You may have noticed a slight decline in the number of our blog post over the last couple of weeks. Don’t worry, we will be back up to form very shortly but for now we’ve just had to get our heads down and get on. We’ve been incredibly busy with a variety of things...
We're fortunate enough to have our workbenches represented in Italy by a great chap called Gianni. Gianni loves anything to do with wood and is involved in several companies, working hard to promote the use of wood as a material and raise awareness to prevent...
This morning Richard wanted to explain to me his techniques for hand planing - something he is wanting to get across clearly for a video we’re working on this weekend. I thought the best way to test his explanations was to try it out. It looks so easy when he does it...
When I started out building workbenches I didn’t have any plan or know if they could be sold. My workshop could hardly be called more than a shed in the garden and was severely under equipment for such hefty work but no one could tell me it wouldn’t work. I was...
With leg vices back in popular use there’s a lot of desire to go pin-less. If you’re sticking to the good old fashioned parallel guide and pin though then we say it should be done in style! For our Little John Workbenches we’ve had these tactile pins forged to fit...
After a couple of coats of tung oil and some clear beeswax here are the finished photos of the music stand as promised. If you haven’t read Richard’s first post on the stand then you can take a look here. I can always tell when Richard’s enjoying himself because he...
I’ve been working on an unusual commission this weekend; a music stand for the local Silver Band. It’s so dainty and light weight compared to building a workbench yet there were some important considerations when it came to strength especially since this was to be...
So far this year seems to be the year of customized workbenches. Looking through the schedule there’s an unusual balance of very unique builds compared the number of standard models and some of them are very unique indeed. Taking on one-off work is very exciting; it...
I always find it interesting talking to people about their woodwork and getting an understanding of what it means to them. There’s definitely a sense that woodworkers are an enthusiastic bunch that do it because they really do love it. I’ve also noted a recurring...
I recently wrote about the daunting world of buying hardwoods and in that post I made a point of focusing on what your requirements might be. Today I’d like to start on the subject of pricing and I’m going to keep it concise because there’s just one useful equation...
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A Glue That Slides I get asked a fair old bit, why do you use liquid hide glue? People often follow up; so that it doesn't feel like their asking a daft question, by answering it themselves. Normally the most obvious answer is "so it'll be easy to restore later on"....
Flattening Boards By Hand When prepping everything by hand, the start of a project can seem like a bit of a workout. I usually break up the task by planing up what I need as and when I need it, rather than all at once. The real key though is to make sure you're not...
This week we've finally come to the end of a back-log of work that I should never have taken on. Don’t worry, I'll have a jolly good moan about all that soon. Working on our barns is a bit like one of those games, where you have to slide a piece out of position, to...