My first post of 2012 and Im already breaking my Work with more hard woods New Years Resolution. OK - Im not breaking it literally but it seems very likely given whats posted below...
We (the girlfriend and I) have been discussing having some raised beds in the garden to grow vegetables for some time and with wood being expensive - a lot more expensive than vegetables anychoice, the whole project seemed like a waste of time and a false budget. Until I found an advert on Ebay selling 13ft long x 225mm wide x 36mm thick scaffold boards at £200 for 25 boards. That works at just over £2 per meter! According to the dealer its Scandinavian Redwood - to me its Pine!The wood I used for my large coffee table top (also Pine) of almost exactly the same dimensions cost around £12 per meter!So, the plan is to build some things to sell and thus (hopefully) get the wood for the raised garden vegetable beds for essentially free. I might even make some money in the process! - At least this is in the right direction for my other resolution - Sell some of the things I make.Anychoice - The work began when the flat bed truck arrived and unloaded the boards on the drivechoice.
Somehow the stack of wood looked a lot bigger than what I was imagining! Nevermind using hand tools, out came an old jigsaw! I saved about 7 out of the 25 boards that some showed signs of cracking to be used in the garden at full length.
Leaving me with this pile (below) of 6 1/2ft long boards, that now had to be carried to the garden shed to keep it dry. And you think you have timber storage issues!!!
A few of the planks were quite wet as its been stored outside in a wood yard and obviously been recently rained on so I will let it dry out for a while before attempting to use it. Its a lot of wood as my aching back can testify....Watch this space!...
A while ago I mentioned I was thinking about purchasing a Lie Nielsen no#5 Jack plane and also wanted a no#7. However, four months later I am still using my exceptionally crappy modern Stanley no#4 smoother and no#6 as a jointer / fore plane. With that in mind I have come to the conclusion that the preferred planes in my tool set would be a no#3 for smoothing, no#5 jack plane which could double as a large smoother if required and finally a no#7 for jointing and final flattening of stock.
I would probably only keep my crappy Stanleys for rough DIY type work or green wood etc.
In the perfect world I would love for all three planes to be made by Lie Nielsen, but at the following Axminster UK prices: no#3 £282, no#5 £282 and no#7 £369 - I simply cannot justify spending £933 - especially as a beginner! Can I?...
Having done a lot more research on plane manufacturers, I have discovered a UK company called Workshop Heaven who are selling planes made by Quangsheng at a fraction of the price of the Lie Nielsen ones. These planes are basically Lie Nielsen clones, based on the Stanley Bedrock design, complete with thick blades and improved chip breakers a la Lie Nielsen. The only constructional differences appear to be:
- The Quangsheng blades are T10 Carbon steel instead of A2 as used by Lie Nielsen. Some reviews have stated the Quangsheng blades are incredibly sharp and possibly sharper than A2 steel and hold a good edge.
- The Lie Nielsen planes use bronze lever caps with the Quangsheng ones being brushed steel.
- Lie Nielsen offer high angle frogs - whereas the only Quangsheng option would be putting a back bevel on the blade. I guess its possible that the Lie Nielsen frogs might fit the Quangsheng planes?
Spot the difference...
According to the reviews I have found on the Internet and online wood working forum discussions, the Quangsheng planes are very good (albeit made in China) both in terms of construction, finish and performance, with some people stating there is very little difference between their Quangsheng planes and their Lie Nielsen planes. The biggest difference as far as I can tell is slightly tighter machine tolerances on the Lie Nielsen planes, translating in to slightly finer blade control.
The three planes listed above from Quangsheng would only cost £389 total, no#3 £90, no#5 £110 and the no#7 £190 - Wow! That leaves a lot of change to buy some nice chisels....
I wrote to Workshop Heaven enquiring about the Quangsheng planes and they said:
Officially the soles of all sizes are flat to 3 thou, although in practice they are typically better than half that.
We offer a lifetime guarantee on all of the tools we sell (your life not the tools). Im interested in regular happy customers, not a 100% record of never losing money on a deal.
All in all they sound like a good buy...BUT ... would I regret buying them down the line?
