Veritas beading tool

UKworkshop.co.uk

Help Support UKworkshop.co.uk:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Status
Not open for further replies.

Paul Chapman

Established Member
Joined
26 Jan 2006
Messages
8,657
Reaction score
3
Location
Bookham, Surrey
Martin Brown of BriMarc kindly sent me, on loan, the recently introduced Veritas Beading Tool to have a play with. Here are my impressions.

This is the tool as supplied

Beading1.jpg


It comes with one single-point cutter and 5 blank cutters which the user can shape. As these can be shaped both ends, there are potentially 12 cutters as standard. Additional beading, fluting and reeding cutters are available as extras.

These are the component parts of the tool

Beading2.jpg


As with all Veritas tools, it is very well made and finished. The handles are Bubinga - the knob-shaped one pivots from horizontal to vertical.

The fence is innovative in that it can be secured in three positions - for straight, curved or bullnose work

Beading4.jpg


Beading5.jpg


Beading6.jpg


Then there are two options for each position by flipping the fence over, depending on whether you want to work right or left-handed.

The blade is secured by a clamp and can be slid along the length of the sole

Beading7.jpg


Beading tools (or scratchstocks as they are sometimes known) come in a variety of shapes, sizes and designs and many are shop-made. Here's a very basic one made from plywood

Beading14.jpg


And here's one, made from brass, which Pete (Newt) very kindly made for me

Scratchstock3.jpg


So I think it's fair to say that there isn't a "standard" style of beading tool. When I first saw the Veritas, I thought it looked a bit odd because of the handles but in use I found it very comfortable. I found this the best way to hold it

Beading8.jpg


Two thumbs behind the cutter and one finger pressing against the fence.

The comprehensive instruction sheet gave no information about direction of cut, but a one page leaflet packed with the tool said that it should be used on the pull stroke rather than the push stroke. However, I instinctitively wanted to push it and found that it worked perfectly well that way. The only difficulty I found was with the fence which projects only one side of the body, which results in little contact with the workpiece at the end of the stroke

Beading9.jpg


I did a comparison with my brass scratchstock where the fence projects both sides of the sole

Beading10.jpg


Beading11.jpg


I found this better. However, with a little care, both produced identical results, so it's not a big problem

Beading12.jpg


I had a piece of oak left over from a 3' diameter table-top which I'd cut out, so tried the curved fence on this. Although it was fairly coarse wood and not ideal for beading, the curved fence worked well and the tool cut nicely

Beading13.jpg


Overall, I'd rate this as a very nice tool which works well. The most innovative part of it is the fence which will enable you to use the tool on virtually any type of beading work. However, I just wish it projected both sides of the sole.

Cheers :wink:

Paul
 
Paul - good review. I had a play around with mine and found it cut best on the pull stroke (I think :? ) but I still found it a bit awkward to use and set up...I think plenty of practice is needed to get proficient in it's use. For straight stuff a top quality brass scratch stock made by you know who :wink: :wink: is always the tool I'd pick up first - Rob
 
Thanks Paul - I never thought to check their site - duh! - (homer)

They must have sneaked it in while I wasn't looking....

The Bad News is they're out of stock - snapped up by UKW members prhaps? :evil:

Les
 
Yes, just spotted that. A 'phone call to BriMarc might be the best way to find out when they are going to be available.

Cheers :wink:

Paul
 
Thanks for that Paul.

I have just read Rob's brief review in F&C and was thinking about these as I would like to progress to adding these kind of subtle details to future projects, so I might give it a look.

Also have grand ideas of making a scratch stock of my own, but have never done any of my own metalwork so that might start me off on a whole new slope....

Cheers

Mark
 
Excellent review Paul - I bought a piece of brass (£30 worth!) to make a Newt style one - ONE DAY???

Hope you do not mind Pete?

Rod
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top