure why as the cross member had clearly been glued in as well.
 
Slotted screws are great, 'specially decent quality brass ones. The only caveat is that there must be a perfectly fitted screwdriver blade in the slot. If not, it will all end in tears - Rob
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top