Happiness is

A really successful session in the shed.  Been preparing tonight for the Alternate Wood Show demos I am doing, and the shed time went really well.  That is when it is really fun.

Had a few firsts as well.  First time I got to use the router wing I added to the tablesaw to rout long lengths of board.  Used the tablesaw fence, and got to use my old homemade router fence mounted to it with a couple of small wooden clamps.  Didn’t think it would ever prove useful again after upgrading to the full Incra Wonderfence, but you don’t throw away potentially useful gadgets! This just reinforces that basic shed rule.

Discovered an uninvited shed visitor as well.  He and I are going to have a little discussion about a bloke’s shed being his space, and you really should wait to be invited before making use of it.  He’s either going to have to learn English, or I am going to have to learn Possum.  Given neither is likely, we will probably have to resort to the very traditional sign language that was developed back at the dawn of man.

The Drool Award goes to….

Bridge City Toolworks.

Expensive stuff (quality costs), but some bloody cool ideas coming out of there recently, and with drool-worthy quality.

DJ-1 Drilling Jig

DJ-1 Drilling Jig

MG-5 Black Chrome & Stainless Marking Gauge

ASP-25 Stainless Steel Shoulder Planes

CT-16 Hand Drill (prototype)

KM-1 Kerfmaker

Damn it – now I have to wipe drool off the keyboard.  Again.

Some Special Timber Packs

The recent dust storm that hit the East Coast of Australia, swept out of the Red Centre had a local impact for SitCo Australia.

Their woodwind grade timbers were surface checked by the dust, resulting in them no longer being rated as musical grade timber.  To make room for a new shipment, the following packs have to go at discount prices.  From the look of the photos it is primarily Queen Ebony (Pacific Blackwood), but contact SitCo for more information.

Pack A: $110

Pack B: $350-00

Pack C: $500-00

Pack D: $200-00

All prices are in AUD$ and freight is yet to be added on.

Pack C looks particularly awesome- just imagine what you could make out of all that! The other packs looks quite suitable for turning projects.

As mentioned in the past, this timber darkens up significantly with oxidation, becoming near black.  The process can be sped up by suspending the timber above a bowl of ammonia (I haven’t tried this technique out yet, but have heard it from a number of sources)

Tomorrow’s the start of

the 2 day Alternate Wood Show in South-East Melbourne, at the Woodworking Warehouse, 11 Citrus Street, Braeside.

Click for Google Map

Friday 10am to 4pm and Saturday 10am to 3pm.

Don’t miss out on the specials, the free entry, the door prizes, or the free  sausages!

The companies attending this show are not going to be at the Melbourne Wood Show next weekend, so if you are looking for any of their products (and at show prices), then this is definitely worth attending.

Including, but not limited to product brands (some of these will be seen and available at the Melbourne Wood Show, but definitely not all):

Incra, Festool, Wixey, Woodpeckers, Linbide, TruPro, Walko, FastCap, Tormek, Woodman, Jet, Hock, Bessey, Fein, Titebond, UBeaut and Whiteside

Don’t forget- Christmas is once again approaching fast……..