Member postings for Martin King 2

The question of use versus beauty is nowhere better illustrated IMHO than in the area of woodworking hand planes, probably the most collected and varied of all woodworking tools.

The later offerings by Lie Nielsen of versions of earlier Stanly planes but using modern materials and mmanufacturing methods illustrate function as well as beauty, the ones from Veritas give a different take on the same theme.

Both makers offer products of vastly superior quality than the originals at a price!

Then you can go to the likes of Carl Holtey & Bridge City Tools for planes that approach artwork and many are never used. Deep pockets are needed here.

The topic under discussion here is often clouded regarding tools like the above by financial issues and collectability as many are superb 'investments'!

A plane by Israel White recently made in the region of £20,000!

A new (ish) English maker Phil Edwards (Philly Planes) has started making hand made wooden planes to old designs with his own personal touch and he is back ordered for years now and they are not cheap.

There is something so nice about picking up a quality tool to do a job that you know will do it well, within the limits of your own skill.

I derive a great deal of pleasure from restoring and bringing old tools back from the dead and am always pleased when an end user takes the time to say how much they enjoy using them.

Martin

I have had a very comprehensive set of FGacom tools for almost as long as I can remember, bought for me by my Dad in the late 60's, quite simply superb tools that have had a lot of use over the years.

My absolute 'go to' tool for any shifting work is this one, makes a Mole wrench look silly; can get in anywhere for a really good grip:

Now gone!

Hi All,

Got a pair of these if anyone wants them for just the postage £5

Just give me a PM or call on 01305 854072

Cheers,

Martin

So I will be wasting my time looking for a set of taps then!

Thanks very much everyone, such a mine of info on here.

Martin

Will have a go at a thread pic tomorow, might have to dig out the macro lens though....

Jaso, I did not know that there were special threads for bicycles?

Martin

Hi All,

I have just got this small case of Threading Dies which I cannot recognise from the markings. No taps but I have many taps to look through if I can ID the thread type. Pretty sure they are not BA. Sized 8 - 13

Also quite an unusual die holder just for this type?

Cheers

Martin

Good idea! Will do that and have already made a large Yellow sign to hang over the ON switch that just says:

"MANDREL OUT!"

a - Still getting used to the machine generally and have not yet tried using the VFD for screwcutting.

b - Tiny 4BA internal thread only 3/16" deep with parts 10 to do the handle is really easy.

c - I like using the handle as I did not have one before getting this lathe.

Michael W,

My set up is coast to start but when I missed the stop button because something hit me, small chip I think, it had time to ramp up to full speed.

The end casing is repairable but I do not feel like looking at it every day and reminding me!

What I can't workout is how the handle hit the casing as there was good clearance, unless the vibration opened the casing and the first whack shut it agin by which time the handle had bent in enough to keep belting the casing.

martinHi All,

It was all going so well....

Making a series of small brass caps for oil cans on my new to me S7; cutting 4BA thread using the mandrel handle, getting ready to radius the end before reversing the part to finish it.

Missus brings me a cuppa and tells me about a 'phone call, was a bit distracted and switched on lathe with handle still in spindle. Horrendousl vibration as out of balance and something flew off and hit me on the forehead as I was reaching for the stop button so missed it which allowed it to ramp up to full speed.

Somehow handle came loose and smacked into the alloy end casing before I could hit stop button.

Handle bent and broken but easily repairable, end casing badly damaged, cracked in several places but still sort of in one piece.

My nerves badly shaken but unhurt so ok! Really upset me as I am usually careful amount the handle.

Now on lookout for another end casing....

Could have been worse I suppose?

,Hi All,

As I have already demonstrated my total lack of knowledge of things electrical with my power feed disaster on my mill I hardly dare even ask this but here goes!

Everywhere I look I see these Arduino thingies! Can somebody please tell me, simply please, what they are?

They seem to be capable of doing everything from making toast to powering nuclear submarines....

L know I am almost certainly not going to understand the answers but what the hell!

Cheers, Martin and Happy New Year to all here!

Thanks guys, will get a couple of spotting drills. Will do what mechman says I think as the threaded 'bush' will be stronger. I have a few small bronze screws that will do and hopefully look nice as well.

Its funny that I get literally dozens and dozens of centre drills and hardly ever a spotting drill in the lots I buy? Clearly not that common?

Martin

Hi All,

Spent a happy few hours in the workshop today getting back to my 10V build, (my first ever!).

Drilled the steam passages in the cylinder and started making the top and bottom covers. All went OK until I broke a centre drill tip in the bottom cover when getting ready to drill through 5/32". Fortunately I used a very small centre drill but still enought to throw the drill off centre when i tried (lightly, to get it out)

My question is: Is it OK to drill and ream through from the other side, say 1/4" and loctite in a piece of 1/4" bronze rod that i have? wait until set and then gently start again keeping it cool as possible to not break the loctite..

Don'y really want to start again as I have no more cast iron bar.

Cheers, Martin and a Merry Xmas to all here !

Anthony K:

Interesting comments, we send 99% of our stuff in the UK 2nd Class, either normal or recorded and do not offer 1st Class. We have never had a single comment about not offering 1st and we generally find that stuff arrives either next day or day after at latest. We are always amazed at this! Our most recieved pos feedback comment is about how quickly people get our stuff. It helps that we are a 1 minute walk from our village PO and today have been 3 times, once for just one item.

We never use Argos.

When we have problems we always refund in full and often let the buyers keep the item if return is uneconomic and when the item owes us very little.

For damaged items we insist on photos of the damage before refunding; for 'lost in post' we insist on a reasonable wait and ask for buyers local PO details. Amazing how often the item 'arrives' the next day.....

Still works for us from a way of getting rid of stuff in our attic has turned into a respectable small business after my retirement from the film industry.

Cheers, Martin

Bandersnatch, Business sellers cannot leave negative or retaliatory feedback, we always wait for buyers feedback purely to see that they are happy with their item. Approx 40% of buyers do not leave any feedback at all.

This is a real can of worms, we have been selling for a number of years now as a business seller with over 14,000 feedback (+40% who do not post it) so quite a few sales considering we only sell one off collectables.

We have suffered our share of dishonest buyers, scams and outright lying over missing items, we just take it in our stride.

We spend approx £15k a year in our tiny village Post Office and we spend approx £2k a year on packaging materials. We used to just add a nominal amount to our postage fees to partially defray our packing costs but when EB at a stroke took 10% of all our billed postage charges that REALLY hurt. They do nothing for it at all!

I would LOVE to know if anyone on here can comment on the actual legality of what they do here? How can they charge fees on a postal service that they have nothing to do with?

£1500 pa straight in their pockets!

So now we cost that into our postage charges (giving EB even more profit in the process). It is clear in our listing what we charge and if buyers do not like it we advise them not to bid. Simple enough!

We always offer combined postage on multiple items and even advise bidders to wait for our combined invoice if they are bidding on other items. We have a large number or repeat buyers all over the world.

It does seem that EB is moving away from the auction format andjust want 'widget sellers' but we will see.

Cheers,

Martin

Hi All,

Unit arrived this pm from oop north and is back in working order complete with a now fucntioning power on light!

Cannot express my appreciation enough to John Rudd for doing this for me.

Perhaps he may be along to explain what was wrong with it but I am one happy bunny!

Now where was that soldering iron.......?

Happy Xmas All!

Martin

Looks OK to me!

Which is probably a good reason I passed my Mill PCB problem to a higher authority!

Martin

Hi Mark & Dad!

You have started on a very rewarding voyage, I wish I had done so years ago. The folks on here are really helpful and have a breadth of experience that is truly amazing and their willingness to share is very humbling.

It is a good idea to post some sort of profile and general location as people near you can sometimes be helpful.

Martin

Missed the wedge pic!

Got a couple of small tool refurb jobs done today, new replacement steel part for a MONUMENT Plumb Bob:

and milled a large chunk of bronze into a new wedge for a nice French Coopers Spokeshave.

Used a new solid carbide 16mm cutter that came in a tool auction lot, what a joy to use! Got 6 of them in one smallbox at the botttom of a crate!

just distressed it a bit and roughed up the grip surface as metal wedges are more prone to slip than wood.

Cheers all,

Martin