Post your woodwork here

[ABrooks]

Restoring hand planes is a labor of love, you get something very special with a lot of history behind it in the end.

Both Carrera and I have restored planes we got from our grandfathers and there is something very special about using a tool that you know was used by family.

 

With regards to sharpening I would recommend starting with sandpaper in various grits on a piece of glass or an offcut from a marble/granite counter top - you can generally get them for free from places that install those tops, there are always cut outs for sinks etc.

Just stick down sandpaper and go through the grits, it will be properly sharp.

Get a honing guide though to get the correct blade angles, BPM toolcraft are in your general area and have some nice cheap ones.

 

Thanks, will definitely look at getting at least a honing guide. 

[The Ouzo]

You can get fairly inexpensive diamond discs at pretty much all hardware stores that do a great job on those surfaces. You need to get it up to a polished surface again so a kit with the different grits helps. Otherwise you can go the sandpaper route on an orbital but its going to take a long time and you need to keep the surface wet. A spray bottle does a good job of that.

Thanks.

 

i'm going to fetch the granite tonight, so might pop out during the day tomorrow and get the discs.

 

When I cut granite I use a diamond disc and have one of those pressure spray bottles that I set on a fine mist spray and pointed at the area I'm cutting. That way I have a hands free way of spraying water continuously on the cutting area.

[Capricorn]

Been loving this guy's tips and tricks. The efficiency of making the scarf joint is awesome.

 

https://youtu.be/-SUtoKKNKHQ

[kosmonooit]

Been loving this guy's tips and tricks. The efficiency of making the scarf joint is awesome.

 

https://youtu.be/-SUtoKKNKHQ

 

 

Robin is top bloke - good presenter and even better chippie!  they share a  lot on that channel, I really like their approach and there is a load of useful content on there.

 

They put me on to the oscillating multi tool and impact driver  - both of which have become indispensable in my arsenal.

Edited June 8, 2019 by kosmonooit

[LeTurbo]

Hand planes ...

 

Here's a secret resource if you're in Cape Town. I really shouldn't tell, but here you go

 

On Voortrekker Road, kinda Maitland area, there's a Pawnbrokers on the left-hand side heading out of town. Next to a McDonalds, if I remember correctly. It looks like an old police station, or maybe a post office. Usually some (crap) bikes parked outside.

 

He has a fantastic range, and most of the planes are in excellent condition for pretty reasonable prices. The owner collects the better planes himself, but the Stanley and Record users are about the best bet you're gonna get for the money.

[kosmonooit]

And not to forget man main Rodg the Dodg on Skillbuilder; a plumber by trade but seems to get into all sorts of other projects and trades.

 

Ol'e Blighty could do with more Poms like them.

[LeTurbo]

I finally got my bike racks up, hopefully in a place where the bikes will be subject to less dust, sawdust, and miscellaneous nasty stuff from the railway on the one side of the workshop, and the lead smelters on the other.

 

(The lead smelters have just got MAJOR cease-and-desist notices from the council, operating as they were without any permits or any health or safety precautions. No wonder I've gone a little mad as a hatter.)

 

I think I maybe posted this one before. It was a relatively quick Friday afternoon experiment on making something from a offcut block of beech. The main joint there is an open bridle joint. The wall mount, of saligna, goes through the bridle joint with a mortise-and tenon.

 

This Le Turbo was bought for R1000 from an old guy in Steenberg. I took it up to Joburg for the 97.4 (or is it 94.7?), where it got transported around in the back of a VW beetle. A tight fit.

 

Then it sat in my Mom's garage at the old age home for a few years until I brought Mother, beetle and bike back to Cape Town. Nils converted it to a single speed for me.

 

 

[LeTurbo]

This rack is a rip-off of a design on Pinterest. Also beech. What it did was show me that my little Metabo mitre saw isn't entirely accurate - you can actually see the blade and slider mechanism flex slightly on angle cuts.

 

Contrary to my usual practice, I also did this one with screws and used saligna dowels to cover their heads.

 

The Colnago has been seriously covered with dust in the workshop. It's next in line for a complete stripdown. I bought her many years ago here on the Hub. She did the Argus as a loan bike to an American girl, who managed to crash on Chappies, bending the bars and smashing the r/h brake lever. Nils managed to replace it all nicely. It's a beautiful bike to ride, as smooth and comfortable as a lounge chair - but still temperamentally Italian where technology is concerned. 

[LeTurbo]

I went a bit sideways here, because I had these very skinny bits of beech - about 4mm X 8mm - and ash in the left-overs box. So it was interesting to see whether they'd still be able to handle the weight adequately. The only disadvantage is the slight side-to-side movement; more strutting was needed there.

 

I suppose the inspiration was one of those tall old trestle bridges we saw in good cowboy movies, just before it got blown up by the train robbers.

 

I used Rubio Monocoat as the finish, simply because I had a sample bottle of Castle Brown on the workbench. I works better on the ash than on the beech.

 

This Le Turbo is my baby, owned since 1985, and will be buried with me in a Le Turbo shaped coffin.

[LeTurbo]

Final one. It's called the Notre Dame. One of my Facebook groups posted pics of the roof structure of the cathedral before it burned down. I loved all the intersecting braces. 

 

In the old days, they used a science called Stereotomy to design it all. Essentially, it uses a compass to plot all the intricate intersection of straight and curved pieces of gothic arches and transepts. They could draw the structure out, and cut all the joints in the workshop (either in stone or wood), haul it into place, and everything linked perfectly.

 

Unfortunately, I don't know stereotomy, so this was a bit of a hit-and-miss fiddle that relies more on glue than on properly crafted joints. Neverthless, I think I could jump on it with all my 60kgs, and it probably wouldn't even flex.

 

The wood is saligna, with a Rubio Monocoat light grey fiinsh to give it a dusty, aged look.

 

The Victoria Titanium also needs a complete overhaul, which I'll get to shortly. It's had a chequered history. Stolen one Saturday morning from right under my nose in Woodstock, found again at Cash Converters (fairly trashed in the few hours the tik-head had it in his possession), then rebuilt by Nils. Somehow, I've never related to it as well after that event, so it gets ridden very seldom, maybe once a year. 

[DJR]

Fantastic work Le Turbo. 

 

I also loved your bikes' history! 

[Ed-Zulu]

Final one. It's called the Notre Dame. One of my Facebook groups posted pics of the roof structure of the cathedral before it burned down. I loved all the intersecting braces. 

 

In the old days, they used a science called Stereotomy to design it all. Essentially, it uses a compass to plot all the intricate intersection of straight and curved pieces of gothic arches and transepts. They could draw the structure out, and cut all the joints in the workshop (either in stone or wood), haul it into place, and everything linked perfectly.

 

Unfortunately, I don't know stereotomy, so this was a bit of a hit-and-miss fiddle that relies more on glue than on properly crafted joints. Neverthless, I think I could jump on it with all my 60kgs, and it probably wouldn't even flex.

 

The wood is saligna, with a Rubio Monocoat light grey fiinsh to give it a dusty, aged look.

 

The Victoria Titanium also needs a complete overhaul, which I'll get to shortly. It's had a chequered history. Stolen one Saturday morning from right under my nose in Woodstock, found again at Cash Converters (fairly trashed in the few hours the tik-head had it in his possession), then rebuilt by Nils. Somehow, I've never related to it as well after that event, so it gets ridden very seldom, maybe once a year. 

I love this one, great work Le Terbo. I will shamelessly file in the memory banks for future application!

[Hairy]

I finally got my bike racks up, hopefully in a place where the bikes will be subject to less dust, sawdust, and miscellaneous nasty stuff from the railway on the one side of the workshop, and the lead smelters on the other.

 

(The lead smelters have just got MAJOR cease-and-desist notices from the council, operating as they were without any permits or any health or safety precautions. No wonder I've gone a little mad as a hatter.)

 

I think I maybe posted this one before. It was a relatively quick Friday afternoon experiment on making something from a offcut block of beech. The main joint there is an open bridle joint. The wall mount, of saligna, goes through the bridle joint with a mortise-and tenon.

 

This Le Turbo was bought for R1000 from an old guy in Steenberg. I took it up to Joburg for the 97.4 (or is it 94.7?), where it got transported around in the back of a VW beetle. A tight fit.

 

Then it sat in my Mom's garage at the old age home for a few years until I brought Mother, beetle and bike back to Cape Town. Nils converted it to a single speed for me.

That is really nice and neat .. such a simple solution!

[Hairy]

Le Turbo ... where do you work from in CT?

[DJR]

.............. It's called the Notre Dame. .....................

I think this is my favourite one. Easy to see where the inspiration came from. Cannot even imagine how you worked out all the angles.   

[LeTurbo]

Le Turbo ... where do you work from in CT?

 Out in Bellville South, Hairy. Sort of Triangle Farm, Stikland, UWC area.