As we’re always writing about workbenches we thought it’d be a good change to take a look at a piece of furniture. I’m just working on the design of a small cupboard that Richard will be building shortly and it seems like a nice little piece to go through with you in some detail. Like much of our … [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...]
Richards Castle Bench
Now and again Richard likes to build a bench that is a little different to what he’s done before to keep himself challenged (like it isn’t difficult enough!) On his current build the motto has been ‘bigger is definitely better!’ Since all of the benches that we build are pretty robust in size this … [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...]
Wadkin Machinery – A Past Life.
Our line shaft machinery was originally built and purchased in around the 1900's and the fantastic thing for us is that it was used by the same business right through its life up until 1993 when they finally closed their doors. When we purchased the machines we weren't all that clear on what kind of … [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...]
Peter Sefton Open Day
We’d been invited on Saturday to take part in the Open Day at Peter Sefton’s Furniture School down near Worcester and we’d just like to thank Peter and his team, students and all of you who came along for a lovely day. Being our first visit to the school we were very impressed by the fabulous … [Read more...]
Cross Cut Clean Up – Part 2
Once we’d made a start at cleaning up the saw we had to bring our attention to the electrics. We knew that they would work as we’d seen the saw running back in Kent but they were very old and we’re not that keen on fires! The bearings inside the motor didn’t appear to be in too bad condition but the … [Read more...]