Desmond Stephan vises have come up before and almost always with a request for replacement bronze half-nuts. I’d picked up a Desmond some time ago with the intention of making it my main vise and upon cleaning I was having seconds thoughts about the lifespan of the nut. I was recently cleaning up a Morgan […]
Elna – Elnasuper 62C sewing machine manual
I was looking for one of these online and found little. Luckily I had access to a print copy so I made a color scan. Please download it from the Internet Archive, if possible: Elna Elnasuper 62c manual at the Internet Archive. The next manual is for the following years’ models but they are basically […]
Mystery Plane – LeGroote Iron
Wow, was May really the last time I put up a post? I was at the local toolswap trying not to come home with much. Usually, I’m quite good about not buying planes at the swaps but this one stood out. It’s an all-iron body, very heavy (about that of a Stanley No. 8-perhaps a […]
Analysis of a photo, Galoot style
The Porch brought up a photo by Man Ray (Link to photo at London Art Reviews) of Catherine Deneuve. I took a closer look at the photo and here are my findings: First, I believe the planes weren’t old tools when photographed and would barely be considered vintage today. The first photo below shows what […]
Two weeks haul
T. Conroy mentioned a number of items I picked up at Alameda during the first weekend of the month, so I thought I’d follow the “it didn’t happen without pictures” rule. I tossed into the mix some findings from last weekends fleas. In the back is a Spear & Jackson. This one is in user-condition. […]
Building the Paul Sellers Workbench – Progress (Several Days combined)
I ended my post on Day 5 noting that I’d started one of the aprons. Before I pick up on that, let me cover some early conclusions about my material choice. The simple statement is: ‘whitewood’ from the borg is a poor choice to use in the construction of this bench. In addition to being […]
Bookbinders’ Plough
Last Sunday I was at the Alameda flea market in the SF/Bay Area and picked up a good catch. I originally glossed over the vice-like item on the left. At the time I though it was a small auxiliary vise for joinery or a small tail vise. Quickly after posting that thought Thomas Conroy told […]
Building the Paul Sellers Workbench – Update/Day 5
Since the plan of scrubbing after glue-up went well on the first (front) slab, I began the process on the second slab. The stock was slightly more challenging to get jointed than that for the front slab. The glue-up for this slab went poorly. I started out fine using James Thompson’s recommendation of dampening the […]