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eBay is where I buy small screws. These are 3mm (head diameter I'd guess) - sizings can be a bit random! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wood-Screws- ... ect=mobile

The Sale of Goods Act is indeed your friend, though I'd claim not of satisfactory quality under s 14(2) <snip of brief lecture on the technical difference between s 14(2) and s 14(3)> You are rejecting the defective plane and are entitled to a refund. If, from the kindness of your heart, you'll...

Shouldn't the adjuster pin thingy sit in the first slot, not the middle one? You use slots 2 and 3 when the blade has worn shorter.

I wasn't clear enough - my point was that the shine comes from the shellac surface, not the oils or other ingredients sometimes used. But of course, it won't shine if the surface is uneven. If its flat enough to be polished then abrasive polishing can get a decent shine, though not the lustre of...

It's the shellac which produces the French Polish shine. You can get close, as I do, by building up a coat of shellac and then levelling and polishing with increasingly fine compounds. No oil involved. But on a guitar, it's still a little less clash than proper French polishing. As to...

I have only one tip, given to me by my brother in law at the weekend. Don't seal down the tray when the cat is lurking in the floor space. Twice!

I was given a lump of ipe that's too heavy to lift, and I thought it might make guitar fretboard. I took a slice off with a hand held circular saw, the only thing which would cut it, and discovered it was green wood so it curled up like a leaf. Currently it's role is as something to trip over -i...

I'd say it's the conditions. If the wood is stored in a place where humidity is fairly constant, then after time it should have (at least approximately) the same moisture content throughout. But if humidity is changing (outdoors for example) then the wood is constantly either absorbing water...

And thinking about this more, what's wrong with a plywood core and 1/16 facings of your chosen pretty wood all round? At 1/16 you probably wouldn't need much, if any, heat to bend ash or walnut. I've also just remembered that straight-grained oak (or at least, my piece of oak) bends very easily...

That's a pretty tight radius for bending wood! Very similar to bending the waist of a guitar, where even 3mm (1/8) is considered very challenging. Have you considered cutting the bulk of the thickness from solid on a bandsaw, and then adding laminations on the inner and outer curves to...

All the wood, growing, cut or fallen, belongs to the landowner (or whoever has bought the rights from the landowner). For reasons you don't want explained, cutting it is a trespass to land. Once cut it becomes a chattel, and taking it away is both a trespass to chattels and theft. All that...

Oh! I assumed you were working on matching fingertip surfaces (along the lines of the edge jointing thread), probably for picking up the pins which must litter your workshop floor.

I was going to describe that wood as "mahoganoid", probably some African species. Such as idigbo, but there are others it could be. Likely to be pretty stable and not crack, if properly seasoned. I don't know if the grain orientation is problematic for turning, others will. If ok for turning...

I'd think that any method of cutting each one individually, other than using something like a laser, would be likely to leave the sides needing to be cleaned up, which is a huge job. It just struck me that the following might work, if you can cut even slices, though it's a bit odd ball and I...

I do a little resawing for musical instrument making. Basically: 1. Any plank which doesn't have vertical grain is highly likely to cup. The exception might be where the board was narrower than about 1/3 of the tree, so all the grain slants in the same direction. The more like a cup/dish the...

A proper cabinet scraper (hand, not a Stanley/Record). This is a piece of steel maybe 4 inches X 2 inches. Once you've read up how to sharpen it (for this purpose a burr made by a stone would be enough, no need to burnish), you hold the edges and push it across the surface with your thumbs. This...

I've regularly used CA (superglue) for local fills on acoustic instruments. The white, scaly bits are essentially air bubbles - the CA cures by absorbing moisture from the atmosphere, and if it absorbs too much too fast that creates heat, which creates bubbles. There's no way I know of to fix...

Lighter fluid is fine on French Polish (i.e. shellac) finish. I finish my musical instruments with shellac. However, that only applies if you have a genuine French Polish finish. Something which looks equivalent might dissolve in naphtha. However, instrument makers and restorers use naphtha to...

It looks like heat softens PVA - see: https://www.oakwoodveneer.com/ironon.html I suspect it weakens the glue joint, as heat does with Titebond Original, but is should still be strong enough for a non-structural application like veneering. If it fails, I can't see that you've lost anything...

Can't see why not. I'd work out how much the tongue needs to be narrowed at its furthest point and use a marking gauge on each side to scribe a line. Then a shoulder plane to shave down to that line, angled back to the current shoulder. Chamfer the new edges of the tongue as needed, by eye...