Question: Hi Paul, I did a quick search on your blog and can’t find any information on brace and bits. I wonder if you have any thoughts on what to look for/brands to pick/avoid when choosing a second hand brace and bit. It might make a good idea for a future blog post? thanks, Matt…
I thought that this question was interesting and of interest in terms of what do you do with a treasured square. Question: I just bought a Starrett combination square and I want to keep it safe apart from using it at work. How do you keep your square safe? Perhaps is there a nice little…
It’s been good to watch John grow. I have lost track of the number of apprentices I’ve worked with through the past 50 years but it’s always been my greatest reward watching them come, work hard and then become their own man as it were. The shop will feel empty for a few weeks even…
My students stand awkwardly around my bench and start asking me about the tools they should look for starting out. It’s usually the case at the start of every class I teach. I think it makes sense because they don’t see fancy tools around my bench but mostly common ones, they seem bemused or unbelieving,…
Time at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford I poised the lens of my newest camera within 9” of the most well preserved and valuable pieces of workmanship ever produced in wood. It was made 300 years ago to become one of if not the most well made violins ever made. Some might see its wealth…
Sometimes, when things seem to be ending… …you start to see it’s only just beginning. In some ways I have been in this place before. Training an apprentice can be hard. You take in a young man and work with him. He learns and becomes smart. You work with him some more and he becomes…
To my friends around the world but especially to the USA where I have spent so many happy years. This one really taxed my carving skills today! I do hope that you all have a wonderfilled day with your families and friends everyone. It’s a US tradition it’s true, but its one I have enjoyed…
The past couple of days are indelibly impressed in my inner being having watched John work on his toolbox to create something so uniquely him. There’s a saying we hear often, “You have to see it to believe,” but I might favour a slight shift and say, “It’s got to be seen to believe it.”…
From pocket knives to kitchen knives and just about any knife you care to name, a simple method to use is a piece of 3/4” piece of wood on the benchtop and an EZE-Lap diamond paddle. By placing the knife on the piece of wood with the edge just overhanging the edge and placing the…
Knives often seem problematic to many both in the holding of them at the right bevel angle and to maintain bevel angle consistency. I have made different types of guides and jigs for students to use because of this but generally freehand my own because it’s quicker and I can. With this jig we hold…