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David, thanks for the positive comments. I did take some pains to keep the lines simple and let the wood figure do all the talking - the most elaborate decoration is the stepped cove around the plinth. I used 'flat' panels for the doors because I though raising them would make them too fussy...

:) Funny how that happens... I lived in Canada for close to 15 years during the period when the "craft revival" in woodworking was getting underway. Those early FWW mags (they kicked off in '76 iirc) featured lots of figured wood and I picked up a taste for the stuff & went hunting for figured...

Sneezle, you're unlikely to find anything with the right inside & outside diameters & the right thickness in a local hardware store, but it would be child's play for anyone with a metal lathe to whip you up a washer of the correct dimensions. I wouldn't use an aluminium rivet - I suggest an...

I had a very hard time putting a decent edge on my fist PM-V11 blade using oilstones (both man-made & natural, which I'd been using happily for 40 years with any other steels). Using a diamond stone followed by an 8,000 water stone solved the problem for me & got sharpening back to the quick...

Dunno, I'm a bit reluctant to stick a grubby finger in my ear .... ;)

Hard is good, but it doesn't have to be super-hard to work. I learned about scrapers from Tage Frid, the old doyen of woodworking back in the last century & he used a screwdriver for the job so I followed suit. Scraper material is not very hard, one of the reasons for forming the 'hook' is to...

You're right - I can't see the vernier scale on my trusty old set any more. ;) I keep my "proper" verniers for the day when batteries are no longer available (I have a magnifying glass somewhere), but I don't think it has come out of the drawer more than twice in the last 10 years. Much as I...

No, I think you are absolutely correct - I didn't blow the pic up enough to see those lines, but after reading your post I did & they are suspiciously like D/T lines alright! I usually look for a good end-on shot to see if it looks like a cast or fabricated body, but it can be very hard to...

I can only vaguely see the back of the plane body G.S., but it looks like a small fillet in the corner between side & sole, which would indicate it's cast, not fabricated. That should make it a better plane, imo, due to the slightly lower friction of CI vs steel as D.W. mentioned. In any case...

:) anyone who doesn't make a small blunder or miss a cut slightly & never needs to finesse a few bits on any complex build has my utmost respect! I can saw reasonably accurately & close to a line, the old cabinetmaker who mentored me used to differentiate "sawing to the line" & "splitting the...

I'm sure this discussion was had recently, with much the same responses. I have 3 shoulder planes, large, medium & small - mainly because I like building planes! Of these, I probably use the small one (1/2" blade width) the most, and almost never for trimming tenon shoulders - I just happen...

Yeah raff, the debate has gotten thoroughly confused and too may red herrings were tossed in the mix (like riding bicycles uphill!??). Cutting angle = angle of attack, some folks prefer one or t'other but I'm happy with either. For a bevel-down plane, they are also the same as the bed angle...

Now you're confusing two separate issues. Skewing the plane itself does change the geometry of the blade relative to the direction the plane is moving in. I need a few props. 1. This is a straight 45 degree bed: Skew it relative to the board axis & measure the 'bed angle' along the board...

Sorry to labour the point Tiddles, but while that's a simple explanation, I don't think it is in any way analagous to the situation with a skewed plane blade. Think of it like this. The angle of the blade bevel at the leading edge is x (haven't got a 'theta' sign, so trigonometry wonks will...

Hmm, I think I should just let this one rest, but as I see it, it has little or nothing to do with cutting angles. Try pressing a knife directly into a piece of wood & it takes a lot of effort to get it to cut, but if you use a slicing action across the fibres (no change to "effective cutting...

Tiddles, I've just fused my brain trying to do the trig. in my head to confirm that, but I cannot see how the apparent edge angle can change across a skewed blade! You'll have to explain it to me with a diagram or something. I've made a few skewed planes, so I know the angle of the bed is the...

I have an old (1911-1919) 5 1/2 & faced the same problem when it needed a new iron. At the time I wasn't even aware that there had been a change in the blade width so I just ordered a new blade "to suit a 5 1/2", which duly arrived & then I found it didn't fit. I thought I'd been sent the wrong...

Yep Triton, that's exactly what my 13-yr-old logic deduced... :D I've seen various attempts at rationalising that rule, but none that stand up to more than superficial analysis. The best reason is if there's likely to be some metal object that contacts the blade lying in the wrong spot. The...

What D.W. said. All the stones I've had came with reasonable instructions for use & storage. Some stated quite clearly that they were NOT to be stored wet.... Cheers,

Yes, a 'clip over the ear' was a common chastisement for using tools "incorrectly". Of course "correct" was too often the idea of the clipper & neither universal nor backed by incontestable logic. Along with putting planes down right way up on the bench, "choking up" on a hammer was bound to...