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...
I often feel like I’m fighting the corner for Hand Tools and yet within my day to day work I have a number of machines that I have to rely upon. The machines are there because the work I do is big and the amount of timber I process is large - hand preparing every...
It’s often said that a woodworker can never have enough clamps but this isn’t something I‘ve really considered to be true (Unless you build workbenches for a living!) . When it comes to buying clamps I could think of a lot more exciting things to be spending my money...
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I've been standing on top of my workbench again. Strangely I'm up there quite a lot. Sometimes I just lay on there... and think. I've been a long time obsessive of Japanese woodworking. I find it truly fascinating and have promised myself if I make it to retirement,...
How confident do you feel trusting glue for edge joints? In traditional woodworking most of the glue bonds we do will have some mechanical strength, and a well cut joint will hold together without any glue at all - it's just there as a bonus. But when we're edge...
A good peg, is a lot more than a roughly ragged out bit of round wood. When you're draw-boring, or just reinforcing a joint, you need a peg that's strong. A good wooden peg should be straight grained, slightly tapered and preferably made up of a series of flats. In...