AKA “And you thought handscrews were simple” For the most part clamps are simple. There is the occasional innovation, but for the most part any style of clamp is interchangeable with any other of the same type. Perhaps the best example is in handscrews. There are really two types: wood thread and metal thread with […]
Category Archives: Wood
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 […]
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 […]
The Mill With No Name
The second article from my Pacific coast trip. While I had great fun on the coast of California, and visited many a purveyor of antiques, nothing otherwise eventful took place. I will attest that the North coast of California (north of San Francisco) is more beautiful than our famed Central coast and good driving fun […]