Make a Note: Sydney Timber and Working With Wood Show at Homebush - July 26, 27 and 28.
Mike Darlow's 5 Books On Special
Mike Darlow is a leading technical authority on hand woodturning and the author of 4 titles on the intricacies and theory of hand woodturning. His fifth book on Design is a tour through the architectural applications of column forms in particular and places the modern fascination with wood turning in its historical context.
All five books for $95 plus postage. (Note: Three titles pictured however all five included)
See details HERE
Brass Set Screws and Wood Screws
We have begun to add a range of USA made, solid brass, cut thread, wood screws and British sourced solid brass set screws, bolts, nuts and washers. These fasteners are of the sort of quality once standard and taken for granted in Australia until the advent of massive big box site, hardware stores.
Now I happen to personally love these huge stores but I have to say I do get a lot of bad feedback about the knowledge of staff and, curiously, the stock range which you would assume could never be an issue.
In any case see these links;
- Wood screws flat head CSK
- Wood screws raised/countersunk
- Wood screws brass round head
- Set screws brass CSK
- Set screws brass hex
The Wood Works to market Liogier Rasps
We have just concluded an arrangement to market the world's leading brand of hand cut rasps. Noel Liogier, whose factory is near Lyon in France, makes in excess of 1400 rasp options, the teeth on each one of which is hand cut. The resulting tools are revered world wide for their cutting feel and durability which machine made rasps simply cannot match. The range is available in traditional hardened tools and sapphire hardened which are tough enough to even work soft metals and perfectly suited to tough and abrasive Australian wood species.
See the popular Cabinet Makers range HERE.
Artisan Hand Screw Drivers
Just launched our artisan screw driver range - an ideal gift which will be truly treasured. Available mainly in a range of Australian bush acacia and a few select eucalypt species but also very attractive woods such as gutta percha.
Please contact us for availability as these are hand made.
Pictured is a Gidgee model. See HERE for more details.
Escutcheon Pins
These are traditionally used to mount escutcheon plates around key holes on doors and the like but have numerous other uses such as pinning glazing beads around doors and windows. In this application solid brass will not rust such as may raw steel panel pins.
- Available in over 60 sizes in solid brass - see HERE
- Available in over 10 sizes in nickel plated solid brass - see HERE
- Available in 12 sizes in brass plated steel - see HERE
German Forged Axe, Hatchet & Adzes
We now distribute a range of axes and hatchets hand forged in Germany in the traditional way.
There are felling, limbing and block splitter full size axes and forest, carpenters' and backpack hatchets all available with optional leather edge guards.
See HERE for more details.
New Range Of Small Wood Screws
Just launched, a range of brass, nickel, antique bronze and black oxo coated, round and countersunk head wood screws. If you need tiny screws for mounting decorative plaques or escutcheons and a host of other applications look HERE.
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| See H5240 | See H5210 and H5222 |
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| See H5290 | See H5280 |
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| See H5300 | See H5310 |
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| See H5290 | See H5280 |
Price reductions
Effective from the end of September 2010 we start a discount of 30% across the whole Stubai carving tool chisel range. Site prices reflect this discount now.
We have also recently reduced prices on the full range of US sourcedBrusso products and our woodworking books.
Using Tung Oil on Concrete
A customer is using our tung oil on concrete and is delighted with the results. Pure Tung oil is a naturally derived tree nut oil which, when applied thinly, cures by interaction with oxygen (auto oxidation) to a tough, attractive, matte seal which can then, after some time to allow for the oil to fully harden, be buffed to a very attractive finish. The pluses are that it can be touched up at will with maintenance coats, is food safe for kitchen woodware and safe for use on toys. Pure Tung has no added toxic driers or extender oils.
The uses for this oil are continually being extended to such as rammed earth, stonework and concrete.
Our Pure Tung Oil Data Sheet is our most downloaded and referred to data sheet.
Leather Tool Rolls
Sadly Samuels Leather, in Byron Bay, have shut down production of the best range of Australian made leatherware.
We have now found a European supplier of a range of chisel rolls with offset, opposed pockets which are really nice.
See the details HERE.
The parenting habits of Mud Wasps.
For those who never encounter them, mud wasps make mud incubating cocoons for their young, then kill or stun other bugs, pack them as food inside, lay their eggs and seal the exit of the mud cocoon with more mud as they leave. When the eggs hatch the table is ready-set for the young hatchlings who then exit by burrowing out of the mud cocoon to start the cycle all over again.
Hegner scroll saws use an air pumping bellows situated under the bottom arm which pumps air through tubes and pipes to where the blade is cutting and blows dust and shavings away from the cut.
Note the following recent email exchange to see why this is of particular interest to scroll saw wood workers.
The most common cause of bellows pumps not delivering puff is a perished bellows followed closely by blockages caused by mud wasps.
Japanese Saw Case Range added to
We've just listed these Gyokucho saw cases which fit popular size dozukis and katabas.
See all our Saw Cases - LEATHER, PLASTIC COTTON AND JUTE - HERE
Butt gauge available again.
After a lengthy delay the classic butt gauge is now available again. The Stanley #93, #94 and #95 Butt Gauges were manufactured from 1897 through to 1984. In Australia the Silex version lasted a few more years but then all were declared extinct.
The new release is solidly made and fully chrome plated with dual 50mm and 2 inch scales.
Buying details HERE.
(Bona fide resellers please email for distributor pricing)
Follows the relevant pages from 'Antique & Collectible STANLEY TOOLS - Guide to identity & value" by John Walter, agreed to be the bible on the products from this venerable company's early, and many would agree best, manufacturing years.
More special chisels
In addition to skew chisels and skew/knife chisels for dovetailing and other joint cutting (see below for both), we now offer small mortice chisels with tips ground from heavier blades. This offers chisels with a detailing tip on a relatively hefty blade. Boatbuilders like these for raking joints as well. The one pictured is a 3mm wide tip on an 8mm bevel edge Stubai chisel. We can supply other sizes to order as these are tailor made.
The case For Hegner Scroll saw blade clamps
The blade clamp system - a Hegner patent - has both functional and safety aspects. Cheaper saws using pinned blades do not always retain the bits of broken blades which can fly about and cause eye injury when blades snap. The Hegner clamps usually retain the blade fragments. Blade clamps fix the blade much more rigidly in its cutting plane whereas pinned blades wobble about and the pinless blades used by Hegners allow the finest pierced work because the blade ends can be fed through very tiny holes. Pinned blades need a relatively massive hole. Finally pinned blades are half as expensive again as pinless and available in only a handful of tooth pitches and patterns compared to pinless blades. We suggest you consider these issues when deciding on a machine.
See our Hegner scroll saws HERE.
Brass Thumbscrews & Brass Thumbnuts
At The Wood Works we confess to being fastener freaks and we have just launched a range of solid brass thumbscrews and matching nuts. Made in Australia. These are very useful when teamed with our brass thread inserts for wood. For the meantime metric 4, 5 and 6mm sizes. If you have large enough order for a special size may be able to help.
| Thumb Screw | Screw & Nut Assembly | Paired with Inserts | Thumb Nut |
| Details HERE | Details HERE | Details HERE | |
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Tinting Pure Tung Oil - Solvent Dyes
We now offer aniline, solvent soluble, powder dyes. This is in response to many queries about tinting our Pure Tung oil. This completes the range with solvent soluble, water soluble, spirit soluble, water and spirit soluble dyes all now available.
New Kelton Industries Shear Scraper
The latest in a stream of highly innovative products from Kel McNaughton's fertile Kelton Industries has been released.
The holy grail for turners is how to clean the bottom of deep forms, like bowls, while avoiding tearout. This tool allows extravagant negative shear (enough to rival some practising politicians!) and, as usual for Kelton, is not in the slightest bit penny engineered.
Stocks in mid July. Search HERE for detailed info and user advice.
Skewed Bench Chisel Sets
A paring chisel with the blade in shear to the material is much more efficient at cutting. We now offer skewed Left & Right Hand pairs in 5 ranges of our premium Stubai bench chisels. They are available in the 3530, 3550, 3543, 3560 and 3570 series in around 18 sizes in each series generally ranging from 4mm to 40mm.
See HERE for the 3530 series.
Joseph Marples Tools Available
The Marples family name in Sheffield UK is justly famous over many generations for the production of layout tools for woodworking. Now after many years of company takeovers, mergers and outsourcing to South and East Asia we can now source genuinely Made in Sheffield products again.
Better still East Indian Rosewood - Dalbergia latifolia - is now available from certified renewable plantation sources and it looks lovely.
The Rosewood Marples range looks especially nice.
Search on site using the search word Marples.
Antique Woodworking Tools, Their craftsmanship from the Earliest Times to the Twentieth Century
Buy details HERE
Just listed, the sumptuous new tool history best-of-class title on the history of woodworking tools.
Amassed over nearly forty years, the David Russell collection brings together a stunning array of edge and boring tools from Britain, continental Europe and North America, thus providing a broad survey of hand tool-making from prehistory to today. All the tools are illustrated with James Austin’s photographs, with details and marks shown where appropriate. Special attention is given to planes, and the great British makers of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries are discussed in depth. The book will appeal to a wide range of readers, including collectors, craftsmen, industrial archaeologists and social historians.
Blue Paper Steel Chefs' Knives - Arata hocho
We've just added these to our offering because we love quality in the kitchen as well as the workshop.
They have rust resistant cheek steel beautifully hammered and with the maker's chop. The edges will discolour if not cared for - we recommend keshigomu blocks for this end. The cutting steel is around 63 Rockwell and lethally sharpened. We suggest only waterstones for these. Please also be mindful of where, and by whom, these are used - they should only see use for people who know what a sharp knife is. Packed in Japan with a band-aid included - a bit of Japanese drollery.
Japanese Abrasives
Just added these. The abrasives market in Australia doesn't usually see these which rarely seem to get out of Japan.
Cloth Back Emery
Kovax® emery cloth is thin, efficient and extremely flexible and shows extraordinary wear endurance. There is no equivalent for this product - it is an absolute must for makers of musical instruments and fine furniture. Can be used wet or dry. Super durable.
See here for Rolls
See here for Sheets
Cork Abrasive belts
These belts, in which the grinding particles are applied to a thick layer of cork, are used in Japan by leading manufacturers of knives and shears to produce their legendary hollow grinding and high-quality finishes. They are watered before sanding. The belts respond more elastically than conventional textile belts, delivering concave surfaces with considerably fewer visible ghost lines. - 50 mm x 2 m, 3 pcs. per pack. See HERE.
Citric Terpene Drought
UPDATE!! - As of September 2012 Brazilian sourced CT is available again. Buying options HERE.
'Skarsten' Style Scraper Available
This style of scraper was once made by Skarsten in the UK - haven't seen them for years and we are often asked if they are available. Can be honed on a suitable stone or spare packs of spare blades available. SEE HERE.
We also offer the 4 sided German scraper which is good enough to be fettled up as a cabinet scraper. To sharpen, loosen the screws, align the edges of the scraper on a honing surface, tighten screws and hone the flat on both blade at once. SEE HERE.
Pure Tung Oil On Stone & Marble
We've had some good feedback that tung works well as a sealer on terra cotta and marble.
Test first to see if you are happy - leaves a 'wet look'.
Some Kiwi Humour
"After having dug to a depth of 10 feet last year, British scientists
found traces of copper wire dating back 200 years and came to the
conclusion that their ancestors already had a telephone network more
than 150 years ago.
Not to be outdone by the Brit's, in the weeks that followed, an American
archaeologist dug to a depth of 20 feet, and shortly after, a story
published in the New York Times: "American archaeologists, finding
traces of 250-year-old copper wire, have concluded that their ancestors
already had an advanced high-tech communications network 50 years
earlier than the British".
One week later, the New Zealand Herald, reported the following:
"After digging as deep as 30 feet in his backyard in Onerahi, Bill Paku,
a self-taught archaeologist and avid Motorhomer reported that he
found absolutely bugger all. Paku has therefore concluded that 250 years
ago, New Zealand had already gone wireless."
Just makes you bloody proud to be a Kiwi!!!
Wider range of Cabinet Scrapers
We have added more options for this most essential and affordable tool. These are especially nice for fine work. Swedish steel.
Order Hassles - December 7th and thereabouts
Our site has had some problems placing orders for a couple of days. Apologies. When all else fails remember to email and I'll call you.
Stubai are seeking a larger share of the Australian carving tool market and have offered factory bonus pricing which, combined with the strength of the Australian dollar (for however long it lasts), allows for this sales campaign.
Stubai maintain a tradition which for them is several hundred years old. They still make their carving tools by hand forging and grinding whereas other manufacturers have moved to CNC manufacture. Each tool is hammered out on a drop hammer powered by an in-house hyrdo-electric generator. The shaped tool then goes through many processes to finish as a hardened, honed and ready-for-use carving tool. There are no fewer than 980 tool options making it the largest range in the world.
| Hammering the tang | Shaping the blade |
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150,000 Holes (not in Lancashire)
Customer needs to drill 150,000 holes in green eucalypt logs with depth stopped countersink.
I'm suggesting this in an 8mm version.
Any better ideas?
Click HERE
ChiselKnives for Dovetailing etc.
We've just launched our chiselknives which use a Stubai 'Spezial' steel alloy blade ground with a skewed tip and around 45mm or so of blade along each side of the chisel. We make and fit a hardwood paring style handle fitted with a heavy walled brass ferrule. The extreme skew provides shear in cuts and helps with clearing joints. There is no vertical side face along the ground side edges. Available HERE in 12mm left and right hand skew and in pairs.
HEGNER Scrollsaw Dust Hose Retrofit Kit
Hegner in Germany have released a long awaited retrofit kit for their Multicut 1, 2S, SE and Quick machines. It is an articulated top dust hose which either puffs dust away or vacuums it up depending on the arrangement you have. Stocks due in a couple of weeks. It will be fitted standard to machines from the end of this year. For a peek at more detail see HERE or search using S6914.
Shellac crop failure
Unfortunately there will be a steep rise in shellac prices due to a seasonal crop failure. The standard orange grade will rise around 30% - ouch!
Joint Genies
Joint Genies are causing a stir - Just been discussing the merits of dowelling systems and a customer strongly held the view that a ganged array of well aligned dowells, preferably across two adjacent rows, used with a quality glue and quality hardwood dowell is unmatched for joinery strength. The amount of side grain to side grain adhesion is so in excess of any other system.
King Arthur Power Carving
We're now agents for King Arthur power carving tools. These are accessories for an angle grinder - circular chain saw blades, flap sanders and carbide burrs - all USA made. Use with care no prisoners taken with these tools!
Dowelling Jigs - New line of dowelling jigs available in late June. Check out the Joint Genie.
Very cool tools. See the You Tube video on the Home site.