Tools and Jigs

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 [...]

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.

Stanley Bailey and Record Planes

I bought these three planes from an online site the sale included three planes at $30 so that's $10 each. I really wanted the No 7 so the two No4 planes  were a bonus.  The No4 planes are a Stanley /Bailey made  in Australia and an English made Record. All are rusty and dirty but otherwise seem to be in basically good condition. The No4 Stanley has a crack in the tote or handle. The No7 has a plastic tote but the forward handle is timber so I will make another. I have bought these to use rather restore and stick them in a cupboard.   I found some websites that were helpful and interesting Hans Brunner Tools has lots of information about the Bailey / Stanley handplanes. I also came across a site dedicated to Record Hand Tools which is full of useful information about theses tools. Additionally there is this video from Jay Bates  shows how he tackles a hand plane restoration.  Finally if you want to make your own tote there is a template available from Lee Valley tools  which includes  a diagram and instructions.  

An Organiser for Sandpaper

This was my last woodworking project for 2016 completed on New Years eve a storage box for sheets of sandpaper. It only took about 2 hours from start to finish. It all made from offcuts left over from recently completed projects.  The carcass is constructed from 12mm construction grade plywood and the shelves are made from 3mm mdf. I used the sheet size of the sandpaper to lay out the internal dimensions an added about 10mm width to accommodate placement in the grooves. I cut all the groves on the table saw spaced 25mm apart. I cut both sides in one piece to make sure that everything would line up. Top, bottom and back are also from the same material. I glued and nailed the carcass together. The shelves for the sandpaper were a little tricky because the kerf on my saw is 2.8mm and the self material is 3mm. I dealt with this by planing a low angle bevel on each side and sanding. So thats all for 2016 and my sandpaper has a home for 2017.  

A Small Welding Porject

This is the start of a laorgely non-woodworking project. I am building a chook house which will a welding project. I am recycling steel from a railing which once adorned the front of a house. The railing was over engineered and made form good quailty steel. The first part has been joing some 2inch square tube to make uprights for the chook enclosure. I made a jig so that i could join the lengths  and keep then straight.

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