Other Sites 
spokeshave Archives - Paul Sellers | Paul Sellers

Paul Sellers

Lifestyle woodworker

Navigation Menu

Machines don’t quite slice it

Machines don’t quite slice it

Posted by on 27 Jul 2012 in Paul Sellers' Blog | 4 comments

Someone asked me the question why use a chisel followed by a spokeshave to shape and shave wood when the bandsaw is so efficient? I am asked questions like this all the time and some times I want to, well,  just walk away from the question and the questioner because I think that they most likely will not be open to my reasons as they have a made up mind that machines are exactly what's needed for the task. How do you explain that you are not in the same hurry mode they are to get the job done? Or Read More

Knives are shaped for purpose

Knives are shaped for purpose

Posted by on 29 Jun 2012 in Paul Sellers' Blog | 2 comments

I often make the mistake of saying that 'this' or 'that' is the best 'this' or 'that' and that one 'that' is better than two 'thisses' and so on. The knife I posted on earlier is a case in question. I have a collection of knives I consider my favourites. Most of them I made because I wanted particular steel or a certain shape or size. It takes me about an hour to make a knife from raw stock and rolled steel. The shapes fit my hands differently and the curves in the blades carve my work. Many of Read More

Myths and mysteries revisited

Posted by on 30 May 2012 in Paul Sellers' Blog | 2 comments

Some time ago I decided to go against my better judgment and counter some of the status quo currency by which people create an impressive and imposing posture. That’s not an altogether a wise thing to do and the giants in the world of woodworking are no different than in any other business in that they all have their false gurus (self-professed or otherwise) to try to present fashion and the essentiality of owning information others want and feeding tiny portions of it so that people keep coming Read More

Bluesky cafe

Bluesky cafe

Posted by on 11 May 2012 in Paul Sellers' Blog | 2 comments

When I really need to focus and concentrate my writing efforts I do it in cafes best. Distractions somehow seem immaterial and of course once you have eaten and drunk a cup of tea you are ready to work. Tuning out sounds is an amazing capacity we all have. Sitting in a crowd, you can tune in and out of conversations and focus or not. That's ow it is when you work in a workshop and you are listening to the saw or the planer the spokeshave and scraper. Sound is as critical as sight when you work Read More

Re-education at Penrhyn

Re-education at Penrhyn

Posted by on 10 May 2012 in Paul Sellers' Blog | 0 comments

A handful of seven-year-olds tumbled into the New Legacy workshop with their teachers and so I made them how to make a wooden spatula and wrote their names on a stick of wood. During their visit to Penrhyn Castle, the children visit the Victorian schoolroom, to learn about school life in the era of the Victorian. With a saw cut between each name on the wooden stick, I took my Sorby plane, set it thick, and whisked off a quick stroke. Of course the children had never seen such a special tool Read More