Up until now my cabinet scrapers have been sitting in the plastic packet that they were bought in, which is far from ideal. I decided that they needed live in a small wooden box in my tool cabinet. Continue reading “Two-piece Box”
Two-piece Box
An update on The Beast
I took the iron out of The Beast this morning, and underneath a layer of rust I found a makers mark and some text. It looks as though the iron was made by Peugeot. I did a bit of digging online, and from the style of the logo, it was probably made sometime between 1858 and 1900. Apparently, the lion and arrow logo was abandoned by Peugeot at the beginning of the 20th century, and although it made a reappearance a decade or two later, it was always depicted within a shield of some kind.
The text below the logo, ‘A GARANTIE’, is fairly self-explanatory, but the text above is largely obscured because decades of iron adjustment, presumably with a hammer, has rolled the metal down over it. It might say ‘PEUGEOT FRERES’, which was a trade name used by Armand Peugeot and his cousin Eugène in the 1860’s, and would fit in with time frame of the logo.
This of course says nothing about the age or provenance of the plane itself, which has no markings on it at all. But I understand that it was quite usual in 19th century Europe for plane irons, rather than plane bodies to be stamped with the makers mark.
I suspect that this will be all that I can find out about this plane, but I’ll post back if I find out anything else.
Bits and pieces
This post is a bit of a hodgepodge, just an update of what has been going on recently. First of all: The Biltong Slicer. I delivered it to my friend and it is fair to say that he was tickled pink. He says that he doesn’t want to use it because it’s too beautiful. That might be an overstatement on his part… Continue reading “Bits and pieces”
Goat Skin
Lately I’ve had a hankering for extra grippage in my vice jaws. I know that some people suggest using shelf liner but I’ve always wanted to use suede/leather. 
Unfortunately, it is a bit of a hassle finding small quantities of genuine leather so I need an alternative. The English Woodworker came to the rescue the other day when I came across this post where he suggests using chamois leather as a cheap alternative. I thought I’d give it a try and I’m very pleased with the results. As the post points out, chamois is quite thin and so will not last as long as proper suede, but it is cheap enough to be renewed more often.
Biltong Slicer #3
Time to cut all the pieces to something approaching their final shape. I was able to use my shop-made turning saw for this job, and it worked a treat. I had to experiment a bit with the tensioning cord but after a few extra turns I was away.
Biltong Slicer #2
In thinking about the hardware for this project I had more or less settled on a solution for the blade. I have a #5 ½ blade that had been sharpened so many times that it was well past its useful service life as a plane iron, but would have been suitable for this project, albeit a little wider than necessary. However, the chap who commissioned this project had a better solution. He had previously tried himself to make a Biltong Slicer, but found that he couldn’t do it. His intention was to build several of them and sell them on, and to that end he had a number of blades made up. He suggested that I use his blades instead. They are a little tarnished and the bevel has been crudely ground with and angle grinder, so they will need a little honing and polishing before they can be pressed into service, but I think they will be more suitable for the project than the plane iron. Continue reading “Biltong Slicer #2”
Biltong Slicer #1
I haven’t had time to post for a while – lots going on – but I thought I should drop down a couple of lines on how the Biltong Slicer project is going. Continue reading “Biltong Slicer #1”
Mystery Project: Revealed
It’s been a few days since I announced my upcoming mystery project, and asked if anyone could guess what it will be. Well, there have been a few responses – good guesses all – but all incorrect, and since I doubt that there will be any other guesses I thought I’d reveal true answer. It’s not a herb cutter. It’s not a cigar trimmer. It’s not a device for making dolls house shingles. It is in fact…
Sawyer’s Bench #6
This is my last post on the Sawyer’s Bench because, barring further coats of finish, the project is complete.
I wasn’t sure what finish to use on this project. Tom Fidgen didn’t put a finish on his apparently, but I asked him for advice and he said that he would use a boiled linseed oil and wax mixture.
Luckily, I had a few blocks of 1oz. beeswax and some linseed oil so, when I was ready to finish, I set about making my own concoction. I went for an 8:1 mix of oil and wax, mixing them by heating them in an old wok over a pan of boiling water on an electric hob. A gas hob is not advisable as boiled linseed oil is flammable. Continue reading “Sawyer’s Bench #6”
Mystery Project
I have been given my first commission, by a work colleague of mine. The item that he needs, although ubiquitous in his homeland, is something of a rarity around these parts. I must confess that I had never heard of or seen such a thing until he brought it up in conversation one day last week. Continue reading “Mystery Project”
goatboys woodshop 