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Woodworking Techniques

The techniques I use to make woodworking by hand efficient and fun.

Ever Considered A Hollow Chisel Morticer?

May 25, 2018 By Richard Maguire 27 Comments

Wadkin Morticer

As noises go, there's nothing much worse than banging. About the only thing that's completed in my life at the moment is my workshop door. I spent far too much money to get it right. We focused on the acoustics to keep out the noisy world when filming, and put in some beautiful reflective glass … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Hand Tool Approach, Woodworking Joints

Iron Cambers – Optimising Your Hand Planes

May 11, 2018 By Richard Maguire 15 Comments

hand plane iron cambers

To become efficient in anything I find it's much better to specialise rather than use one size fits all. So how can a minimal hand tool kit become anything other than a set up for getting you started? The answer is in understanding your cutting edge. We can use various cutting angles and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Hand Planing, Sharpening

Saw Horses – Do You Need A Set?

May 4, 2018 By Richard Maguire 24 Comments

wooden saw horses

Saw horses are a clat to get out and I'll only use them if I have to (perhaps I'm lazy). But of course they are extremely useful, and it’s nice to know there’s a couple stashed away ready to grab if needed. Whether you need something cheap and nasty, or a sturdy work of art will depend on how … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Make Your Own Tools, Sawing

Removing Twist, Or Creating It?

March 15, 2018 By Richard Maguire 17 Comments

Sighting to remove twist by hand

Teaching and woodworking are two very separate skills. That's something I realised when we started making our videos. The big difference is, you can't work on auto pilot while you demonstrate. Everything has to be deliberate, almost exaggerated so it can be replicated by those … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Hand Planing, Woodworking Techniques

Glue Ups & Grain Direction

February 7, 2018 By Richard Maguire 12 Comments

gluing top without alternating growth rings

Gluing up can be a frantic time. And if you're like me, it'll be messy too. But how much should we be planning ahead, before we get it all stuck together? When we glued up the top for our Hall Table build, we received a few questions on this topic. They were good queries, pondering over … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Timber, Tips, Woodworking Techniques

Drill Bits For Hand Drills

January 22, 2018 By Richard Maguire 33 Comments

best drill bits for hand drills

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 problem. You weren't … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Buying Hand Tools, Drilling, Woodworking Hand Tools

Gappy Joints, For Speed & Strength

January 12, 2018 By Richard Maguire 33 Comments

Good chairs stay together forever if the chair maker understands what wood does. They know it will move, and use this to their advantage. Bone dry legs going into a slightly wetter seat. The seat drys over time, the legs take on a tad of moisture and everything stays tight. A good furniture maker … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Hand Tool Approach, Woodworking Joints

Efficiency In Marking

December 8, 2017 By Richard Maguire 19 Comments

I've said it many times (though I'm sure I'm on the wrong page). I believe that hand tools are the most efficient set up for the individual maker. And not just the hobbiest. If you're building one-off pieces for clients then hand tools are still where it's at. Most that would disagree lack … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Hand Tool Approach, Marking & Measuring

Scruffy Dovetails – Richard Rants (Video)

November 21, 2017 By Richard Maguire 10 Comments

cutting dovetails by hand

  Looking To Cut Fine Dovetails? Choose the best dovetail saw, (with the right TPI, length & quality) Learn what makes a good chisel for dovetailing The above video is a short extract from our Hall Table Build. For the context - read below. I was in the process of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Free Videos, Woodworking Joints

Sharpening Narrow Chisels (the Problem & Solution)

November 17, 2017 By Richard Maguire 1 Comment

A video version of this post has been added to our sharpening series. All 'Get Sharp' customers can LOGIN to watch now. Or You can Learn More about the Series here. We've all done it. Turned a smashing chisel into a left-handed skew. Getting a 90 degree edge on narrow chisels can be … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Sharpening

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