Shooting Board and plane handle

We used a shooting board at the West Dean college dovetail course a few weeks ago so Chris and I decided to make ourselves one each. The board is made from 3/4" (18mm) plywood and is 31" long and 10" wide. We attached a piece of maple to it to form the work-piece stop. To fit the stop we clamped a set square on the base board then glued the stop down while held tightly against the square. When the glue had dried we added the 3 screws for extra strength.

We also made a 45 degree block to allow us to shoot mitres. The base of the board has a small piece of ply attached to allow us to fasten it into a vice for stability.

Of course you also require a substantial plane to use on the board. I have a Woden no. 7 plane that suits the job. The problem I find is that the plane doesn't lend itself to being used on edge and after a while I find my fingers and hand becoming sore. 

I did a search on the internet for examples of handles and came across an article written by Al Frampon on the Lee Valley tools website
http://www.leevalley.com/US/newsletters/Woodworking/5/5/article1.htm.

Al describes seeing Alan Peters using a home made handle on his shooting plane, on one of his DVD's. I thought it looked promising, so I had a go at making one from some old sapele(?) skirting board I rescued from a skip (dumpster). 

I pretty well followed the design described by Al adding a handle for added grip and I find and it works well. 

If you want a Lie Nielsen hot dog handle they are available at Axminster tools for £54.44 see below.

Engineers Scribing Block

My engineering apprenticeship...

This is a steel scribing block I made at the Central Electricity Generating Board (C.E.G.B.) training school in Harrogate, UK in 1971 as part of my 1st year engineering apprenticeship. The scribing block is used for marking out metal prior to cutting and machining. I remember we had about 70 apprentices in the year I was in. We were trained in hand metalwork, tin plate working, welding (both gas and electric), electrical fitting, and in the case of the scribing block, machine working. I believe we used lathes, milling machines, surface grinders and pedestal drills. It was a brilliant first year for a 16 year old to experience the trainers were all fantastic.

I followed this year, with 4 years of additional training at Power Stations across the north east of the UK. Keadby, Drax, Eggborough etc. My scribing block may not be up to Karl Holteys standard!, but it makes me appreciate how wonderful his infill planes are.

Manual planer / thicknesser

This is my 'planer/thicknesser' :-) Plane maker David Barron suggested the design, the plane rides on two waxed runners at the edges of the plane and  outside the reach of the blade. The wood is roughed down to approx thickness and then is placed between the runners. It is then planned down until the blade is no longer in contact with the wood. The resulting pieces are 5/16" thick. I can process planks up to 18" long and 2" wide. I have joined 2 together to make wider planks. I am planning to use these to make little boxes and cabinets. The wood is Rhododendron - I picked some off-cuts up in our local wood.

Mini Bow-Saw project

Mini bow-saw

This is my miniature bow-saw project - The top photo shows an old bow saw I bought on eBay. Large blades are quite tricky to obtain and expensive to ship over from Gramercy in the States. So I decided it would be fun to make a mini version that would take standard 170mm coping saw blades. This is where I have got up to. I have some brass rod I will cut to hold the blade pins then I can epoxy glue the rod into the handles. The wood is salvaged Canadian maple flooring rescued from a skip, just wish I had stocked up with it while it was there instead of letting it go to landfill doh!

Bow Saw from Ebay

Hi - following on from my earlier post regarding Bow Saws, I spotted this one for sale on Ebay and managed to buy it for £4.27 + £6 postage. The blade is apparently pretty blunt but hopefully the rest should be serviceable. I thought it would be useful to examine how one was made  historically prior to attempting to make one myself.
I just wish this weather would warm up a bit so I can get into my workshop
:-( 

The seller says that the bow saw takes 13" blades - I am hoping that the saw can be modified to take the  12" ones supplied by Gramercy. Maybe shorten the cross arm? I am looking forward to receiving it this next week.  

Hand made Bow Saw

Hi - has anyone had a go at making their own Bow-Saw?, this is screen clip from one of Roy Underhills "Woodwrights Shop" shows where he makes one with Bill Anderson. It looks to be very rewarding, perhaps a nice project for when I retire. Have you any ideas what blade could be used? and where you get one from?

http://www.pbs.org/woodwrightsshop/video/3100/3102.html