Search results

Has anyone found a flint with a cap-iron?

Life can be a strange business. As someone once said, "There's no such thing as a career path. It's crazy paving, and you lay it yourself." If your lad is set on a career in the computer games industry, he might achieve his ambition. However, are today's skills going to sustain him for a...

"You should never let school get in the way of a good education." I used to think that was rather cynical and tongue-in-cheek, but as life rolls on, I become more and more convinced that it's actually very sound advice, once you get past the basic educational foundation of reading, writing and...

Stop trying to knobble the competition Bob! You're in the South East, Mike's in the North West; he's not going to be travelling that far looking for kitchen work - you're quite safe!

Hmmm. Does that mean that Brasso would make a better job of cleaning teeth than toothpaste? :D

There's another way to avoid blow-out when drilling with a hand brace and auger. Drill until well through the piece, then stop and feel underneath for the nose of the auger poking through. If not felt, drill another turn or two, and feel again. As soon as the nose is felt, withdraw the auger...

Certainly true that there are many ways to hold work on a milling machine, and having (or accumulating) a good range of clamps, tee-bolts and spacers and packing is well-nigh essential, but a good vice does hold an awful lot. The one you linked too would be just the job; other high quality makes...

Try Abtec. They're in Cambridgeshire, so fairly local to you! They've got a pretty extensive range, too. https://www.abtec4abrasives.com/

Nice machine, that. Grease nipples - actually, they're probably not grease nipples, but oil nipples. Exactly the same principle, but use an oil gun with something like a medium viscosity straight lubricating oil (don't use engine oil, it has a high proportion of detergents and other additives...

Hello, and welcome to the forum! Try 'dowel rounder' - they're not common, though, and some were made to produce a dome end rather than a point, so examine pictures and descriptions carefully! Failing that, would a bit of careful whittling with a chisel do the job well enough?

Don't worry about it. Just use them. Once you're thoroughly familiar with both, you'll tell them apart even in the dark; a bit like parents with twin children. Failing that, sell one and buy a woody instead.

It's a cracking engine, and a credit to the team who built her. Earlier this year, as part of trials to see if steam traction could be fitted better into the operating patterns of the modern mainline, the engine was run at 100mph between Newcastle an Darlington. It managed it with no problems...

That only works if you sharpen under one of Derek's pyramids, on an accurate north-south alignment, during a full moon, and wearing ceremonial clogs, braces and a flat cap.

"A poor kid with identical talent wouldn't have the same access. Just sayin'. BugBear" From his website, he started out with a charcoal pit furnace in the back garden, and a piece or railway rail for an anvil, a gift from a blacksmith he met at a country fair. He's only just moved to his new...

Third video, at about 4 mins 15 seconds and onwards.

They don't cost much, new. https://www.toolnut.co.uk/collections/m ... king-knife They're available left-handed and right-handed. There are so many different types of marking knife available or easily made, that there's no 'right' answer. The scalpel is useful in tight situations, or where...

Thank you, Mike - a thoughtful comment at last! I rather agree with your thoughts. As a way to make a good plane blade, it's not really a sensible approach, especially given the quality and variety of tool steels available commercially these days. As you say, far too time consuming, and whether...

Bit 'different', this! Alec Steele is a young blacksmith (and showman) working in Norwich, and these are videos of his making plane blades in Damascus steel. Jacob will absolutely love it.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=017RX4U5BTI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwn9bdCBVhE...

If the gouges are firmer type, just ignore the pitting - firmer gouges are relatively 'rough' tools compared to paring or carving gouges. Professional tool makers use a power grinder fitted with a wheel of width close to the gouge width, profiled on its edge to the sweep of the inside curve...

The preferred rake for a cross-cut handsaw is between 12 and 16 degrees, according to one of my collected bits of data. If the teeth are reshaped holding the top of the file level, the result would be a rake of 30 degrees, giving 'peg' teeth. Thus, it might be best to reshape at zero fleam as...