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I once got whacked at school for leaving a plane on the bench sole-down. Woodwork teacher gave me one on the hand with a 2 ft steel rule and you could read the inch markings off the skin on the palm of my hand for a day afterwards.  Now that I have planes of my own to look after and know what is involved in keeping them sharp, I would probably agree with him.

I like to collect old woodworking tools, which I mainly pick up from boot fairs. Not only were most of the old ones much better made than is the case nowadays, they also seem to fall to the hand better and are nicer to use. I enjoy  keeping my planes, chisels and even drills and saws sharp and ready to use, rather than chuck them away and buy cheap replacements, which is what a lot of people like to do nowadays.

cheers

Steve

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I was about to say my collecting days are over and then I took a look around my flat. Lined up neatly side by side on my desk are my Zippo Lighters, a 1936, 1947 and 1976 all in working order. I also have a multitude of other Zippo's stuffed in drawers.

I also have a vast collection of books and notes on English History and Archaeology. If you have written a paper or monograph on an aspect of history then chances are it is filed away in what was my daughter's bedroom and is soon to become my library. What may surprise many is my interest in 'Women's History' a result of a chance conversation on a train with Germaine Greer one of the most fascinating and dynamic women, after my other half of course, it has been my good fortune to meet. I have many volumes on the social history of women from the middle ages to the Victorian era.

Musical instruments seem to hide in every available cupboard and room. Guitars both acoustic, electric and electro acoustic, bass, mandolin, concertina, banjos, mouth organs, penny whistles, recorders from bass to piccolo.

More recently woodworking and power tools lurk in any available space until my shed arrives.

Art plays a weird and contradictory role. Sad to say that for all my interest in Women's social history in my later career as an illustrator I specialised in 'pin ups' and I still have a fascination with the work of Gil Elvgren and earlier pin up artists as can be seen in my own work below.

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I also have a fascination for Science Fiction and Fantasy fiction which often carries over into my artwork. Particularly that 'vintage' or retro feel.

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I think it's something to do with shape and colour, perhaps pattern...I'll tell you what it is...its TEXTURE. As my weirdest collection may perhaps testify to. Where most folks will take a photo of a landscape or a building I have thousands of pictures of brick walls, stone walls, concrete, wood, fabric, human anatomy, metal. Just realised this makes me sound like a serial killer. But let me explain...when I'm building 3D models for animation or film & TV I use photographic references to 'paint' the textures onto the models. I say 'paint' because you can't just slap a photo onto a model and expect it to look real. I take my reference image and loosely paint a texture and then tighten up the details.  For example the model below of part of the Great Hall at Hogwarts may look like stone but is actually made up of reference images of bits of Lincoln Castle, my father in law's garage wall, some muck or grunge I spotted on the back of Doug's (brundallNavy) camper van and the concrete in Richardson's Boatyard.

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My biggest collection at the moment are bills relating to Uncle Albert...but that's a whole other story!

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well my crane and I made it to the local meccano club meet, and was erected in toto for the first time, after a few teething problems (a gear in the gearbox disengaged) I managed it to get its jib off the deck and supported (with the aid of a spare battery to aid the counterbalance)

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I have had many hobbies over the years from building radio controlled model ships, small scale live steam garden railway, all now sold for various reasons. I don't have the space for a lot of models these days, having downsized a few years ago, so I have resorted to collecting 1/16 model cars both ready built and some which are kits that need constructing. So far I have about a dozen ready built models and quite a few to construct, over the winter months.

One model that I am building is one of the monthly parts by DeAgostini, that you see advertised on TV every once in a while. This happens to be a 1/4 scale model of a Honda CB70 Motorbike. It is quite a size being a quarter size of the real thing (as you can see from the photos) and will weigh 32 Kilogrammes when completed (that's the weight of 32 bags of sugar). The kit is delivered each month, consisting of four separate parts, over a period of 24 months. It isn't cheap, costing £32 per month paid by direct debit. That's £8 per week, not bad really, when you consider that I spent three times that amount on fags, when I used to smoke many years ago now. It works out at just over £900 (Ouch!) for the complete kit. Paid for monthly, you don't miss it,  but its better than going up in smoke!.

The kit is of all metal construction, except for parts such as the tyres, seat, cables and other small items. The whole kit bolts and screws together, using the small tool set that comes with the kit. All the metal parts are beautifully stove enamelled in the right colours, or chrome plated. It comes with a built in mini computer, which enables many working parts, such as lights, horn and even authentic engine sound, when the ignition is turned on. The model will stand on a base when completed, that contains the speakers and circuit boards for it to operate. There are no actual engine moving parts, but it has operating brakes and even the all metal mini chain rotates over the sprockets, allowing the rear wheel to turn at varying speed with a twist of the throttle.  

So far I have completed the front end assembly, which  contains the handlebar and front lights, front forks and front disc brake and wheel assembly. If anyone is interested, (let me know) and I will post up a separate thread on each stage of the build as and when each set of parts arrive and have been assembled..

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Having seen all those lovely woodworking tools I thought you'd like to see this one.Its a Stanley 113 plane and is marked up "Stanley Rule & Level Co." Its not the most comfortable tool to use (so I am told, he always gets a blister) but it gets used often. In fact we used it this week for shaping the insides of my roof beams, for which it is an excellent plane.

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it certainly looks an easier option to get a smooth even curve than a spokeshave, how does it handle the grain, does it still need to be worked from both directions, (I have also a few draw knives that are even more tricky to use)

many years back I managed to pick up a boxed combination plane at a junk shop for a reasonable price. even though I dont do woodwork as much as I would wish, it has been useful a few times.

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20 hours ago, grendel said:

it certainly looks an easier option to get a smooth even curve than a spokeshave, how does it handle the grain, does it still need to be worked from both directions, (I have also a few draw knives that are even more tricky to use)

many years back I managed to pick up a boxed combination plane at a junk shop for a reasonable price. even though I dont do woodwork as much as I would wish, it has been useful a few times.

Hello Grendel,

Yes it does have to be worked in both directions. Combination planes took over from a set of molding planes, like yourself at times I have found that the combination plane has its uses, of course these days I tend to use  a router.

I still however prefer planing wood by hand.

Regards

Alan

 

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