Member postings for Michael Forster 2

I'm having a decluttering session and need to clear these out. There are some copies of GW between issues 249 and 276 (some gaps) and 3 binders of The Woodworker from May 2013 to date (again with some gaps.

When I started writing for TW I thought it would be nice to keep a copy of every issue to which I contributed. And it was. And now it's getting silly - We have a small house and it doesn't have room for narcissism!!

These are free to a good home - the only condition is that you come and pick them up (I'm in Loughborough, Leicestershire) or arrange for someone else to.

If interested, reply to this post and I'll PM you my address for you to collect them (on a first come first served basis).

Looks like the repeat busines is well deserved!

Beatuifully done, Derek

Nice work as always, Mailee

Thanks, Malcolm - I did finally get myself sorted out! You're right to say that the alignment of the blade is critical and that did turn out to be a little less precise than I had thought with the gullets not quite centralised. Tensioning is helped on mine by a built-in tension gauge that gets it into the right general area from where it can be tweaked as necessary. The guides were all fine - I don't have any problem with those, and thanks to Startrite's good design they're easily set anyway. The resonance itself was actually coming from the machine doors - and as anyone who's tried to identify a strange sound in car bodywork knows, that can be difficult to pin down, but fitting a new blade and being more precise about alignment seems to have cured it.

Although I'm reasonably at home with machines, they're not my strongest point as a woodworker - I'm a hand-tool worker at heart - so it's always good to get advice from someone who might be able to fill in the gaps for me!

Thanks again

Michael

Very nice - you've reclaimed the timber beautifully.

Another nice piece. I took a little while to work out why you'd made the slide-out unit instead of just having sliding shelves - then I realised there'd be no knee-hole making it uncomfortable to work. So - a neat solution and beautifully excecuted.

Nice work - and you certainly get things done!

Beautiful work - I love the tealight.

If anyone's interesting in building this, it's in the latest issue of The Woodworker which should be in the newsagents in the next week or so

Anyone got any words of wisdom about this? I changed the ripping blade on my Startrite 401 bandsaw for a fine 6mm blade - adjusted the guides and tension to suit - and gave the wheel a turn by hand to check nothing was touching that shouldn't be - all delightfuly smooth and quiet. Closed the doors and started up. All seemed well. I then used a trick advised by one of Startrite's own people to tweak the tension of the blade. Looking at the blade as it ran through the table I could see a slightly fuzzy line, so gently upped the tension expecting to see the blade pull finally into line. What I got was a quite loud resonance from the machine that continued after the blade had come to a complete standstill. I checked everything over again and all seemed well. On start-up there were no problems but now I get the resonance every time I switch the machine off.

I haven't experienced this before. I have heard the term 'blade resonance' but this seems to be coming from the machine itself although clearly generated by the blade slowing down (doesn't happen when it's initially speeding up). Pinching the stationery blade doesn't stop the sound which fades away after a few seconds.

I've got some rather precise cutting to do and don't want to spoil a project at this stage - if anyone's got any advice on this I'd really appreciate it. Thanks

My wife needed somewhere for her mac and all the associated stuff, so I built this into an alcove in our lounge. The panels are all worked by hand. Timber is ash, with ash veneered MDF edged with solid for the top.

That all sounds great to me, Gareth - especially your first paragraph. That's why a lot of us work the way we do. A simple walk around an antique shop or stately home amply demonstrates that there's not much that can't be done by hand with relatively simple tools if the skills are well learnt. So good luck to you.

BTW: when you do eventually begin to acquire some machines ensure that you plan and budget for extracttion at the same time to deal with that waste - it won't do your health any good to have dust suspended in the air as you work!

Good luck - and again, well done!

simply stunning! Quite beyond words.

Lovely work as always - and I share your aversion to painting beautiful timber.

I'm enormously impressed by this - and great that you're concentrating on hand skills. I guess most of us use machines/power-tools for something these days but you're setting a good discipline especially in the introductory phase. Confidence with basic hand-skills really makes woodworking so much more enjoyable - and of course there are times when setting up the machine or jig takes longer than cutting an isolated joint by hand - so the skills will always be useful. it's also hugely satisfying. I love the quality of the work - there must be many more seasoned woodworkers looking at it with admiration - and the cleanliness of the bench and area is simply unbelievable! All in all a fantastic post - thank you.

Terrific Job, Alan - and congrats on the repeat business. That says more than anything else about your work.

Now, that is a beauty!

Just treated myself to one of Richard Maquire's hand-built workbenches. I wasn't sure about the leg vice, never having used one, and initially the single row of dog holes put me off a little, but I was reassured on both those points by friends whose opinion I respect highly so went ahead and ordered one. I was not disappointed - the bench is beautifully made and both the vices grip like a Hitchcock thriller! This is one serious piece of kit - and perfectly sized for my workshop and the work that I do. And a real bonus is it's rock solid and doesn't need to be fixed to the wall like its prececessor!

Edited By Michael Forster 2 on 13/04/2014 07:55:26

Thanks, Bruce. The trouble with padauk is it's demonic to work with, the dust is very unhealthy and by way of adding insult to injury it turns a very boring brown over the years because of UV light. leaving the maker wondering why they bothered!!

It was enjoyable to make, though - and even after the colour's gone from the timber it'll still be on the photographs!