• Record 040 plough plane

    Record 040 plough plane in the process of cutting a groove

    Another year, another hand plane. This time it’s a Record 040 plough plane which, according to “Record Hand Planes, A History“, was only in production from 1935-1943. Due to the short production run, it is less common than other Record plough planes, such as the 043 and 044, but despite that, they do turn up…

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  • Review of Hand tools: their ways and workings

    Hand tools: their ways and workings cover

    Hand tools: their ways and workings by Aldren Auld Watson. First published in 1982, which was a surprise given it was long after the heyday of hand tool use. This book is very much aimed at beginners, and each tool is explained as if teaching a complete beginner. Because of this, the text can be…

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  • Screwdriver storage

    Screwdriver storage

    This is just a quick post about a neat idea for under shelf screwdriver storage. It’s not my idea, I believe it came from a blog post I read years ago that I sadly cannot find. It is very simple, just a piece of wood with suitable sized holes for each screwdriver drilled in it…

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  • Restoring a Record 078 Fillister Plane

    Record No 078 fillister plane

    Taking a rusty and dirty Record 078 filister plane and cleaning it up to good working condition.

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  • Cleaning a rusty Stanley 71

    Stanley 71 router plane, rusted

    I recently acquired a Stanley 71 router plane which was in a sorry state, covered in rust and missing its depth adjustment nut. The plane was so rusted that dismantling it produced small piles of rust, but all the pieces were structurally sound. The most corroded pieces are the screws for the knobs, but even…

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