This Week on E Bay.

Here is a wonderful Norris 50 G with gunmetal casting and a steel sole, it has been very well maintained (if a bit shiny for my taste!) and has a full length blade. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151661963484?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649
Below is a Festool RO150 sander, it's only been used on one job and is a bit aggressive for my normal work.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151661970653?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

Customer Projects, Nice Wall Mounted Tool Chest.

Above is a fairly simple pine book case made by Ken. What's really nice about this is the proportions,
it looks just right.
Next is an attractive wall mounted tools chest, styled after the one on my YouTube video.

It makes good use of wall space as well as keeping tools safe and dust free.
Below are more shots sent by Craig of the making.

More of My Tools on E Bay, Ends Tomorrow

I'mm a bit late with this post as these tools end tomorrow night.
The first one is a Spiers rebate plane with it's own user made box. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151653938077?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

Next is a rare Preston shoulder plane with a large Preston inscription on the side. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151653957267?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

A very nice flat sole Lie Nielsen shave that hasn't been used. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151653942368?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

And lastly a Bristol Design chariot plane. These aren't being made any more and this example hasn't been used and comes with a very tight mouth. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151653962278?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

Customer Projects

First time dovetails with the guide and saw by David in London. A great first project to get used to the guide and a very useful aid. Once you've succeeded in timber this thick, then drawers and boxes will be easy.

A bathroom wall cabinet from Robert with some very nifty drawer slides. The cabinet was too shallow for any commercial drawer slides so he made his own from wood, following an article from Fine Woodworking magazine
.

It looks a nice job with some crisp looking dovetails as well.

New Infill Plane Maker Oliver Sparks

At the recent David Stanley Auction I had the pleasure of meetings Oliver Sparks, a very nice and very skilful young man. His work is stunning and I've included a number of shots of planes he's made although they are much better in the flesh.

He only makes planes part time at the moment and I thought his prices were very reasonable, especially considering the standard of workmanship. You can see more of his work and make contact here http://oliversparks.co.uk/gallery.html

New Tool. Awl with Mexican Rosewood handle.

I've had these on the 'to do' list for some time and at last got round to making them.
The handle is made from Bocote or Mexican Rosewood. Although not a true rosewood the colours are wonderful and they hold up nicely over time.

The handles are fairly traditional in shape and very comfortable to hold and use. The blades are Japanese HSS hardened to RC 68 and they extend nearly to the end of the handle.

I may not make these again due to time pressure, so it's first come first served, cost £28.

Wonderful Wood From Yandles

The Yandles show was another good one, although I find shows tiring and it takes me a few days to catch up on orders as well as replenish stock. The first thing I do when I arrive there is to look round the wood yard, they put out lots of new stock the day before the show starts, a heads up for you wood hounds. As I have a lot of nice wood and very little space left, I'm getting very fussy in my old age, however this large board of chestnut had to be mine.

It's 6' long, 18" wide and 3" thick and had been air dried rather than kilned, which is great, it can gently do the last stage of drying in my workshop. The nice tight ripple was evident on both both sides and covered more than half the board. It was also quarter sawn with nice streaks of colour running through.
I've never worked with chestnut before, but I look forward to using this once it has settled and I can find the time!

Atoma Diamond Plate.

I have been using these Atoma Diamond plates for a couple of years and they are superb. They are available in various grits but the 400 really hits the sweet spot. It's course enough to cut really quickly, but not so course that it leaves deep scratches. You can move to a 800 - 1,000 grit water stone with no problem.  You can see on this close up that the diamonds are arranged in small clusters which gives the swarf somewhere to go, a bit like the DMT plates but much finer.

They are very durable, I have have a 400 plate which has flattened the backs of many a plane iron and is still going strong. In addition because these plates are aluminium rather than steel, they can be used quite happily flattening and conditioning water stones without any fear of rusting, a real bonus.
They are a generous 210 x 75 x 11 mm in size and I have them in stock now, price £75.

Tools For Sale on E Bay

This weeks offerings start with a very nice pre war Norris A5 with dovetailed sides, rosewood infill and original blade. It has the tightest mouth I've ever seen and would make a great user.

A Norros No7 shoulder plane with original (very short!) blade.

A Lie Nielsen 164 which has hardly been used.
And lastly a slitting gauge by Gleave which runs really nicely and would also make a very good user tool.

More Planes for Sale on E Bay

Firstly I have a rare Spiers panel plane in good and original condition

A very early Stanley no72 with bull nose attachment
and lastly below a fine Veritas NX60 premium block plane which has never been used.
The listings finish this Sunday if you are interested.

An Original Roubo Style Bench for Sale on E Bay

Browsing E Bay on a sunny Bank Holiday I came across this bench for sale.
It has the classic Roubo features, single slab top, leg vice and twin tenon through the top, with a dovetail one on the outside.

The front legs have the twin tenon but the less important rear legs just have the dovetail tenon.
It is a compact bench 56" long x 18" deep x 32" high with a working vice. The advert suggests it would make a nice kitchen feature, but surely it would be better in someone's workshop!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/French-Vintage-Carpenters-Workbench-/111619217536?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item19fd061880

Yandles Show This Friday 10th and 11th April

I'm looking forward to the show this weekend, exhausting but good fun! Here's my stand from 2011, doesn't time fly. This is my 16th show and the sun always seems to shine!
It's is a great show and well worth a visit.

Roubo Work Bench at Handworks.

The Handworks show in Iowa is not far away now. I'll be bringing plenty of stock for the show but the one thing I can't take with me is a workbench. This dilemma is very kindly being sorted by Mark Hicks of Plate 11 who is making a Roubo bench for me to use at the show. Mark normally makes kits for final assembly by the customer but this one will be fully assembled (I hope!) and available for sale at the end of the show. So anyone coming to the show and in need of a fine Roubo bench can contact Mark here http://plate11.com/
Above is the bench just started and I will keep you posted with progress. You can also follow progress on Marks Instagram feed, his handle is MarkBuildsIt.

My Largest Batch of Bench Planes

With upcoming shows it was time to replenish my stocks of bench planes. I've made more of the mini smoothers in one go but never as many larger planes, 20 in all. Before anyone tells me I can't count, I know there are only 18 but I've had to finish and post two already.

I should sharpen the blades and complete them all today. In all it will have taken me just under 60 hours to complete them, dusty, repetitive and sometimes dangerous work. I have scars from the disc sander and bench grinder to show for my efforts. I think I'll stick to smaller batches in the future!