First Ever Dovetails.

A quick picture from Brent in MD, USA of the first ever dovetails he has cut by hand. He used my 1:6 magnetic guide and after 20 minutes this was the result. He is very pleased and so he should be!

Planes on E Bay This Week.

First up is a large mitre plane in Yew by Bill Carter.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151961039187?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

An Early Norris A 50 in good working order.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151961010865?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

A rare smoother by J Bruford Plymouth.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151960994271?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

A nice pre war Norris A5 with super tight mouth.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151960986001?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

A superb Spiers 23, all original and parts stamped '50'.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151960974743?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

And lastly a Holtey 11sa smoother. This was on a 'by it now' and I'm afraid is sold.

Chris Schwarz Dutch Tool Chest

Simon, a good friend sent me these pictures of a project that kept him busy over Christmas. He is working from a single garage at the moment while he builds himself a proper work shop. As there is no room for machinery he made this lovely Dutch tool chest entirely by hand, including the initial stock preparation, which filled 7 dustbins with shavings!

I won't bore you with a running commentary, the pictures are self explanatory.
The eagle eyed of you may notice my Roubo work bench in its new home.

Richard Maguire's Last Bench.

Len, a good customer sent me these pictures of his new work bench made by Richard Maguire's and the last one he is going to make (for now!)

It's certainly a fine one to go out on, in olive ash, one of my favourite woods.

NORRIS AND LIE NIELSEN PLANES FOR SALE THIS WEEK

A Lie Nielsen No4 with a repaired handle
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151952607683?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

An unused Lie Nielsen 164
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151952600173?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

A nice Norris 61, original but short blade.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151953605393?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

A really nice Slater bullnose, a great user plane with good blade and tight mouth.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151952612645?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

Wayne Barton chip carving knives.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151953626842?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

Rebate plane with very short blade
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151953622573?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

A beatiful Mathieson smoother with extremely tight mouth a great user.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151953597231?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

an finally here's one for you Richard, an early spar plane by Lund, in superb condition with original round top iron and chip breaker by by F Stone.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151953615901?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

Tool Box made by Hand from a Fine Woodworking Plan.

Gary, a good customer from Oregon USA, sent me these shots, along with a nice description. Wait till you see those dovetailed bench stops! I let him take you through the project.

The plan for a few years was to build the dovetailed toolbox from a Fine Woodworking plan but to use hand tools for everything except some of the most basic stock preparation and large cuts in plywood.

After buying and successfully using the David Barron 1:6 dovetail guide on some sample projects I bought the 90 degree angle guide with hopes that it would make cutting tenons more productive with hand tools.  The wood is clear pine and handle material was 1-1/2 by 3 inches, so I needed good crosscut capacity.  I ordered a Gyokucho 371 saw for this purpose but most of the cuts shown were made before that saw arrived.

Figures 1 through 4 are my first cuts with the 90º angle guide but with a substandard backless saw.  Fig 1 is the layout on the 1-1/2 by 3 inch blank.  Fig 2 is one of the first tenon cuts, which was quite easy using David’s suggested lift guide, even with the fine tooth saw.  Fig 3 shows the first four cheek cuts and Fig 4 shows the first completed tenon, which was perfect right off the saw and did not require paring chisel work.

Fig 5 shows the first cuts in the final handle material with the 90º guide and a Japanese Katabe saw I happened to have.  This was a better choice, but not as good as the still-back ordered Gyokucho 371.  The longer saw with the more solid handle was preferred.

Fig 6 shows cutting the tenon shoulders with the Gyokucho 372 and my dovetailed bench stops.

Fig 7 shows the completed tenon right from the saw.

By design, the tenons as cut were a bit larger than their intended mortise and needed to be planed to fit as shown in Fig 8.

Fig 9 shows the initial complex glue-up of the big dovetailed tool box with its four dovetailed sides, bottom, handle and internal dividers.

Thanks to David Barron’s dovetail and 90º guides and the bench jigs made for and with them, the toolbox went together quite easily with large scale tenons that were easily cuts with cheeks that were dead on and required no chisel work.

You Can Never Have Too Many Clamps!

You can never have too many clamps, so the old saying goes. Well actually you can and I have!
So it's time to let some go. Please note that most of these on E Bay are UK purchases only and some of them are to be picked up from my workshop in Southampton due to the weight.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151944514668?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151944522248?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

4 x Bessy K 30 bar clamps, these can be posted.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151944532970?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

2 x K80 Bessey bar clamps, these are pick up only.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151944538561?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

4 x K60 Bessey bar clamps, these can be posted.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151944542313?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

2 x Stabil Gross bar clamps, 1000 mm, pick up only.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151944559768?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

4 x Bessey K100 bar clamps, collection only.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151944553767?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

2 x 5' Record speed clamps, definitely pick up only!

There are also a few planes including these two very good user models with very tight mouths.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151945648507?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151945710782?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649