Driveway gates - Part 2 - Wood selection

A big pile of stickered Iroko acclimatising in the shop

I decided to use a durable timber for the main frame of the gates. The timber I chose was Iroko from West Africa. It has similar properties to Teak in that it is rot resistant, resistant to insect attack, stable and durable.

Iroko Sealed
Picture from The Wood Database

It is also quite hard on the Janka scale (1,260 lbf) so might be suitable for a future workbench. However it is also very hard on tooling. There can be pockets of calcium carbonate in the wood and this has a blunting effect on tools.

I ordered 9 boards of 10" x 4/4 x 9 1/2 feet (250 x 25 x 2950mm) and 4 boards of 10" x 8/4 x 8 feet (250 x 50 x 2450mm) and they were delivered after a long delay (the supplier was inept and I will think twice about using them again). This is sufficient for all four doors and I have included a 25% to 30% contingency.

I have the boards on the floor of the shop at the moment to let them acclimatize.

4/4 and 8/4 Iroko stock and some premilled WRC T&G 

A few of the milled uprights for the gates made from 8/4 Iroko

Driveway gates - part 1

After making a fine oak gate for the entrance to my house my wife put a request in to have both sets of our driveway gates remade. The existing ones were about 30 years old and 20 years old respectively and had been installed at different times. They were of different design but had functioned well for years.

a

Past their sell by date

Many years of sterling work but they needed replacing

They were made of softwood that had been tanalized so were at the end of their lives. I had noticed an orange fungus had been growing on one set. Also there was a white discolouration appearing at the bottom of the same set. On closer investigation it appeared that the gates were rotting in several places and the fungus had just appeared last year (2015).

The other gates did not have signs of the fungus but had rotted in places.

The time had come to make new replacements.

Western red cedar cladding

I like the western red cedar that I have used in many outdoor projects including cladding parts of my shop so wanted to incorporate it into the gates. It is rot and insect resistant so is great for outside projects. Tongue and grooved WR Cedar will be used for the cladding panels in the gate. WR Cedar is lightweight but not very good for load bearing so I chose iroko for the framework of the gates.

Iroko

For those who don't know about this timber it is a hard wood that comes from tropical parts of Africa and is grown sustainably. It also is very similar to teak (and also WR cedar) in that it doesn't need any treatment outdoors. It has a natural oil which makes it rot proof and insect resistant. As I don't like the maintenance chore of constantly painting outside items this is ideal for me.
Iroko starts out quite yellow but overtime darkens to a rich brown colour. This must be similar to how cherry changes colour overtime. The contrasting western red cedar only greys over time. However when it rains it develops a fantastic mid brown colour, The contrast between the timbers will probably stay for a while but I think they will probably develop a grey patina over time.
It is slightly lighter in density than white oak but will be still quite substantial. I'm led to believe that it works well but has quite a blunting effect on tooling. Only time will tell.

Design

As many readers know I use Sketchup extensively in my designs so it is no different here.

I measured the original doors as they have proven to work well for us. One set it slightly wider but much taller than the others. I designed that set first.

Stiles

The finished sizes of the stiles are 100mm (4") wide X 45mm (1-3/4") thick.

Cross members and bracing

The cross members and diagonal bracing are made from 25mm (1") thick X 150mm (6") wide stock.
The WR cedar boards are premachined T&G 144mm (5-3/4") wide x 19mm (3/4") thick.

View from outside of largest gate

View from inside of largest gate

Designing the other set was really easy as I simply copied the existing design into a new project. Then I changed the sizes of each component, moving them as necessary, using the push pull tool to shorten their respective lengths. The resulting design for the smaller gates gives the same overall impression.

View from outside of smaller gate

View from inside of smaller gate

Construction

All joints will be mortise and wedged tenon. I will also dowel the joints for extra strength. The adhesive will be epoxy. All fasteners have to be stainless steel or heavily galvanised as both species of timber react with iron in regular mild steel fasteners.

Bosch GSR18V-EC FC2 FlexiClick Drill and 18v 4.0 AH Wireless Battery Review

An essential tool for use in the shop is some sort of drilling device. In the old days a brace or  "egg beater" drill would suffice. Nowadays they have been supplanted by cordless drills. I needed an extra cordless drill for the shop as sometimes you need a few drills setup to do different tasks (drilling, countersinking, screwdriving) so I thought I would have a look at the Bosch range.

I already have several Bosch Blue Professional tools and seem to have bought into the LBoxx systainer storage system. If you are into Festool or Dewalt of course you may have gone down their respective storage routes.

The Bosch Professional 18 volt family is wide ranging, Drywall screwdrivers, impact (percushion) tools, hand held circular saws, jigsaws, impact drivers/wrenches, combination tools and of course handheld drills.

The Bosch GSR18V-EC is part of the Bosch Professional 18V family and has a powerful EC brushless motor. It also has the "FlexiClick" system enabling it to take a range of interchangeable tool holders.

In its basic form it comprises a hex tool holder 

It also comes with a 13mm (1/2") Auto-Lock chuck. No tools are needed for the latter like most drill chucks these days.

The brushless motor gives a long life and low battery drain. The drill was supplied in an L-Boxx 136 with internal moulded dividers.



The drill has the usual controls

• 2 speed Gear control Low/High
• Direction rotation clockwise/anti-clockwise (counter-clockwise US)
• 18 position torque setting
• Battery charge condition
• Bright LED illumination

So nothing new there as most drills today have those features.

Other features

• Tool belt clip. The manual says this can also be used to hang the tool from a ladder - although I haven't yet tried that feature out!
• Replaceable colour clips for easy labelling and identification of the tool - I don't think I will use that feature as I currently only have one of these!
• Mountable bit holder for easy transport and storage of bits on the tool - useful I think.
• Electronic Motor Protection (EMP) protects the motor against overload - a good feature.
• Bosch Electronic Cell Protection (ECP) which protects the battery against overload, overheating and deep discharge - a great feature. 
• Kickback control. When drilling large diameter holes wen you emerge on the other side of might hit an embedded nail this will prevent the drill from snatching from your hands and kicking back. I think this is a great safety feature that I've not seen on other cordless drills.
• Very compact head length (173mm or 6-7/8" long) but still retains high power - it is surprising how short the tool actually can be with immense power reserves.

Battery packs

There is a large range of Lithium Ion batteries are available, wired and wireless so you can choose the best one for your needs.
There wasn't a battery supplied in this kit and there is a wide range to suit all tastes.

I decided to buy the wireless charger and the new 4.0AH CoolPack wireless battery. This is promoted by Bosch as being the "Worlds first wireless charging battery". I think they left out "system on a power tool" on their promotion material. Now I'm not sure of that claim as I've been using a wireless charging (Braun Oral B) toothbrush for years now and some mobile phones can also be charged wirelessly! I think it is a matter of time before all major manufacturers give the option of wireless charging. At the time of this writing this blog (May 2017) neither Festool, Makita, Milwaukee, Portacable nor Dewalt have a wireless charging option. I haven't checked any other brands yet.

The battery also has a bush button "charge left" indicator. This is 3 LEDs that light up according to how much charge is left. This can be seen on the phot above just below the BOSCH logo and lettering.

The battery itself is an induction charged device and simply is placed atop the induction charger GAL 1830 which I also bought. The battery can still be mounted on the tool so simply placing the drill on to the charger works well. The battery slides into place onto the toolwith a satisfying click. I placed the whole drill on charge for about 45 minutes before using it the first time.

Accessories

There are a range of attachments that you can purchase separately.

• Right angle drill adapter
• SDS rotary hammer adapter
• Offset drilling adapter

From the 3 extra accessories I can see the offset drilling adapter to be very useful especially when fitting drawer slides. This adapter enables drilling very close to internal edges and walls. That might be a future purchase for TMc Woodworks.

The right angle adapter enables drilling at 90 degrees to the axis of the drill motor. Again great for drilling/screwing in confined spaces.

I can't really think that the SDS adapter would be any use for me as I already have a corded SDS drill. I suppose if you are up a ladder trying to drill holes in brickwork then it may be ideal for you. It will drill deep holes up to 10mm (3/8") diameter into concrete.

In use

I have had this a short time now and find that it is very comfortable to use, relatively lightweight, has masses of power and torque. It is far better than any of the battery drills I've used or still own. Drilling large holes in wood does not faze this drill. A comparison to my older drills is that the Makita would definitely bog down when drilling larger holes. The Bosch on the other hand just carries on with no changing in motor pitch.

The adjustable torque control is excellent. I've found when drilling through 3/8" holes in wood results in a relatively clean exit hole (without any backing). Of course my drills are all newly sharpened and the torque control was set to 6. When the bit broke through the clutch slipped and I found the bit hadn't gone fully through. Another slight squeeze of the trigger resulted in the bit slowly exiting the hole and very little fibre tearing. Obviously if drilling holes in furniture always have a backing board to ensure a clean exit hole.

The gearing is very smooth and the change from low speed to high speed is via a sliding switch. The drill did need to be stationary when changing gear.

Charging was a revelation. The charger can be remove from its carrier and placed on a bench, inset into a bench, works through thin acrylic or glass (so could be built into bench or charging station, doesn't get warm and is quick charging.
I don't think I'll go back to conventional chargers after trying this one out.

The LED light stays on for a few seconds after letting go of the trigger and is angled to illuminate the drill bit. Nothing different there from most other modern battery drills.

The belt clip would hold onto my belt but I don't think I would make much use of it.

The downside
I also found that fitting the bit holder to handle stopped the drill from sitting properly into the L-Boxx systainer. I removed the bit holder.

Colour coding the back of the drill is possible with the supplied plastic inserts but I found that pointless. If I had about 4 of these drills it might make more sense but I still don't think I would use colour coding.

Changing the chuck for other tools is very easy and quick. The drill body can be used on its own with screwdriver bits. There is a positive locking 1/4" holder built in.

Conclusion

There is nothing unusual in the operation of this drill as it is just that - a drill. However the addition of the optional attachments make it an attractive offering.
The main reason for buying this was to try out the wireless charging battery. It is excellent and make the drill a worthwhile investment. There are currently high capacity versions of the battery available (up to 6Ah) and Bosch is expanding the range of tools that can use the wireless batteries.
If you still have a conventional contact charged battery in a recent Bosch blue tool then you can change over to wireless as they are compatible. Check out the Bosch website to ensure beforehand though.

The rising price of old woodworking tools

I get occasional emails in my inbox from online dealers of second hand or pre-owned tools. I'm mainly interested in woodworking tools but these dealers also have tools from other crafts.
A couple of years ago (2015) the price of these were acceptable but due to the popularity driven by woodworkers to get hold of, for instance, old Stanley or Record hand tools the prices in the UK in 2017 are rocketing. A real case of  supply  and demand dictating the prices.
Now some of the lesser used tools are at the point of being the same or more than their modern day brand new premium tools like Lie Nielsen or Veritas (assuming that LN and LV are producing their version of those models). I recognise that dealers still have overheads to run their websites, have warehousing costs, wages to pay etc so they do have a mark up.

I have a fair selection of tools, old and modern (bought in the "golden age" of buying a few short years back) so I no longer have the need to collect. However if I was in the market for a speciality plane like a #95 Edge Plane (not that I am BTW ) I think I would buy a new Lie Nielsen one rather than spend more on a vintage Stanley. I don't think I would use the Stanley, instead treating it with reverence and it would end up in a display cabinet. Of course if that is what you want to do then go ahead. I like to use tools for what they were designed for - work.

That's not to say there are no bargains left to pick up. There are other websites where individuals can still sell their grandfathers rusting #4s and old chisels for a few bucks. Craigslist and Preloved both spring to mind. eBay of course can be a nightmare as you have to bid against somebody else (unless it has a fixed Buy It Now price) and may end up paying more than you should.

So if you are in the market for relatively cheap pre-owned tools best to scour sites like the latter mentioned, yard sales or flea markets rather than going to a dealer.