It can be a challenge for such high standards to be accomplished in so short a time using my minimalist methods and measures, but the results prove the efficacy of my endeavour to reestablish real woodworking in the lives of those who seriously seek to become true craftsmen and women and not mere machinists. As…
My arms tire when ribbons spill in quick successive swipes and wood smoothed results from twisting back the chisel to its task and the plane to its course. It seems to me the hammer once withdrawn then strikes as many times as when it’s held from strikes yet one seems more to move the chisel…
Click the above photos to enlarge. This has been an amazing two weeks since my return already. The joints on the tool box are really tight and so too the frames holding the raised panel yesterday afternoon we had them all raised with the #4 smoother so we now have them all glued and fixed…
The exactness of workmanship Sometimes, most of the time now, I feel a peace about the work I do as never before. Is it my age, my ability, my confidence levels? As a younger man I seemed to lack this quality. I was rarely contented and the work itself seemed unfulfilling. Workmen I shared my…
I don’t know what Narex means in Czech, but in my hands it means tangible, solid quality and good value. In response to those who asked about a heavier mortising chisel form the USA I looked at the Narex brand because I had had such good results from the Narex bevel-edged chisels since we started…
Yesterday we saw a major shifts in the psyche of everyone when the joints were glued up and put to rest in clamps. There can be no doubt creating dovetails in pine can be more demanding than more resistant hardwoods by virtue of one single fact and that is surface absorption of glue. Hardwoods such…
The Veritas plough plane came into its own today. It’s always been an impressive tool with lots of punch and panache at the same time. That said, and no fault of the plane at all, some times you come across awkward grain where the grain catches the plane sideways and no matter which direction you…
Running is a sport with many starters. Some are out in front right from the getgo and others pace themselves early in the race for a more even and steady pace. We moved along well really, with some being faster than others and by the end of the day it did seem that we ended…
Every course is as different as the students that attend. In all of the years and all of the students, no two have ever been the same yet they have all been good. Today we began the tool chest, with students on the prep course from last week joining those from earlier courses. Books and…
Why did I revert to metal worker’s panel-beater hammers instead of traditional mallets? It’s dead simple. My goal is not the preservation of the traditions but the craft. That my goal just happens to do both is a great coincidental for me, generally speaking, anyway. So the traditionalists cling to their traditions and exclude modern…