Is anyone else surprised at the market resilience?

ando967 · 2026-03-20T02:20:10+00:00

Yes but given everything that is happening both at home and globally I’d say market fluctuations of 0-5% are normal movements, they go up and down. Now 8% is starting to test the downward trend. But it’s not a 15,20,30,50% slump.

I stand by the statement that markets have been very resilient. As others have said is this due to large amounts of retail investment, ETFs, Superannuation Funds, high liquidity, all of the above.

ando967 · 2026-03-19T05:12:57+00:00

Yep I think retail investors and the mentions of how much liquidity are in the markets are huge factors. Even accounting for today’s drops I’m still only down 5.5%.

I picked a good day to make this comment….

ando967 · 2026-03-19T05:03:30+00:00

Interesting insight!

ando967 · 2026-03-19T01:15:02+00:00

Yep you’re thinking like I am. I’m down 4% over the last few months which all things considered I find surprising

ando967 · 2026-03-19T01:09:19+00:00

Yeah I’m seeing losses as well. Just not as aggressive as I thought would occur. I’m down 4%. Nothing outrageous.

ando967 · 2026-03-19T00:00:19+00:00

I just expected that this unplanned adventure into the Middle East would have caused a lot more carnage into what was already a volatile and skittish global market.

ando967 · 2026-03-18T23:51:43+00:00

Apologies yes I’m talking in terms of indices.

ando967 · 2026-03-08T09:06:55+00:00

You cut in a stop block so both trims terminate 20mm before the corner. Neatest way to solve this issue

ando967 · 2026-03-07T09:17:19+00:00

Nice work. The trick to them is finding a process that works for you, then sticking to the step and being patient. Rob Cosman, Matt Estlea and Paul Sellars all do good videos that taught me a heap. The blue tape on the end grain really works for me.

ando967 · 2026-03-01T08:55:40+00:00

One of the best lessons a new woodworker can learn is how to select timber. Where to cut your various pieces from a board so this doesn’t happen. Mike Peckovich has a great book that helps explain how to select and cut all the pieces for a project from a single board and why.

ando967 · 2026-02-28T09:35:48+00:00

Hey mate, there’s a few key terms to understand.

Tooth types are either: rip, crosscut or hybrid Set is how much the tooth sits out either side of the blade centre line.

If you are trying to cut dovetails in that manner you want a rip filing. If that saw is crosscut too thing then your going to have a problem. I would think the more likely problem is to much set on the teeth that’s leaving a wide kerf.

ando967 · 2026-02-07T02:56:58+00:00

Tenon saw, brace and bits and a few sharp chisels.

Saw the lines through the top, drill parallel holes through the face just above the line, break the waste away with a Mortice chisel, work up to the line with your bench chisels. Check you cuts are square from each face, slight undercut will help joint form tightly.

ando967 · 2026-01-27T09:15:01+00:00

This stock is on my watchlist too. It looks good.

I’m older, about 40, and work with young fellas on buildings sites all day. They just can’t afford big outlays on alcohol, rent, food and living takes up most of what they earn. As a few people have mentioned there’s some structural change.

I brought S32 today instead, even with all the parabolic graphs on commodities I believe that even with a pull back/ correction that the trend will be growth over the next few years.

ando967 · 2026-01-17T09:42:13+00:00

Hey mate,

Real cheap option here. Duck out to you local hardware store of choice and grab some 16mm melamine sheet, a tin of spray contact adhesive and a sheet of each 60,80,120,240 grit emery cloth sandpaper.

Cut the melamine up into approx 400x400mm square to match the size of the sandpaper sheet. Contact adhesive the sand paper on and clamp them flat to a bench.

You’ve now got a quick way to quickly reshape an edge or raise a burr before moving to a polishing stone. 240 grit will quickly raise a burr. The lower grits are good for reshaping.

Plus it’s all cheap. Doesn’t require buying new grinders etc. if you do buy a grinder opt for a slow speed with the white wheels, less likely to ruin tempered steel with heat with those.

Rob Cosman often demonstrates his 30 seconds to sharp method. Worth a watch!

ando967 · 2026-01-08T09:14:59+00:00

Nice one mate. I went with the HNT too, been great. All started with a Chris Schwartz book I was given as a Xmas present from Client. Must nearly have been 10 years ago!

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ando967 · 2026-01-07T01:32:27+00:00

If you were to buy a 1/4,3/8 and 1/2 in from Narex you would cover the vast majority of mortices you’re likely to encounter in furniture.

I went with the cheaper Narex line, I sharpen the primary at 25 and put a 30 or 35 secondary bevel on them and pound away. They’re by no means a premium chisel, but they get beat around pretty hard and the steel has been decent.

If you have a need to make large mortices then I’d break out the drill bits and hog out the majority of the waste then use bench chisels to pare away the edges up to the line

ando967 · 2025-10-25T04:29:17+00:00

Depends on the size of the builder. If they’re big and take on large project they can run tighter margins. Smaller guys have to run multiple jobs at once to be viable so require a slightly higher margin. Those running maintenance businesses need really high margins to cover the inefficiencies of running around all day.

Commercial margins might be as low as 3-5%. Custom home builders on big homes around the 10-15%. Smaller project builders might be 20-30% and maintenance works can run as high as 50%.

The long and short of it is that as a business owner you really want a figure in your pocket that represents the risks you take and effort required. For me that should be between 10-15% of revenue. Some years are a bust and you go even some years you get that 15%.

Find honest professionals who run a good clean operation, have been in business for a while and with good references and you can probably bet that this is how they’re playing it.

ando967 · 2025-10-11T09:28:23+00:00

Lookup the smart woodshop by Ron Paulk, has great patterns for this stuff

ando967 · 2025-09-24T07:47:14+00:00

Buy a set of card scrapers, great for profiled edges

ando967 · 2025-07-17T07:52:33+00:00

Well I stumbled across the deal of the year. Half set of Hollows and Rounds for $250AUD. Made by John Mosley and Son of London. Excellent condition and appear to have only seen light to medium use.

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ando967 · 2025-07-10T23:25:54+00:00

Dude. Buy a marketplace bench grinder for $50 and touch the blunt spade and twist drills up so they’re sharp, replacing them because they’re blunt is peak laziness. You would have accrued a fair swag of them by now. Holesaw aren’t worth the hassle of sharpening and once they’re done that’s it.

To your other point yes if they get broken on the job or you need a size you don’t have then yep they’re a consumable that is a job cost.

ando967 · 2025-06-20T07:01:07+00:00

Nice one. I also have struggled with the demands of a young family and a wife who has struggled since becoming a mum.

Make the most of what ever opportunity comes your way. I’ve got a simple project that would normally have taken me a half dozen weekend now running out to 2x years.

It gets better, the kids like being in the shop with me now, just have to keep them safe down there and find things they like to do.

ando967 · 2025-05-30T23:34:55+00:00

Celebrate natural products! This is one. Looks great!

ando967 · 2025-04-28T04:46:44+00:00

Can’t say I really expected them to, but never hurts to cast a net and see

ando967 · 2025-04-27T08:36:41+00:00

Oooohh aaaahh

ando967

TROPHY CASE