This was a fun three days for me and I think for the handful of people who came to prepare for Tomorrow’s month-long when they will be joined by many more. Gerald and Colin are helping each other wrap up for the weekend. We gained much ground in foundational stuff all around and now it’s…
OK. We got the big bench in the workshop this week and it fits Phil a treat as you can see. He says back strain is gone, he’s closer to his work and he’s happy. As to the wrist deal and measurements being taken from the wrist. Any one know who suggested such a thing…
OK, you are buying files in Europe and they are for the main part all double ended so you get two files for the price and material content of one. Most people use only about four inches of a saw file because that’s all the length required to get the cutting edge they need for…
Up until more recent decades, all tenon saws had a folded spline running along the length of the saw, a process developed over 250 years ago and one which some companies held to until as recently as the 1980’s. There are merits to this, but none that warrant changing back. Most people don’t know what…
Re oil-soaked rags and using linseed oil, whether boiled or raw A few posts back I told of rolling up a rag and stuffing it in a can to use as an applicator on hand tools. I omitted to emphasize the use 3-1 light machine oil or light machine oil for which i apologise, but…
Question: Hi Paul, I bought your book recently, having never done woodworking before, and have very quickly gotten very confused about the act of sharpening. First of all, I figured that diamond stones would surely be pricier than oil or wet stones, but unless I’m looking in all the wrong places, they appear to be…
Part of my preparation for the upcoming month-long class and other classes in the future is to install a taller bench than usual. I have already established that the premium height for a hand tool bench is 38”. This is not a mere opinion. I don’t altogether care find too much real value in opinions….
Some of you will recall that John Winter, my 2011 apprentice, returned home to Patagonia at the end of last year. He went through training with flying colours and has a real gift for working wood. It’s hard to remember how many I have trained through the years, but their passage is usually one year…
Yes, it’s rhetorical really. I wanted to look at something you may not have considered and in searching for something to resolve chatter in your plane or on your wood you may not have though possible too. Let’s at least reason together for a moment. Squeaks and squeals from planes I sometimes, quite often, hear…
In addition to my earlier blog on buying an inexpensive #4 Stanley hand plane. I made a second trial purchase this evening. This time the buyer’s minimum was .99 pence, but instead of direct bid I used my usual sniper because I never have time generally to sit and watch. I posted a maximum bid of…