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thanks both - it is interesting to know that one of the properties of the laminated iron is that you can make the steel harder than otherwise. But given DWs point about the difficulties sharpening even thin bits of very hard steel it makes me wonder if that was really a motivation (well at...

you have made several points Jacob, not all of which are wrong :) 1. not all chisels need work on the other side to the bevel - No disagreement from me on this point ( or in this thread I think). As was said above, a good way to find out is to simply sharpen the bevel and see if you can...

that is a good tip for nicks (if you have a grinder - can you do it on a stone?). Either way I wouldn't want to do it on a big out-of-flat corner like the above - in these cases flattening the back on a stone etc is a simple and reliable way of getting to a point where you can easily remove the...

given my hamfisted woodworking skills I am more than satisfied with whatever irons came with my planes :) - I am just curious about the historical side of things. I did not know that wrought iron helps to keep natural stones fresh - another interesting feature! I am sure you are right about...

thanks both - I found two more videos that shed a little more light on the difficulties with welding cast steel you outlined. Almost in passing the blacksmiths mention three different potential problems: 1. the metal can split when worked too cold (mentioned specifically in relation to...

I do think it depends entirely on the state of the chisel/iron in the first place. Of course if you have a new one and it is already flat (or hollow) you don't need to do anything, and minor deviations in flatness can be ignored if you are stropping as leather has enough give in it to...

it is not (only) a fashion Jacob! having a reasonably flat face/back is one less thing to worry about when learning to sharpen - particularly if you are using old tools - because once it is flat it is easy to remove the bur and you can always be confident that the edge has been finished to a...

A while ago I started to investigate the economics of laminating (aka steeling) plane irons in the 19th C - I know, I live on the edge (both literally and figuratively!). This of course turned out to be something of a fool's errand given all the factors involved, but I am persisting anyhow...

I'd say the corner you could not reach with the diamond stone was probably not flat in the first place, which is quite common on old chisels (presumably because they have been sharpened on stones that were not flat). In that case I would have flattened it too, as it will make subsequent...

I am one of the people who would like to look at your pics DW, but is there any chance you could try getting them to show up inline with the [img] tags? I would not normally ask, but each time I click one of your links I am presented with a large image of an orange bare-chested chap and told...

think on - you could easily fashion your own shade with a couple of old wooden plough planes - just throw away the wooden screws and the light will shine through the holes.

slightly nerdy question, but I noticed the brand name 'anvil' is in quotes - was this common practice for brand names in the past ? C&J Hampton did the same with 'Record' in the early days, which I had assumed was just a quirk of this firm..

fair point on benefits, but the question to ask yourself is whether there are many people who would really choose married life over singledom because of a few hundred quid of tax savings. My guess is not, and that in fact there was some other reason for the tax change :). Given that the tax...

in November 1932 Record applied for another vice patent, this time for a "sawduster excluder plate" This innovation was so mysterious that they put a sticker on the said plates to explain what they were for: some of the plates were engraved with the patent number (just about visible in the...

you want to use something that is not too sticky since sawdust and shavings that get carried into the half-nut can build up and eventually cause the screw to slip (I use teflon bike-chain spray on mine, others use wax) as mentioned above, if you have an "A" model it will have a cover that runs...

garden tools may be the last frontier of the truly astonishing old tool bargains - you can still get top of the range S&J, brades, Elwell etc for far less than a much lower quality equivalent from B&Q. Once I cottoned on to this I eventually replaced my entire gardening set with Elwell tools...

The GB Patents and Designs Act 1907 granted Record a monopoly on their registered design for up to 15 years, so in theory from the end of 1933 other manufacturers would be free to copy the design (confusingly the Record no 14 catalogue, first published Jan 1934 still mentions the registered...

having tried both yesterday, I can confirm the hand grinder is a *lot* easier. Don't ask me why - I suppose it must have something to with the fact that it requires only a small effort to keep the wheel spinning quickly (and the motion is much quicker than the equivalent of moving your arms...

eventually C & J Hampton (I'll just refer to them as "Record" from now on) came up with a couple of improvements that they considered worth patenting. The first idea is actually rather good, but the second, described in the next post, is a bit of a duffer (it does at least help with...

those bike powered grinders are cool, and it is true that a hand powered one would be easier to use with an attractive assistant doing the winding... ... but it didn't take long for me to get the hang of whirling and steering - a bit like rubbing your head and stomach at the same time - and I...