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Paul Sellers

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Month-long update

Month-long update

Posted by on 26 Jul 2012 in Paul Sellers' Blog | 1 comment

It can be a challenge for such high standards to be accomplished in so short a time using my minimalist methods and measures, but the results prove the efficacy of my endeavour to reestablish real woodworking in the lives of those who seriously seek to become true craftsmen and women and not mere machinists. As you now know, it takes only a working knowledge of safety issues to use a machine, and the reason is that they ARE absolutely extremely dangerous and that they never enhance skill but always Read More

Mid-weight mortising chisels

Mid-weight mortising chisels

Posted by on 6 Jul 2012 in Paul Sellers' Blog | 1 comment

Mid-weight mortise chisels stand fairly and squarely between the massive heavy weights and the bevel edged chisels I have been using in the videos. There are many makers, from Lie Nielsen to Narex and Crown to Sorby, in my experience there is minimal difference between them. Some are well finished and some more crudely made. Chopping a mortise relies on neither feature, but there are features characteristic to a good working mortise chisel that set them apart for mortising holes and the reason they Read More

Chopping mortises – bevel-edged or mortise chisels (video)

Chopping mortises – bevel-edged or mortise chisels (video)

Posted by on 5 Jul 2012 in Paul Sellers' Blog | 6 comments

Chopping the mortise--Bevel edged or traditional mortise chisel I recently saw a Youtube video put together by Lie Nielsen where it shows a mortise being cut behind glass; the idea was to show the progression of the traditional method using a traditional 'pig-sticker' mortise chisel and I understand it was Roy Underhill who came up with the idea, which was wonderful.     As a boy in school I was shown this method and indeed we were trained that way, but once I left school Read More

Buying locally

Buying locally

Posted by on 26 Jun 2012 in Paul Sellers' Blog | 3 comments

I’ve been making boxes all day today, to stock up for customers coming through the workshop. But I also went to buy some wood from my local wood supplier, Richard Williams, about 20 minutes from my town here in Bangor. I have to give this company credit. They have a great staff, very helpful and uncomplaining, but just as important, they have the best European redwood around, which is what I went for. I have a pine bookcase to make as a prototype for a series to be built for a shop. I plan and Read More

Here is an interesting thing

Here is an interesting thing

Posted by on 26 Jun 2012 in Paul Sellers' Blog | 1 comment

This section of European redwood pine shows 135 years of growth rings. It measures 3/4" thick and the growth distance is 4". I am using it on a Shaker candle box I was making yesterday. Each time I looked at it my mind told me that some time in the past I had laminated to separate pieces together at 45-degress, but of course I hadn’t and no one else had either. I allow periodic interruptions by such things as this. It’s hard to imagine in other woods that have almost constant growth with minor Read More