I just lucked into a great deal on some woodturning tools through the local classifieds and picked up seven ‘almost new’ Henry Taylor’s:

From left to right:
1 1/2″ Roughing Gouge
1″ Oval Skew
3/4″ Square Nose Scraper
3/4″ Round Nose Scraper
3/4″ Gouge
3/8″ Spindle Gouge
1/4″ Spindle Gouge

Continue reading 'A Real Deal On Woodturning Tools'

I mentioned in the last post that making the angles for the picture frames was rather easy using a miter jig so I thought I’d post a bit more info about the jig.

The problem with cutting 45 degree angles is that if your table saw is out of alignment by any amount you will not get a perfect 45. This may not be noticeable when putting only two pieces of wood together but when you have to make a square with 4 pieces you’ll find that there will be undesirable gaps at the miters. A 45 degree cutting miter jig, or as I call it - The Perfect Picture Framer Jig, will eliminate this problem.

Here is a top view of this simple jig:

Continue reading 'The Perfect Picture Framer Jig'

I couldn’t stand it any longer! The face shield that I was using for the past 20 years is so scratched and marked up that it was hard to see out of. It never seemed a problem before because it was never used for that long. Now with turning it has became quite necessary.

Here’s the before and after:

Back to the shop…

I picked up a couple of new finishes today. I have never been one to spend much time on finishes but as I move towards projects that are more suited to natural finishes I thought I’d try a few. The two I bought today are very similar:

Clapham’s Beeswax Salad Bowl Finish
This easy-to-use finish is safe for salad bowls, cutting boards, cheese boards, etc.
It is a blend of two food-safe materials, beeswax and mineral oil. After a thin coat is applied, the item can be used immediately or left overnight and buffed to a low sheen.
Continue reading 'Beeswax Based Finishes'

I finally got around to creating a circle cutting jig for the bandsaw today. This was spurred on by my recent purchase of a couple of bowl blocks that I needed to cut round.

Continue reading 'Bandsaw Circle Cutting Jig'

Since taking the woodturning course in October I have been itching to start turning more bowls. So in preparation to do some bowl turning I purchased the Henry Taylor 3/8″ Bowl Gouge today. These gouges are ideal for all kinds of face plate turning and have a steep bevel angle.

Back to the shop…

I upgraded my grinder yesterday with the Oneway Balancing System and a new cool grinding wheel.

Apparently grinding wheels are not balanced and can vibrate, not giving the best sharpening possible and the balancer corrects this problem.

The kit comes with a balancing stand where you place the wheel on and then by positioning weights you get the wheel balanced. This took a bit of time but once done it doesn’t have to be done again.

Continue reading 'Grinder Upgraded And Balanced'

Merry Christmas to me… Merry Christmas to me…

Since the woodturning tool sharpening seminar I took back in October I knew that there was a better way of sharpening my tools. I can assure you that my ‘freehand’ sharpening leaves a lot to be desired! Since then I have been eyeing the Oneway Wolverine Sharpening System and since it’s almost Christmas I bought the basic system with the vari-grind and skew attachments.

Continue reading 'The Wolverine Sharpening System'

I picked up the Microjig GRR-Ripper System after reading about in on their site and then seeing a great demonstration at the Moncton Woodshow a couple of weeks ago.

The GRR-Ripper is an enhanced ‘pushstick’ system that also works like a movable blade guard for your table saw or router. It’s great for those times when the blade-guard and anti-kick back pawls would interfere with your woodworking like during narrow ripping.

Continue reading 'The Microjig GRR-Ripper System'

I decided I needed a spindle gouge and thought that instead I would get the Spindlemaster from Robert Sorby Tools.

The Spindlemaster is design flat on one side and oval on the other side. The idea is that this eliminates dig-ins. In addition to doing the job of a skew chisel it also is able to cut beads, coves, etc.

If you remember, last month I saw a great demonstration of this tool and a lot of the NWG members were quite taken with it.

Although I enjoy learning the intricacies of the skew chisel I thought having a combo tool would be beneficial no matter how I used it, whether as a skew, as a gouge or both.

We’ll see…

Back to the shop…