Australian Wood Review Issue #90

Plugged and unplugged This issue has turned out to be a homage to machinery, how it’s made, how it’s enjoyed, and how it’s used to make not just furniture, but also fine hand tools. Late last year I enjoyed visits to some very different factory setups. It was a case of unplugged meets plugged as I went from the tradition-steeped and hand tool reverence of Bern Chandley’s workshop to the unabashed enjoyment of great machines at Paul Ryan’s place. Ryan Woodworks is the antithesis of an unplugged workshop, and Paul’s collection is that of a virtual machine connoisseur. Equal enjoyment, equal attitudes to quality custom making, but operating on different spectrums. Actually before that I had also visited the toolmaking workshop of Chris Vesper, another case of one man and many highly specialised…

Bigger is better is what they say, but for the average home workshop a 14" bandsaw is enough to keep most woodworkers happy, so I was interested to see what this saw offers, and was very pleasantly surprised. When referring to a saw as 14" you are describing the distance between the throat (left side pillar) and blade, hence you can cut a board of 345mm between the pillar and blade, which is typical of a saw this size. Depth of cut is a very different story and where this saw stands well ahead. Most 14" bandsaws have a 150mm (6") depth of cut, here you get 235mm (9-1/4"). This offers much greater potential, especially if you’re looking to re-saw boards or cut thick blanks for turning. Powered by a single phase motor…

An exciting part of the current woodworking scene is the number of new toolmakers entering the industry. One American maker who is riding the swell is Chris Kuehn. Though still only able to afford to run his Sterling Tool Works on a part-time basis, he makes and designs a small range of high quality specialist wood tools. With an encouraging father Chris was a keen metal and woodworker as a small boy. A degree in mechanical engineering was a somewhat logical step in a career that saw Chris working with NASA, highpointing with work on the Mars Rover mission. His small home workshop includes a manual mill, lathe, surface grinder and belt sanders. Much of the machinery Chris has is vintage machinery that he restored. The dovetail saddle square and beautiful plane setting…

This beautiful Australian-made wheel-type marking gauge uses a three part brass body running on a stainless steel shaft. The round or wheel cutter screws into the end of the shaft with a small allen screw. The face is almost 45mm in diameter, comfortable and has enough heft to make the tool feel balanced when positioned anywhere along the shaft. The fine adjustment activated by the large central thumbwheel with a range of around 15mm is a boon. The shaft is stainless steel as are the thumbscrews. There is even a tiny nylon grub screw to adjust the tightness of the sliding action. A recent development, the gauge now has a flat on its round edge fence to stop it rolling off your bench. The cutter came sharp and was easy to use…

Like other power tool companies Triton now have a range of cordless tools that run with common sized 18 volt batteries. Four batteries are available ranging from 1.5 to 4 amp and all feature LED charge level displays. You can buy a kit or individual tools as ‘skins’ and batteries as per your needs. The power tool skins are very competitively priced, the drill /driver I trialled for example is $79. A 3 amp battery with charger costs $155. I had a deck to repair which gave both tools a good workout. Whilst many people may prefer impact drivers for building work I found the drill/driver became my preferred choice for deck fixing. The impact driver tended to belt the deck screws in and it was harder to seat them flush. Certainly…

Some OEM and many aftermarket bandsaw fences allow for minor adjustments to be made for drift, but not all do. Correctly setting for the drift angle allows you to make ripping and resawing cuts with far cleaner results and in a more safe manner. My bandsaw fence does not adjust for drift. Up until now, I’ve used my own shopmade resaw fences made from some sheets of MDF fixed together at 90° and reinforced with triangular ribs at the rear. By freeing up this type of fence from the guide bar, you can place it at whatever angle relative to the front of the saw table to allow for the drift angle. This system has worked well for me for many years but it can be fiddly to dial in the setup…