Another post ...at last!... Sadly again without in any real useful or interesting content.

Lately (as regular readers can probably tell), I have been lacking motivation in the wood working department - for a number of reasons. 

Firstly,  I dont have any wood around thats suitable for any of the things Id actually like to make - such as a tool chest. My Timber Investment is still drying out in the shed and wont really be ready for anything other than really rustic work and gardening projects for a little while and I am too tight to purchase more premium cost wood from the timber yard.

Secondly, in my quest to escape the timber merchant, I have been trying to process the raw billets of Oak and Walnut with a lot of frustration! While my little bench was fine for pre planed wood, its simply not man enough to handle the rough scrubbing of the billets down to usable dimensions. The poor thing racked so violently, it almost fell to pieces!

The base twisted so badly that the bottom shelf fell out and I swear the bench tried to escape from me by smashing through its supporting wall! Anychoice, ... I will try and brace the bench up and bite the bullet and make it as low as possible to see if that helps with planing, while I try and ignore the obvious - Make a PROPER BENCH!

And I thought everybody was building Roubo benches just because they were just fashionable!

Lastly, being as OCD as I am, I find it really hard to obsess about more than a single topic of interest at any one time and lately that topic of interest has been gardening.  The gardening obsession was born through my overall interest in Self Sufficiency, which in turn has led me back to wood working, albeit of a slightly different nature this time. As I have cut down a few small trees in the garden lately, I find myself  staring at their small trunks and wondering if theres any usable wood inside...

I found a guy selling really cheap (less than £30 inc P&P) Froes on Ebay. Its not hand forged or anything fancy but its certainly good at its job. I really wish Id had this tool while in France playing with the Oak and Walnut logs. I carved a mallet for it from one of the small trees, to save my Beech chisel mallet from being ruined. I have also invested in a really nice Wetterlings hatchet, which is hand forged and lovely. 

A Hook Knife is still on the shopping list.... Spoons, Bowls and Kuksas here I come!... And, you dont need a bench!

More to come...

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Its funny how things all turn out and help you make a decision. In the past week I have both sold my boat... and ... received a lovely letter (and cheque) from the Tax man.  Finally, the icing on the cake,... I was sent a discount email for 10% off any item from Axminster tools. 

Now, despite all the above, ... This decision did not come lightly I can assure you! I am sure the Quangsheng planes would have probably served my purpose adequately, in fact from the reviews I know they would. 

They sound like really good planes at amazingly cheap prices. But... I am thinking of this as a one time quality purchase and I would alchoices be wondering or lusting after the Lie Nielsen tools. No political or moral views came into it - I simply could afford what I wanted in the first place, regardless of the quality and value for money of the competition.

Its lovely! ... If I get the same feeling from using this new no#7 plane as I get from my other LN tools, its money well spent. I am also enquiring about a LN no#3 smoother in iron (not bronze), but I would like it with an O1 blade and the high angle 55 degree frog. I have decided against the LN no#5 Jack plane for the moment as my old Stanley no#6 has been (begrudgingly) earning its keep with a newly cambered iron.

As the new no#7 jointer / try plane and my crusty rough and ready no#6 fore plane both have 2 3/8" irons I decided to also spring for the DMT Diasharp 8"x3" stones in both Fine and XX Fine (8000g).  I will still keep and use my 6"x2" DMT stones for chisels etc as they are a lot lighter and more portable for other work or jobs I may do achoice from the house.

And lastly, its time I started doing a lot more dovetail work and treated myself to the Veritas 1:6 dovetail marker.

I will be using it in a little project soon....

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