Carpal what?

I'd never heard of a Carpal Tunnel until this week. But it turns out the pins and needles I've been getting in my right hand are the result of some sort of pinched nerve/inflammation or something in the aforementioned Tunnel. I keep wanting to say carnal instead of Carpal but that would be a whole other story - and most likely not one I'd be sharing here! Basically, it's due to overuse and occurs when you use the hands a lot in a way that it hasn't been used before. The Doc has advised rest and maybe taking a few days off. Rest? Days off? Not an option, I'm afraid. But I am prepared to compromise-ish and take it a bit easier. It's already feeling a bit better after a weekend's rest in a Carpal Tunnel brace! Yes you did hear me right. A Carpal Tunnel brace. And where would one pick up such a specialist bit of kit? Only at Boots! Yep, good old Boots the Chemist. Who knew that so many people are right at this very moment having problems with their Tunnels that Boots sells Carpal Tunnel braces as a stock item? Not me, that's for sure. Handy though (geddit?) !! Said brace comes in that classic natty shade of OAP beige - that 'flesh coloured' colour of no piece of flesh I've ever seen. Why do they do that? It's horrible.

Also picked up an easel and a sketch pad while I was in town too. After a couple of Monday evening art classes, it turns out my drawing skills really are as dire as I'd anticipated. I had hoped to feign surprise at my own artistic ability in the way you do when you say you can't do something but secretly know you can. No surprises here though, more's the pity - except maybe at just how bad I really am. I'm assured it can be learned, however, so I'm now all tooled up (artistically speaking) and planning a daily session in this very 'van. I attempted a wine glass this evening with not completely disastrous consequences. Actually, it was pretty disastrous but made easier by consuming the contents of said glass prior to packing up for the night!

Here's a pic of the beech octagonal breadboard, complete with chamfered edge, that I spent last week working on. It still needs a sand and polish (like the Winding Sticks) but that comes later. Next up, another breadboard to fit exactly within the octagonal shape of the first...

It's a dog's life

Having bought Stanners a lovely new (and not cheap) basket for the workshop, he's now decided he prefers to be (on) top dog. Yep, on top of my workbench. He never did like being the underdog - but then neither would I. Bless.

Isn't she lovely

The Lie Nielson No. 6: I'm not sure at what point it became she but now I'm thinking she deserves a name. I haven't got quite that far yet so any suggestions welcome...

Sticks from the sticks

A couple of pics of the much talked about Winding Sticks, as promised. They still need a sand and polish but thought you'd all like to see the work in progress. With both bench and block planes now flattened and sharpened, I've started on the next project: bread boards! Planing technique is definitely on the up (see what I did there?) though far from perfect.

Away from the workshop, went to Exeter on Saturday - via Okehampton (oh, and Waitrose!)
Not that I went looking for Waitrose or anything but there I was driving through Okehampton en route to Exeter and suddenly there it was. Right in front of me. Well, it would've be rude not to. Spent far too much but the Jackson Estate is helping me through.

The Daily Grind

Take 2 Japanese water stones, 1 Lie Nielson No. 6 plane blade and grind… and grind… and grind. Yep, that just about sums up the last 3 days (approx 24 hours of flattening the back of a plane against a stone. Oh, but you can only grind for 2-3 minutes at a time before having to flatten the stone that you are grinding on so as it stays flat too. We were warned that the excitement of the new tools would quickly wane once the process of flattening and sharpening began but talk about coming back down to earth with a bump (and a grind). It probably wouldn’t have taken quite so long had I not cocked up so spectacularly on Day 1 by make a slightly convex blade concave and thus making so much more work for myself to get it flat again. But once it’s done, it’ll last a lifetime, so I’m told. And it is indeed done. Well one blade is. Just 2 block planes and 5 chisels to go…

Cleanliness is next to....

on this occasion, a great mural!

Went to the launderette on Saturday – something I’ve not done for the best part of 10 years when, living in London, I was more than happy to take advantage of a service wash courtesy of Stella, a larger than life African lady, who regularly saw to my smalls. No such services on offer (or required) here but I did find a great little launderette in Torrington. I must admit, I went in thinking life is too short for this lark but came out an hour later thinking quite the opposite. Few activities offer the opportunity to just think for a while. That old cliche of just watching the machines go round and round... I'm sure the novelty will wear off after a couple more visits but for now, it's all good. And made even better by the great mural on the wall - an unexpected surprise.

Even more of a surprise came when about a dozen teenagers came through the door screeching at each other like some kind of bizarre mating ritual for the ASBO generation. Girls showing off to boys. Boys looking suitably unimpressed but actually revelling in the attention. I managed a fairly respectable ‘tut’/eyes to the ceiling (think Blanche a la Corrie) which they all ignored with even more panache. Marvellous.

There's nothing like a good sunrise to get the day started.

Another long day in the workshop yesterday - in by 8.30am and out at 8pm - but got loads done. This week we're making winding sticks - best described as two pieces of wood that are lain across the wood you are working on for any given project to see whether it has any twist in it. They have to be identical in size, which meant another day of planing. The tolerance in the workshop is a max 0.25mm so there's no room for error. Needless to say my hands are pretty stiff this morning - something I've been told to expect for about the first month - just another 3 weeks to go then!!!

Stanley has also taken up residence in the workshop, much to everyone's amusement. Most day's we have what is known as a 'Dimblebie' during morning tea break. These are basically mini-talks given by either David or Daren, each lasting about 10-20mins about different wood/design based topics, and some of which are filmed, as was the case on Monday. We were all set to start when Stanley decided to abscond out the back door and took off into a nearby field. Not being the most obedient of dogs, it took about 5 of the guys to stage a 'corner and grab' to get him back inside, where he proceeded to spend the next 10 minutues wandering around as I willed him not to trip over the cables and take out the lights. Tuesday's Dimbleby provided a slightly more modest offering in terms of canine capers, with just the occasional whine when he was either a) bored or b) not the centre of attention.

Looking forward to new tools arriving later today - very exciting....

Sorry it's taken a couple of weeks to get this up and running but what with the snow and the snow and the gale force winds and the torrential rain.... the perfect time of year for a spot of caravanning, no?! Thankfully our arrival in Devon, complete with the aforementioned caravan, preceded all the above by approximately 2 hours.Had it not, I think it's safe to say we'd probably be floating around Gloucestershire by now.



I've much to say about the wonders of the modern caravan but no time just now as there's planing a plenty to be done - which is why I'm here after all... more on that this evening.