Birthday Wish List - Measuring Gear

Squares
Above we have some Australian made squares by Chris Vesper (left) and Colon Clenton (right). There are several differences: handle - brass with wooden inlay vs. wood with brass frame, blade - stainless steel vs. brass, and special feature - support clip vs. calibratable. Asthetically Colon's is nicer but it's your responsibility to square it. Chris's support tab is quite nice. Avalible at Chris Vesper and HNT Gordon.



Sliding Bevel
Chris Scwartz recently gave good review to these little gems. The 4" would be perfect for special angle joinery and dovetailly.


Sliding Square
Chris' original square was an all metal sliding square. Handy for joinery.

Overall my choice would be: 6" Colon Clenton square (in sheoak), 4" bevel, 4" sliding square, and 10" Vesper Square. It is a wish list after all.



Marking Knife
The only vesper tool I currenlty own. Picked it up at the Sydney Woodshow.

Birthday Wish List - Sharpening Equipement

Tormek Slow Speed Grinder
Tormek was being demostrated at three stands at the Sydney Wood show. I have to say it's impressive. The big brother version is more expensive but has more features and is metal rather than plastic. Backed by 7 year warranty. Avalible at Carbatec.



Lobster Brand Waterstones
An alternative to the Norton synthetics are the natural Lobster stones avalible from HNT Gordon. 1000 and 6000 gt. Comparible in price, thicker stones, not as durable and needing more flattening.



Norton Synthetic Water Stones
Avalible from Lie-Nielsen are the Norton Waterstones. Unlike the natural ones these are synthetic for durability. Last longer, cost more. 1000 and 4000 grit avalible.

Diamond Stones
Diamond stones come into thier own for flattening of water stones, initial sharpening and sharpening of hard steel. DMT DuoSharp 8" Fine / Coarse Whetstone would cover most jobs. Avalible from Carbatec or Lie-Nelson.

Birthday Wish List - Books

Colin Brown
New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology (4 Volume Set). This dictionary stands out because of its diachronic approach to language; containing Classical, Koine, OT, and NT meanings for greek words. Jesus was a woodworker. Avalible at amazon.

Shaker Furniture

I do like the simplicity of shaker furniture. After being more than pleased with my first shaker trestle last year and with the next in the planning stages I'd like to learn more. (Particularly re: chairs.) This book stood out to me as it not only contained pictures but had rough diagrams including measurements and proportions. Avalible at: Australian Wood Review and Amazon.

Birthday Wish List - The Workbench

My workbench remains my major project for 2009. I've acquired the wood that I need (near 200 superfeet of coastal blackbutt, maybe more than I need.) Now it's time to choose some hardware.
Everyworkbench requires a vise, preferably two. The plan is for a standard leg vise and a sliding leg vise.






Glide Leg Vise
The new glide leg vise from BenchCrafted.com looks very smooth. A recommendation from teh Scwartz. However, at US $325 + postage, these may forever remain on the wish list.

No-Name Vise
The cheapest (and nastiest?) avalible at Carbatec.

Big Wood Vise
These from BigWoodVise are classic. At AU$375 (for 2, including postage).

Vertias Workdogs

Simple.

Vertias Hold-Down

Useful.

Wonder Pups

Vertias products avalible at Carbatec and Lee Valley.

2009 Major Project - The Workbench

Before you get too carried away, no this isn't my bench, it is however, my inspiration. You'll find deatils of it here http://oudluthier.blogspot.com/2008/07/bench-3-finis.html. The distinctive features are: co-planer frame for clamping (similar to all french workbenches), wagon vise, 8' length, and 2 leg vises. It's the leg vises that are most interest as it includes a sliding tail vise.

Summer Road Trip

Google Maps.

There hasn't been much happening in the way of woodworking at the moment. However, I have managed to test out our new suburu forester. 3200km in fact. A week at our favourite beach spot, a day of horse riding at a mate's property, and then a long trip south to visit nearly every family member I have and quite a few family friends.

Good times. 

http://www.hntgordon.com.au

During our big Christmas road trip we made it to Alstonville on the North Coast of New South Wales - The home of HNT Gordon planes. Despite Australia being a small producer of tools, we are fortunate to have some of the best.

Fortunately for us, Terry Gordon, the plane maker himself, was in the shop when we dropped in. Which was a good thing, as I've always used iron bed planes, the wooden ones took a little getting used to. After a 30min demo, we got the tour of the shop. From wood storage, preparation, shaping, and final finishing. Top bloke that was more than happy to show us around.

Built from tough Australian woods for tough Australian woods.

Today's the day...

Today's the big day. Delivery of the table.

Once I screw down the top its complete.

Only challenge now is to fit it all in the back of the car... All those years of tetris will finally pay off.

Here's some pics.

When I've got more time I'll do a write up and talk about what I would have improved.

Feel free to post comments or email me any suggestions or comments.