I'm in the UK and often use (european) beech - it's quite cheap, easy to work, and strong. I can't remember seeing any US/Canadian woodworkers using american beech... is it very different from european beech?
I was approached on social media a few months ago by a young woman of 19 who wanted to learn some woodworking. we decided that her first project should be hand tools only, and designed a stool which would demand many different techniques. she had hardly any experience and after a couple months of 3 hour sessions once a week, she's really come a long way
anyway, what I really want to say is: try it! I can honestly say that it's been one of the most rewarding experiences I've ever had, and I don't mean financially, as the payment has been symbolic
if you're thinking of teaching, give it a go... I never knew how great it is to see someone learn and gain skills
never come across this one before: really early Dan, but already you can hear the great chord changes and voicings that made their sound. kinda strange vocals but the song is still great
here's hoping I don't start a 'holy war'
my own approach to sharpening has been this, for quite a while: I use diamond stones to 2000, and then water stones, 3000 to 8000... apparently water stone grit sizes aren't the same as diamond stones, but the 8000 one is 1.9 micron, but whatever...
I usually strop afterwards on a leather strop with white paste - about 10 strokes on each side. however, I've recently tried without stropping and it seems to give a better edge with more 'bite'
do you have similar experiences? is the strop redundant, a hangover from times when we didn't have the methods we have today?
I'm a carpenter/cabinetmaker and at the moment I'm teaching a 19 year old girl who wants to learn how to make stuff... she's a great kid who's really applied herself and made good progress
anyway, last session I suggested a 'song medley' where you take turns to choose a song to listen to as we worked
she went first and chose... Dirty Work! turns out she's been a Dan fan for years, inherited from her dad. I guess some people do the parenting thing well
I picked up this interesting tool from my tool guy... it's apparently called a 'box scraper', although I could be wrong
it's got a cambered sole and the business end can be flipped to either push or pull... I don't know when it's from or who made it, but it's mostly cast iron so it's probably quite old
apparently they were used to scrape the stencilled name off wooden delivery boxes back in the day, so they could be reused with a different name/ logo whatever...
any more info about these would be welcome. I don't use it much... btw my Tool Acquisition Disorder is under control, I could stop any time, onist guv 😁
I've been using this bench for about 8 years - I made it out of stuff I had lying around or got for free. it's based on the famous Moravian bench but I didn't want the wooden leg vice, and I already had a Woden 52 1/2 with a quick release. I like the angled legs as they give good stability. I started out with a few features like the pegs (dogs) in the legs which allow me to clamp quite big panels in the vice, and the pegs along the edge by the vice which support long timbers for planing. the top is made from a couple of pieces of steamed beech I found thrown out (!) and I've added dog holes which, with the end vice, allow clamping of panels. the top isn't fixed but rests on tight-fitting chunky dowels and doesn't wobble at all
I'd originally made a piece lengthwise in the middle which could be lifted to use as a planing stop, but I never really used that function. (oh, and yes, the bench top needs a bit of scraping. I'm not precious about it so it gets a bit of glue etc on it now and again)
I've added a couple of screw-holdfasts which I find really useful for all sorts... they're positioned near the legs which makes for a really firm spot for chiselling mortises etc... I clear out the shelf underneath now and then as fills up, but it's a useful spot for a shooting board, donkey's ear jig, etc...
I'm planning on making a smaller one (about 4' long) which can be knocked down for site work
(note: the legs look like they're at right angles because of the wide angle camera view)
anyway, hope you like it
I remember reading a book with at least a section about a police officer in a force called "The Yellows" whose job was repression... I can't remember what it was called but I have a feeling it might have been written by Antony Burgess or Colin Wilson, but I'm not sure
any help finding what it is would be much appreciated