More Planes for Sale on E Bay

I'm clearing out a few more bargain planes.

Above a nice Spiers smoother which has been cleaned up well by a previous owner.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/152674956794?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

An old Spiers plane with original stamped iron in reasonable condition
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/152674944622?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

A bargain Matheison smoothing plane that needs a bit of TLC
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/152674967201?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

And below a nice Spiers No 23 smoother, a great user with a tight mouth.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/152674933472?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

Oliver Sparks New Plane

Oliver Sparks has made a small batch of 3/4" violin makers planes and this one is mine.
http://oliversparks.co.uk/

It has a beautiful boxwood wedge and the making is immaculate as usual.
The mouth is super tight.

Here it is alongside my 1/2" version.
Ollie will be at the European Woodworking show on 16th and 17th September, he will have planes to try as well as buy. http://www.europeanwoodworkingshow.eu/

Nice Watch Box

Martin sent me these pictures of his latest project, a very nice watch box in wenge and birds eye maple with a pig suede lining. It has a subtle finger opening with two nicely shaped curved chamfers.

The hinges are 90 degree stop hinges from Brusso, these open a couple of degrees past 90 so the lid stays open.

Some nice solid birds eye maple for the lid panel with an angled chamfer, probably a Chris Becksvoort router bit from Lee Valley.

The case is dovetailed, although hardly visible in this dark wood. The inside lid is mirrored, a nice touch.

And here we are ready to go, a watch for every day of the week!

Celebration of Craftsmanship

I dropped off my boxes prior to the show beginning and as usual was humbled by the wonderful that had arrived already.

The show is on from Saturday 19th August until Monday 28th August and there are 76 makers represented with over 300 pieces on display, so it's a good days visit.

This magnificent burr brown oak table has an unbelievable mechanism for making it smaller and is worth visiting the show on its own,  just to see it demonstrated by the maker George Johnson.
 

Here is the centre of the table in its smaller size, wonderful!

Bargain Planes on E Bay

I'm clearing out some old planes, all have faults that would be easy to fix. First up an unhandled Spiers smoother, a good user.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/152662185132?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

Next a Norris A 71 missing its rear handle.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/152661891380?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

And lastly a Spiers parallel smoother again a good user
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/152661902318?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649
All start at 99p so bargains to be had. Due to the weights I'm afraid it's only postage (or collection) in the UK

More Meditation Stools

Andrew sent me these pictures of two nice knock down stools he made. He made them for his daughter who travels a lot, then more for his friends and now sells them on Etsy. If you go on there it's amazing the variety on offer, I didn't realise they were so widely used.

Meditation Stool

For our wedding anniversary we treated ourselves to a spa day at the lovely Careys Manor Hotel in the New Forest. One of the sessions we had there was a breathing and meditation class using a small pine meditation stool which gave an very good posture. The class was run by David Passmore who has an excellent website showing the power of breathing, exercise and healthy living http://www.davidpassmore.co.uk/home/4593845225

The pine stools we used were very comfortable but basic, so I decided to make a nicer version in rippled English walnut and oak.

Lovely Chest of Drawers

Joe from the UK sent me these pictures of his latest project a very nice chest of drawers in ash.

The stand is very imaginative with an oriental feel.

Plenty of dovetails!

It's great to see good use of unusual grain and colour, this sort of stuff would be considered seconds in commercial wood yards.

Latest Project in F&C Magazine

The latest issue of F&C magazine is out now and I'm on the cover. There is plenty of great content so it's well worth a read.

This box is favourite of mine and uses dovetailed Dominoes at the mitred corners which are very strong and ensure easy and gap free assembly.

There is an excellent article on an old school veneer producer in Paris who produces thicker veneers using an antique saw.

The stock of wood they use is amazing.

Another article on a very skilled carver, Gerald Adams.

Building (very) accurate jigs and shooting boards with Tico Voigt.

A fascinating article by Richard Arnold on 18thC planes.

A round up of the Handworks 2017 show.

And looking forward to the European Woodworking show in September. This is a great show and will be the last, so it's not to be missed!