When Rubank Verktygs AB was founded 12 years ago, the second manufacturer we bought products from was Hock Tools. For more than 40 years Ron Hock has sold, among other things, replacement blades for older hand planes. We brought in blades and cap irons and over the years have added almost their entire range. We have only had good feedback from those of you who bought them. A standing comment is "the old plane got a new life", and we can only agree. Ron and his wife Linda have now chosen to slow down and have sold the company to Lee Valley, which will continue the brand and the range as it is today. So we have placed our last order with Hock Tools, which should arrive shortly, and are getting ready to order from Lee Valley with our next Veritas order. We have 83 products from Hock Tools in stock.
Speaking of Lee Valley, they are packing some 60 Veritas products to send to us next week. Among them are 13 planes, including their #4, the small router plane and their finger planes. A new-old product is the Veritas Journeyman's Brass Mallet. There used to be only one size; now they make a small and a large version. The large one came with the last delivery and now the smaller one is coming.
We have carried Sterling Toolworks since 2015, two years after they were founded. They are known for their dovetail markers and Roubo curves, and we have now restocked exactly those products. It was a few years since we had the dovetail markers in stock, then in 1:6 and 1:8; now we are also adding the other three versions, 1:4, 1:5 and 1:7. The Roubo curves were one of the first products I bought from Rubank myself, before I started working here. It was love at first sight with those big, heavy, swirling stainless steel beauties. I hung them in the best spot in my workshop and have used them often.
Here they were used to mark out a recess in the long sides of a bed I made. The whole project will be posted on our blog soon. A month or so ago I posted another project I made a few years ago: A Small Desk.
We have talked about our blog "Ta i Trä" before and said we would try to fill it with posts. Unfortunately there has not been much time for that this past year, but we are not giving up. There are currently just over 100 posts since the "start" in 2010. We have many ideas and will try to realise them going forward.
The Tite-Mark marking gauge is the original, and probably the most copied tool I know of. You find copies everywhere. But if you want "the real thing" and to support two small firms, a restock is coming soon. We started buying them via Lie-Nielsen, which made deliveries easier, but the latest deliveries have come directly from Glen-Drake Toolworks. Factories that copy everything they come across and dump it on the market is a chapter of its own, but we are proud to have chosen to stick to manufacturers who stand behind what they sell. We do have a few "branded" products that you can find from another maker too. These are made by well-known, reputable factories in China and Taiwan that produce woodworking products; look around online and you will find them selling the same things under their own brand.
We have also received a delivery from Kreg with 11 new products we have not carried before, including a larger XL Pocket-Hole Jig intended for studs and larger outdoor projects.
We have also had a couple of deliveries from Tormek and have now listed their entire range, including spare parts. We have also tidied up the shop: where we have found an instruction video, it is now shown on the product page. We have done the same with many Veritas products and will add as many as we can find. We hope this adds value when you browse.
Last time we wrote a little about our Woodworking Bookshop, the part of the shop dedicated to books and other relaxing things. We have now filled all the shelves, so only those products are there.
Several of you got in touch after the last newsletter about books you no longer need and would like to pass on. We will work out the best way to handle it if anyone wants to leave their books with us. We will also start cataloguing the reference books and list them so you can see what is available to come and read. There are already a few gems.
Our department for finishing, sharpening and tool care is not large, but it is good. I wrote a little about Real Milk Paint last time; the boxes took a while to arrive, but we have now shipped the first orders. We wish there was more space so we could offer even more, but there are still a few gaps to fill, and more is coming soon.
The winter sports holidays have started, so opening hours and deliveries may change slightly. Check our contact page, where we post any changes. We will be back with the next newsletter after the holidays and hope to tell you more about the hush-hush buzzing around the shop. Until then, take care!
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