Gday from Albany, WA

[Slothman]

So thougt I better sign up and say gday.

Very Very new woodworker here. I have never been very practically minded, but I just purchased a property so the other half can run some horses (yeh yeh).

I figure if I am going to enjoy the new place (lots and lots of work my end) I decided to try to take up a new hobby.

I have crappy tools, I have no area, I have no knowledge...so its a complete start from scratch for me.

I have always been drawn to woodwork but never had the opportunity to try. So I am slowly buying second hand tools to try this out and give it a go. I have some projects listed so I can start building things with literally a crappy old Saw from Bunnings, a few basic power tools and a few other bits and pieces.

I "borrowed" my Dad's old Stanley #4 and cleaned it up, sharpened and set it up and I discovered I bloody enjoyed that process. The lateral adjustment is loose and annoying to keep adjusting as I plane, but its a starting point. I have started experimenting with pallet wood (hey, its free and I am not going to test things on anything decent) and also discovered I REALLY enjoy the feel of the plane going through the wood and also using a freshly sharpened chisel.

I have a Stanley 151 Spokeshave on the way (thanks Ebay) and I plan on restoring that and use that to help with a mallet I am trying to make from old wood lying around.

Am I any good...HELL no. But I am enjoying the process so far. This late in life new hobbies has some perks.

Will be lurking on these forums picking up tips for some I think before posting any "projects" .

[old1955]

Welcome to the forum.

[BobL]

Good to see you have discovered "Process" so early in the scheme of things.

[Slothman]

Good to see you have discovered "Process" so early in the scheme of things.

I think patience comes with age....or so I am told. I play golf as well so "the process" is all that keeps me going back, if it was for the results I would have quit years ago

[crowie]

G'Day & Welcome to a top forum;
There are quite a few members around Perth and cross South West plus the rest of the country.....
You'll find a heap of helpful & knowledgeable blokes & ladies on the forum and for most very willing to assist.
Make sure you show off your handiwork as everyone loves a photo, especially WIP [Work In Progress] photos with build notes.
Enjoy the forum.
Enjoy your woodwork......
Cheers crowie

PS - Watch out for local forum members get togethers to met up with and network...

[tonzeyd]

Gday! and welcome to the forum you'll find that as your passion grows so does your skills in leaps and bounds. Sadly after a few years those leaps and bounds seems to get smaller and smaller and before you realise you're agonising over 0.01mm tolerances.

As others have said plenty of people on here who will lend a helping hand even if its just moral support during your woes.

[JJF]

Welcome to the forum

[KeithP]

Welcome to the forum.

Regards
Keith

[Slothman]

A quick update, not sure where to post it, thought this will do.

I am using Timbecon and pretty much check out the monthly sales and grab whatever is at a decent price. So slowly adding. Anyway grabbed a general purpose Ryoba Japanese Saw.....yeh...I kinda like it. I mean I only have a crappy cheap ass wonder "cross cut" from Bunnings to compare to...but just the general use of it is amazing.....so yeh...happy with that. Also grabbed a few other cheap things to help like a cheap marking knife and plastic dogs. So today I try to finish a mallett.

But the main reason for the post. I was around the old man's the other day and went out to his shed. He has an immaculate No6 plane that's been used like once. I have a habit of "borrowing" his tools like his #4, Spirit Level and his Mortice Gauge as of the other night...hehe. So my targets are now set on the plane.....that could be a bit tricky to pilfer....LOL

I knew one of my relatives back in the 1890's (not sure how many greats need to be in there but i THINK it was my dad's grandad) was a carpenter. Thats all I knew. My Great Uncle passed away several years ago and they are finishing up the estate etc. So apparently he had a HEAP of my older relatives tools in the back shed. Some have been taken already but they are cleaning the house out for sale and apparently I am getting the rest of the tools and the metal box they are stored in (I think my dad's sick of me "borrowing" his tools...hehe).

All I know is he has several wooden block planes (condition unknown), a tenon saw or two, some gauges, squares etc and some chisels and other bits and pieces. So no more tool purchases until that box shows up, just to see if there is anything in it....and even if they are not useable I will be trying to clean them up just for "family sentimentality" reasons.

Now that is pretty cool.

[poundy]

my targets are now set on the plane.....that could be a bit tricky to pilfer....LOL

Is that a plane in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

[Slothman]

Is that a plane in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

Time to rip out the baggy 26 Red jeans with the extra long pockets

[Stratman]

Welcome Slothman
(I like your 'name' - it's how I am with my woodworking...lol)

I'm fairly new to woodworking too, but like you just love the feel of a sharp plane or chisel cutting through the wood. That's what really 'hooked' me on woodworking.

I also enjoy restoring old tools like you are doing - now there's a whole other journey...enjoy! There's plenty of extremely knowledgeable and helpful people on this forum.

Regards Adam

[Slothman]

Gday Adam.

Nickname from highschool that has never left me

Yeh just browsing and "lurking" for a while, heaps of info on here. Combined with youtube (Paul Sellars, Woodworking by Wright etc etc) it has given me the confidence to at least try.

i mean my experience was so limited I realised last night the ONLY time I had ever used sandpaper was for when I painted some walls. I had NEVER used it on a project etc.

Last night I took sandpaper to my first ever "project" which was a wooden mallet using various scrap bits of pine from parts of my life. yeh it sucks, there is gaps, it still needs the handle to be finished and I don't expect it to last long as I used some REALLY REALLY old Aquadhere (it literally popped off at one point) but I did the whole thing using hand tools. Having never used Sandpaper much it was great watching it transform as I manually sanded it, and the feel was AWESOME. It will be functional for what I need and probably only last 6 months...but by then hopefully I have a bit more experience and I will try again

So I took it inside to show the other half. It is relatively small and my 3 year old picked it up and goes "A wood hammer....whhhhaaaaat?" he has only ever seen me use a standard claw hammer and he has his own little one to play with. This blew his mind and he just wanted to play with it. So my next projects might be put on hold so "he can make his own"....alright little fella...lets see what we can do over the weekend.

Yeh, I really enjoyed it the feel, the smell the end result (as bad as it is). My biggest issue at the moment is not placing bids on Ebay for planes

[Stratman]

I also lurked for a while. You're spot on about that!

That's great about the mallet. Especially if you can get your 3 year old interested My boys are nearly 16 and 18 and I think I missed the boat to 'corrupt' them. They liked the shelves I made for them (another PS project), just not so interested in the building. What will they do when they inherit all my old tools!?!? LOL

It sounds like you're getting a lot out of woodworking already with the 'ah-ha' moments. It's quite the revelation, I found. When you so acquire, and setup, some of those planes from eBay you'll probably not even need sandpaper for some work!

Oh yes, the smell!

Good luck with your plane hunting. Look forward to seeing some posted up here when you get hold of one (or two, or three... lol)

Regards Adam