I take old things made by artisans in past times and see things we never do now in our more advanced society and with more advanced equipment, machinery, guides and such. And people actually believe society to be more advanced, you know, but the ordinary of past made things pop out all the time to…
The first workbench I ever made was back in 1967. Aproned benches were the commonest of workbenches for a variety of reasons, not the least of which were simplicity, stability, strength and functionality. In a good day’s work, two or three for some, you have a quick-release (QR) vise installed in your just-finished workbench and…
Sharpening narrow cutting irons often tilt to surprisingly odd angles no matter how experienced you are at sharpening. It takes more than just countering the tilt to get the ends even close to never mind dead-on square. What’s really needed is a guide for the abrasive to give rigidity to the task. I designed this…
Last night at around seven I finished the very last tweaking of the second bedside cabinet. It was the furniture wax on the drawer sides and the gentle push with my fingertips that gave me the inner satisfaction that only comes in three words: “It is finished!” I can’t really explain the feeling of contentment…
Thank you for your support in buying my router plane. The income from the plane sales supports many aspects of my work and then my ‘other‘ work beyond. I wish I had had it for my book back in 2015 and before but, hey! We are where we are. I remember arriving in the USA…
It is hard to explain sharpness. Pick up a neighbour’s kitchen knives to cut with and nine times out of ten you will struggle to slice into butter even if you heat the blade. For the longest time it was the same with woodworker’s hand tools and especially in the so-called professional realms. Just when…
It’s been a year and a half since my year-long burden drove me to make the prototype hand router plane, the one I drafted and crafted over and over in my head. The first iteration came from a two-by-four spruce construction stud. I tried different bed angles for the cutting iron and ended up where…
As I closed the week last night, swept the floor cleared off the bench and put the tools in their places, the overwhelming feeling was the thankfulness for my work. Talking to my friend, Eddie, as we drank our coffee in the cafe this morning, I said my craft isn’t like most people’s daily work….
In my recent faux pas screwing a dovetail together on a Facebook post my goal was to prove a variety of things we woodworkers supposedly ‘know‘. What was greatly evident, and I knew this to be so, was how judgemental humanity tends to be and worse still just how self-righteousness manifests itself in the criticism…
Recovery The opening days of my woodworking School and School Woodworking Part II How it all began The lathe whirred and the wood wafted the surface dust from the lathe bed upwards in billowing, spinning powdered waste like the sand rolling ahead of a Texas desert breeze. The quietness of the motor surprised me as…