I own a 10″ Henry Disston with a brass back. Without doubt it’s the best saw I have ever owned and I have had it for decades. A close second is my 60’s Spear & Jackson with its rosewood handle. I use this one in the USA school and this one knows no equal with…
And look what we are on now. Nothing rinky-dink about chairmaking and certainly not chairs with arms on and then rockers as well. I thought that you would like get another update so here are some images I took that I liked. Tool chests, coffee tables and a rocking chair, but these are only the…
This is a letter I received from a US participant. I have given him my answer here because it will help others. His letter begins: I just completed your DVD series, and was very pleased with the information. I’ve just recently started to transition from machines to hand tools, though the machines I used were…
It’s five in the morning and my cup of freshly made ‘English’ tea always tastes so good first thing. I love waiting for the new sunrise that sparkles like a diamond as it rises over the trees beyond the river. This is one of the completed tool boxes. I am about to…
Well, I have quite neglected everyone beyond the school this week, but we have accomplished so much at the bench, please be patient with us. I generally make the pieces alongside my students so that they get to see every step and also techniques that I use that are impossible via books and videos. Of…
Tension always rises at two points in any of my workshops; day 1 when everyone is wondering whether they can really do it and during complex glue-ups when parts that fit ten minutes earlier seem to momentarily freeze shy of the shoulders coming together. The answers are two extremes;usually anyway.Gentleness and kindness seems most appropriate…
Real router usage We us the router plane substantially in my classes, they are associated more with dado depth removal of waste and to ensure a perfect level to receive the inserted board. For four decades I have used this extraordinary tool on the faces of my tenons, so as to guarantee equal depth, for…
The coffee tables we are making are quite substantial, with some unique aspects in my design that I like and you might like to hear of. The before-and-after features created by shaping are quite striking in that, by adding a series of seemingly insignificant curves, they transform the clunky, angular squareness and mass into gracious…
Someone asked me the question why use a chisel followed by a spokeshave to shape and shave wood when the bandsaw is so efficient? I am asked questions like this all the time and sometimes I want to, well, just walk away from the question and the questioner because I think that they most likely…
It was an incredible day for me yesterday and I think I can say that for all of the students too. As usual they are from mixed backgrounds and ages too, which makes for great diversity, the unifying factor is not a keyboard or a cell phone but working wood with hand tools. We are…