As I mentioned last week this lathe is very quick to build, don't make it anything other. I've stripped it back to nothing but the essentials and then used screws to fix it all together. The design could be improved to make it more attractive, or maybe a bit more user friendly, but I have decided to … [Read more...]
Cap Irons & Tear Out – VIDEO
Stubborn tear out can be a huge frustration. Particularly when you're just getting everything smoothed off and it shows it's ugly face.I'm not one for faffing about with my tools, and whilst I expect my hand planes to give a perfect result, most of them look dog rough.But getting to know … [Read more...]
Bench Top Wood Lathe
I recently knocked up a couple more commodes and have now turned my attention to the second of the Stooges - The Moravian Back Stool. I'm very fond of this design and whilst the commode was all square this one's all angles and I'm starting out by tooling up. A lathe can be a useful tool for the … [Read more...]
Why Small & Sweet
Small Planes Are The Best For Smoothing When writing these articles I hope to provide an insight in to my ways of working. This is never to dictate, and if you read it as though what I do is the right, or the only way to go about things then you could end up confused. But through reading … [Read more...]
Smoothing Plane – Buying A Dedicated Plane
In one of the recent videos I was whining on about the jack plane, and how feel that the No 5 is the best all round, multi use bench plane. In another video I've also mentioned my love for a nice small smoothing plane, so I thought it'd be worth going through some of my reasons. Setting Up With … [Read more...]
Choosing Your First Hand Plane
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 enough. It's the most versatile plane and can cover all of your needs of a bench … [Read more...]
Hand Plane Guide – With VIDEO
In this video I take a look at the different types of bench planes, and discuss options such as whether to have wooden or metal hand planes, which lengths of plane I prefer for different tasks, and generally have a good rant on the subject. Choosing & Using Bench Planes. Bench planes … [Read more...]
Mallet Rant – VIDEO
Here's video blog number one. I'm starting out with a quick rant about 'lumpy' my mallet since this was one of our most repeated comments from the previous videos. Put an end to tear out - Watch This Video Next … [Read more...]
More On Buying Hand Tools
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 this becomes tenfold. Ultimately … [Read more...]
Smoother Restoration
Wooden planes can be quick and easy to restore compared with metal ones, as material can be removed quickly with sand paper and chisels, unlike the relatively slow material removal when working with metal. By the same nature though, wooden hand planes can often be extremely worn and warped, which … [Read more...]