Hand Tools

Whenever I find myself needing epoxy for a project I usually only need a very small amount. Mixing these two parts with a stick on a piece of cardboard is not very practical or efficient. A technique used by some boat builders as well as colleagues of mine in the furniture restoration world is to mix both parts in a disposable pouch which functions as a dispenser as well.



The simplest, cleanest way I know to do this is to use small Ziploc freezer bags cut into quarters. Take one of the corners and open it up like a cup so that so can place equal parts of A and B into the pouch.





After they are dispensed, twist the bag right above the epoxy and begin to knead the two parts together. 10-20 seconds of regular kneading is about all you should need.





Now that you have a fully mixed epoxy, make a small hole at the tip of the pouch, and you can control the adhesive application easily without any mess.

Once you have the area glued and clamped, you can use this bag to refer back to feel if the mix is hardened yet. If it hardened in the bag, it’s hardened in the repair.


One caveat here: I do not recommend using non reversible adhesives like epoxy in joinery! Do not squirt epoxy or gorilla glue or super glue, etc where tenon meets mortise or the like. This has serious implications for the ability the object to be repaired in the future. For joinery in antique furniture, do yourself and the object a favor and go get a little brown bottle of Franklin’s liquid hide at the hardware store before you reglue your grandmother’s rocking chair.

Sometimes there are classic designs that somehow defy time. This is of course an Arts and Crafts design I make in my classes. I just saw a beautiful chair design on the back of the latest Fine Woodworking magazine and it made me conscious of just how many designs have come about through the decades and centuries. We were talking about the simplicity of Sam Maloof’s design today in class and indeed the simplicity of making what is essentially a simple design that’s as simple to make as the design itself. Why is that? Well, the design replaces the use of traditional mortise and tenon joinery with all of the complexities surrounding compound angles it takes to make shouldered tenons corresponding to tapered front-to-back seats and places the seat-to-leg joinery on the side in a neat arrangement that recesses the seat into the leg and the leg into the seat. This virtually eliminates the limits normally associated with tradition and allows a more free-flowing shape that defies that tradition altogether to allow a free-form expression in three dimensional beauty and grace. John Cameron, the maker-designer, shadows the work of other designers (as we often do, perhaps most times unconsciously) to develop his own distinctive lines and presents us all with the challenge of creativity.
A classic design chair, good or bad, can stand the test of time with and without joinery

In the flea markets and car boots of the world there are thousands of chairs that retain the structure of the most used joint in the world. I see them wherever I travel with hide seats and woven seats, solid wooden seats carved to shapes corresponding to the human form and as flat as a pancake. They can indeed be monotonously dull and uninteresting until you consider their origins and the work that went into these complex pieces that somehow defy the impossible stresses and strains we expect them to withstand in the day to day of life. The point in all of this is to say that there are still  new designs that occasionally hit the streets from time to time that I predict may or may not be up there with Hepplewhite or Adams but will be recognisable as 20th century designs of note, with authors recognised for their awareness and distinctive approach to working wood.
I also thought another article worthy of note beside Jonathan Binzen’s above was Chuck Bender’s article on Wharton Esherick. Of course we can’t all travel to every venue supporting our inheritance of woodworking designers and so the articles are of real value to us. I thought that Chuck conveyed me right into the heart of this designer’s front room studio in the way he wrote the article. It was for me a lovely article and one I would like to keep and read over from time to time. Chuck is a working craftsman teacher and we shared a little time on the Woodworking Show’s circuit this past three months of winter. We chatted as he a carved a ball and claw foot one day and I will add some pictures when I find them. This article was in Popular Woodworking.

The post Designs that Defy Time – Articles of Note appeared first on Paul Sellers.

The candle arms required only the minimum of fettling prior to gold lacquering them to match the gilding on the frame.

A suspension wire was attached to the back of the girandole and the candle arm mounts were then screwed to the skirt.

The completed girandole.

Jack Plane

Filed under: Mirrors & Girandoles Tagged: candle arms, girandole, gold lacquering

One of the “Rosetta Stones” of 18th-century tool forms is a book with the long-winded title “Explanation or Key, to the various manufactories of Sheffield: with engravings of each article designed for the utility of merchants, wholesale ironmongers and travellers.” Most people just call it “Smith’s Key” because the editor/engraver was Joseph Smith.

What is it? It’s collection of beautiful plates of all sorts of tools for woodworking, some other trades and a big section of cutlery, always a popular item in Sheffield, England.

The Early American Industries Association published a reprint of it in 1975 with a nice essay by John S. Kebabian and an important price list. According to the Kebabian essay, it is likely this “key” was used by salesmen who represented different manufacturers and needed to show the lines of several makers.

There are earlier tool catalogs than this circa 1816 example, but this one is particularly important because it might have been used extensively.

For us, the catalog is important because it shows tools in their new states, without any user modifications from sharpening, mishandling or simple use. Most significant is the page on saws, which shows backsaws with blades that get narrower at the toe. I wrote about this years ago, and saw wright Matt Cianci of the thesawblog.com has been crowing about it, too. (Yay Matt!)

If you’ve ever looked for a copy of “Smith’s Key,” you probably decided to instead spend the money on a mortgage payment or a trip to Europe. And that’s why I’m pleased to present this link, courtesy of Jeff Burks, that allows you to download “Smith’s Key” from Gallica.bnf.fr.

Click here to get started. The link to download the entire book is at the top right part of the screen. It’s a fantastic scan. And though it doesn’t include the essay or price list from the 1975 EAIA edition, it does offer some of the plates in color.

Check it out. Download it now.

— Christopher Schwarz

Filed under: Downloads, Historical Images

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Always remember, your focus determines your reality.” — George Lucas

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

DSN: I am thrilled to be able to share this video with you. Here’s the back story…

The film below was part of the Portland Public School’s Film Depository in 1973. I ordered a copy to review for my woodworking students. I have seen this film over 50 times and watched two times today! Caveat, it is not about woodworking.

For a 22 year old teacher, this was a life changing experience. I freely admit that deep down, I wanted to be just like Dominick Calicchio, which of course is impossible – as you will soon see, he is one of a kind.

Today, I received permission to post this on this Totally Awesome and Worthless Blog for you, and all members of the Drivel Starved Nation. That said, I do hope you take the time to view it, it is approx 20 minutes long. Works well on an iPad if you have a wmv viewer like Azul.

As always, your comments are welcome.

-John

Click below to view. This is a .wmv file and you may need to add extensions to your browser to view it. I do not have permission to post this movie to more standard viewers like Vimeo or YouTube. FYI

Triad

Woodworking in America 2013 registration is live:

Can’t wait. The more I look at the schedule of classes, the more it seems to be an embarrassment of riches.

Professor Trevor Marchand is fast becoming a hero of mine. Why? because he understands what he calls "the remarkable skilled knowledge of craftspeople" Now I posted a film of this guy a few days ago but this one is better, it gets better the further you get into it and the questions from 30 mins onwards are great too.

Lots of folk understand handwork and there are a few academics who study it and write about it but I think Trevor is perhaps unique in his depth of understanding of both worlds. This is great as it stretches my thoughts about what I do in the workshop and it also gives those of us who work with our hands more credibility. I know that there are not many dim craftspeople but the level of intelligence that is required to be really good is not often understood from the outside.



Incidentally the title of the blog post is a tribute to Doug Stowe who blogs prolifically on the value of handwork  and I am sure will love the film.

Between times over the last day or two I rescued a lump of holly which had been standing in the garden and found space between the knots to carve this deep-bowled spoon. The wood was drier than I would have liked which made excavating the bowl hard going, especially as I was using my home-made knives - made from old saw plate steel - which are not so rigid as bought tool blades would be. The Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12042650405946029324noreply@blogger.com0

Though I have been actively building campaign furniture for 17 months for a forthcoming book, I felt like I was treading water – until yesterday.

I got my hands on a copy of the 1907 “Annual Price List” of The Army and Navy Co-operative Society. This incredible 1,284-page book is an illustrated compendium of all the objects sold by the co-operative to its members. In the catalog is a nice section on campaign furniture, plus some other sections that are relevant to my research.

The book cost more than my first pick-up truck, but it was well worth the price and the wait for it to arrive from England.

This book shows the breadth of portable furniture available to officers, colonists, students and urbanites at the turn of the last century. It is so staggering, it makes you want to pick up the telephone and ring them at Westminster No. 69 to order some hard goods.

I’ll be reproducing at least a hundred drawings from this book to illustrate the ingenuity and scope of this neglected style.

One of the first surprises in the book was a form of “Improved Roorkhee” chair called the Bartlett Chair. It has all the hallmarks of the standard Roorkhee – plus extendable rests for your feet, like the classic planter’s chair.

Also of note (to me) are the odd-shaped turnings shown on the standard Roorkhee. The top and bottom of each leg look more like a sphere that any Roorkhee chair I’ve seen. The drawings of the turnings of the improved Roorkhee looks more like the ones I’ve seen in the wild.

But, as Joseph Moxon knows, you can’t always trust an illustrator to draw wooden objects perfectly.

Lastly of note: These chairs were available in ash. I’ll have to make some in ash before all our country’s ash is lost to the Emerald Ash Borer.

Enough yackity yack. I’ve got to get back to scanning this book (each page takes 20 minutes) and editing chapter 14 of A.J. Roubo.

— Christopher Schwarz

Filed under: Books in the Works, Campaign Furniture

I have posted about this hacksaw before during a workshop with the Nevada WoodChucks, and thought I would post the original influence.  Charles Plummier’s L’art de Tourner published in 1749, this is a photograph of an original edition in the collection of Ray Wilson of Indianapolis.  I shot the photograph in 1977.

I have made and sold several of these including a couple of replacement arms, it is remarkably easy to break the end by overtightening the tension.  An iron version would not have this problem.  Very handy tool which I find I use on a regular basis.

I used the shape of the iron version on the upper left as I liked the looks of the arms, the wooden version is on the upper right.  Did you know the paint on hacksaw blades is actually a lubricant?

Stephen

 

We're happy to announce that the Benchcrafted Carver's Vise is finally ready.

This whole process started seven years ago (almost to the day) when Chris Schwarz blogged about Louis Bois' carver's chops from La Forge Royale. Read more about that post here.

Then one night during a WIA conference, Louis Bois pulled his original carver's chops from the trunk of his Nissan Juke, and pitched the idea of us making the metal parts for a run of vises. We bit.



After 19 months we finally have all the bits and piece ready to sell. It was no easy task to design the parts for the vise. We wanted to basically replicate Louis' example in every detail, and we've come darn close. Our version is about 97.6% faithful to the La Forge Royale original.



The components are made entirely from cold rolled steel, and every part is machined to precise dimensions. There are no stamped parts. 95% of the vise is manufactured from scratch by us. We've even gone to the trouble of incorporating some different machining techniques to give a hint of the hand-wrought look of the original.


The rear of the vise is the part that moves, and is completely removable once the screw is unthreaded all the way. The two sliding brackets feature an integral lip that traps the rear jaw, keying it onto the slide rails that run along the base of the vise. The rear jaw traverses the base smoothly, and does not rack or shift during use. The 7/8" dia. acme screw is the same size as the original.



The base of the vise attached to a bench via a mounting screw with a large square head. This head slides up through a mortise at the end of the base, and holds the base down on two 1/8" thick steel bearing plates that attach inside the mortise. The entire vise can swivel 360 degrees, and can cantilever off the edge of a bench while still remaining rock solid. This is very handy for doing spokeshave work on chair parts, or the like. A cover plate keeps shavings and dust from fouling the mounting screw.


Engaging the mounting screw is a tapped cast iron handwheel which cinches down the vise with great pressure and is easy to adjust by reaching under the benchtop. A thick steel washer takes wear and distributes the holding pressure on the underside of the bench. Changing position of the vise is quick and easy. You can even pick a favorite spot on your bench for the vise, mortise for the square head of the mounting screw, then let the head drop into the mortise when not using the vise. You can keep the mounting screw, washer and handwheel on the bench at all times. To mount the vise simply place the base over the square head, push the screw up and engage the rails in the vise's base. Quick and easy.


The head of the main screw is branded with the the Benchcrafted name and logo, and "USA". We're proud to say that this vise is manufactured (like all our vises) in the United States. For demonstration purposes we've filled the stamped brand with white enamel. Vises will be supplied with unfilled brands. We like the minimalist look (we're not big fans of overt branding) of the unfilled lines, but if you'd like to fill your's, by all means feel free. We simply painted on the white enamel, let it set for about a minute, then wiped it off with a paper towel wrapped tight around a cork block. We wet the towel slightly with lacquer thinner to remove any surface film. Below is an unfilled example.



All parts of the vise (except the nut, mounting screw, handwheel and bearing plates) are finished in hot black oxide and oiled. Your vise parts will arrive wrapped in paper and oily. You should remove most of the oil before you begin building your vise. Use a paper towel and a little mineral spirits. It's okay to leave the parts a little oily.

The Benchcrafted Carver's Vise is available in kit form only. That is, the metal parts pictured above. You will need to build the vise around the metal parts. It is an enormously satisfying build, much like building a great bench, without all the heavy lifting. It's also a great project for a special piece of wood you've been holding onto.


For those who don't have any of that special wood, we have a limited number of 16/4, mixed rift and quartersawn American beech billets that we are offering along with the vise components. This is excellent quality beech, and is completely traditional for tool making. Wood being wood, we can't guarantee the blanks, or accept returns on these. The vise pictured above was made with the same wood we're offering. The blanks will vary slightly in width. Each billet will provide more than enough wood to build one complete vise.

Prices:

Benchcrafted Carver's Vise (hardware components only): $379 plus shipping

Benchcrafted Carver's Vise (hardware components) & Beech Billet: $439 plus shipping

Vices will go on sale at 10am (CST), Friday May 24. You can place an order through our store page. 

If you're attending Handworks, we'll also have vises (and beech billets) at the event.

Measured drawings and construction notes will be available for free download in the next few weeks. 

Note:

Unlike our other products, this is a limited run. When they are gone, we may or may not make them again. We won't have a page on our website about this vise. This blog post is it. If you want one, again be sure to check the store page on the May 24th after 10am. Refresh your browser if you don't see the carver's vise on the page.




Carvings generously provided by Louis Bois and Andrew Lunn.

In less than two weeks we are off to Amana Iowa and the 2013 Handworks Show. Thanks to Jameel for organizing the event and making it happen. For the first time in a long time we are doing a show and bringing inventory for cash and carry sales. We will have all the Gramercy Tools stuff with us, plus a lot of new things to offer. I'll be at the show and I am looking forward to seeing lots of old friends and making lots of new ones. Click here for details, See you there!

In other news, over a year ago in the Work Magazine Reprint Project number 5, there was a plan for making an iron, or infill smoothing plane. Basically you were supposed to make a pattern, cast the plane and go from there. The article pointed out that a group of people could easily get together, make one set of patterns and get them cast by a local Foundry.

The group of people was the WoodNet hand tool forum, and James Conrad took on the job of making the castings. The local foundry turned out to be in Connecticut, and after some trial and error my set of casting recently showed up. They are beautiful and worth the wait. James deserves a real pat on the back for not just producing nice clean castings, but also thin walled 19th century style castings that are exactly what the doctor ordered. The thin wall, which is hard to do, hard to keep flat, and hard to keep from warping makes for a lighter more elegant plane. In addition to the plane body James also produced a nice cast lever cap and a lever cap screw. There is some, but not a lot, of filing to do, but I think the hardest task will be drilling the pivots on the lever cap.

If you are interested in giving the project a whack, James has set up a company Sturnella Toolworks and is now taking orders for sets of casting at a very reasonable price (we have no connection with them except as a happy customer). Earlier in the year Ron Hock produced a set of single irons for the plane and I think he is planning to make a bunch more for the next group of kit builders.

I am really pleased as punch to see a positive result from the Work Magazine Reprint Project. It's been running for over a year and every week I learn something. The current issue starts off with an article by David Denning, but the article on bricklaying got my attention first. The sculpture article I know will interest a lot of people. The carving article on page 125 hits the spot for me. It's the next level up for carving for me and I will give it whack soon. I'm (slowly) building the screen secretary in issue 10, I've cracked a few tool puzzles that I have had during the year, and we are seeing more and more people find the magazine of use. Download a couple of copies, skim them, there is always at least one article of interest, no matter if your interests are in furniture, photography, machine work, printing, or cycling.

In a final bit of news Gramercy Tools are now stocked in the Nepenthes stores in Japan. If you recall during last winter we had a pop-up store in Manhattan at the flagship store for Nepenthes and they liked it so much they decided to offer our tools in Japan. We are totally honored by all the attention. The stores are located in Tokyo, Osaka, and Sapporo.

Handworks is coming:

If you still don’t have plans for Memorial Day weekend, consider going to Handworks. It will be an incredible meeting of some of the best toolmakers around. In addition, Don Williams and Christopher Schwarz will be giving a presentation on the Studley tool chest. I’m really regretting not being able to go, even though, to my knowledge, there won’t be a single Japanese tool in sight.

There have been a number of write-ups about this, but I’ll direct you to Raney Nelson’s, since it’s the most entertaining one I’ve seen, with the added benefit of a Sleater-Kinney reference.

Thanks to a generous donation of some amazingly beautiful Teak boards from a friend of the show, I have an opportunity to work with an species of wood I probably would ordinarily not use.

It’s not that I don’t want to use different species, I just have a few that I’m readily familiar with and just haven’t had a reason to step out of my comfort zone before.

So the first thing I’m building with these gorgeous boards is a…shoe rack!

Tools featured in today’s show:
JET Benchtop Oscillating Spindle Sander with Spindle Assortment, 110-Volt 1 Phase
SawStop Cabinet Table Saw
Steel City Tool Works 14-Inch Band Saw
Wood Slicer Resaw Bandsaw Blade
Bora Pistol Grip Clamps
Micro Jig ZeroPlay Guide Bar System

Download Video
Download HD 720 Video
Download Audio

Help support the show – please visit our advertisers

A Minnesota inventor, Andrew Anderson of Crookston, Minn., has devised a portable tool chest which also serves as a workbench. It consists of two parts which can be hinged together, side by side or back to back. If the chest is to be used as a workbench, the two parts, securely fastened together, are raised to the proper height by foldable, firmly braced supports. These legs are hinged to the body of the chest and give sufficient stability to the bench for any ordinary work, like sawing, planing or sandpapering.

One of the parts has two large drawers for saws, planes, and other large tools. The other has three drawers for smaller tools, sandpaper, and light hardware, including screws, nails, brads, hinges, staples, etc.

For convenience in transportation the two parts of the chest are fastened together face to face by an ingenious arrangement of clips and bolts, and secured by a strong lock.

We are all of us quite accustomed to the sight of a carpenter carrying his tools in a bundle or bag, but a carpenter carrying his bench will certainly be something new on the horizon. It should prove a great convenience to the rural carpenter who must move about from place to place, often handicapped for lack of a proper bench.

Popular Science – December 1919

- Jeff Burks

Filed under: Historical Images, Workbenches

We're happy to announce that the Benchcrafted Carver's Vise is finally ready.

This whole process started seven years ago (almost to the day) when Chris Schwarz blogged about Louis Bois' carver's chops from La Forge Royale. Read more about that post here.

Then one night during a WIA conference, Louis Bois pulled his original carver's chops from the trunk of his Nissan Juke, and pitched the idea of us making the metal parts for a run of vises. We bit.



After 19 months we finally have all the bits and piece ready to sell. It was no easy task to design the parts for the vise. We wanted to basically replicate Louis' example in every detail, and we've come darn close. Our version is about 97.6% faithful to the La Forge Royale original.



The components are made entirely from cold rolled steel, and every part is machined to precise dimensions. There are no stamped parts. 95% of the vise is manufactured from scratch by us. We've even gone to the trouble of incorporating some different machining techniques to give a hint of the hand-wrought look of the original.


The rear of the vise is the part that moves, and is completely removable once the screw is unthreaded all the way. The two sliding brackets feature an integral lip that traps the rear jaw, keying it onto the slide rails that run along the base of the vise. The rear jaw traverses the base smoothly, and does not rack or shift during use. The 7/8" dia. acme screw is the same size as the original.



The base of the vise attached to a bench via a mounting screw with a large square head. This head slides up through a mortise at the end of the base, and holds the base down on two 1/8" thick steel bearing plates that attach inside the mortise. The entire vise can swivel 360 degrees, and can cantilever off the edge of a bench while still remaining rock solid. This is very handy for doing spokeshave work on chair parts, or the like. A cover plate keeps shavings and dust from fouling the mounting screw.


Engaging the mounting screw is a tapped cast iron handwheel which cinches down the vise with great pressure and is easy to adjust by reaching under the benchtop. A thick steel washer takes wear and distributes the holding pressure on the underside of the bench. Changing position of the vise is quick and easy. You can even pick a favorite spot on your bench for the vise, mortise for the square head of the mounting screw, then let the head drop into the mortise when not using the vise. You can keep the mounting screw, washer and handwheel on the bench at all times. To mount the vise simply place the base over the square head, push the screw up and engage the rails in the vise's base. Quick and easy.


The head of the main screw is branded with the the Benchcrafted name and logo, and "USA". We're proud to say that this vise is manufactured (like all our vises) in the United States. For demonstration purposes we've filled the stamped brand with white enamel. Vises will be supplied with unfilled brands. We like the minimalist look (we're not big fans of overt branding) of the unfilled lines, but if you'd like to fill your's, by all means feel free. We simply painted on the white enamel, let it set for about a minute, then wiped it off with a paper towel wrapped tight around a cork block. We wet the towel slightly with lacquer thinner to remove any surface film. Below is an unfilled example.



All parts of the vise (except the nut, mounting screw, handwheel and bearing plates) are finished in hot black oxide and oiled. Your vise parts will arrive wrapped in paper and oily. You should remove most of the oil before you begin building your vise. Use a paper towel and a little mineral spirits. It's okay to leave the parts a little oily.

The Benchcrafted Carver's Vise is available in kit form only. That is, the metal parts pictured above. You will need to build the vise around the metal parts. It is an enormously satisfying build, much like building a great bench, without all the heavy lifting. It's also a great project for a special piece of wood you've been holding onto.


For those who don't have any of that special wood, we have a limited number of 16/4, mixed rift and quartersawn American beech billets that we are offering along with the vise components. This is excellent quality beech, and is completely traditional for tool making. Wood being wood, we can't guarantee the blanks, or accept returns on these. The vise pictured above was made with the same wood we're offering. The blanks will vary slightly in width. Each billet will provide more than enough wood to build one complete vise.

Prices:

Benchcrafted Carver's Vise (hardware components only): $379 plus shipping

Benchcrafted Carver's Vise (hardware components) & Beech Billet: $439 plus shipping

Vices will go on sale at 10am (CST), Friday May 24. You can place an order through our store page. 

If you're attending Handworks, we'll also have vises (and beech billets) at the event.

Measured drawings and construction notes will be available for free download in the next few weeks. 

Note:

Unlike our other products, this is a limited run. When they are gone, we may or may not make them again. We won't have a page on our website about this vise. This blog post is it. If you want one, again be sure to check the store page on the May 24th after 10am. Refresh your browser if you don't see the carver's vise on the page.

I’ve always been surprised how hard it is to find Joseph Moxon’s “Mechanick Exercises” in the public domain. A few years ago I stumbled on a link from that HathiTrust and totally forgot about it.

While doing some research on S.W. Silver (makers of campaign furniture), I stumbled on HathiTrust again.

If you don’t have a copy of “Mechanick Exercises,” go here.

The link is for the section on joinery. To download the entire book for free as a pdf, look at the left rail of the page and click on the link “Download Whole Book.” A couple clicks later and the entire “Mechanick Exercises” from 1703 will be on your hard drive, with the plates intact.

— Christopher Schwarz

Filed under: Downloads, The Art of Joinery

 

A long time ago when I was married, David Charlesworth, Tom Lie-Nielsen and Chris came over for libations. Near the end of the evening, Tom suggested we move the 8′ long Nicholson bench Chris had made into my basement shop. David assured us it would not fit, and to prove his point he walked away when disaster began.

David was right. The bench did not fit, and I had to remove a wall to get it around a corner and into the shop. Fast-forward a number of years and due to some legal issues I was required to remove the bench from the basement. Let me interject that I will never ever have a basement workshop again. Never!

The rebuilt wall was 3″ too wide, and again the bench didn’t fit up the stairs. Because the Nicholson bench doesn’t come apart, I had to saw down the legs. I wanted to destroy the wall again, but with a former spouse videoing the condition of the wall before I got there and having an attorney on speed dial I figured it best to saw. It was so fun cutting some off the legs that I did it again. Seems like the only thing I did right that day was to keep the off-cuts.

Recently, I repaired the bench. The Dominos worked great, although they were a little tricky because the cross members that support the legs prevented me from using the plate to register the cutter. I had to do some exact measuring that didn’t work in one instance. I just glued in a domino then flush-cut it and started again. The mending plates were added for extra strength. All is now right with the world. I have the bench upright and working and converted the dining room into a workshop.

— John Hoffman

Filed under: Uncategorized, Workbenches

A Qianlong vase, drilled to accept a lamp cord, could have made £500,000 ($767,665) at auction.

Full story at ukauctioneers.com

Jack Plane

Filed under: Antiques Tagged: lamp, Qianlong vase