And that’s a wrap

What a year, and what a decade.  As both draw rapidly to an end, my feeling is one of…..shellshock. It has been a tumultuous decade that we have lived through.  Looking back, and on a personal level one can recall event after event of positive, milestone achievements.  From a global perspective, what one remembers is [...]

Slippery When Wet

Warping when moist, cracking when dry. Timber is a tempermental beast at the best of times. A ways back I did think it was a good idea to have a better visibility of what was happening with some of the different pieces I had harvested, or collected. If too green or moist, there would be [...]

Bananas on the Slope

Damn, but this Festool slope sure is slippery! I was using my Triton ROS for some Xmas presents the other day (like just before Xmas obviously), and I was reminded just how much it vibrated – you come away with your hand tingling from the sensation.  If those fat-buster belts of the 60′s actually worked, [...]

Torquing it up

Took the old man out (visiting from NZ) out to the shed last night to have a bit of a closer look at the Torque Workcentre.  Had a bit of an overview of the machine, which was interesting from my perspective because it would not be that much different an approach to talking about one [...]

Hands-On Confirmed Delay

As I revealed soon after the Brisbane Hands-On Wood Show, the Melbourne, Sydney (and 2010 Brisbane) dates are being moved.  At this stage the Hands-On website provides dates “TBC” (To Be Confirmed). Not sure how this is going to play out unfortunately (and from a purely personal perspective, I am hoping that at least the [...]

Upgrades and Mods to the Torque

On Christmas Eve, the courier finally managed to locate and deliver the package from Torque Workcentre (TWC).  Inside was a shorter main beam and a few other bits n pieces. I still have the 1300mm arm, which will prove invaluable when working with very large tops, and breaking down large sheet goods, but in a [...]

If it’s Pretty in Pink…

A winner in (Telecom) Gold, what is it in Ryobi Blue? Thanks to Sparhawk for the pics- can’t believe how wrong the SuperJaws looks in blue, and particularly how irksome seeing the traditional Superjaws logo on a non Triton branded box. Bet Ryobi, and Bunnings are laughing long and hard at Triton & GMC, finally [...]

Bunnings Redefines “Hardware”

Bunnings once again, is preparing to dilute its wishy washy concept of what is hardware, with the potential inclusion of whitegoods, such a fridges into its product range. The question is, with the store currently fully stocked with goods, and the physical dimensions of the store being fixed, what is going to be lost to [...]

50% Tax Breaks

At the 11th hour, I’ve suddenly become rather curious about the 50% tax break being offered to small businesses. http://www.ato.gov.au/taxprofessionals/content.asp?doc=/Content/00175431.htm It came to my attention through the latest catalogue/specials email from Ideal Tools. I am now rather interested in knowing whether I could get a Rotex for an interesting price. With the 31 Dec 09 [...]

Inventions that shaped modern woodworking

I received a book for christmas that I thought was going to be a very interesting read, but didn’t expect that it would be specifically relevant to woodworking.  The book is “1001 Inventions that Changed the World”.  I was flicking through and reading random entries and found one that looked rather familiar around 1808 – [...]

It may be plastic…

But how did my daughter end up with a workbench before me??! One day I will make her a wooden one (still as a toy!) but for $20 this was hard to pass up, and it is fun for daddys as well Hope everyone had a great day, and at least noone crash-tackled the pope [...]

Santa Claus is Coming

He’s not very far away. According to my iPhone Map, he’s somewhere around Suva now. Not much to add tonight, other than wishing everyone a happy, safe and Merry Christmas! Hope your tree is heavily propped up with you favourite choice of tools, and more importantly that you have a great day with your loved [...]

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 824 other followers