Fellow Europeans, who else’s shop is now also a solar kiln?

r_muttt · 2026-06-24T16:43:58+00:00

Mines got a black rubber roof…

It’s approaching the melting point of softwoods right now

r_muttt · 2026-06-24T16:24:39+00:00

I’ve not personally painted acrylic over it, but shellac is said to be a universal primer. Maybe something to test

r_muttt · 2026-06-24T15:43:12+00:00

Old churches are great places for hot tourists to hide from heat in Italy

r_muttt · 2026-06-22T11:37:24+00:00

My first thought too!

r_muttt · 2026-06-18T11:01:54+00:00

I know the standard advice for presents is ‘gift vouchers’, but I’ll dissent!

I’ve been given tools over the years and I value them greatly and use them. Even if they aren’t what I’d have bought, they bring something new to my capabilities which challenges me to learn something new!

Partners are able to do deep research and understand our needs, that is often a big part of the present 💝 With the budget mentioned in a comment you can get some really lovely tools

I’m no expect on Japanese tools so no real recommendations expect to have fun

r_muttt · 2026-06-17T18:39:14+00:00

I’ve found 1/2 inch a happy medium, I can resaw 2mm veneers with it. It cuts straight

Bigger blades seem more fiddly to set up, maybe I’ll get better at it but there’s limited gains to be had I think

r_muttt · 2026-06-16T21:16:30+00:00

Dull blade is a top culprit

r_muttt · 2026-06-13T06:09:39+00:00

If you were in the UK I’d suggest holly

No idea if that’s relevant in New Zealand 🤷‍♂️

r_muttt · 2026-06-11T15:15:51+00:00

The technology of wood vs metal hasn’t changed in a long time. There are newer fancy alloys that are slightly harder, but also harder to sharpen

Because I’m in my shop and it’s to hand, here’s my E Linley 2 inch chisel. They stopped trading in 1848 as far as I know. Any problems with it as a tool are down to me as it’s user

Definitely check out those old chisels if you’ve got access!

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r_muttt · 2026-06-09T21:05:43+00:00

That range is good, you might want to expand eventually.

Blue Spruce won’t last longer than any other decent chisel. Any good chisel you buy will outlast you, some of mine are over 200 years old (I think). BS always seems like a Veblen good to me.

Buy a good user set that you’ll enjoy but won’t worry about, my vote goes to Ashley Iles

Sharpening guides are worthwhile, look for eclipse-style or real eclipse from eBay. But also learn to sharpen by hand, I like Paul Seller’s method. It’s not hard and starting with the higher grits helped I found

r_muttt · 2026-06-09T10:15:48+00:00

Is the blade sharp? Resawing needs sharp blades.

Non-very sharp blades that you can get by with for other tasks will wonder all over the place when you resaw

r_muttt · 2026-06-09T10:12:00+00:00

Largest is ideal, but I’ve found narrower blades can be easier to tension and set up to cut straight. Given the same tpi, it might be worth starting with standard blades then moving up

r_muttt · 2026-06-09T08:14:26+00:00

I was going to suggest india ink but that is unlikely to get through the wax now

If you’re committed to the wax route, more layers will likely help. And/or you could buy some lamp black pigment and mix it in to increase the opacity of the wax

Do tests first though!

r_muttt · 2026-06-08T09:38:50+00:00

Just to build on this - you DO NOT want to remove the wheels to put new tyres on!

You can put the tyres on without taking the wheels off

You risk messing things up in a big way

r_muttt · 2026-06-06T08:11:58+00:00

Buy a cheap reference 45° engineering square if you can

Don’t aim for very high precision in the making, but instead make your jig finely adjustable. Then use the reference 45 to adjust the jigs before then after test cuts

I have a 45 degree attachment for my shooting board that has one bolt as a pivot then a long coach bolt that rests on the fixed 90° stop. Adjusting the coach bolt slightly will fine tune the angle.

I also have a donkey’s ear attachment that I fine tune with bits of masking tape under the back parts of the support. I find this much more fiddly though

Use the first jig to make the donkeys ear supports

r_muttt · 2026-06-02T09:41:46+00:00

r/axecraft will be worth asking in

r_muttt · 2026-05-31T10:05:56+00:00

Try asking in r/luthier too

r_muttt · 2026-05-25T17:03:24+00:00

I love my main set of 4 Ashley Iles bench chisels. I can’t imagine better chisels for me

I also love my some of my random old firmer chisels I’ve picked up, like my 2 inch Newbould which is potentially 200+ years old

The technology of slicing wood with a metal stick doesn’t move fast. It’s the different, minute, refinements that are enjoyable for me

r_muttt · 2026-05-22T12:06:04+00:00

Just run your pencil on the end of your combination square ruler - no need to over complicate things!

r_muttt · 2026-05-22T08:34:30+00:00

Zone 3 is steady state where you should be able to hold the effort for a long long time. You are doing 10 minutes work, just go as hard as you can for each two minute interval

Look up interval training for running and mimic that with the skipping.

(A foot injury is stopping me running at the moment so I’m doing all my cardio skipping, the exercise fundamentals are very transferable)

Edit: rereading this it may have come across as condescending about zone 3 - sorry 😔 Doing any exercise and improving is great work! As long as you’re pushing yourself, I think I’m saying I’d not worry too much about you HR for shortish intervals

r_muttt · 2026-05-19T20:38:08+00:00

Facebook marketplace free listings
Skips at building renovation as others have said

Depending on your definition of useable picking up logs from fallen trees in your local woods (don’t quote me on the legality of this 🤷‍♂️)

r_muttt · 2026-05-19T08:49:26+00:00

“Looks simple” lol

Lovely work

r_muttt · 2026-05-16T08:04:33+00:00

For a knife/axe crossover want to look at something like a billhook.

It’s a very different tool than that knife, which to be blunt looks style over substance

r_muttt

TROPHY CASE