Achieving a perfect 45 degree chamfer.

[mrgrimsdale]

Been peeking over there but don't want to blow my multiple identity cover so will have a go at answering over here instead.

It seems they are struggling with yet another crap gadget which makes an easy job more difficult.
The way to do it IMHO is:
through chamfer; by eye with a jack plane (long plane for straight edge) or to marks (advisable!)
stopped chamfer; to marks, work the ends first with a chisel, then join them with a block plane. If too short for a plane then do the whole thing with chisels, a few saw cuts speeds up waste removal.
Or use a router, but a stopped chamfer still needs ends hand working.
Worst option is www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=3&p=46296&cat=1,41182 don't waste your money!

cheers
Jacob
PS crap gadget merchants not only sell you the useless "Mark 1", but then come up with the improved (but still useless) "Mark 2", then attachments etc etc. ;D ;D
PPS and to Kevin in Keswick I'd suggest not to buy any more tools he obviously has too many, but to buy a load of wood instead.

[wizer]

What makes 'Mark 2' crap?

[mrgrimsdale]

Generalising about gadgets which are usless to begin with and each "improvement" goes nowhere as the idea is crap from the start. Honing jigs spring to mind, though I know not everybody agrees with me!

ches
Jacob

[johnboy]

Have to agree Jacob. If I've got a lot to do then then a router is fast and accurate otherwise a hand plane. No marking out for small ones but just run a pencil down the timber using my finger as a stop and plane to the lines for bigger ones.

Cheers John

[wizer]

I think in this case the 'gadget' was greatly improved, at the manufacturers expense, which lead to the product being re-designed. Even the shimmed version worked exactly how it's supposed to. It's not expensive, I think I'd buy one. Better than the noise of the router.

[Alf]

"Achieving a perfect 45 degree chamfer"

I'd have thought the nub of the problem was why it has to be "perfect"

Cheers, Alf

[jfc]

I cant even peep over there as my IP is blocked

[andy]

Jul 9, 2008 10:00:36 GMT Alf said:

"Achieving a perfect 45 degree chamfer"

I'd have thought the nub of the problem was why it has to be "perfect"

Cheers, Alf

Spot on Alf


But it could be so they can be checked with those little brass mitre gauges

[Dave S]

Jul 9, 2008 11:08:02 GMT jfc said:

I cant even peep over there as my IP is blocked

change it then!

[jay]

That little gadget has its uses. I've been making some octagonal tool handles that I wanted to look reasonably smart and it did alright at keeping me from going all wonky.

Jul 9, 2008 11:08:02 GMT jfc said:

I cant even peep over there as my IP is blocked

You have a fixed IP address? Ignore me if I'm teaching you to suck eggs, but IP addresses cost money - Internet Service Providers rely on the fact that the odds of everyone wanting to use the internet at the same time are slim and only buy so many. Unless you've specifically purchased a fixed IP address, your IP address will be asigned, effectively at random, from your ISP's pool of spares when you log on and will be given up again and lost to another customer when you log off.

The upshot of which is that it's very very unusual to be able to identify and ban someone using their IP address.

[mrgrimsdale]

Jul 9, 2008 11:08:02 GMT jfc said:

I cant even peep over there as my IP is blocked

PM on it's way

I'd have thought the nub of the problem was why it has to be "perfect"

Well yes, but also the question asked by all learners and developers: is it me or the kit?
9 times out of 10 it'll be you, not the kit, and you need more practice. In fact more kit can stunt your growth in skill development, and make you dependant for life!

cheers
Jacob

[paulchapman]

Jul 9, 2008 11:31:12 GMT andy said:

But it could be so they can be checked with those little brass mitre gauges

Do they have brass knobs ;D

[ocicat]

Internet Service Providers rely on the fact that the odds of everyone wanting to use the internet at the same time are slim and only buy so many. Unless you've specifically purchased a fixed IP address, your IP address will be assigned, effectively at random, from your ISP's pool of spares when you log on

That may have been true on dial up, but despite not being guaranteed a fixed IP on broadband (unless paying business etc) you will find your IP address is constant for months.

Regarding the chamfer Router perhaps for stopped, or by hand plane or spoke they are not that hard to do??? each pass tells where to place the emphasis on the next pass, it's all about feel.
Alan

[mrgrimsdale]

Jul 9, 2008 20:33:34 GMT ocicat said:

snip
you will find your IP address is constant for months.

Or years in my case; a small local ISP. There is however a growing number of free proxy server websites which get around the problem. Seems to be a new phenomenon as far as I know

Regarding the chamfer Router perhaps for stopped, or by hand plane or spoke they are not that hard to do??? each pass tells where to place the emphasis on the next pass, it's all about feel.
Alan

Agree. And quicker and easier than a gadget ;D . Is a fundamental and recurring issue; whether or not you need better kit, or more practice.

cheers
Jacob

[thatsnotafestool]

But surely the point of this gadget is so that we can get that 'freshly machined look' that us hand tool users all strive to achieve yet rarely succeed

[Dave S]

Jul 9, 2008 20:33:34 GMT ocicat said:

That may have been true on dial up, but despite not being guaranteed a fixed IP on broadband (unless paying business etc) you will find your IP address is constant for months.

True, but I've found that if I disconnect my router (or my modem, when I used one) and leave it disconnected for a while, I get a new IP when I reconnect.

Dave

[mrgrimsdale]

Been over there again - they are getting their heads around freehand etc - and pencil marks! That's progress ;D well I thought so but they seem to have a problem actually making the marks. Luckily someone came up with this brilliant solution ;D ;D no comment.

What I do is run a combi square down, with a pencil held against it, if I want to be super accurate. Otherwise as johnboy said earlier - use your fingers as a stop.

cheers
Jacob

[paulchapman]

Blimey, Jacob, you're becoming just like one of those Daily Mail writers........... ;D

Cheers

Paul

[Alf]

Have I mis-read that price...? For a pencil gauge. Even with my natural attraction to bling on tools that's outrageously idiotic.

Cheers, Alf

[mrgrimsdale]

Yebbut you get a free pencil with it

[paulchapman]

;D ;D

[Alf]

Only one; and a bloody short one at that.

[dunbarhamlin]

Yebbut, at least you'd make darn sure you always knew where one of your pencils was
Can't deny getting itchy and sweaty over antipodean marking tools - for a pro, I'm sure the cost couldn't be justified, but even disregarding the quality of finsh, pretty woods, brass and shellac, the functional niceties do put them in a world apart from marples and the like.
Cheers
Steve unashamed blackwood-and-brass-phile
Though no - I don't have a pencil gauge






yet

[Alf]

Yebbut, Steve, by the very nature of the beast it's not as though a pencil gauge needs to be anything but bog standard basic. Oh well, whatever floats your boat, as the saying goes. ;D

Cheers, Alf

[paulchapman]

Jul 11, 2008 13:26:05 GMT dunbarhamlin said:

unashamed blackwood-and-brass-phile

Hi Steve,

I had a look at those Clenton gauges when I was down at West Dean and, while they are superbly made (bit of an understatement ;D) I concluded that my home-made gauge was, in terms of practical functionality, just as good - in fact it's the one I reach for every time these days



And the bonus is they cost nothing as you can make them from scraps of wood lying about in the workshop - and make as many as you like. In fact it would look quite nice in African Blackwood - might buy a bit and give it a go as I need some more gauges.

Cheers

Paul