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  1. #1
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    Default How about a crazy gauge set?

    I am currently finishing off a few marking-gauges for folks who missed out on the lot I posted before Christmas. I had to scratch through my entire stock of suitable wood to find enough, with just enough left over for another 3 or 4 gauges. So I decided to use up the last of it making a couple of extra pairs, & close that chapter for a while.

    One pair, in Bull oak, was coming along nicely until I started shaping the top on one gauge. A small discolouration on the surface turned out to be a flaw running right across the most visible part of the Flaw.jpg

    This is a common problem with both Bull & Hairy oaks from some areas. You will come across old borer galleries in unexpected places: gallery.jpg

    But something else causes these odd, randomly-distributed bark inclusions. They are rarely more than a few mm wide, & can be small, localised flaws that you don't see until you start turning it, or large, very visible things like this: bark inclusion.jpg

    Anyway, that was my last piece of Bull-oak big enough for a gauge stock, so I decided instead to make a 'pigeon pair' using Hairy-oak for it's mate. That involved cutting up the last of my stock of H.O. to get a sound piece, but eventually, I managed it.

    Then I had the idea of going the full monty & making a 'crazy' set, along the lines of Bushmiller's 'crazy saw service'. So I dug out a billet of River oak that has been sitting in the pile for about 10 years. River oak is a dense, tough wood (the bullockies of old liked to use it for their bullock yolks, according to Bootle), but can be a bit bland. However, older trees get 'black heart', rather like 'Blackheart Sassafras', caused by a pigmented fungus, which can make it much more interesting - I refer to it as 'ebonised': Blackheart A_ cunninghamiana.jpg

    Trouble is, the heavily-pigmented stuff is highly prone to internal collapse & checking, no matter how slowly & carefully you dry it: Internal checks.jpg

    However, after careful sawing & searching I got some sound bits and so my 'crazy' gauge set was born: Crazy set 1.jpg

    Apart from showing off three different Allocasaurinas, it should be easy to spot which gauge you want on a cluttered bench.....

    Cheers,
    IW

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  3. #2
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    Mar 2018
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    Default

    Beautiful work as always Ian.

    Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

  4. #3
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    Default

    And the important question is, when are they up for sale and how much?

  5. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by cava View Post
    And the important question is, when are they up for sale and how much?
    Answers: Probably not for a while because they may be spoken for already......

    Cheers,
    IW

  6. #5
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    Mar 2018
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by IanW View Post
    Answers: Probably not for a while because they may be spoken for already......

    Cheers,
    Dang, I wish I'd known you were taking requests !

  7. #6
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
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    Seattle, Washington, USA
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    Default

    A very nice set, Ian. As a fellow wood species nerd, I fully appreciate the satisfaction associated with a set of "matching" woods in the same genus.

    Im sorry, but did you say you were running out of wood? Did I read this correctly? That simply will not work. Do I need to fly down there and find some kind of Gumtree ad or a rogue fencer in the central highlands to restock you?? Do I need to mail you some bona fide Washington apple wood?

    Please... don't hesitate to reach out. We're here for you.

  8. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Luke Maddux View Post
    ...Please... don't hesitate to reach out. We're here for you.

    I'm touched, but not tempted, Luke...

    It's not that I'm out of wood, the pile under the house has changed a bit, but hasn't diminished at all since you last saw it, in fact it has grown just a little. No, it's tool-suitable wood stocks that that I've run down, and that's just what I wanted. No doubt more will come along & find me one day, but I'm not looking for it atm, I want to muck about with other stuff for a while....

    Cheers,
    IW

  9. #8
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
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    Millmerran,QLD
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    Default

    Ian

    From one "crazy" to "another," I like them.

    Regards
    Paul
    Bushmiller;

    "Power tends to corrupt. Absolute power corrupts, absolutely!"

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