Working on the four rocking chairs I’ve just been making made me conscious of exavctly how often I reach for not one plane but four, not one saw but seven, not one spokeshave but four, maybe five, and I could go on. Of course, I could manage with one or two or possibly one of…

I recall someone telling me that I had to teach to make a living from my craft because I couldn’t and no one else could actually make a living from working with their hands. He didn’t know that that was the case and nor could he. He simply assumed that because he couldn’t, no one…

When I arrived in the USA the first thing I did was purchase a shop full of power equipment. Like most in the trade, woodworking was mostly about efficiency and efficiency comes by using machines for every cut. Though I too relied on power to expedite my work, in some ways I am likely one…

When the world of making collides with pride it’s time to reflect. Taking pride in the work of another is an equal danger to pride in ourselves and what we achieve too. Should we be prideful in achieving a high standard of workmanship or is it simply that pride is the wrong word to use?…

It’s a year since the pandemic and we are still doing what we do plus much more. When I have closed up the shop through the years I have always had the greatest pleasure in reflecting on the day’s work and worth as I dim the lights and lock the door as I reach for…

It’s the seemingly small and insignificant that often make the biggest differences in life and especially is this so in all and any craftworking. I wasn’t sure about the significance of this but thought you might find it interesting. Though I have used and tried just about every chisel type there is out there, and…

. . . the Plane With Teeth Here’s another rambling from my mid-night, overtime excursions where I explore issues once common to woodworkers and write best twixt 3 am and 4.30 am thinking about the world of woodworking I live in. I make no excuses: it’s who I am and have become and will be…

Well, we are not post COVID, but I wasn’t sure how everyone felt about COVID-19 in their particular sphere of creativity. It has been a sad year for many in that they have suffered losses in the people they loved and were close to and then of course there has been so much fear surrounding…

John has proven my bench making how-to by completing the whole workbench replete with a clear, water-based finish before he left today. Filming prevents full-time making for him and Hannah and John sitting in on the filming with his background as an apprentice and maker helps with suggestions for clarity and ideas on what not…

Many years ago I wrote about the wood I worked with in Texas called mesquite. Mesquite can be mistaken for a mahogany-type wood because of its red-to-brown colour, but touch it, lift it and work it with hand tools and you can feel the massive difference. Back then, in the article I wrote, I resaturated…