I got tired of all the fiddling around trying to keep my pen blanks straight that I opted for the Self Centering Pen Drilling Vise from Lee Valley. I built a couple of jigs but none seemed to give me the accuracy and ease that I was looking for.

What I like about this jig is that once centered on the drill press it allows all sizes of squares and rounds, up to a maximum of 2-5/8″, to be centered for drilling. The V-shaped channels hold both round and square blanks. Therefore it can be used for other applications, ie: drilling dowels.
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I picked up the 3/4″ Henry Taylor Skew Chisel from Lee Valley today. It has 1/4″ thick blade and is about 16″ long with a 7″ blade.

The skew chisel is used in woodturning for paring surfaces, forming beads, and trimming the shoulders of square sinkings.

Back to the shop…

With my recent increase in interest towards woodturning I figured I needed some quality tools so today I picked up a 3/4″ roughing gouge made by Henry Taylor Tools Ltd. of Sheffield England.

The roughing gouges is used to “rough” square stock into round and shape shallow curves. Used with a slicing cut, it can also give an excellent finish like that produced by the skew.

The 3/4″ gouge is 16-3/4″ long overall with a 7″ blade and forged from a solid HSS (high speed steel) bar.

Back to the shop…