Spend my money

[Luke Kelly]

Ive been woodworking for the last year with a combination of inherited tools and a few Axminster purchases. If all goes correctly I should be getting £300 back from the tax-man in a couple of weeks. This gives me the opportunity to plan, and then hopefully buy some nice shiny tools. Let me introduce those to be upgraded:

Probably the best part of my equipment. An extremely cheap jack and a very cheap low-angled block plane. A No. 6 currently being restored that I found in an old garage. A plough plane from ebay that works well. A wooden plane that was Horace's and which I haven't quite got the hang of adjusting yet. Somehow between them it seems that I should be able to do most things I need to do, and I guess I do manage, but it's bloody hard work compared to videos on the internet. This may be because of the following:

My sharpening system. Stanley made it. It's not very good. But it does make some form of edge on things, just I don't imagine they're very sharp by the standards of better systems. It has been useful in sharpening the following.

My absurdly battered chisels. Two bevel-edged, two mortise. Handles pretty much gone. I imagine that the steel is pretty good, Horace (my late step-grandfather and source of my tools) managed to build almost all the furniture in his house with them. But it's not really a complete set and combined with the handles could really do with upgrading.

So, what do I spend my hard-reclaimed pounds on? I'd really like

• Mortice chisels
• Bevel-edge chisels
• Coarse diamond stone
• Norton waterstones
• Verisas Mark II Honing Guide
• More shiny planes than money can buy.

What do people reckon? Sharpening somehow feels most urgent, but the system I have my eyes on would swallow all my budget. Just go for it? Some cheaper sharpening system plus a few Ray Iles chisels? Something different entirely?

The answer to "if I don't use any machinery then surely it can't cost much?" is appearing to be "no, all the shiny things will call to you". Hmm.

 

[OPJ]

You'll possibly find new life in some of those tools if you start by buying some good quality sharpening stones. I haven't used waterstones myself but I'm sure you wouldn't go far wrong with diamonds - looked after, they should last a lifetime! :wink: Personally, I use a set of oilstones from Norton - even they're a lot better than the ones you can buy for less than £5 at Screwfix! I work up to an extra fine ceramic stone which leaves a superb finish, well worth the £45 I spent there.

Excellent choice with the Veritas honing guide also.

Those handles could be repaired and replaced without too much trouble. You can probably buy something off the 'net but, if there are any 'turners in your area, I'm sure they'd be happy to help! :wink:

 

[Luke Kelly]

How easy is it to attach a handle? I've got a pile of oak offcuts which could be made into hexagonal handle-shaped objects. I have no idea how to connect them though.

 

[cadders75]

I'll give a vote for the AI bevel edge Chisels from Matthew at Workshop Heaven, I have just got the Dovetail set and they are superb, the bevel edge set are my next purchase, probably swiftly followed by the Firmer set.

With the Oval bolster Mortice Chisels, i picked up a full set from E-bay for the cost of one of the new Ray Iles OBM, they took a little bit of work to fettle but they are like a razor now, Which neatly brings me onto the Sharpening question.

I invested in a set of EZE-Lap Double sided stones from Tilgear, it has been one of the best buys I have ever made, the combo stones Coarse/Fine and Medium/Extra Fine leave an excellent finish on my tools, I usually just strop on a peice of MDF with some compound rubbed onto it.

 

[matt]

I'd so go for sharpening those chisels and replacing the handles.

I think you'll find the handles are wedged on to a spike (i.e. you should be able to knock the old ones off). However, try and keep the metal ring around the base of each handle and reuse them on your new handles.

 

[woodbloke]

The chisels look good apart from the handles...easy enough to replace or make some new ones. Don't buy any new chisels 'till you've seen one of the mags in the next month or so...some Bloke's :wink: done a review of most of the current chisels on the market. A decent diamond stone or two would be good together with a honing guide of your choice, I use an Eclipse clone but Paul C has at least a dozen to choose from :lol: :lol: - Rob

 

[Jake]

I'd so go for sharpening those chisels and replacing the handles.

I think you'll find the handles are wedged on to a spike (i.e. you should be able to knock the old ones off). However, try and keep the metal ring around the base of each handle and reuse them on your new handles.

I agree. If you have those, splashing money on chisels that look more fancy is a vanity project, and there are much better places to spend your money.

 

[Ironballs]

As the others have said, get your handles repaired, get a good sharpening system (I use Veritas Mk2 and waterstones), get your planes fixed up and then have a review of what you've got and what you might need. I reckon you've got the basis of a good tool collection there that will serve you well

Cheers

Damian

 

[MikeG.]

Just a quick word for "Scary sharpening"........ a bit of glass and some wet & dry and you're away. Save some of the money you would have spent on water stones and a diamond stone for a 1/4" chisel.

You have more planes than you need already.

I'll say that again.........well, OK, you get the picture!..........Have you got a Gent's saw and a nice little tenon saw? They're not pricey, and will get lots of use.

Right, thats saved you a few hundred pounds..........now forget steel, we're woodworkers!!!! Spend the money on wood!

Mike

 

[Luke Kelly]

I've got a dovetail saw which is lovely and a tenon saw with a strong pull to the right, so I use a relatively fine £10 saw from B&Q instead for cross cuts. I do have a saw set, saw file and so on so once my stools are finished I shall attempt to resharpen it, along with the two Diston saws that I've been restoring: after playing with electricity the blades at least look shiny, only the handles and sharpening bit to go.

Maybe I should spend less on shiny bits of metal then. I got very excited a year and a bit ago and bought an awful lot of wood. SWMBO was not impressed. S4S and it cost a fortune. It is being steadily worked through as I use it to make projects from the book which has been teaching me. After stools, it's a beech garden bench. It'll be one of the more expensive benches known to man. 3 inch thick beech hurt. But I do need some ash for my competition entry...

Thanks to everyone for all the advice.

 

[lurker]

Luke Give us a clue where about you live.

I'd bet a local forum member would be only too pleased to help you get the best out of the tools you already have

 

[head clansman]

hi

please don't use those chisel they are dangerous to use in that condition , till you have sourced more handles, plenty worn out chisel on e bay a lot have good handle and there cheap. hc

 

[Luke Kelly]

After struggling to clamp up the crack in the top of one of my stools last night with offcuts and fox-wedges I reckon a few clamps might be in order...

Lurker I live in Birmingham; any such would be gratefully received!

 

[MIGNAL]

The first thing to address is the sharpening issue. Getting edge tools seriously sharp makes all the difference to the final quality of your work. Of course there are many methods/approaches to obtaining that very fine edge. I use a relatively simple system of grinding on a hand crank grinder and then swithching to a very fine 8,000G waterstone - all finished off with the green soap on a piece of hardwood. Providing the backs of the chisel/plane blade are flat I don't have to touch any sharpening stones other than the hand crank and the 8,000.
You can use a similar approach using wet/dry abrasive - otherwise known as scary sharp.
As nice as the Veritas jig is it's not a necessity. I don't have one and I can get my edge tools seriously sharp. I make do with the large Axminster guide.
It's just one approach of many.

 

[woodbloke]

I was looking a quite a good account of the sharpening process here yesterdsay...might be of interest - Rob