New jaws

[Walter Hall]

My old B&D Workmate was looking a bit shabby around the edges, not to mention wearing a liberal coating of paint, plaster, cement dust and all the other detritus that derives from getting on for 30 years of DIY so I decided to give it a bit of a clean up and replace the jaws.

The new ones are made from some "mahogany" (probably utile or meranti) recycled from an old fireplace.Finished with Chestnut Hard Wax Oil.


Untitled by walter.hall, on Flickr


Untitled by walter.hall, on Flickr

Looks good for another 30 years. (Hope the same can be said for me).

Just as an aside, this is an offcut of the reclaimed wood before the old finish was removed. Why do manufacturers of mass produced furniture and fittings insist on covering everything that is supposed to be "mahogany" with this horrible red gunge?


Untitled by walter.hall, on Flickr

Walter

 

[wallace]

Mighty posh Walter, I did the same but with some decent ply

 

[Walter Hall]

Thanks. Ply would probably be better really as it is more stable, but as I am a cheapskate and I had some free wood. . . . .

 

[AndyT]

Congrats for getting around to it... I just look at mine whenever I am using it and think "Those jaws could do with replacing, but I'm busy at the moment!" ;-)

 

[Bale]

Just as an aside, this is an offcut of the reclaimed wood before the old finish was removed. Why do manufacturers of mass produced furniture and fittings insist on covering everything that is supposed to be "mahogany" with this horrible red gunge?

Slightly off topic, but my neighbour was throwing out an old, dark brown shelf unit. He assured me it was Oak and "really hard" :lol: . Turned out to be a mixture of Tulipwood for the shelves and "Mahogany" (generic red tropical hardwood) for the carcase. I'm building a baritone electric guitar with it

Pete

 

[AndyT]

Maybe the reason for the red gunge is to make all the parts the same colour. Easier and cheaper than employing skilled workers to select matching pieces or selectively tone them.

 

[Reggie]

so what you're saying is that they're trying to cover up problems then andy?

Walter, That's the poshest looking workmate I think I've ever seen.

 

[Walter Hall]

Maybe the reason for the red gunge is to make all the parts the same colour. Easier and cheaper than employing skilled workers to select matching pieces or selectively tone them.

Probably right. And probably means they can use cheap timber and make it look more expensive.