Cutting With A Clean Edge
Most of us that own woodworking tools have at some time or another bought a carbide bench grinder, while knowing full well that what we should have bought was a wetstone grinder.

Scheppach, who supply professional wetstone systems have released the Tiger 2000s Grinder which is made affordable by having a plastic body instead of a metal one. It is the only difference between this grinder aimed at DIYers, and the professional models. The stone, honing wheels and accessories fit across the range.

It comes with a top-quality grind stone, a leather honing wheel, honing compound, knife jig, a universal jig for plane blades, chisels, etc., and an angle guide. Easy to set up and use, it put a hitherto unheard of edge on all my kitchen knives, which are now razor sharp and straight edged. I also put a new edge on some of my older chisels and found I could restore the fine edge on my woodturning chisels by honing alone. An excellent piece of kit no woodworker should be without.

While I had the DMT450 Woodturning Lathe out (reviewed in PM62) I thought I’d give a Robert Sorby Spindlemaster a try. It didn’t disappoint, producing a whole range of designs on the spindle with just a simple twist of the blade. If you are into spindles, this is an invaluable tool.

Mary Lewis, centre manager here and sometime spoon carver, has been trying out a Flexcut Carvin Jack.
“I have to confess that I was initially sceptical of a ‘complete carving kit in your pocket’ and my first impression of the ‘Carving Jack’ was that it looked uncomfortable to hold for any period of time. I was pleasantly surprised, however, and I was impressed at its usability. I mostly carve spoons and both the hook knife and gouge scorp were nice little tools with a very sharp edge. I was less comfortable with the detail knife, which can be used as a whittling knife, but I think that is because I am very attached to my old trusty knife. The other tools were easy and satisfying to use. If, like me, you are a campfire whittler, this is a very handy knife to have in your pocket and will help to while away many a peaceful hour. Take heed of the safety instructions however, these knives really are very sharp”.

Meanwhile I was having a look at the Flexcut 21-Piece Carving Set. A complete carving set all in one box, it has everything you need for palm and knife carving. The SlipStrop and Gold compound will keep them all sharp and it comes with an instructional DVD. The chisel blades can also be used in a reciprocating power carver. An amazingly comprehensive set for any woodcarver.

Cheaper By The Meter
Back in PM51 I reviewed the Owl Monitor. I still have it, and it has proved to be the best energy saving device I have tried. In the meantime, energy monitors have evolved and Owl have responded by updating their product with the addition of a memory function. So now it displays (current and historical): electricity (kW), greenhouse gas (CO2), cost (£/$), plus the current time, date and temperature. I still love it and it is my first glance guide to my household energy consumption.

However, when I read that Google had brought out a PowerMeter so that electricity usage could be monitored online I was intrigued to give it go. To make it work you need to buy AlertMe which wirelessly monitors the electricity being drawn through your meter in the same way as the Owl does, but instead of displaying the data it sends it to the internet via an ethernet connected hub. This is then displayed as a real time and historical display of electricity usage in graphical form on your iGoogle home page. It shows peaks in usage and baseline (always on constant loads), kW used and approx cost per annum. It also displays trends, the relationship between current usage and the expected usage based on past data. The data can also be downloaded as a spreadsheet if you need it for further analysis. Logging into your AlertMe account (£2.99 per month) shows you the information in a pure data log form.

What has it done for me? Well, its certainly added a lot to my knowledge of how and when power is used. It is amazing the things you notice like the increase in usage during the cold weather despite the fact the house is heated by gas. This was caused by a change in habits as a reaction to the weather; more hot drinks, toast, roast dinners, etc, plus lots of extra washing, drying and ironing as the back-log got cleared by the stir-crazy wife.

The great thing about this system over other monitors is that you don’t have to get up at 3 a.m. to see what your base load is, and it is easier to pin down appliances to power events. I think it is a really useful tool, but whether I renew my subscription next year or not, we will have to wait and see.

Another bit of metering I have tried is the Efergy Shower Timer, which once calibrated sounds an alarm when the set amount of water has been used. A great idea which in theory should save both water and the energy used to heat it – my only problem was persuading the family to use it. It has, however, raised awareness and caused some discussion so it is probably well worth the modest investment.

Brilliant Ideas
One thing monitoring my electrical usage showed me, was that the kitchen lights were rarely off and used a significant amount of power. So I have changed them to two banks of lights. The main lights now use less than half the old ones did, but don’t provide work light. The working lights are low voltage spots over the work surfaces and under the cupboards, wired to a Bye Bye Standby Plug Module and triggered wirelessly by a Bye Bye Standby Motion Sensor on the wall. Now we have more light than before for food prep and cooking, but only while it’s being done; walk away and the lights go out. Brilliant.

Another brilliant idea is the Power Plus Firefly Dynamo Light. This compact light has 19 LEDs and recharges by hand cranked dynamo or any powered USB socket. It has four modes, low, high, red, and red flash. It will stand on its side, can be hung by the hook on the folding D handle, carried as a torch or attached to a flat metal surface by the magnets on the back. Fully charged it will provide hours of light. It’s compact, versatile and has a very good light output.

John Adams

These product reviews are also posted on the PM Reviews blog

This review first appeared in Permaculture Magazine No63