Bush Custom Woodworks

Made from Padauk, a brass flare nut and an old masonry drill bit. Sanded to 600 grit, polished out by wet sanding with 600 grit and walnut oil. Finished with friction polish and beeswax. I have made many awls this one is by far the nicest and my favorite.

Charles and Co. plough plane with a complete set of I. Sorby irons. Manufactured in London around 1850 or 1860. This plane came from the same person I bought the mortise chisels from last summer. As you can see it is in beautiful condition and only required a light cleaning and wax. The irons are a complete set numbered 1 through 7 and have likely been with the plane since it was originally purchased 170ish years ago. I removed the rust from the irons and sharpened each one before coating them with light oil. This plane was used to plough or make grooves in boards. A job it does very well. Happy to have this in my collection.

All three of the big "pigsticker" mortise chisels are rehandled with white oak. I also made a handle for a 1/8" mortise socket chisel on my lathe. The wood for this one is spalted black locust that I got from my friend and woodturning mentor Paul Hedman. Since mortise chisels take a beating with a wooden mallet I made two leather washers to help absorb the shock from the mallet. Most chisels from the days before plastic handles that were intended to be struck with a mallet had leather caps. So I am continuing on with the historical tradition. Lots more chisels in my collection need handles so this was good practice.

I picked up these antique mortise chisels last summer from a guy selling his grandfather's tools. These two didn't have handles the third one has a handle but it's broken and needs to be replaced. I went with White Oak that was salvaged from old pallets since I have a lot of it and its thick enough for this project. The largest one is 1/2" thick the smaller one 5/16" both made by I & H Sorby the larger one also having the hanging sheep mark above the name. This would date them to sometime between 1822 and 1846. The third one is an Isaac Greaves 3/8" mortise chisel from about the same time frame. They both turned out well and we will see how long the oak holds up. I do have a pile of old wooden planes long past their prime I could cut up and make Beech handles out of if these don't work out.

My first time turning solid Bocote, and is it ever a pretty wood. I now understand why my buddy loves it so much. It was a joy to turn as well. This is also my firat time making the Big Ben kit. It's a cigar style pen which is my favorite type being that they are fatter and have some heft to them. Another win in my book.

I spent the weekend finishing up Christmas gifts and commissioned pens. I very much enjoy building the segmented blanks. All of the cutting and gluing back together of the tiny parts is worth the hassle when you see the pattern come to life on the lathe. Everyone has been in awe when they see their pens. Such a fun time.