What - non Festool - tool / workshop related gizmo/stuff did you buy today?

[Michael Kellough]

These Narex Richter chisels look very good.

 

[squall_line]

If a business could make planes and deliver them with very sharp blades at prices competitive to what Veritas, L-N and others charge, that business must have existed and thrived.

That's the reason I'm pondering purchasing a Blue Spruce chisel to evaluate. They claim the back of the chisel is LAPPED to .0001" flatness with a 4000 grit stone. I have a complete set of Pfeil Swiss chisels which I absolutely love. I'm just curious how the sharpness levels compare, OEM sharpness vs user applied sharpness.

I'm certainly aware of the amount of work I put into flattening the backs of those Pfeil chisels.  [crying]

Same here, but given my lack of immediate need for a chisel, I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one with the thought, especially if the other one is someone who may actually follow through and have a decent go at an honest evaluation.

 

[ChuckM]

If a business could make planes and deliver them with very sharp blades at prices competitive to what Veritas, L-N and others charge, that business must have existed and thrived.

That's the reason I'm pondering purchasing a Blue Spruce chisel to evaluate. They claim the back of the chisel is LAPPED to .0001" flatness with a 4000 grit stone. I have a complete set of Pfeil Swiss chisels which I absolutely love. I'm just curious how the sharpness levels compare, OEM sharpness vs user applied sharpness.

I'm certainly aware of the amount of work I put into flattening the backs of those Pfeil chisels.  [crying]

At $389 US (regular, before sale price) for a set of 4, they better be razor sharp!  [tongue]

I know that Sauer delivers his planes sharpened.

 

[Cheese]

That's the reason I'm pondering purchasing a Blue Spruce chisel to evaluate. They claim the back of the chisel is LAPPED to .0001" flatness with a 4000 grit stone. I have a complete set of Pfeil Swiss chisels which I absolutely love. I'm just curious how the sharpness levels compare, OEM sharpness vs user applied sharpness.

I'm certainly aware of the amount of work I put into flattening the backs of those Pfeil chisels.  [crying]

At $389 US (regular, before sale price) for a set of 4, they better be razor sharp!  [tongue]

I know that Sauer delivers his planes sharpened.
[/quote]

Same here, but given my lack of immediate need for a chisel, I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one with the thought, especially if the other one is someone who may actually follow through and have a decent go at an honest evaluation.

Hey guys I agree, that's the reason I stipulated "A Blue Spruce chisel to evaluate". That's also the reason I'm waiting for one of the sizes to go on sale.

To tell the truth, I'm so satisfied with the Pfeil offerings that I didn't even consider the option until I recently received the Blue Spruce round mallet...OMG, that made me reconsider. What a beautiful piece of kit.  [smile]  That just got me thinking.

 

[ChuckM]

I know a guy who owns a BS mallet. He admits that he uses it sparingly because it's too beautiful. It's something I can relate to because I use my Narex chisels a lot more than my Veritas PMV-11 chisels, especially when chopping.

 

[Alanbach]

I have a ton of Lie Nielsen chisels and they are wonderful but I certainly did spend a bit of time getting the backs polished when I got them. Of course I did put a nice secondary bevel on them. Recently I ordered a set of two blue spruce fishtail chisels to try them out. Like Cheese I am curious about their sharpening/ flattening process. They should be here in a few weeks. I also have one of their larger rectangular face mallets and both sizes of the round face mallet. They are both beautiful and highly functional. With the resin impregnated hard maple heads they are extremely durable. I use them all the time.

Just to stay with the thread, today I did receive my new Lie-Nielsen brass cross peen hammer. It will be a very elegant way to adjust planes. It’s very nice!

 

[luvmytoolz]

I use the Pfeil fishtails a lot on carvings, they are a superb tool to get in places that would otherwise be difficult!

 

[squall_line]

I know a guy who owns a BS mallet. He admits that he uses it sparingly because it's too beautiful. It's something I can relate to because I use my Narex chisels a lot more than my Veritas PMV-11 chisels, especially when chopping.

I also have one of their larger rectangular face mallets and both sizes of the round face mallet. They are both beautiful and highly functional. With the resin impregnated hard maple heads they are extremely durable. I use them all the time.

This is partly why I pulled the trigger on the round offering on July 4th.  Everything I've read about the impregnated hard maple leads me to believe that it should hold up just fine for its intended use as long as I'm not trying to literally drive railroad spikes or frame a building or anything like that.

 

[woodbutcherbower]

Picked up a nice contract this week to build & install 28 highly decorative pulley & weight arch-top sash windows in a Victorian house. As always for all my external painted projects, they'll be constructed using Accoya wood. With an awful lot of sash bar and other mouldings to make, I decided that it was time for a new router table with a quarter-inch machine installed as a permanent fixture. I chose the Trend WRT with optional downpressure clamps, the extended outfeed table, and a T5EB Mk2.

Since one of the main challenges with this type of work is often struggling to hack the old ones out, I also bought a Hilti SR4-A22 reciprocating saw to add to my existing 22-volt platform.

Kevin

 

[MikeGE]

Picked up a nice contract this week to build & install 28 highly decorative pulley & weight arch-top sash windows in a Victorian house. As always for all my external painted projects, they'll be constructed using Accoya wood. With an awful lot of sash bar and other mouldings to make, I decided that it was time for a new router table with a quarter-inch machine installed as a permanent fixture. I chose the Trend WRT with optional downpressure clamps, the extended outfeed table, and a T5EB Mk2.

With that many sash windows to make, I am surprised you aren't using a spindle moulder and power feeder.  I was going to use my router table for an upcoming kitchen facelift, but decided to buy a rebuilt Elektra Beckum TF 904 and a new Robland power feeder.

 

[rvieceli]

Mike every time I think about buying a nice router table, I realize I could get a used shaper for either same or cheaper $. So far I haven’t been able to find the permanent space for it though.

Ron

 

[MikeGE]

Mike every time I think about buying a nice router table, I realize I could get a used shaper for either same or cheaper $. So far I haven’t been able to find the permanent space for it though.

Ron

Ron, I was fortunate to find the TF 904 that was completely rebuilt by a guy about two hours north of me.  He has a business working out of an old brewery and rebuilds the entire Elektra Beckum product line.  The finished machines look like they just rolled off of the factory floor and he gives a two-year warranty on the machine. I bought the TF 904, infeed and outfeed table extensions, slide carriage, and crosscut table for much less than a new, but less capable, machine. 

I have a small basement shop (4.5 x 5 meters) for the machines that must be connected to the dust extraction system, so mobility is important.  The SCM sliding saw and miter saw workstation are in a fixed location, but the router table, jointer/planer, bandsaw, shaper, and belt/disc sander are on wheels.  I can store them along the wall when not in use or move them to the adjacent room if I need more space to maneuver.  With everything stored along the wall, I still have full unrestricted access to the slider and miter saws.

This is the TF 904 as it would be stored.  I made a two-drawer wheeled base to replace the steel hollow base so I have space to store cutter blocks and tools.  I'll likely add another 120mm dust port to the side of the machine if the chips interfere with the drive belt.  The other modifications I made were adding a three-phase input power connector to replace the wired cable, an output connector for the power feeder, longer power cable for the power feeder, and thrust bearings on the horizontal arm of the power feeder.

[attachimg=1]

[attachimg=2]

I did a build thread here on my router table, but here it is.

[attachimg=3]

My very modified 14-inch bandsaw on its four-drawer wheeled base.  The drawers hold all of the blades, tools, fence and MagSwitch accessories.

[attachimg=4]

 

[woodbutcherbower]

Picked up a nice contract this week to build & install 28 highly decorative pulley & weight arch-top sash windows in a Victorian house. As always for all my external painted projects, they'll be constructed using Accoya wood. With an awful lot of sash bar and other mouldings to make, I decided that it was time for a new router table with a quarter-inch machine installed as a permanent fixture. I chose the Trend WRT with optional downpressure clamps, the extended outfeed table, and a T5EB Mk2.

With that many sash windows to make, I am surprised you aren't using a spindle moulder and power feeder.  I was going to use my router table for an upcoming kitchen facelift, but decided to buy a rebuilt Elektra Beckum TF 904 and a new Robland power feeder.

I've had a spindle moulder for a decade. It's an ancient Wadkin 440-volt 3-phase BER2 which works just as well as the day it left the factory in 1968 - this is what I use to make the large rebated components, sills, heads, jambs and frame casements. It's also used to do the top moulds on stuff like 300mm-high heritage skirting boards and architraves. But it's way too big, too savage, and too cumbersome for small, delicate moulding work. Plus - setting up the cutter blocks and limiters takes five times longer than popping a quarter-inch cutter into a router collet and pressing 'go' .... You'll appreciate that commercial woodworking is all about maximum output, in the smallest timeframe, using the simplest, cheapest, quickest method, and for the lowest possible cost to generate the maximum possible operating profit.

The pictures you posted are great, and I'm really happy for you. You're obviously a very skilled guy. But the fact that they're pictures of immaculate, shiny equipment standing on a clean shiny tiled floor indicate that we work in very, very different worlds. Your stuff looks like it just came out of a showroom and has never been used. Mine mostly looks like junk and my workshop is often chaotic - because I'm always crazy-busy taking care of my customers by getting stuff built, and after 70-hour working weeks, I have better things to do with my time than to polish my tools. But it's put my 3 kids through college, it's put food on the table, it's bought me a nice house, and it's made me comfortable. Absolutely no disrespect intended either to you or to any hobbyist woodworkers.

'Horses for courses' as we say in the UK.

 

[derekcohen]

If a business could make planes and deliver them with very sharp blades at prices competitive to what Veritas, L-N and others charge, that business must have existed and thrived.

That's the reason I'm pondering purchasing a Blue Spruce chisel to evaluate. They claim the back of the chisel is LAPPED to .0001" flatness with a 4000 grit stone. I have a complete set of Pfeil Swiss chisels which I absolutely love. I'm just curious how the sharpness levels compare, OEM sharpness vs user applied sharpness.

I'm certainly aware of the amount of work I put into flattening the backs of those Pfeil chisels.  [crying]

There should not be any difference in “sharpness” between the two chisels. A properly sharpened edge is the same. Different steels, however, hold the edge differently. The thickness of the blade will produce a different experience - the thin BS blades in the dovetail chisels are wonderful to use.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[derekcohen]

By-the-by, here is my Veritas Edge Plane. One of three made ….

For squaring corners, use the chisel from a hollow mortice chisel. These are easy to hone with a sharpening cone.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Derek, what's the story behind the One of three? What's so special and why only 3?

Great tip for squaring corners with the hollow mortice chisel.  [big grin]

Veritas (Lee Valley) made three of their edge planes in stainless steel as prototypes for the Anniversary Model. Rob Lee is a good friend of mine, and he made a gift of one to me. It has a very special place in my workshop.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[MikeGE]

The pictures you posted are great, and I'm really happy for you. You're obviously a very skilled guy. But the fact that they're pictures of immaculate, shiny equipment standing on a clean shiny tiled floor indicate that we work in very, very different worlds. Your stuff looks like it just came out of a showroom and has never been used. Mine mostly looks like junk and my workshop is often chaotic - because I'm always crazy-busy taking care of my customers by getting stuff built, and after 70-hour working weeks, I have better things to do with my time than to polish my tools. But it's put my 3 kids through college, it's put food on the table, it's bought me a nice house, and it's made me comfortable. Absolutely no disrespect intended either to you or to any hobbyist woodworkers.

'Horses for courses' as we say in the UK.

I am a hobbyist and because my shop is fully enclosed in my living space, it has to be as clean as possible.  My tools look nice because I take care of them.  After 48 years in and around the military, it is second nature for me to put everything in its place when I'm done using it, even if I'm going to use it ten minutes later, to clean as I go, and thoroughly clean the shop at the end of the day.  Rest assured it gets messy during a project, but when I turn the lights out at the end of the day, it looks like a surgical theater.  But that's just my way and how I choose to enjoy my retirement.

 

[rvieceli]

[member=75780]woodbutcherbower[/member] Kevin that sounds like a interesting project. would you be interested in starting a thread about it at some point?

Not looking for a blow by blow documentary because I know you don’t have the time. But maybe a couple of pics of the originals and what you will have fabricated to replace them.

Thanks.

Ron

 

[woodbutcherbower]

[member=3192]rvieceli[/member] Will do. I’ll be starting them in around 6 weeks  [smile]

 

[squall_line]

Hey guys I agree, that's the reason I stipulated "A Blue Spruce chisel to evaluate". That's also the reason I'm waiting for one of the sizes to go on sale.

To tell the truth, I'm so satisfied with the Pfeil offerings that I didn't even consider the option until I recently received the Blue Spruce round mallet...OMG, that made me reconsider. What a beautiful piece of kit.  [smile]  That just got me thinking.

You're in luck, [member=44099]Cheese[/member] ,  they put one on sale today just for you.  [wink]

 

[Cheese]

You're in luck, [member=44099]Cheese[/member] ,  they put one on sale today just for you.  [wink]

Unfortunately [member=75217]squall_line[/member] , that's a set of 4 chisels.  [sad]  I just wanted to dip my toes in the water and not strap on a mask & flippers.  [big grin]  About 9 months ago they did offer single bench chisels on sale, I'm sure they'll do it again.
https://bluesprucetoolworks.com/products/optima-bench-chisels

We all know how many times Woodpeckers has offered the same "One Time Tool" for sale.  [tongue]