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yup, buffalo hide, - I have refilled but maybe was lucky that the replacement hide was old and dry (shrunk? but must be basically the right size) -- I chamfered the end with a rasp, cleaned and lubed the socket and then pushed it in by closing a vice on it - didn't go all the way, treated with...

Good on you D-W for at least having some success, and I agree about the tensioning depending on surface effects. Watched a full time professional in Atkinson and Walker during regular production (in Sheffield) hand tension a circular saw and a long two man hand saw with hammer on a large square...

Only trouble with this wonderful build is that it takes so long to scroll down to the bottom of the page to see the latest. Hats off to a true craftsperson. Also great to see the clever design and make choices you arrive at along the way - I wouldn't do it all the same, but then my finish and...

"sharpening"? but then, why shouldn't the conversation drift? I enjoy reading some Paul Sellers stuff - the world could do with a few more of his general outlook. BUT - he can be somewhat dogmatic, doesn't easily accept some other views. For example, I once praised his work and a made a very...

thanks bm101 - some bench vice, eh? hey, I just saw your by-line - have to get out my old John Prine vinyls sometimes a bit sentimental, but - does it for me danny

I found Bridge City quite interesting in their early days, but agree with the general sentiment here that they're really for collectors or very expensive gift givers rather than users. Personally, if I'm collecting, (I fool myself that they're all 'users', but if pressed have to admit...

Always difficult to see in a photo - but do you suggest this is cast iron? Looks like light alloy to me, but could I suppose be the lighting, colour balance and highly buffed cast iron, I suppose - I'm not going to buy the vice to find out. Yes casting quality can vary a lot - at the other...

This vice from a current on-line sale looks quite carefully made except for the front-jaw 'Woden' casting which I'm guessing was cast in aluminium or a zinc alloy using a genuine Woden as pattern? Your plane is of course cast (or could even have been machined from some solid stock) to a much...

Yes-- good reply. I fancied brass/bronze bodied tools (why not?) and finished up with a couple that were pretty definitely cast using a commercial cast iron tool body as the pattern - ie same details and makers name still just visible, but at a lower definition. Most brass and bronze alloys...

yes Nick -- like your post - see also Roman chisels in Vindolanda and Bordeaux, and medieval pictures. Looks like the owner of the top one did the classic -- handle breaks, can't be bothered to replace, start hitting the socket. I suppose that the by classic era I really mean of the ones...

Sorry about all the separate posts, but this tablet is not very file handling friendly and the two options for downsizing my camera photos are thumbnail or 2M and the latter is just too big for UKworkshop posts - prob not a problem if I bought the latest smartphone. I hope that the two...

This is a shallower, but still very heavy socketed chisel - could call it heavy-duty, framing, marine or mortise? with probably original handle - ash, ferrule or hooped and has survived some heavy beating - stamped 'Kenyon Sheffield' -- 7/8" wide - could be forged from one piece - neater than...

this one is much more the socket equivalent of the 'sticker' with a deep section to stay 'square' in the mortise. Again a replacement ash handle. This one stamped '----Firth----sons'. again large welded-on socket and steeled edge -1/4"

And this is a medium-section 5/8" heavy framers (?) mortise socket chisel with (replaced ) ash handle - stamped '----cas -----Farfa' (???) with very visible steeled edge and the wood-grain type of look you get when the wrought iron wears/corrodes - very visible in this case. this is just...

attached, I hope, picture of 1/2" 'sticker' stamped 'Marples & Sons Cast Steel' - with what looks like original beech handle and a visible hammer welded steel edge - just wire-wooled, not restored, sharpened yet, handle holding up but small cracks danny

Back to the chisel, and out of the pig slaughter-house: Although Ashley Isles (sp?) of Lincs UK do still make a fine version of this tool, its heyday was surely late C18th to about 1940, and because it's such a tough lump of steel, plenty have survived. The smaller mortice/mortise chisels are...

I expect the spring is helical coil type, not concentric watch spring type as on the Parkinsons Perfect woodworking vise? A picture might help. I replaced the broken concentric spring on my Parkinson's woodworking 9" version 1 (very heavy, long base) - with one from a very cheaply bought...

Thought I'd posted, but seems to have disappeared -- being 'moderated? I've removed quite a few of what look like original beech handles from old 'stickers' - you can see from charring that some 'burnt in' for final fit and some (more) did not. Another thing some makers did was to chisel a...

I needed to make holes in saw blade steel (making frame saw blades from broken band saw blades or cut hand saw blades) - not as easy as I hoped. After only modest success drilling and some broken tungsten carbide tips, I remembered an old screw punch I had - a hand tool with a tool steel tip...

Roof slates can be a bit variable, but available by the thousand in some parts - select the best. I used very good slab slate (broken mantle shelf in a skip) many years ago when I'd only heard of 'oil'stones … lovely 6x12x1.5" flat stone which was reasonably easy to cut with an old worn...