Testing For Lead

In my pursuit of toolmaking, I don’t want others to come to harm. I use a lot of odd bits and bobs to make things with. Brass and bronze have a special appeal. The problem is that these items can be full of lead. Leaded brass is easy to work and polishes up with ease.

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Traditions, Tools and What Will We Pass on to our Desendents?

As craftsmen, artists and gardeners, hand tool users who take joy in creation, we stand in reasonable shape to pass on our treasures to our grandchildren and even to strangers unknown who may marvel at the care and thought of those ancient hand craftsmen in the 21st century. This thought comforts me. This thought has […]

Is a Copy of a Copy a Crime?

I have waded through a lot of discussions about copies being made of other tool designs. It is quite interesting to see where people stand. It seems that there are several issues that divide how we think about these things. The variations on ethic make this a pretty heated issue. Personally I like this. I […]

User Comment Spam

Until you run a blog, there is an entire family of spam you never see. Stuff with pages of links to all the stuff they normally spam you on are common. In any case they have links that lead back to sites you really don’t want to see. Often they compliment your site mastery, wisdom, […]

Fleam, Bowsaws, History and Faith

I just this week read a post about fleam over on Popular Woodworking. Aparently Colonial Williamsberg does not put fleam on their saws, since there is no evidence of fleam on saws in Colonial America.

This got me to thinking, Tage Frid, an expert among experts, liked to use a ripsaw for cutting dovetails across […]