You may have noticed that we've been a little quiet on our blog over the past month or so, and this is because we've been spending a lot of time at the barns (no internet). I've been building my own English workbench, and as mentioned earlier, we've been filming along...
I am now fully committed to using a wooden screw in this workbench but oh... the temptation! I had Mr Arnold's beautiful old metal screw looking at me from across the workshop as I started to assemble the bench this morning, so I just had to poke it in! I'm very much...
It's certainly not an essential tool but if you ever come by an expansive auger it's definitely worth grabbing as they're a great get out of shite card in the workshop. I've had this one for years and its come in useful many times when drilling out for something a bit...
Thicknessing with hand planes might seem like a slog. It's certainly physical work, and if there's a lot of boards to thickness, then it could soon become a workout. But with the right technique, planing wood by hand should feel more like a nice brisk walk, than an...
A few weeks ago we had a phone call from our good friend Richard Arnold who had a little something which he wanted to offer to me and was able to come out our way. We don't get out much so we jumped at the chance and planned to meet up with Richard and his wife Kate...
I have the most hectic schedule at the moment, as soon as I finish one job there are at least a dozen waiting to be started. Once I've got Richard organised and given him any hand he might need with the benches there are emails to be sent, materials to order and...
I knocked myself up a couple of saw horses yesterday from some old bits of pine I found laying around in one of the barns. I've already been forgetting to take tools on my travels between the workshops so I didn't want to start carting saw horses around with me as...
As they say, it's not the size of it but how you use it that counts and that comes to mind when thinking of my new workbench, because I've opted to build it 12' long! I knew fairly quickly that I'd build my new workbench in the English style and I'd also been toying...
Today I wanted to give a big hat's off to our modern tool makers. They come in all shapes and sizes and whilst they're products are highly respected and admired there's a lot more good they do besides which can easily be over looked. We're all used to living in a...
You wouldn't think to look at it but my scrub plane is rather posh - it's a Lie Nielsen which I've had from new so to many people (including myself) it may seem a bit extravagant for a roughing tool. Previously I've just converted an old Number 4 to serve this job and...
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Good chairs stay together forever if the chair maker understands what wood does. They know it will move, and use this to their advantage. Bone dry legs going into a slightly wetter seat. The seat drys over time, the legs take on a tad of moisture and everything stays...
... and why you need one. Most of you will know that the vast majority of my tools are what I would call good quality 'workman like' tools. I have a few modern posh things, but they're not in daily use. It's nothing against them, but my old friends are like comfy old...
I've said it many times (though I'm sure I'm on the wrong page). I believe that hand tools are the most efficient set up for the individual maker. And not just the hobbiest. If you're building one-off pieces for clients then hand tools are still where it's at. Most...