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Welcome to the Gutenberg Editor

Of Mountains & Printing Presses The goal of this new editor is to make adding rich content to WordPress simple and enjoyable. This whole post is composed of pieces of content—somewhat similar to LEGO bricks—that you can move around and interact with. Move your cursor around and you’ll notice the different blocks light up with outlines and arrows. Press the arrows to reposition blocks quickly, without fearing about losing things in the process of copying and pasting. What you are reading now is a text block the most basic block of all. The text block has its own controls to be moved freely around the post... ... like this one, which is right aligned. Headings are separate blocks as well, which helps with the outline and organization of your content. A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words Handling images and media with the utmost care is a primary focus of the new editor. Hopefully, you’ll find aspects of adding captions or going full-width with your pictures much easier and robust than before. If your theme supports it, you’ll see the "wide" button on the image toolbar. Give it a try. Try selecting and removing or editing the caption, now you don’t have to be careful about selecting the image or other text by mistake and ruining the presentation. The Inserter Tool Imagine everything that WordPress can do is available to you quickly and in the same place on the interface. No need to figure out HTML tags, classes, or remember complicated shortcode syntax. That’s the spirit behind the inserter—the (+) button you’ll see around the editor—which allows you to browse all available content blocks and add them into your post. Plugins and themes are able [...]

By |July 23rd, 2021|Categories: News|0 Comments

A Little Tension

More TensionTemporary FixReplacement Tension WheelTension Wheel I have an old Stanley 110 block plane which used to belong to my father. I can remember him buying it in the early 1970s. With house moves and things over the years parts of it got lost. Importantly the blade and tension wheel went missing. The blade was fairly easy to replace but the the tension wheel was another matter. I have tried to order the part from Stanley but never had any luck. In fact ordering spare parts for tools can be a cause of tension as they often do not follow up on orders. In the interim I managed to make a tension wheel from a large flat washer and a quarter twenty bolt secured with a couple of square nuts. The old adage of temporary becoming permanent comes into focus. This has in fact served me well for quite a number of years. However I always wanted to replace the temporary repair with a real one. As is often the case you get a bee in your bonnet, so I decided to see if I could order a tension wheel online. It came as quite a shock that I would have to pay over $50 Australian dollars for the part from the US. Luckily I am a member of the Australian woodworking forums which has an active buy and sell section. There is a guy who regularly sells s lot of planes so I sent him a direct message asking where I might buy the part. He very generously offered to send me the part for postage only. The Stanley No 110 and the tension wheel are now happily working together. In the end my [...]

Penmaking

Pen on the LathePen Blanks Preparing Pen BlanksPen Making Pen Making is interesting as you can make nice pens with what amounts to fine timber veneers. Using relatively small amounts of timber great results can be achieved. Typically a timber blank somewhere between 15mm square to 25mm square will suffice. It's a great way to use up offcuts and scraps The pen on the lathe picture shows a completed pen which has a celery top pine veneer Phyllocladus aspleniifolius. I also used some applewood which does look quite similar in colour. The last picture features some fish tail oak Neorites. This is a darker timber but proved a little troublesome when turning. I have tried to stabilise it with this superglue. I usually glue the brass tubes which reside in the timber blanks with five minute two part epoxy. However this time I decided to use up some old regular epoxy , this usually cures in 24 hours. This time around a week later the glue had not set causing me quite bit of grief. I had to use superglue to to reinforce the two part epoxy. Even then when I was squaring up the ends some of the brass tubes worked loose. A lesson learnt in penmaking dont use old two part epoxy. I have managed to get on and make the pens.

By |August 31st, 2020|Categories: News|Tags: |0 Comments

Leather Work not Woodwork

I have been absent from the blog for a bit. I keep thinking that I will post some woodworking but I never seem to get around to it. As the title suggests I have delved into some leather work. I was prompted to make some covers for a range of spoon carving knives that I have. Being new to leather working I have got diverted from what the original idea of making covers for spoon carving knives. Theses will require wet forming which is a little more difficult. The first thing I had to investigate was saddle stitch. But before I could do that I had to make a stitching pony. I made the stitching pony as it was a fraction of the price of buying one. Then of course I needed thread and needles. Luckily I had been given some leather work tools some years ago so this was a starting point. Laying out and cutting hasn't been too difficult. The skiving knife and saddle knife pictured below were laid out using the tool. By the time I did the axe sheath I made a pattern which in hindsight was a better idea. I'm still coming to grips with the stitching. They say the tread should be four times the length od the stitching, I have found this to be an underestimate. Thanks to YouTube there are many channels out there some better than others and a local leather supply shop DS Horne I have managed to get on the bandwagon. There will be some YouTube video when I get around to editing it. The images below are some of my first attempts at saddle stitch and finishing leather with neatsfoot oil.

Kreg K4 a Useful Upgrade

The Kreg K4 jig is very handy for setting up and making pocket holes to accept screws. It is quick and easy making relatively strong joints. The only downside is a rather cumbersome clamping mechanism. It has to be adjusted to timber thickness and is fiddly. There is a more advanced jig called the K5 but for my needs the K4 is perfectly satisfactory. Currently the K4 can be purchased in Australia for about $140 and the K5 for somewhere between AUD $220 and $299. I bought my jig some years ago and paid around AUD $100. The Aussie dollar was stronger then. I was very pleased to to see that a company Armor Tools offered an upgrade to the clamping mechanism. A quick and easy upgrade that really works. It was less than $50. even better the K4 still fits in the original box. I have included a video link to the company video on this product. It is available in Australia from Timbecon KReg 4 with upgrade https://youtu.be/f48HUeYUOdw

Small Knife Project

One of those small projects that comes along. A small knife with a plastic handle. Could easily have been tossed in the bin. The tang was very short which contributed to the demise of the handle. The only reason I bothered resurrecting the small knife was because it has a nice practical scabbard. I didn't make a video as it was too stop start. I only managed a few photos. The first problem was how to secure the blade in a new handle. I came up with the idea of drilling two holes in the blade and pinning it through the handle. The blade was too hard to drill. I heated the tang to soften it and drilled two 4mm holes to accept the brass rod. Following this I hardened and tempered the tang. The handle was fashioned from Silver Birch and made in two halves wiht a small recess routed out to house the blade. The blade is so thin that I only created a housing in on side of the handle. The two parts were glued together with 5 minute two part epoxy. I modeled the handle for the small knife on the original plastic handle. After a bit bandsaw work and trip to the belt sander the handle took shape. I finished up with a bit of hand sanding and then uses a food safe oil from Ubeaut to protect the handle. About an hour of actual working time. So the plastic goes in the bin and the blade lives on.

Old Chairs to Repair

I purchased a couple of old chairs online for $15 each, The woman I bought them from said optimistically that old chairs only needed a quick sand and the vinyl was still good. This was an optimistic assessment of the old chairs. I have started the lengthy process of dismantling one the old chairs so I can repair both. This involves carefully taking the covers off so that you have a pattern for the new material. I have made a short video  of the process thus far. The extensive rotting of some parts has requires a bit of repair. I'm confident I will get a good outcome.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=El_pOjWCtS4&t=3s

Picture This CXXVIII

The link Below contain a post about kermodes pots and such mostly form 18th Century. It not only informative but also surprising. The range of seats and hidden potties is inventive. All I can say is hallelujah for modern plumbing and sanitary ware. https://wp.me/pDK0g-3Pn

By |February 5th, 2019|Categories: News|0 Comments
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