How I started the UK school This is my second school to start from scratch. I would that I could say I launched New Legacy from the freedom of excess money, you know, disposable income and such. I remember clearly the cold snowy January I chose to make my benches with…
There are two types of shine I know. One is the shine of newness, the other the shine of oldness. The new shine is unproved in use; I hesitate to pick it up and bring it to task. The other, the old, has the shine of constant usage, it’s a picture of a master’s care:…
Some of you will come to the longer month long summer course we offer next July so I thought I would post a few pictures to show you where we are. The region is a state of outstanding beauty, a title bestowed by the European Union, and has many wonderful things to enjoy outside of class workshop…
Magazine mis-informants Well, here is another misinformed misinformant. What I am concerned about is that what is discussed here becomes accepted fact. In this article the writer gives the impression that it was a cabinetmaker’s practice to use saw kerfs to relieve the bow in thick tabletops. Whereas it can be done, there are…
I have given some thought to ads in mags. Think of magazines as a central hub around which a community of woodworking enthusiasts thrives alongside those who engineer their perceived needs. Of course, alongside legitimate spheres will be a sort of parasitic community of little substance wanting a piece of the pie, but these are spring-loaded…
I walked through the woodlands and grounds to Penrhyn Castle workshop this morning. Mist from the sea rolled in with the tide and soon the mottled sky of blue and cloud disappeared. Dew clung to the leaves as I walked until I entered the woodland where it was quite dry and warm. Robins (not US…
I actually find adverts quite helpful and informative but that’s more occasionally than every time I pick up a magazine. I do like to see new product lines and see which lines stay the course. The problem is that the mags are often monopolised by the big boys and create an imbalance in that they often dominate certain…
OK. Here I go again! Here is what we are actually admiring. This Stanley 5061 gauge is the best commercial-grade mass-made gauge that ever entered the woodworking market and if you can’t find one then make yours according to the patterns I gave in the previous blogs. You won’t regret it. Here…
Ok.Now that you have altered the pin direction you should reshape the stock of the gauge, an irreversible step. The shape is not really so much symmetrical as simply rounding. The shape is optional but here are my steps, I used a 1″ chisel and a coping saw for initial shape cutting followed by…
What kind of plane creates this? It was advertised on eBay last week as a toothing plane, which any woodworker worth half his or her salt will know that it’s not. These planes were fairly common in joiner’s tool boxes at one time , but as their use became redundant, they gradually disappeared from most woodworker’s tool…