Thread: These arrived in the mail today.

The timber that they are lying on is a very nice plank of silky dry oak that I machined up yesterday.
It is going to be part of a wall hanging for a 50th birthday.

Beautiful.

Very nice Cliff must have set you back a few $$$

Well done Ian W works of art

Originally Posted by wheelinround

Very nice Cliff must have set you back a few $$$

Well done Ian W works of art

Errrr, well acshally, I think I might just know who got the better end of that deal, eh Cliffy? I think Ian should have just sent the beam of the Marking Gauge, and made Cliff beg for the rest.

Another great job by Ian - he's a champ!

Originally Posted by wheelinround

Very nice Cliff must have set you back a few $$$
Well done Ian W works of art

Knowing Ian "a few $$$" is probably right ... I suspect they might be disturbingly affordable

Paul

Originally Posted by pmcgee

Knowing Ian "a few $$$" is probably right ... I suspect they might be disturbingly affordable

Paul

Yep, Ian needs an agent.

Originally Posted by Berlin

Yep, Ian needs an agent.

Helloooooo

Very nice tools indeed.

Subtle as ever FF

Well, when someone introduces me to a new wood, and that wood turns out to be as interesting as this stuff is, I feel I have to make a suitable response....

This wood was special in several ways - being completely new to me was enough, but it also has a deep, rich colour, a most interesting rowed & interlocked grain that gives it a quilted appearance; and it takes a polish like Ebony. in fact it reminds me a lot of Ebony, the way it turns (it turns very nicely!). From what Cliff tells me, I think this was an unusually figured piece, & not all Archidendropsis is like the stuff I received, but folks who know about it, all seem to agree it's pretty good however it comes.

But there is a bit of a downside, or maybe one should just think of it as an added challenge. It was an absolute b*gg*r to plane, not at all hard, but that wild grain picked out at the slightest provocation. And not just little splinters, but great big divots! Not even my 60* infill set to take half thou wisps would handle it. Fortunately, it scraped easily so it was a matter of taking it very slowly. Once the surface was finally prepared, it is magic. I also had a bit of trouble pursuading drills to run straight when drilling out the stock of the square - they were determined to wander with the grain, & I ended up ruining one piece. There were a few moments when the air was more than a little bit blue, and Cliff's ears may have been a bit warm, but I eventually came to terms with it.

So thanks, Cliff, and if you're happy with the deal so far, I'm happy too - we'll sort out any loose change when I come up later in the year, maybe.

A final note: I should have consulted with you in case you had a strong preference, but I made an executive decision to use spring steel for the blade rather than brass. Having used both for some time, I marginally prefer the steel, but I know what that Tableland air is like - seems like it's Rust Central up there, so maybe brass would have been better. For my own blades, I polish them up with a bit of paste wax every now & then, & they are kept in drawers when not being used, & so far no problems.......

eiter way - that was sensational work. And the stamp of the craftsman (to me) is they know to when to bend to the needs of the wood (or metal) to get the best out of it.

Beautiful

I use Ubeaut's Trad Wax to keep the rust off, I have a habit of using metal against the blades so the steel will suit me better than the brass thanks.

Terrific work Ian!!

Colen and Chris look out!!!!

Regards from Ottawa (leaving for Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon)

Derek

Were they birthday presents Cliff?

Originally Posted by Phil Spencer

Were they birthday presents Cliff?

Nuh. I sent him 5Kg of DF to try, he tried it & sent me a couple of the pups.

I have more waiting for when he comes up this way later in the year.