Quangsheng Block Planes

This morning we received a shipment of planes from Quangsheng. Megan has been working like a Trojan getting all the back orders processed and booking the rest into stock, so if you had one on back order it was dispatched today.

The production department managed to get all of the V2 upgrades into the low angle block plane but couldn't get the 38 and 50 degree blades ready in time for this shipment.

The V2 low angle comes with a 25 and 38 degree blade as standard, so we are sending them out with the 25 degree blades installed and the 38 degree blades will follow automatically as soon as they arrive.

The rebating and standard angle block planes have some of the V2 modifications but not the fine thread adjuster, so we have put them back up on the website as V1's and reduced the price accordingly.

Customers who had on order a V2 standard angle block plane or low angle rebating block plane will be sent a V1 spec plane and given the option to swap it (all expenses paid) for a new, full V2 spec one when the next batch arrive. We will put up separate listings shortly so that customers who want to pre-order full V2 spec rebating and standard angle blocks can do so.

Apologies for the confusion, the guys in China have worked extremely hard to accommodate us and have carried out our instructions beautifully. I managed to find a few moments to play with one of the V2 low angle block planes today and it is just the sweetest little thing in the whole world.

Mastercrafts Series 2 Petition

For some reason the BBC have seen fit to abort plans to film a second series of Monty Don's wonderful series Mastercrafts, shown a few months ago on BBC2. I believe that they should revise that decision and go ahead with the second series.

If you agree with me, you can join me in contacting Janice Hadlow, Controller of BBC2 and let her know your thoughts.

A Visit to David Charlesworth

I dropped in to visit to David Charlesworth's superbly appointed workshop on the beautiful Hartland Peninsula in Devon last week. David and his students were examining the task of sawing to a line. David has a painstakingly methodical approach to woodworking that drives some people nuts, however the result of his academically thorough analysis is often a simple 'now-why-didn't-I-think-of-that-before' alteration of technique that saves a bunch of time and effort. Here's an example:

When sawing to a line you normally rest the saw on the compressed side of the cut. If you are holding the saw with a light touch, have the timber perfectly horizontal in the vice and keep the blade perpendicular to the workpiece, the saw drops in diagonally during the first couple of strokes and the left hand side of the kerf proceeds along the line.

Rob Cosman advocates starting the saw on the solid timber adjacent to the knife line to take advantage of the way it naturally moves along the path of least resistance until it reaches the mark like this:

Now consider a situation where you are forced to cut on the uncompressed side of the knife line - for example cutting dovetail pins that have been marked out using the tail board as a template:

If you try to balance the saw on the waste it will naturally want to fall towards the unsupported side and you will end up cutting the component rather than the waste.

One solution that David picked up from Robert Ingham is to offset the template component to compensate at the layout stage. The amount of offset required varies depending on the kerf of your saw and the angle of your dovetails but Robert's rule of thumb is to have the tail board overhanging towards you by about 1.5mm.

The alternative method that David and I arrived at was to mark out on the line that you want to cut and then lay a chisel into the layout line to guide the saw for the first couple of strokes until the cut is established. Metal on metal is not ideal, so making a simple wooden chisel from something harder than the workpiece for the purpose would be the best solution.

Because the fibres on the bevel side of the cut have merely been compressed rather than cut, they can be made to expand back to their original position with the application of a dab of water after the joint is assembled, indeed the fact that they are compressed makes for easier assembly and a reduced chance of damaging the edge during the process:

David runs short 5 day courses throughout the spring and summer and a long 12 week course starting in September.

And the FAMAG quiz winner is...

Many thanks to all who took part in our FAMAG quiz, the response was fantastic and the standard of entries very high so we did end up having to draw a name out of a hat.

Before we announce the lucky winner here are the correct answers:

1. Who invented the Forstner Bit and when? Benjamin Forstner - 1874.


2. What are the smallest and largest diameters of bits in the 3500 series? 3mm and 30mm.


3. What do the letters F, A and M stand for in FAMAG? Friedrich August Mühlhoff.


4. Should a plug cutter ideally be used in the middle of a board or close to an edge? Close to the edge.


5. I want to bore through timber, thin metal and brickwork in a single pass, which series of FAMAG bits should I use? FAMAG 2183 Multi-purpose bits.


6. What range of bit sizes will a 2202.000 Vario countersink fit?3mm and 8mm.





7. The photo above shows a set of hollow Bormax forstner bits that allow the centre pin to be replaced with a standard drill bit. In what situation would this be useful?Drilling a hole at an angle.


8. Bormax3 are the only carbide tipped forstners in the world that can be used safely in which type of drill? Freehand.


9. I want to drill a hole in some Lignum Vitae, should I use CV or HSS-G bits? HSS-G.


10. In which German town have FAMAG been continuously producing drill tooling since 1865? Remscheid.

And so, without further ado...

The winner of the Workshop Heaven FAMAG Quiz is... Alastair Hislop!

Congratulations Alastair and well done to all who entered.

Clifton Anniversary planes update

News just in from Sheffield - The first of the Clifton Anniversary planes are nearing completion and will ship in the next couple of weeks.

The planes are having the final touches applied - etching the cutting irons with the number of the plane that they will be supplied with. Planes that have been pre-ordered already will be dispatched first, the remainder will follow a week or so later.

The factory have asked us to supply them with Shield Technology VanGuard Anti-Rust Coating to provide extra protection for these tools as some of them may be stored for a long period of time.

We were lucky enough to grab an additional allocation of planes, so we still have one or two of each size available.

Carpe Diem

Amid speculation as to whether the Chancellor of the Exchequer will raise VAT to 20% in tomorrow's budget (Tuesday 22nd of July), we have extended our Father's Day promotion on all British made products until after the announcement. It would be pointless for me to change all the prices and then have to change them again 24 hours later. So if you are thinking about a Clifton Plane, Atkinson Walker Sawblade or some Ashley Iles Chisels, sieze the day!

FAMAG Quiz!

Welcome to the Workshop Heaven FAMAG Quiz. Answer the following ten questions to win a bottle of bubbly and a selection of FAMAG goodies! The marks are shown after each question. In the event of a tie, names will be drawn from a hat by our new Sales Manager, Chris, when the competition closes on the 30th of June. The winner will be reported here and informed by email.

Questions:

1) Who invented the Forstner Bit and when? (2 marks)

2) What are the smallest and largest diameters of bits in the 3500 series? (2 marks)

3) What do the letters F, A and M stand for in FAMAG? (3 marks)

4) Should a plug cutter ideally be used in the middle of a board or close to an edge? (1 mark)

5) I want to bore through timber, thin metal and brickwork in a single pass, which series of FAMAG bits should I use? (1 mark)

6) What range of bit sizes will a 2202.000 Vario countersink fit? (1 mark)

7) The photo above shows a set of hollow Bormax forstner bits that allow the centre pin to be replaced with a standard drill bit. In what situation would this be useful? (1 mark)

8) Bormax3 are the only carbide tipped forstners in the world that can be used safely in which type of drill? (1 mark)

9) I want to drill a hole in some Lignum Vitae, should I use CV or HSS-G bits? (1 mark)

10) In which German town have FAMAG been continuously producing drill tooling since 1865? (1 mark)

To submit your answers, please use the contact message form at Workshop Heaven.

VanGuard

I recently heard about a guy who was having problems with tools going rusty. They were stored in his van overnight so condensation forms on them each morning and he lives on a small island so the water vapour in the air is salt laden, making it more effective as an electolyte - one of the conditions needed for corrosion to occur. I contacted Paul Prince at Shield Technology who suggested the 'belt, braces and jockstrap approach' was called for, i.e.. surface protection, contact corrosion inhibitors and VCI (airborne) protection - all in liberal measure.

I emailed Paul back suggesting that a huge ToolGuard VCI pot which would protect anything stored in a van would be a popular product - after all, how many tradesmen have vans? I lightheartedly suggested he could call it something like VanGuard. He said the concept wouldn't work as vans are too draughty and even if the pot were the size of a biscuit tin, a good stiff breeze would have all the corrosion inhibiting vapour drifting off down the street.

He did however come up with a new product which is the 'belt, braces and jockstrap approach' in a tin. It has a viscous high quality mineral oil base so it will provide barrier protection, plus it has both ferrous and yellow metal corrosion inhibitors and a VCI additive, so your treated tools act as VCI emitters themselves, if you miss a spot then the VCI chemical will condense on it and prevent the water vapour from acting. Wipe it on with a rag and store your tools in a sealed box so the VCI element can do it's thing.

To my great surprise he kept the name! Shield Technology VanGuard in 125ml and 250ml tins is now available on the website!

A Bit Different!

We have stocked FAMAG Bormax 3 carbide tipped Forstners for a while now, on the basis that no-one else was carrying them and they were just too good not to be available in the UK.

Recently I tried out one of their 1594 series HSS-G lip & spur bits and was quite astonished at how cleanly and quickly it cut. No picking out curls of compressed timber from the flutes here! In fact quite the opposite, a plume of chips erupt from the hole as you drill and the bit comes out as clean as a whistle - even in hard oily exotics.

The difference is that the flutes are not U-shaped as they would be normally, instead they are relieved behind the cutting edge - adding nearly 50% more space for the waste to clear, they are also very finely ground. Because the flutes are functioning correctly the chips clear properly and the bit stays cooler...which also helps with edge retention...which was already excellent because they are made from a material normally only used for metalworking bits. Percentage wise they are more expensive than most of the cheap imports on the market, but in real terms it's not a huge amount of money, the difference in performance however is phenomenal!

Anyhow, the net result was a little spending spree and the next thing I know we have the largest selection of FAMAG products in the UK. We have ended up re-organising the warehouse and installing new walling and shelving to fit everything in! Isn't it amazing how a little drill bit can change your life?

The impact on your life may not be quite as pronounced, but I hope you will give them a try. We have put several lines on special offer and are even offering some bits at below cost, because I believe there is no better advertisement for them than having one in your workshop and trying it for yourself.

Chisel Backs

We've had a couple of questions this week about preparing chisels, specifically the hollow ground Ashley Iles chisels, so I thought it might be worth covering it here. Lets start off with what we are aiming for on the back of the blade.

The backs of chisels used for paring need to be sufficiently flat that they can take a full length cut without diving into the wood or pulling up out of it by more than 1/10 of a mm over the length of the blade. The tolerance for chopping chisels is a little wider as there is a limit to how accurately they can be held at 90 degrees to the work.

When it comes to honing, a very slightly hollow ground back is preferable to a convex or perfectly flat one, the word ‘slightly’ is key here because it still needs to be flatter than a tenth of a mm in order to remain accurate. Dead flat itself is no good because you need to remove material over the entire back of the blade in order to polish the important bit that forms the underside of the edge. Also any imperfections in your technique will tend to cause bumps or drubbing of the corners, which are self perpetuating and eventually get worse if you are working on a sharpening medium that is larger than the tool.

Bumps in the back will register first against whatever material they come into contact with and then wobble around looking for another point of contact in order to become stable. A lot of people think that bumps are an insurmountable problem, they are not, they simply call for a different technique. Nonetheless, in an ideal world, somewhere between dead flat and one tenth of a mm hollow is where we want to be.

After a great deal of time and effort the team at Ashley Iles eventually managed to achieve a reliable 0.04mm (+/-0.02mm) hollow on their cabinetmakers chisels. Although still perfectly accurate from a woodworking perspective, they are just hollow enough that when you lay the back on a dead flat surface, they only make contact at two points.

To polish the edge, lay most of the length of the tool on the sharpening media and draw it off the edge, lift off, go back to the start position, and repeat. The underside of the cutting edge is in contact with the sharpening media for the full length of the stroke, so it gets polished within a few strokes. The edge of the sharpening media also makes contact with an area inside the hollow and wears away a little material there too, so over many years of sharpening, the back will gradually get closer and closer to dead flat but never quite get there - perfect!

So a dozen or so strokes on a fine waterstone to remove any grinding marks that extend through the cutting edge when you first get them, then a couple of strokes on a fine stone after each honing and that’s it.