debor054

After attempting my first dovetails around November last year, I haven't built upon the experience or attempted any other dovetails since. The Small Pine Chest was (and still is) my favourite project so far and I think I got very lucky with some quite tidy joints for a beginner. I decided it was time to attempt to repeat the experience, almost knowing ahead of time that the first time was a fluke, and so to prepare for disappointment. The idea for this project came from a small piece of Oak I had which was an offcut from the first ever thing I made . I decided it would make a nice lid for a box, and this with a length of 6" wide Pine board formed my stock. I wont bore you too much with the starting process, needless to say that the bench hook, tenon saw and square, chisel and knife saw to cutting the pine to length, before using my no#4 plane and shooting board to shoot the ends clean. Having all my components to size, I started to get a feel for the finished box. After cutt...

It's funny how things all turn out and help you make a decision . In the past week I have both sold my boat... and ... received a lovely letter (and cheque) from the Tax man.  Finally, the icing on the cake,... I was sent a discount email for 10% off any item from Axminster tools.  Now, despite all the above, ... This decision did not come lightly I can assure you! I am sure the Quangsheng planes would have probably served my purpose adequately, in fact from the reviews I know they would.  They sound like really good planes at amazingly cheap prices. But... I am thinking of this as a one time quality purchase and I would always be wondering or lusting after the Lie Nielsen tools. No political or moral views came into it - I simply could afford what I wanted in the first place, regardless of the quality and value for money of the competition. It's lovely! ... If I get the same feeling from using this new no#7 plane as I get from my other LN tools, it's money well...

Just thought I would share this little gem from circa 1945. PDF Here

We're almost done ... Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Ok so where are we ... Two stools, with all the joinery cut. Both are structurally complete with all the components dry fit in place. The next step   is to round over all the sharp edges and put some shape into the seat ends and the centre brace ends. I used my t(rusty) old Stanley 102 block plane to break the aris of all the edges and my no#4 to bevel the seat ends. I made sure to sharpen before starting as this is all end grain work. Sand paper and a file was also used to smooth the edges where appropriate. The final shaping isn't complete as there will have to be further 'clean up' after gluing to finish it. I also planed the components and done any final tweaking to make sure the joinery was tight. Time for Glue Up... I hate this stage! No matter how many times I do a dry run rehearsal and get everything ready, I always seem to get stressed and panic and it never goes smoothly. Regular readers may recall I had a nightmare ...

A while ago I mentioned I was thinking about purchasing a Lie Nielsen no#5 Jack plane and also wanted a no#7. However, four months later I am still using my exceptionally crappy modern Stanley no#4 smoother and no#6 as a jointer / fore plane. With that in mind I have come to the conclusion that the preferred planes in my tool set would be a no#3 for smoothing, no#5 jack plane which could double as a large smoother if required and finally a no#7 for jointing and final flattening of stock. I would probably only keep my crappy Stanleys for rough DIY type work or green wood etc. In the perfect world I would love for all three planes to be made by Lie Nielsen, but at the following Axminster UK prices:  no#3 £282, no#5 £282 and no#7 £369 - I simply cannot justify spending £933 - especially as a beginner! Can I?... Having done a lot more research on plane manufacturers, I have discovered a UK company called Workshop Heaven who are selling planes made by Quangsheng at...