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. […]
Category Archives: Tools
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 […]
Building the Paul Sellers Workbench – Day 3 & 4
Progress has been slower that desired, but on par with expected. After glue-up on Day 2 it rained intermittently, permitting no work other than removing the clamps after 24 hours. I was pleasantly surprised that no tell-tale sounds of creaking glue joints occurred. Turning the scallops into a slab As was mentioned in my first […]
Building the Paul Sellers Workbench – Day 2
As the rain had stopped me before gluing up on Day 1, my goal was to get a lamination finished. Since my stock was still uneven, I went through each board with a straight-edge and jointed them with a No. 5. I hadn’t been very careful when I first smoothed the faces of the boards, […]
Building the Paul Sellers Workbench – Day 1
It is about time I built myself a proper bench; the MDF topped table with no vises is rather limiting. I realized this after falling into the folly myself: building a workbench is one of the largest ‘mind-sinks’ of a starting galoot’s journey. Detailed research into materials, vises, styles, arrangement and types of joinery; on […]
Meeting a fellow Galoot
This is the first of several entries from my Pacific Coast road trip. Making rapid U-turns in small towns to investigate an antique store is common-place in my life. I’m at the point where I don’t even think, “I wonder if they have anything”, I just go in. At the very least, there is always […]