debor054

The Chicken & The Egg Workbench Conundrum... As its been sunny lately and the room I intend to use isn't quite ready, I have been using a scrap piece of kitchen worktop placed on the garden table as a makeshift bench to clean & sharpen up my tools. I was considering using the same piece of worktop and maybe knocking together some rough saw horses for it to go across as a slightly more rigid bench solution. However, it seems I would still be wrestling with clamps holding more clamps to hold a work piece. While I'm sure its doable it's far from ideal - much like previously living on a boat! I could try and build a bench myself, but lets face it with my skills and no other bench to build it on, I'm not sure its going to be any better than the saw horse solution. Therefore, after much deliberation and reading , I have decided that the best thing (for me) is to buy a beginner bench. This bench at only £126 seems pretty cheap and despite a few poor reviews must be mo...

Here is a list of my wood working specific tools which I am starting out with. Tools I inherited with the boat which I have removed rust, serviced and cleaned as best as possible in WD40 & light oil: 3 x Small F-Clamps 3 x Medium F-Clamps Panel Saw ~10tpi rip (Old Self Sharpen Style) 12" Back Saw ~12tpi rip (Old Self Sharpen Style) Bit & Brace (with ratchet function) Egg Beater Hand Drill - (broken handle) Small Hammer 3 Wood Rasps (Flat, Half Round & Round) 12Pc Carving Set (looks cheap) 7pc Hole Cutter Set 32 - 70 mm Spade Drill Bits - 28, 25, 23, 16, 13, 12 mm Forstner Drill Bits - 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 mm Various Lip & Spur (Brad Point) Bits Wood Plug Cutters & Bits After some time reading about wood working online and learning about tools and their specific uses, I decided about 6 months ago during one of my visits to the U.K I should purchase a few new tools to compliment those above and try to 'have a go' while living on my boat in the Caribbean. Th...

Welcome to my new blog ... So what's all this about? Well, wood working has been an interest of mine for quite some time, but living on a small boat doesn't really (in my opinion) lend itself to a suitable environment - not for a complete beginner anyway. Now I am land based and living in a house with a 'free' room I have the perfect opportunity. Why blog? Up to this point I have been an avid armchair wood worker, 'All the Gear and No Idea!'. But I have found that reading other peoples blogs has helped me learn some of the theory behind wood working. So if other people just starting out can learn anything from me or most likely my mistakes then it's worthwhile. Also, by documenting my progression it serves as a motivator to continue when things go wrong, not to mention input and comments from readers. So where are we? Like I said I own a small number of hand tools, some inherited from my boat and some purchased new. The tools that came with the boat are a ...