Pants Boy

And if you were sharp, yes, that's Ed's suggestion. Works a charm. Perfect weight and PERFECT swing for small work such as this. Price suggestions?

I was contemplating making some form of jig to mortise hinges with a router and had all kinds of interesting ideas - a spot for putting waste blocks to prevent tear-out, adjustable depth stops, self-centering, clamping pads etc etc etc. And then I remembered that I have a beard. Took me less time to cut out 8 hinge mortises than I spent wondering about the mechanics of a self-centering jig.

Nope - up to my eyeballs in pinedust, making some display cases. Scheduled some lathe time for tomorrow though

Think I got it from Adendorfs - made a couple of mods to it, nothing too hectic. Like I said, you just need to make sure of your setup, so to that extent I made a few more mounting and adjusting holes, I sand the top with fine sandpaper every once in a while, and at the same time go over every little bolt and screw, undo them, clean them and re-assemble. PITA, but worth it for making quick boxes.

Lots and lots of practice. Sharp bits, smooth bearings, great setup etc etc etc. I'll see if I have photos of my hand-cut dovetails somewhere ... these are just so much more practical in a busy workshop. Making these with hammer and chisel would have taken the best part of a day, and looked and functioned the same, and that in something that is supposed to be low-cost and quick. That's the big trade-off when doing something for money - you sometimes have to take the quicker route to make something profitable.

I cheat Router and dovetail plate/jig. If you are patient and meticulous with your setup, cutting them is a breeze. Made these boxes, on all four corners, in 12 minutes flat. 1 minute to position wood, 2 minutes to cut dovetails along 450mm. With a jig you cut the pin and slot at the same time, saving a lot of time. Pine is very soft, thus it goes a lot quicker than hardwoods. You need to watch the pieces the whole time, if they start moving you have to cut power and re-affix. The set-up and testing take about 30 minutes

Thanks V12, I've actually got some yellowwood on my shelf Should be enough for this small job ... I just love making a nice joint, even if it is in pine. Here's two of 14 I made this morning Still need to sand the flats before final assembly.

I'm busy restoring a Yellowwood and Imbuia chair and need to replace one of the parts. Thankfully, Geelhout, not Imbuia. After explaining to the client the costs involved, I get the dreaded "Maar kan jy nie net 'n plankie insit nie?" Sigh. Yes. A Yellowwood plankie , at R100. It's not going to break the bank, and it's pretty much my cost, without labor. Maybe I should go find a pallet plank to put in there?

Thank ****. Personally, I hate pallets, with a passion, purely for the number of times I've had to hear "But why don't you make it out of pallet wood? That would make it cheaper?" These are normally on the 10-hour custom designs, specified to be made from hardwoods (quite often some exotic that they saw in a shop, like Mango or Burmese Teak or some such. Have I mentioned that I ******* hate ******* pallets?

It's been known to happen, right here on this thread But not something I 'advertise', for obvious reasons.

But keep sending me new product ideas

No-no, those are Giant Jenga blocks in the making. I've only got the one that I want to make something else out of. 220mmX70mmX50mm.

Let me knock out a prototype small carver then I'll price it.

I'm busy making 'a few' giant Jenga sets, this came from one of the parts. It's not going into the pile of parts I'd like some more suggestions for it ... don't really have place for a lamp.

How about a 70mm head and 80mm handle? I can make a single-piece one out of Rhodesian Teak for you.

I've got 2 Carpenter's Mallets (Square ones) in stock - need to go pick up some more Camelthorn for carver's mallets, unless you want one out of Rhodesian Teak, then I can make one sometime this week. Let me know what you'd like

I just love the messages I get sent via wood sometimes

Changes the numbers a little ...

Those Ryobi saws are ****. They have **** fences, horrid tolerance in the blade (If you move it up or down, it moves side to side as well, changing the angle of the blade) and blades you can only replace with Ryobi ones (Due to an odd arbor size and **** tolerances on that, so ie a Tork Craft blade won't fit properly and wobble at speed) The MacAfric one is slightly better, still a pretty crap fence, but you can replace blades easier. I love most of my MacAfric machines.

Ok, spending some time on the lathe then. Nothing to complain about

Thanks Myles, broom (or tool) handles are just too thin.

I'm looking for some thick pine or meranti dowels - 38-44mm range. Anyone know where I can get some off the shelf? Not really in the mood to turn a bunch of these.

Gedore, SnapOn and Leatherman have legendary warrantees.

Hi everyone that ordered hammers and mallets - I dropped them off at Aramex in Church street on Friday, but after investigation, it seems as if I was late for pick-up on Friday, and the guys at the Fresh Stop told me on Monday that there was no pick-up on Monday. If you need individual tracking numbers shoot me a message and I'll send along. It seems as if today is pick-up and tomorrow delivery So so sorry for the delays.

That's cause it smells like cocoa when you sand it, and you sniffed too deeply