Busy start with a full foundational class at the Penrhyn workshops today. Full of aspiration, this class was made to succeed even on the first day and that’s how it felt to me. One thing that differs between the US workshops and the UK is that in the US, most of the students have a…
I was glad for today. A few of us got together to work with wood and I finished off a few small projects before getting ready for the class tomorrow. I made a chisel box for my bench well. Two inches deep so that it sits below the benchtops. I love the new Sorby chisels…
To form the roundovers With all of the joinery completed, I now focus on design concepts I want to soften the hard corners with a bullnose edge to the top and bottom pieces of the clock. I also want to introduce a method that slims down the appearance of the sides and rails because think…
I have relied on a Stanley #4 1/2 smoothing plane for forty years plus. Next to the #4, this plane sits squarely in my tool chests where ever I go and work. I need them both, but can manage adequately with either one. I like the light, versatile weight of both, but choose the lighter-weight…
This week I have two workshops as well as a few people finishing off their rocking chairs. It’s wonderful being there and seeing the work come together at the different levels. It’s a small group of seven woodworkers that find excitement at the cutting edge of a plane and a chisel. A saw that didn’t…
The crossrails are now fitted within the side walls and its best to establish the shoulder lines for the stub tenons whilst the clock is assembled. The distance between the side pieces determines the shoulder lines of the tenons and so we must subsequently add a further 5/8” to the overall length. Making this second…
Sorby chisels cover the spectrum I think many people feel the same way I do and that is that plastic handled chisels work well and will equal the performance of some of the most expensive chisels produced. I try to present tools of value that are suited to task first, affordable and comfortable to use….
The next part in the process is to form the grooves in the two cross rails. These rails receive the raised panel and line up with the grooves in the side pieces. The grooves therefore remain 3/8’ wide and are cut to the same 5/16” depth. These grooves are situated exactly in the centre of…
This seemed interesting to me. I thought it might help others to know what actually happens in this important aspect of chair making. Some time back, around June this year I think, I read in an issue of Fine Woodworking where a person wrote to FW for an answer on an aspect of chairmaking. The…
In a couple of weeks the Online Broadcast we started will come to an end and the next projects will take us into the new year. You can of course still sign up for the series on the wall clock and the methods and techniques will give a solid beginning for hand tool instruction. Over…
