Wooden Vise

Home Made Bench Vise

DIY bench vise.



What that super clean new bench vise looks like in a commercial wood carvers  shop in Barcelona Spain.

   Clearly it is a tool that is very useful on a bench.  The threaded rod is available for sale to enable you to make your own vise, or you can buy the gear and make your own threaded wooden doweling.  

    I have the threaded rod, and made a vise years ago but it wasn't very good.  Actually the vise was about as good as my wood work skills at the time.  Now...it is time to make another vise using new skills and better tools and materials.

Best Knife for the Money.

  Mora Sweden is the home of Moraknif.  Moraknif makes the famous Frost Knife, the traditional sloyd knife from Scandinavia.  It is worth watching Roy Underhill's video, Who wrote the Book Of Sloyd.

   

  I have several Mora knives.  In fact I have a couple of 'Frost' knives from before the two companies were amalgamated.

  I have been to Sweden thrice in the last five years and each time I have brought a knife home with me.  The most recent in the lower left knife, it is a Basic 511. The Basic 511 is razor sharp when you buy it and.....it cost $7.50 Cdn.  Yes it comes with a terrible snap-in plastic sheath but so-what! As a rule the Mora knives are all about the blade, you can re-handle them and make a fancy leather sheath if you'd like. By focusing on the blade and leaving the fancy work to others Mora provides an outstanding tool of an amazingly reasonable price.

  The two knives with the dirty wooden handles have history. The short bladed knife was my Father's whittling knife, the blade started life the size of the knife in the middle bottom, my whittling knife. The knife with the long blade and stained handle has kicked around my shop since forever.  I remember scrapping the paint off the handle 32 years. Ironically this Frost Knife is so good that I don't use it much in the shop now, I beat up other knives instead.

  On my second trip I bought the Push Knife (across the top). (or some one brought it for me?? now I am not sure) It is like a draw knife for dummies.  I find it much easier to control than a traditional draw knife, and since don't use a draw knife often I likely won't develop the skills it demands.  The push knife gives me nearly as good a tool for less learning time.

  I have been quiet on this blog for sometime, but I have not forgotten it.  

cheers, ianw

Bora Combination Square

  I have not used a combination square on a regular basis for years. The first combination square I bought was cheap and inaccurate and so it never found a spot in working method of work. In fact I threw it out years ago.

Bora 12 inch Magnetic Combination Square

 A couple of weeks ago I bought a Bora Magnetic Combination Square on a  clearance sale.  I know Bora to make good tools so I gave it a try I love it.

Check out the video: Magnetic square

 Don't wait 25 years before you get a good combination square like I did.

  Learn from an 'ol fart', it is cheaper and less embarrassing than making your old mistakes.

 cheers, ianw

    

V belt vs. Link Belt

Check out what woodgears.ca has to say about belts.

I like the link belt on my drill press but haven't tried one on a table saw.

Are link belts worth it?

  A blog with some information worth considering.

ianw

Clever Wood Workers

  It is pretty hard to have a wood shop with out lumber.  Wood turning doesn't need sawn lumber but everything else starts easier and progresses faster when you start with dimensioned lumber.  Here is Canada there is no shortage of available lumber.  In the GTA (Greater Toronto Region) where I live there are plenty of places to buy both rough and dressed wood.  

  The history of the saw mill is a history of innovation and danger. Recently I was sorting wood in my shop and thought of a video I'd seen a couple of years ago, and began to think of sawn lumber.

Horse Powered Sawmill 

   I am always impressed by the power of the human spirit and the mechanical genius shown by my wood working brothers.

Marble Adding Machine

  From horse power to mechanical detail, wood is impressive and so are woodworkers.

cheers,

ianw