The techniques I use to make woodworking by hand efficient and fun.
Marking tools are rarely given all that much attention, and they're clearly not as exciting as the tools that get to see all of the action. But they are vital to our work and being able to use them quickly and accurately still requires good technique. When...
I don't use screws often in furniture making but when I started building lots of benches I found myself in need of a good cordless drill for all of the vice fitting and particularly around the tool wells of the Little John's. I also needed something with plenty of...
Yesterday I made my first hand cut dovetails. I've watched Richard cut dovetail joints over and over, and I've practiced cutting to my saw lines over even more. But I knew if I was left on my own, with just a few pointers, then I would still be about to make a mess of...
We all need sharp tools. Sharpening is an odd subject because if you can't do it, it seems mysterious. And if you can do it, some become so loyal to their method that they would fight to the death to defend it. Often trying no other method As you may know I have my...
My favourite plane until now has been a very cute and tiny wooden smoother. It was small enough for me to manage the restoration, nice in the hand and just sweet. Time seems to get the better of me so I'm still very much at that stage of enjoying making shavings...
I like using animal glue. It's perfect for the job but I have to admit can be a little faffy having to do all the alchemy thing. I've given the liquid hide glues a go, but even these, at least in my workshop need heating, taking almost as long as the pearls at bad...
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmDVa5cxq8w] This is the last (for now) of three videos about cap irons / chip breakers. If you haven't seen the others then you can find them here: Cap Irons & Tear Out Preparing The Cap Iron / Chip Breaker I find a...
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVfJxDFNinc] Following from the last video, we're looking at setting up a cap iron. This one's in two parts and the second video can be found here.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bhh6kxXZOQ] Stubborn tear out can be a huge frustration. Particularly when you're just getting everything smoothed off and it shows it's ugly face. I'm not one for faffing about with my tools, and whilst I expect my...
Small Planes Are The Best For Smoothing When writing these articles I hope to provide an insight in to my ways of working. This is never to dictate, and if you read it as though what I do is the right, or the only way to go about things then you could end up...
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I don't hate much, but I do hate a scruffy looking pegged joint. You know, when the peg doesn't fill the hole. When you've only got the show face to get tidy, it isn't too troublesome, particularly if you follow a few procedures. Where things start to get a bit...
Fast, Efficient Sharpening. At the Best Price! You’ll find that the cost of your sharpening stones scales with the cost of your tools. More expensive stones won't mean they're better for the job if they're incompatible with the type of steel that you're using. If...
As noises go, there's nothing much worse than banging. About the only thing that's completed in my life at the moment is my workshop door. I spent far too much money to get it right. We focused on the acoustics to keep out the noisy world when filming, and put in some...
