That’s what in the USA they call a certain spot on a baseball bat and in the UK a cricket bat when you strike the ball and there is no shock travelling down the handle. It’s the sweet spot if you will. Centre of percussion (COP) is identified on tools too, especially tools like hammers….
Great day all day! We got straight into the essentials of sharpening first. If you don’t master sharpening you don’t want to start woodworking by hand. The most core essential skill to hand tool woodworking is the ability to sharpen tools surgically sharp and to do it quickly and efficiently. Equally so, you must be able…
Tomorrow I will unlock the workshop door to host our three-day Foundational Course Part I. What can that mean? Well, it means that a handfull of people will stand around my workbench at 9am and we will begin a conversation about our favourite subject which is wood, the tools we work it with and working…
Here is the Thos Ibbotson gouge John restored. It’s an old one and well used but it has cobs of good life in it yet. The handle is sound and will last him for a lifetime and that’s the whole point about these articles. Take a little time, develop some restoration savvy and another tool…
Here is John Winter’s completely restored saw project. He has kept the same basic shape for the saw handle, but further refined the grip to fit his own hand. He has completed both saws and sharpened them as rip-cut saws because they have different sized teeth. It’s a good idea because he can use one…
This 1 1/4″ woodworking gouge has an out canal and is used for carving scalloped work like wooden bowls and spoons. This was made by Thos Ibbotson who was a famous chisel and cutting iron maker from Sheffield England and had a good reputation amongst hand tool makers and hand tool users like myself. Bit rugged to…
Well here we have the ugliest saw you’ve ever seen. See the earlier blog on car boot sale finds. This saw was covered with thick car grease and some kind of white powder. Beneath this hideous exterior lies a good Spear and Jackson from the 60’s series. These clunky looking handles marked the demise of…
Just to colour your day and inspire you. Driving in to work this morning my mind races ahead of my day as it usually does. I think of things created and the effects light plays on shape and colour. This morning the sky’s expanse of bright blue reminds me of how incredible the creative world…
Your growing interest in the Jumma smoothing plane deserves some inside information. I have put this plane through its paces of late and found it to satisfy my greatest demands. Can I fine a better make anywhere? I don’t think so. This plane equals the best of the rest and researching its background encourages me…
This free-standing wardrobe was lovely too. This had no inlays, but simple carved motifs on either side of the central door. £80 buys a nice chunk f beautiful hardwood to rescue the work of past artisans and rework it into something more useful, perhaps a smaller cupboard or cabinet, using the rest of the wardrobe…
