• Restored planes are not always a good buy

    Restored Record no. 07 plane

    Restored planes may look nice, sometimes nicer than when they were new, but they’re not always a good buy.

    Read More »

  • Review of Evapo-Rust

    Photo of a 5L bottle of Evapo-Rust

    I’ve been testing Evapo-Rust for the past couple of months to see how effective it is and I’m impressed with the results. Unlike acid rust removal methods, Evapo-Rust removes rust via chelation which only targets rust. This is a massive advantage over acid techniques which will attack good metal as well as rust. Evapo-Rust works…

    Read More »

  • Clamp vs cramp, what’s the difference?

    Image of clamps/cramps taken from Cassell's Carpentry and Joinery, 1908

    People often use cramp and clamp interchangeably, for example, referring to a sash clamp as a sash cramp. This got me wondering, is there actually a difference? Short answer Clamp and cramp generally mean the same thing and are often used interchangeable. A cramp is a tool that temporarily holds objects together. A clamp can…

    Read More »

  • Restoring a wooden smoother

    Wooden plane after restoration

    This wooden smoothing plane was bit of a mess. Someone had closed the mouth by fitting an insert which had come loose and had then been fixed using a screw, which is not ideal. The adhesive used to fix the insert in place appears to be have the consistency of grout. Possibly someone used whatever…

    Read More »

  • EMIR No. 731 Grooving Plane

    Picture of EMIR grooving plane cutting a groove

    Another plough plane, this time a wooden one, which I believe is an EMIR No. 731. EMIR was founded around 1937 and was quite late to the wooden plane making business. I’m unsure when they ceased plane production, but they were still making them in the 1960s and until recently, EMIR was still making workbenches.…

    Read More »