Imperial Narex Mortice Chisels

Just Arrived! Narex 8882 Mortice chisels in true imperial sizes.

New from Narex, the popular 8882 range of mortice chisels are now available in imperial sizes as well as metric.

The isothermally hardened steel is the same as all the other Narex chisels and the chunky faceted beech handles are the same as those used on the metric Narex 8882 mortice chisels. The only thing that is different is the widths, which are correctly ground in true imperial widths to a tolerance of about 6 thou (none of this rebranded 'metric equivalent' nonsense).

The set of six includes 1/8, 3/16, 1/4, 5/16, 3/8 and 1/2 inch chisels. End caps are included and as usual they are available with optional heavy duty magnetic toolbar or one of our beautiful handmade French suede toolrolls.

Best of British Diamond Jubilee Promotion

Here at Workshop Heaven we are extremely proud to support our British tool manufacturers, and we don't need much of an excuse to crow about just how fantastic British-made tools and tooling are. So what better way to  mark Her Majesty's Diamond Jubilee than by making it even easier for people to experience for themselves the pleasure of working with some of the finest tools in the world.

The British toolmakers we choose to work with don't do cheap and cheerful, and they don't need cheesy marketing and hype, the only thing they are exceptionally, outstandingly brilliant at is making things properly. In some cases the specialist skills and know-how behind Britain's factory gates can only be found in one or two other places on the planet. In many cases these are handwork processes that have been handed down through apprenticeship and proven impossible to mechanise.

Until June the 5th we have 10% off all of the 861 British-made tools that we carry, so whatever you choose to invest in, you can enjoy the fact that it will have instantly out-performed your bank account for at least the next three years - in advance!

Use discount code HMQ60 at the checkout

(Offer available while stocks last, expires June 5th 2012)

So whether you fancy treating yourself to some beautiful new Clifton planes, a set of hand ground Ashley Iles chisels or perhaps finding out for yourself just how incredibly smooth, stable and accurate a hand smithed Atkinson Walker circular sawblade is.....why not grab yourself a cuppa, and spend a few moments perusing some fine British workmanship.

Richard Kell, Northumberland. Honing guides and measuring equipment made in small batches on a capstan lathe using traditional toolroom skills and a lifetime of experience. Components are made to tolerances as fine as 0.001" and then mated into closest matching pairs within that thousandth of an inch.  

Atkinson Walker, Sheffield. Atkinson Walker industrial circular saw blades are individually heat treated and hand smithed so that when the perimiter is heated by friction and the centre cooled by airflow, the saw will remain circular rather than turning into a pringle shape. Resharpenable tungsten carbide teeth are trifoil brazed and diamond ground by fully automated robots working to 1/100mm precision.

Ashley Iles, Lincolnshire. Ashley Iles chisels, carving tools and turning tools, individually forged and hand ground 'by eye', no jigs or fixtures, just years of skill and experience. Ashley Iles HSS turning tools are all hand finished and cryogenically hardened. Ashley Iles will regrind any tool that they have made, free of charge.

Clifton Planes, Sheffield. Clifton plane castings are fully annealed - a process that takes two days and alters the crystalline structure of the metal making it strong, stable and rigid. They are then machined very slowly to preserve the crystalline structure. Each cutting iron is cut from an individually hand forged blank and heat treated for optimum performance.

 Ray Iles Engineering, Lincolnshire. Ray was one of the last toolmakers to apprentice under the little mesters of Sheffield in the 1950's, he has been making tools ever since. Ray Iles engineering specialises in making plane irons and traditional green woodworking tools.

Shield Technology, Grimsby. Shield Technology's range of concentrated, biodegradable rust removers, airborne corrosion control products and surface coatings were developed in consultation with a Cambridge University biochemist. This relatively new British company has already received industry awards for export achievement.

Thomas Flinn & Co, Sheffield. Thomas Flinn saws is a family owned and run Sheffield handsaw manufacturer and one of the only companies left in the world making proper folded brass back tenon saws. The Pax saws that we carry are the flagship brand of their range.

Craig Sommerfield - Inventor of the Kreg Jig

This is Craig Sommerfeld, a really nice guy from Iowa who had a great idea and followed it through. in 1986 Craig was building some kitchen units for his home and needed a better way of securing his face frames to the units than using nails and filler. Being a tool and die maker, he fashioned himself a J shaped piece of aluminium with an angled steel tubular insert so that he could accurately and repeatably drill shallow diagonal 'pocket holes' to accept screws inserted from the inside of the cabinet. And so Craig's Jig - later to become the Kreg Jig, was born.

 After enough, 'ooh now that's clever, can you make me one too?' comments, Craig took to making them during the week and then selling them at weekend woodworking shows. This is the graft bit, working shows is really hard work, but it pays dividends - as Craig says (if memory serves) "you get to look into peoples faces and see the moment when they get it, answer their questions and really understand what they want'. After thousands of demonstrations and a lot of work refining and perfecting the product into a complete system, the latest 4th generation Kreg Jig looks like this:

 The plastic bits are actually glass reinforced nylon and are virtually indestructible, the frame can be clamped or screwed to a bench for producing components (as shown above) or you can use the integral clamp to fix it directly to the workpiece. For situations where you need to take the jig to the workpiece and space is limited (repair work for example) the drill guide block can be removed and installed in a Kreg portable base unit, which locates over the side of the workpiece and can be adjusted for material thickness by sliding the guide block in or out and securing it with the brass screw.

Once the pockets are formed the two pieces can be clamped in place (genuine Kreg clamps work perfectly but in a pinch you can get by with standard ones) and secured together with screws. There's no waiting for the glue to dry and once the screws are driven home the clamps can be removed and you are onto the next joint. While we are at this point, there would be no advantage in adding glue to this joint because you can't glue endgrain - hence it would traditionally be done with a mortice and tenon or half-lap joint which give large long-grain to long-grain contact surfaces

 All Kreg products are solid, durable and robust, a result of the guy who invented the system and owns the company standing in front of his customers and selling it to them week in week out for years. The system is simple, fast, accurate and works beautifully. Whether you are making your first table and find traditional joinery a bit daunting, or a top designer-maker looking to improve the speed and efficiency of producing jigs and forms, Kreg pocket hole joinery may just be the answer.

For those that want more discrete pocket holes there is the Kreg Micro guide block, which simply replaces the guide block in the standard set up and produces 25% smaller pocket holes. Using the pan head screws the head of the screw is still fully concealed and the holes are plugable.

The next logical step is to go bigger, so for construction sized workpieces the new Kreg HD jig (announced earlier this week) is due to be launched this summer:

Basic Blacksmithing Course

Last weekend I had the pleasure of becoming a new custodian of some very old skills, the honour of learning them from Oxfordshire Blacksmithing legend Clive Sanderson, and to top it all off, the privilege of working in a forge that dates back to 1790 and is now a scheduled ancient monument.

The intensive 2 day course covers the basic skills of traditional blacksmithing exactly as apprentices have learned them for centuries. Obviously you can't replace the hours of practice and opportunity to observe the master at work that you would get with a proper five year blacksmithing apprenticeship, but with 1 on 1 tuition and a little concentration it's surprising how much ground you can cover in a couple of days. Clive explained and demonstrated all of the following skills, which I then had plenty of time to practice on my own workpiece.

Fire management
Cutting and splitting
Forging to section (square, octagonal, round)
Drawing down and tapering
Upsetting or jumping up
Punching and drifting
Decorative Scroll work
Bolstering
Rivetting
We even managed to have a go at a bit of fire welding too.

Around the same time as I was born, Clive was starting his apprenticeship in a village blacksmiths shop three miles down the road. By the time I could walk he was making money at it and by the time I could ride a bike he had served his apprenticeship and could call himself a blacksmith. 

The techniques Clive teaches are absolutely traditional, they have been preserved and cherished since the iron age, like a living flame passed from one generation to the next.  Clive's pride in these techniques is inspiring, and has made me want to produce what I believe to be a perfect result every single time I use them.  I suppose this is the key to how craftsmanship gets passed down along with the skills.

The forge we were working in is part of Tooleys historic boatyard in Banbury. This little brick shed survived the wholesale redevelopment of the town centre ten years ago and it now sits rather incongruously among the mobile phone shops in the middle of the Castle Quay shopping centre. It isn't some touristy museum with a flickering orange lightbulb in the hearth and a recording of hammering to give it some atmosphere. It's a proper working forge, complete with heat, dirt and genuine expletives when someone is learning the hard way just how long metal stays hot.

By the end of the second day I had a new portfolio of comfortably understood blacksmithing skills and the confidence that I had used each of them at least once and achieved an acceptable result.  I also had a rather special candlestick to show for my efforts which also serves as a permanent reminder of both the individual techniques and a deeply rewarding experience.

If you'd like to find out more about the blacksmithing courses, book yourself in for one, or perhaps commission a piece of work, you can contact Clive direct at Charles Branson Design or via Tooleys boatyard on 01295 272917.

Rack and Rule

With a traditional single screw front vice, putting a workpiece in one end causes the moving jaw to rack diagonally and pinch one side of the workpiece without touching the other.

In some circumstances (holding a tapered leg for example) racking can be quite helpful but if you do want the jaws to close square you can eliminate racking easily enough by putting something of a similar thickness in the other end of the vice.

That said, rummaging around for a similar thickness something isn't exactly conducive to efficient workflow and you then need to hold the workpiece, the something and operate the vice all at the same time.

Enter the humble wooden folding rule in it's capacity as a something of variable thickness for putting in the other end of the vice. Just fold out the appropriate number of leaves and pop it in place, leaving both hands free to position the workpiece and operate the vice.

Systainer Explainer Part 1

My first impression of systainers was something along the lines of ‘that’s a lot of money for a box’ and I suspect that many others will have had the same thoughts. However, the people I have spoken to who actually use them absolutely rave about them, so I thought it was time to dig a little deeper and find out what all the fuss is about. Suffice to say that having sated my curiosity, I now count myself amongst the legion of fans who believe that they are actually a remarkable amount of box for the money! I don't want to make this a bullet point list of specifications, that's not really our style, but I would like to explain some of the considerable research and thought that has gone into the design.

Systainers are made by German company TANOS GmbH which was formed in 1993 as a subsidiary of Tooltechnic Systems (which is also the parent company of Festool) specifically to develop and market the systainer range of products. Since then they have supplied over 14 million of them to companies including Bosch, Festool, Makita, Mafell and of course BTI.

The word ‘systainer’ is a composite of ‘system’ and ‘container’, the system part is the clever bit. Because it is a complete system you get all the efficiency benefits of working in a neatly organised workshop, but because it is portable, you can take that same level of efficiency anywhere. The boxes can be connected, so you can lock them together to form a stack, which can then be picked up by the integral handle or transported using a trolley or roller board to your place of work. Lockable safes with full extension drawer runners are also available that can be bolted into a vehicle or building to store your systainers securely without restricting your access to the contents. For the insides of the boxes, a wide range of inserts are available to keep the contents neatly organised.













The boxes themselves are made from high quality ABS with geometric reinforcement, so they are strong and stiff but also very light. The components are available individually, so if you damage a small part like a hinge or a lock, you can often just replace the component – not the whole box.

The boxes come in two main types.

Classic systainers have four tabs which can either lock the lid in place or reach up a little further to both secure the lid and hold another systainer on top. The classic range is more fully developed so there are a wider range of options available. The maxi systainer has twice the footprint (60cm x 40cm) of a standard systainer so you can attach a double stack of standard systainers (either classic or T-Loc) on top of it.

Mini systainers only stack with each other, but drop a foam insert into the bottom of a standard systainer and two stacks of minis will fit in perfectly side by side. There are also lockable systainers, insulated systainers and sortainers with built in sub-dividable drawers. I was surprised to find that you can fit a full set of 12 bevel edged chisels in a tool roll, with a mallet, into the large drawer of a four drawer sortainer and still have room to spare.












The newer T-Loc systainers fasten together like a French cleat, and are then locked into place with the single T shaped locking device on the front. The T-loc’s have several advantages in that they are much faster to use, can be fastened with one hand and (as long as the boxes above are not too heavy) allow boxes to be opened in the middle of a stack. T-Locs are available in five depths.












T loc systainers have the same attachment lugs around the bottom as classics, so you can stack T-locs on top of classics but not the other way around.

The internal shape of the two types is different too, so the inserts that go with them are type specific.

Both classics and T-Locs have the same size footprint – about 30cm x 40cm. This size was arrived at because it is one eighth of a standard europallet, which makes systainers suitable for palletised loads as well as keeping distribution costs down.












There's a lot of information to cover on this product range. In systainer explainer Part 2 we will look at some of the possible adaptations that can be made to the interior of the boxes.

The Robertson Square Drive Screw

In general when a wonderful new invention comes along it sweeps aside the competition, is widely adopted and replaces the previous way of doing things.

There are however various examples in history of superior technologies being superceded by inferior ones, the betamax video for example was technically far superior to VHS, but because VHS was cheaper it became the standard and the range of films available on betamax soon dwindled to naught.

Another fine example is the Robertson square drive screw, patented in 1909 by a Canadian gentleman called Peter Robertson, it was - if you'll pardon the pun - quite revolutionary. The square driver engaged much more positively with the head of the screw than the pre-existing slot head arrangement, transmission of power was excellent and the tapered square hole in the top of the screw could be punched straight into the cold metal, so it was comparatively cheap to produce.

Henry Ford was a great fan of the technology because it meant that wooden car bodies could be produced faster and more efficiently. You would think that with a product decades ahead of it's time and a mustard keen patron, who also happened to be the most famous industrialist of the 20th century, that the future of the Robertson screw was guaranteed.

Unfortunately, the firm he had licensed to produce them in England were not quite as fine and upstanding as one would hope, and used a loophole to bankrupt their firm and then bought the rights back from the receiver, which neatly eliminated the need to pay Robertson his royalties.

Cowed by this despicable experience, Robertson was understandably loathe to grant production licenses to anyone else and with the exception of the Canadian market, which Robertson's own company satisfied, the Robertson square drive was eclipsed by the inferior Philips (purposely designed to cam out so that it couldn't be over tightened) with which the world has been saddled ever since. Developments using a similar principle to the Robertson drive like Allen (hexagonal) and Torx (star) have unsurprisingly gone on to become hugely popular world wide. 

One beacon of hope for the square drive screw is the American pocket-hole technology specialist (and very clever inventors in their own right) Kreg, for whom we are now a stockist and will, over the coming month or so, be introducing their full range of products.

So although Mr Robertson unfortunately didn't live to see it, an altogether more scrupulous British company will now be getting behind his remarkable invention 100% and giving him due credit for it too.

New Workshop Build Part 2

Things are starting to feel a little more homely in the workshop now. The main bench has been installed along with the drill press and an adjacent eye level cupboard to keep all the associated drilling gubbins in.

On the opposite side I've installed a set of shelves to keep things that come in boxes accessible and organised - power tools, socket set, screws etc. Above the shelves is a sheet of steel pegboard for hammers and mallets.

Underneath the left side of the fixed bench is a mini bench for my 4 year old son. This started life as one of the flimsy entry level benches but with the back and sides boarded over to stiffen it and the lower legs cut off, it is now surprisingly sturdy.












Over on the tool wall, magnetic toolbars have been installed to store chisels, saws rasps and marking and measuring kit. We have another eye level cupboard for small items and to save making shelves for planes I have just screwed wooden boxes straight to the wall. All of the shop walls were lined with ply which is already paying huge dividends in terms of being able to attach anything anywhere.












There are still a few more additions and alterations to make, but for the time being it is a workable setup. After the last couple of months of relative chaos, I am thoroughly enjoying being able to find things instantly without having to rummage for them.

New Workshop Build Part 1

Here is the space that was alluringly titled 'workshop' on the plans, I have a general idea of how I want it to end up but for the time being everything is flexible and open to serendipitous influences.












The first of which happened last week when the builder kindly offered me a few boards of leftover timber that was otherwise destined for the skip – not very straight, blobbed with plaster, but a decent quantity of PAR pine nonetheless and very gratefully received.












In the true spirit of ‘use it quick before he changes his mind’ I have decided to press it into service as a secondary bench. As with all bench builds, the first thing you need in order to get started is a bench. This is my portable bench which is made from 5 x 3’s, (more skip treasure). Two simple A frames with splayed legs, two horizontals that drop onto 20mm hardwood dowels and a top attached underneath so that you can put tools down whilst still having the workpiece resting on the top rails. It’s rough but sturdy and you can clamp anywhere and screw stops onto it as needed so it is quite versatile. (All of the photos are clickable if you want a closer look)












The dimensions for the new bench were largely dictated by the space and the materials, I wanted something quite narrow so that the wall behind can be used for shelving and magnetic toolbars to keep the more commonly used tools visible and accessible. The ladder subframe is 3 x 2 PAR and will be supported on three box section legs. All of the worksurfaces in the shop are going to be 3 feet high so that work can be laid across multiple surfaces if required.












Having double legs presented the opportunity to install bench slaves in two of them to support large boards vertically for edge jointing. By drilling two offset lines of holes to accept pegs I can have a repositionable cantilevered support that sticks out of the front of each leg.












To drill the holes I am using a drilling rig to ensure that everything stays plumb and true. The 25mm Famag Bormax performed perfectly, each hole was cut with a single pass and the last hole was as clean as the first. By carefully clamping the boards in pairs with some scrap underneath I was able to prevent blowout and also transfer the hole positions to the next piece.












The ladder subframe is screwed to the wall for maximum strength and rigidity using BTI Drilltec screws. These have a drill point, an aggressive threaded section, a collar of rifling to eliminate jacking and milling ribs under the head so that they countersink themselves.












Without any pre-drilling at all they went through the timber, a sheet of ply, a sheet of plasterboard and bit home on the steels inside the wall. The torx heads fit over the driver like a spline joint over about 2.5mm, so the engagement is very much better than pozidrive.












The subframe was assembled with leather pads to elevate the ladder section slightly and provide some extra grip – any slightly compressable material will do but leather is ideal and easy to get hold of, a couple of old chunky belts in this case.












I also arranged the timbers carefully so that the bowing of the subframe and the top pieces would act against each other to pull themselves back into square when it was all screwed together.












Although this bench will be mainly used as a table to help keep the main bench clear, it was worth building it sturdily enough to be used as a working bench as well. The apron at the front provides ample clamping area and it is plenty solid enough to support morticing work or bolt machines onto if necessary.

Although the timber would probably have been recycled into paper or chippings anyway, I believe it has been put to much better use and will hopefully give many years of good service.

The New Workshop Heaven!

We have recently moved into new larger premises at the Alkerton Oaks Business Park, situated between Banbury and Stratford upon Avon on the A422, about five minutes drive from junction 12 of the M40.

The local area is literally dripping with history, within a couple of miles we have RAF Edgehill where the top secret E28-39, powered by Mr Whittle's jet engine, was developed into the Gloster Meteor. There is also the field of the first pitched battle of the English Civil war in 1642 and the glorious Upton House which was built just 46 years later, developed and preserved by a family that started a little company called Shell, and is now a National Trust treasure.

The Upton Estate remains in private hands and has over 300 acres of woodland, managed in accordance with the higher level countryside stewardship scheme. The estate also farms 1400 acres of arable land, producing conservation grade cereals for Jordans.











The trimmings from the woodland management scheme (currently coniferous nurse trees planted to encourage straight growth in the main crop) end up in a biomass boiler that provides heat and hot water for our new offices and warehouse. As a result the only fossil fuels that the building consumes are a splash in the chainsaw and a dash the chipper. I am hoping that when the current batch of harvested hardwoods have been air dried we will be able to offer boards of premium furniture grade timber with the minimum possible wood mileage.

The building itself is incredibly well insulated, achieving an A rating for energy efficiency. The interior was custom built to our specifications and although we have had to wait a little longer than expected to move in, giving the contractors time to do their job beautifully has paid huge dividends in terms of the quality of finish achieved - heck if we can't appreciate and encourage good workmanship nobody can!

As before, we will continue to receive visitors by appointment and once the workshop area is complete you will have the opportunity to test out your purchases on the premises and receive free tuition in how to care for and use your new tools.