September 25, 2006

Woodfit

After the amount of giving out I’ve done about the presence of woodworking on the web in Ireland, it’s nice to see a site that’s done well. Woodfit have an excellent site, giving their contact information, some more about what they do, and a list of client references as long as your arm.

September 17, 2006

Cordless and Corded Drills

Aside from hand tools, I’m looking into getting a good drill. I’m torn between the reliability of a plug-in drill with a cord, and the portability and convenience of a cordless. The cordless can be used anywhere, but it depends on rechargable batteries, which last about three years at best, and can run out at the most inconvenient times. The corded drill is never going to run out of power, but it can be very awkward.

I’m also wary of the sheer weight of a cordless drill - batteries are heavy. If I’m going to be holding the thing up for half an hour at a time, I really want something I can handle fairly smoothly.

Amazon.co.uk have a variety of drills, and have customer reviews as well, which helps for purposes of comparison. I’ll probably look to buy locally when I make up my mind, but window-shopping on the web is a good way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

First up is the Draper 71385 14.4V Cordless Drill. It’s got a 3.5 star rating, dragged down by one guy who says it’s not good on metal. I'’m pretty unlikely to be drilling metal, so that doesn’t worry me. The other reviewer gives it five stars. It will, of course, work as a screwdriver as well, and comes with screwdriver bits. It’s fairly inexpensive as well, so I’ll put it on the list to consider.

The Black & Decker KR500 Hammer Drill 500W has no reviews by customers. It looks like a pretty standard hammer drill. The price is nice, but I’m wary of the lack of reviews, and Black & Decker tools haven’t the best of reputations for durability. However, I wouldn’t be subjecting it to extra-heavy use, so I’ll consider it as well.

The next one up is the Jcb 18V Cordless Hammer Drill Jcbd-Chd18Vc . It looks very impressive - long list of features, satisfied customer review, and hammer action in a cordless drill. Spare batteries, drivers and drill bits, case. Nice. That’s on the list, then, although it might come off again when I come to consider the price - it’s four times the price of the Draper cordless above.

The search brought up the Bosch IXO Cordless Screwdriver 3.6V as well - and while it looks like a neat little toy, it’s only a screwdriver, and I need a drill.

They’re also got a single hand drill, in case you’re feeling old-fashioned: the Draper 13838 8mm Double Pinion Hand Drill - but I honestly can’t see much reason to use a hand drill these days.

And, incidentally, Tools Ireland carry the rather useful looking Plano Drill Holster. I’m not convinced it’d be of a huge amount of use to me personally, but for someone who’s moving around a lot, I can see it being very useful.

September 5, 2006

Timber Merchants & Discussion Boards

I’m adding a few of my recent discoveries as links on the site. First up, Woodworkers in Terenure have a website. It’s a terrible site, to be honest, but it’s there and it works. They sell timber, doors, decking, flooring, and other goods, and I gather they’ll cut material for you as well. And they deliver, which is a definite bonus for those of us without cars.
In other findings, there’s a Woodcraft forum on boards.ie, which looks useful, and an excellent set of general woodwork forums on UK Workshop, which is close enough to be relevant for the Irish woodworker.

Tool List for a Basic Workshop

I’ve been working on getting together a wishlist of hand tools, so that I can assemble a decent workshop for myself, rather than the piecemeal acquisition I’ve been going about so far. I posted on a few different forums and discussion boards, and at this stage, I’ve a fair idea of what tools I want. What brands, sizes, and so on remains to be seen, but at least I won’t be stunned by the range every time I walk into McQuillans on Capel Street so much if I have a list in hand.

Here are the recommendations for a basic workshop - hand tools with an emphasis on small work; box making, and the like. Some of these I have already, more of them I’m going to have to get. And some I have aren’t the best quality.

  • Steel rule
  • Setsquare
  • Marking knife
  • Handsaw
  • Dozuki Saw (will work for fine cuts, until I get a dovetail saw)
  • Low angle block plane
  • Jack plane
  • Cabinet scraper
  • Chisels 6,12,18 & 25mm
  • Carving chisels
  • Paring chisel
  • Hammer
  • Mallet
  • Sharpening equipment
  • Screwdrivers
  • Various clamps
  • Sandpapers and abrasives
  • Glues (small bottles, for freshness)
  • Finishes

And in small power tools:

  • Cordless drill
  • Small router