Before we had the design for the cupboard finished I knew that the timber would have to be oak. It’s my favourite timber to work with so it usually is my first choice and for this piece of furniture it’s certainly in keeping with what was most commonly used in the period. Initially I thought I … [Read more...]
Making the Past our Future
Since completing work on the Wadkin cross cut saw we’re beginning to wonder how we ever got by making workbenches without it. Despite it’s age it’s got to be the most dependable machine that we’ve ever owned and whatever we throw at it gets cut fast, clean and accurately every time. Besides the … [Read more...]
Workbench Designs
A workbench should be heavy, very heavy. So I build a lot of benches with good thick 4” tops and simple but robust bases. Now a days we tend to call this the French bench, mainly due to recent trends in workbench designs. I don’t think the evolution of workbench designs was clear cut or defined … [Read more...]
18th Century Cornice Plane (Video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7qGISLyCDs&feature=youtu.be We had a great time at the recent European Woodworking show and have a few snippets to share with you over the coming weeks. My favourite moment was trying out an antique moulding plane brought along by Richard Arnold. This was my first … [Read more...]
Does it Hold?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qI38vYEYOe0&feature=youtu.be We’ve had a great response with the Pin less leg vice over the past couple of years and customers always seem to be impressed at how simple and powerful it is in use. I also receive a lot of enquiries from people who are rather … [Read more...]
The Leg Vice – Simple & Heavy Duty
Leg Vice (De-)Evolution I’ve spent a lot of time lately developing Crosses and Shafts for a pin less leg vice. So it’s been easy for me to loose sight of just how good the simple original really is. This traditional vice has always been one of my favourite types of face vice. Mainly because no … [Read more...]
Can’t See Straight!
I must have bored over 10,000 perpendicular holes so drilling square is no longer a problem for me but as the ale was tasting good last night I didn’t want to trust my sight this morning when drilling a dozen ¾” holes in a + 5” thick top. We get floods of emails asking about how best to drill holes … [Read more...]
The Oak ‘Artisan’ – Part 5, Nearly There!
The best and most efficient way to mark out mortices for me is to use a story stick. It’s just a simple stick with all of the measurements drawn on to it so I can reference from either the top or bottom of the leg and mark on the appropriate line. I just make a little scratch on the leg and then go … [Read more...]
The Oak ‘Artisan’ – Part 4
Once the top had been glued together and fully cured I removed the clamps and left it one side to allow it to stabilise. I don’t know the exact reason but after such a large glue up the top can be quite unstable for a short length of time so I give five days or so for it to settle, this also lets me … [Read more...]
The Pin Less Leg Vice
In my opinion the leg vice is the finest vice ever invented but I know that many people will disagree with me and much prefer the familiarity of say a good old ‘Record’ type face vice. There are many reasons that I favour the leg vice; it has an excellent capacity, won’t rack and can exert … [Read more...]