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Hi, Thought I'd jump in for a minute. I know you are right to have concern buying sight unseen, but in the past six months I have bought a mixture of five 043's and 044's for between £9 and £15. Of course I check the sellers track record before purchasing but the tools I have bought have all...

I've seen hardwood sinks turned on the lathe, highly polished and then further coated with successive coats of epoxy finish the result of which becomes a hard, thick, durable protective coat. The problem was not whether the system of lamination worked or whether the sink can be successfully...

Hi Stephen, I find it best to concentrate the chops close together, especially working in pine. That tears the side walls less and defines the hole to more concise tolerances, especially in the opening cuts where it matters the most because they are most visible. I don't worry as much when...

Hi Stephen, I think that all three manufacturers set the standard and few of the old makers ever came close to them in terms of engineering standards. L-N planes are impeccably made and if you like what has become the traditional Bailey- or Bedrock-pattern planes with the adjustments centrally...

Neil, Just to show you what i mean about over emphasis on machine governed designs. This chair is a design I did many years ago and I still make it with hardly any machine involvement like planers, jointers, mortisers and tenoning machines. I may use a bandsaw for the curved rockers and roughing...

Hi Neil, I think that a good No 4 or 4 1/2 is a good place to start. Mine have served me well. You could go for either a Record or a Stanley, though I am biased towards the Stanleys. I look for rosewood handles if possible which means buying something older. Make sure there are no cracks in the...

I loved this. Simple, honest, helpful, do-able, all that the questioner needed. It made a great close to 2007 and a great beginning to the New year.Thanks! Have a great New Year. Paul Sellers

Work up to some of the finer planes. I probably own most of them and those I don't I have at least used or tested. I haven't found that non-adjustable wooden planes and even home made planes are a good option except if you needed to make a plane for a specific function which is indeed fun and...

Keeping it simple is what's always hard: Strike, lever, strike and strike again and lever out the waste. Doesn't matter where you start, but when you do make haste Some say it's in the middle start and some say left to right It doesn't really matter much but it shouldn't take all night...

Lee Valley and Veritas in North America has one of the best catalogues of hardware I ever saw, but I don't know what shipping is like. depends on what the need is, but they've got what you want if you cannot source it here. Also, Whitechapel I've dealt with these two companies for twenty years...

I am with Wiley, Stephen, but the middle one inevitably ends up being somewhat rounded, which then gives a good clean cut, so you could put an intentional round on it now and it will work straight away. I have some cutting gauges with two or three extra homemade cutters that interchange in any...

My personal experience with diamond plates is that they cut steel fast and stay flat. When I first heard about them a decade or more ago I bought the coarse, 240, and the superfine 1200. I was getting a little tired of the ritual of flattening bench stones simply because of the damage they do if...

Stephen, Want to clarify a point: Clifton do not make Footprint's stuff. These two distinctly separate companies, like many others, outsource the hammer forge work to a forge in Sheffield, or they did in that year, where they have the skilled and noisy hammer work done for them. Sheffield is...

Hi Stephen, Re the bench: I recommend that you use a hardwood for the top if you can, even though pine works for a modest priced first bench. In fact, when I was an apprentice most all of the joiners benches I ever saw were made from pine or some other coniferous tree. Hemlock would work great...

Stephen, The Sorby's are still an excellent investment and are well made from quality materials. I gave a set to one of my sons last year and he loves them. They are hard and hold their edge well. The boxwood handle is wonderful, but you will likely want to sand the manufacturer's finish off and...

Sorry Marc, I wasn't addressing you, I was simply saying the as we grow we hopefully become increasingly more sensitive and aware of how and when to lever and how much. I may not have broken a chisel handle but I have certainly done my share of damage in other areas. All areas of woodworking...

I called Taunton Press on Skype and they said that indeed the Tools and Shops issues are included in the regular subscription. Enjoy! Paul Sellers

Hi Stephen, The Faithfulls are every bit as hard and may even be harder because they take and hold a good edge and I think they hold their edge longer too. I don't know about Footprint. I was writing an article on the making of Clifton hand planes about three or four years ago and saw what I...

Hi Pam, You are right about swan neck chisels being used to clear out the bottom of mortises, but swan neck chisels were used for the very deep mortises associated with the installation of mortise locks after face or rim locks became obsolete. I am sure some used them for levering regular...

Pam, I am trying to imagine what it would be like to drive the old western mortise chisels purely by hand rather than with a mallet in the reality of my everyday work and I cannot imagine how long it would take to cut a mortise hole even in soft pine. Mortise chisels are massive in profile...