tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90691632009-07-14T21:11:34.383+01:00A woodworker's whitteringsAlfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.comBlogger543125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-61048665494209159872009-07-08T16:48:00.004+01:002009-07-08T17:12:20.763+01:00

An ear-scraping screech as the neglected door to the blog is forced open. Light floods in and dust rises to dance in the unaccustomed sunshine. A lone, unfamiliar figure peers round the door.Hello? Anyone there? Tsk, look at the state of this place. Where's the "To do" list? One, oil hinges; two, get JCB to help move the dust.Yes, I still aten't dead, despite appearances. Life and Other Surprises

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-78847014153931876062009-04-01T08:23:00.003+01:002009-04-02T08:36:49.072+01:00

A rebate plane that bears a shaving's traces, a firmer chisel from romantic places (Sheffield), these foolish things remind me of when I used to be a woodworker.However, the fact is I'm just not a woodworker at the moment, and keeping the trappings of same is increasingly pointless. So I shall be gradually dismantling my woodworking life over this summer, including the Cornish Workshop website.

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-87159087373996946802009-03-30T10:14:00.003+01:002009-03-30T10:36:14.633+01:00

This is just a guess, and I may be wrong, but have you been neglecting your interest in 19thC rural poverty and the birth of the trade union movement? You have, haven't you? You may well hang your head in shame. I, however, have not. Well I have sort of, 'cos this particular film is long and largely miserable and my attention wanders, but some of the pretty pictures caught the attention of my

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-265682407800505792009-03-17T08:17:00.002Z2009-03-17T08:57:18.777Z

I dunno; you wait years and then two come along at once. And I know what you're thinking; blog entries. Hah! You should be so lucky... Amongst the very earliest pages I visited in my interweb life was Blood & Gore, Patrick Leach's amazing, biased but entertaining resource of information on Stanley planes. Virtually the whole of my interweb existence subsequently has been spent wishing there was

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-13092036050377837232009-02-25T16:12:00.004Z2009-02-25T16:23:31.906Z

Yes, I've been guilty of getting distracted from the raison d'etre of watching a DVD by something in the background again. This time it's a rather effective waney-edged board as a bed head. The trouble is I find myself plagued by wanting to identify the wood, 'cos I feel like I should know. Never a skill I possess at the best of times, it must be said, but from a shot from a 64th-hand copy of an

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-72057224247344603192009-02-24T11:28:00.005Z2009-02-24T11:47:46.851Z

Okay, so I haven't rediscovered the knack of regular blog updating...But for the terminally bored, the skirting in place.You may notice that the knot problem has been avoided by the simple practice by the old man of only replacing about a foot length. Sigh. I thought he'd at least take it back to the first join - it's only about another foot further on. Which is precisely why I washed my hands of

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-19075891956138410682009-02-12T13:38:00.000Z2009-02-12T13:46:39.933Z

I can't help but fear this'll be something of an anti-climax. However...As you can see, it wasn't exactly a complex moulding, which is probably just as well. But on the debit side, it wasn't exactly a lovely example to work from either... Anyway, being somewhat out of practice in thinking about photographs and such, you're lucky you even got one at this early stage.As you can see, I used a

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-76017141078569047792009-02-10T12:36:00.003Z2009-02-10T13:30:06.722Z

Now there's a punning title that mightn't work for those who read in 'Murricanese... Erm, 'Back to Baseboardics'? Yes, er, let's move on then...For some reason the Old Man has come out in a terrible rash of home improvement. Small irritations we've been happily living with for years have suddenly vaulted to the top of the To Do List and he's been ripping things out, filling holes, painting walls,

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-61423647645909976362009-01-27T14:14:00.002Z2009-01-27T14:24:40.264Z

...after a year of no real woodworking, you're still not motivated to do something about it. Except by guilt....woodworking emails can go for actual weeks before getting answered (and I'm really, really sorry if you're on the wrong end of that one)....most seriously of all, you've suspended mail from the Old Tools List and haven't read it all for the first time in nearly eight years.Last year I

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-3234799609255377672009-01-07T14:46:00.002Z2009-01-07T15:03:16.668Z

Mea culpa - I promised this update back in October. Imagine my horror etc etc...Back in September I managed to creep out undetected to the workshop for five minutes; just long enough to discover my Ashley Iles round back chisels had succumbed to the dreaded rust. 'Tis all explained here. Well I had my little rant but took it as par for the course that these things happen and thought no more about

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-30596554494106424332009-01-02T15:04:00.003Z2009-01-02T15:15:41.383Z

Well Happy New Year woodworking folk! My only resolution was not to make any - thus breaking it by its very existence. Might as well get it over and done with, eh?Whilst idly looking for something else, I ran across this photo from 1925:Quote: Mr Glenister, who runs a tobacconist shop but makes violins as a hobby, at work on a violin.Have fun playing 'spot the tool'. Nice shot of a means to

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-16136338553865665052008-12-23T15:32:00.002Z2008-12-23T15:41:21.388Z

Dashing in to wish the loyal (and much-neglected) reader a Merry Winter Festival Of Choice. Let's hope 2009 will see me getting my woodworking self in gear rather than stuck in neutral, eh? Happy Woodworking, folks.

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-36611656816023233002008-12-08T18:22:00.003Z2008-12-08T18:30:53.053Z

A tiny update to the Veritas Dovetail Saw blurb. BugBear got all excitable with the images of the LV and LN handles and came up with this:He's kindly given permission to use it, so I have. The red line is the Veritas and the blue the LN. It's a very small difference, isn't it? It's interesting though; when I had a couple of prototypes to try, the difference in those was apparently only 5%, which

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-57253563872079419972008-12-06T12:44:00.005Z2008-12-07T11:27:10.079Z

Now is it me, or is there a certain amount of déjà vu going on in the plane world at the mo'? The new Stanley planes I think I've already muttered about - Chris Schwarz does it better here. But I think these offerings recently spotted in the Tilgear Winter Offers flyer may be new to anyone outside Tilgear's very limited ken. i.e. Most of the known world.Look at all familiar to you? There's more (

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-57242426420119922762008-11-26T20:08:00.002Z2008-11-26T20:23:53.313Z

Not usually one to link directly to other blogs, but both of these seem on topic for our recent discussions. First, the serious:Chris Schwarz extracts some further info from el Presidente on the block planes' genesis. Hey, I'd have done that too, if it wasn't for the fact a) I'd ask silly questions, and b) he's too busy trying to guess what my middle initial stands for. No, I don't know why. Must

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-2242825398788381052008-11-25T17:43:00.005Z2008-11-25T20:34:26.786Z

Dear me; here I am again. The desire to muse seems to have overtaken me, and as that was the point of the blog...So the dovetail saw and block planes then. It's been most interesting to read the varied reactions to both on the various woodworking fora. The saw I expected to divide opinion; the reaction to the planes was more of a surprise. Quite honestly I'm amazed how many people don't like the

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-30416741786928562792008-11-24T14:32:00.003Z2008-11-24T14:39:21.912Z

So it's the 25th in Vladivostok, innit...? But I also got the "okay" from LV, so here they are. Enjoy.Veritas NX60 Premium and DX60 Block Planes@ Cornish Workshop

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-14579612714189978872008-11-24T11:40:00.002Z2008-11-24T11:48:24.569Z

Well I dunno about Rob et al, but I'd certainly be a bit peeved that it wasn't LV's site that got to be first to show the new Premium plane - as far as I know, the first sighting was on the UK Workshop forum courtesy of the UK distributor. Further leaks are springing up in all directions now. However, I was given an embargo until the 25th, which I'll stick to until I hear otherwise (yes, I have

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-54396810548823240902008-11-21T17:11:00.006Z2008-11-24T14:40:09.913Z

So Lee Valley have taken pity and given us something to chew over whilst we await the Great Unveiling next week. Incidentally, this something I didn't know would be unveiled earlier than next week, so I've done some serious speed writing/photography here to get you early info:Veritas Dovetail Saw @ Cornish WorkshopFor the hyper-sensitive, I should note that comparison was made with the LN simply

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-48863439612624242492008-11-19T16:36:00.002Z2008-11-19T16:45:05.294Z

Can't stop - just a brief note to advise the reader that a box of goodness has turned up at Alf Towers from a certain tool pusher well-known to us. I can't say much - principally 'cos I don't know how much is known already and also 'cos info is date embargoed ('citing, eh?) - but what I can say is 'Premium'. I can also assure you I will move heaven and earth to get some words and pictures up on

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-68491747427481453562008-11-11T09:24:00.002Z2008-11-11T10:08:29.666Z

Yes, me again. Oh I know, I just won't go away, will I? Sorry.The other day I had cause to observe that "you can take the girl out of woodworking, but you can't take woodworking out of the girl". Somehow I'd managed to read the words "slash camp" (don't ask) as "sash clamp". It could happen to anyone. Well not anyone perhaps; but probably any of the readership of this blog. Wouldn't happen to the

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-71095428593538589632008-10-31T19:23:00.003Z2008-10-31T19:38:11.836Z

Yes, I'm making like Granny Weatherwax, and metaphorically putting a placard round my neck to reassure anyone wondering; I am still in the land of the living, as hale and hearty as I ever am (but lets not go into that...) and totally without any woodworking activity to blog about. The pile of unopened woodworking magazine subs and catalogues continues to grow; side rebate and skew rebates remain

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-89522561077060137022008-09-19T08:53:00.002+01:002008-09-19T09:17:28.820+01:00

I doubt that the recent flurry of excitement over Stanley's proposed re-entry in the world of decent hand tools has escaped you. It almost escaped me, so off the pace am I at the moment. Anyway, I haven't read all the reaction by any means (not enough hours in the day!) but some of the comments concerning the planes madeth me to howl. "I see the Stanley designers have the LV catalogue then" and

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-9527253609260872082008-09-18T11:08:00.003+01:002008-09-18T11:30:43.458+01:00

That's rust to you and me. Cast your mind back - oh gosh, quite a way back, I see - to the acquisition of a set of "round back" dovetail chisels from Ashley Iles. Yes, I know I owe you all a promised review. Sorry, sorry... The creative juices are being channelled in unexpected alternative directions at the mo'. Don't ask.Anyway, you'll observe that I regarded the leather chisel roll as somewhat

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069163.post-79833377027425859652008-09-11T13:18:00.005+01:002008-09-11T13:46:48.194+01:00

I'd hoped to talk to you of ships and shoes and sealing wax, and cabbages and kings; but instead a few long words about a small tool. My initial reaction on being sent one of these back in April was "Why fore hast the boys in the R&D department sent me a new front knob for a plane? And why doesn't it have any threads?" That's one of the joys of this beta-ing business - you get additional

Alfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369678599909261508noreply@blogger.com7