If you want some good news then just scroll to the bottom…The last few lines or so.If you want a jolly good moan, then read on.There's that old saying about knowledge being power, or the force is strong with you, or something along those lines. That doesn't really work now. With the … [Read more...]
To Trust Or Reinforce?
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 jointing long boards, such as … [Read more...]
Whining Is A Habit
Dear Helen,I know I'm difficult to work with, and my idea of business is not that of the rest of the world. But if you could listen I'd be most grateful.This evening I watched a car park pretty much on top of a restaurant, so they didn't have to walk far. A lady got out first, a little plump … [Read more...]
Designing To Learn
Cutting joint after joint isn't the best way to learn.At least not in my opinion. After a lovely sunny, Sunday afternoon, all you've got to show is twenty-odd, randomly dovetailed corners. Some neat, some shite, some alright.You'll sit and think about these twenty-odd dovetailed corners, and … [Read more...]
Moving Workshop, Again
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 move another one round, and … [Read more...]
Getting Focused
We're getting a lot of questions about what's coming when, so here's how it's looking:- Next Premium Video - Pre-launching Next Week - The Hand Plane Build - Coming Next Month - Mystery Project - End Of The Year (hopefully) - Book(s) - Completed Next Year (possibly!) Building Your Own Hand … [Read more...]
Good Cause, Good Company
Next weekend (4th & 5th June) is an opportunity to visit a small and rather special show for those interested in hand tool woodworking.It's held in Market Harborough, UK, at the workshop of traditional joiner Richard Arnold. This is the third year that Richard has been so generous with his … [Read more...]
Why Make Your Own Paint?
I enjoy making paint. It's messy and childlike, and can also seem like alchemy. I don't make it a strict or scientific affair, it's more a case of going by feel, the kind of approach I expect an experienced baker takes with a batch of cookies or wholesome loaf of bread.But why would you bother … [Read more...]
Sunday And We’re Back
The day is Sunday, at least it is as I write this. The sun is also really shining. It’s also my first day off in quite some time.I’m sat with my notebook on a bit of beach that may as well be Mars. I come here quite regularly to write, think, sing? And in the countless hours I’ve spent here I … [Read more...]
Making A Start
The start of this week saw the start of our English Workbench Series, and after the weekend we'll be moving on to getting the trestles joined.It's been a busy time for us here as Richard completes his final Maguire Workbench and I've been finishing the edits for our latest video series; deciding … [Read more...]