We don't do many reviews. That's because I'm human and that makes me biased. But sometimes, something comes along that's quite special, it's then that I find it hard to shut up. I discovered this hand plane when looking at commercially made frame saw blades for some...
Today I want to talk about basic hand tools, which are new, cheap and practical. There's been a huge interest in the second hand tool market in recent years. Second hand prices are variable, but on the whole they're popular because they're cheap. Cheap is an awful...
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65sVCcvewB0] Which Hand Plane Should I Buy First? That's a question I get asked a lot. If you're getting in to woodworking by hand then I can't recommend the No 5, or equivalent jack plane length of plane...
Advice on buying hand tools is always an interesting and provocative subject that has the ability to either enlighten or confuse those new to woodworking. On the surface there are many contradictory approaches to planning your first tool kit, dig a little deeper and...
All I'm missing now are a few chisels, apparently. I had expected Richard to find me a little saw, and perhaps a plane to show willing. But between conversations at Mr Arnold's recent charity sale, he filtered through boxes and tables and kept adding to his stash. By...
Today I wanted to give a big hat's off to our modern tool makers. They come in all shapes and sizes and whilst they're products are highly respected and admired there's a lot more good they do besides which can easily be over looked. We're all used to living in a...
This years European Woodworking Show (a couple of weeks back) was definitely the busiest one yet. Saturday in particular was heaving which was fantastic to see and great for all, but you can trust me to still have a moan because it meant I didn't find much time to...
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It’s a question that we’re asked weekly, and whilst I’m often babbling on about specific tools, I wanted to use this post to bring together a list of the essential stuff that will get a beginner going. You probably know that I like to use minimal tools throughout my...
I'm the most untraditional woodworker who came to traditional woodworking. I just can't stand wooden mallets. To get any sort of clump from them they have to be massive; these huge cumbersome things. And on top of that, they absorb everything. It doesn't matter how...
I'm always whinging about something. So the thing this blog is good for is that someone always has an answer. And it shuts me straight up. When I was moaning about drill bits in the marking knife post, we got plenty of suggestions for bits that you find overcome my...