Soon we will be launching our website for the Real Woodworking Campaign, which we plan to open as a worldwide endeavour to promote the art and craft of real woodworking for all. You have heard me talk of the Real Woodworking Campaign (RWC) for some months and it started out by provoking my audiences to…
The North of England Woodworking Show There is a lot happening this week as there is in all my weeks. Thus coming weekend we have the North of England Woodworking Show in Harrogate, which always promises a large crowd and even more work demonstrating and talking to people about real woodworking. This show is…
The log fire spits and hisses, biting back the winter’s chill that creeps in bitter-quickened cold beneath the outside door. From where I work I glimpse the seat of glowing embers rise, bursting high their flames to grab the emptied content of my shovel once again and so I clear the chips upon my bench…
Wood rewards the artisan who works its substance honestly to make his living. You may not grow rich from a life working wood, but then who said you were supposed to. As a lifestyle workman, my life has always meant steady, hard work. Often for prolonged periods and often the work has been tedious and…
Cold snaps overnight this week have changed the leaves to wonderful patchworks of yellow, orange, russet and red. Soon the leaves will fall and winter will set in for three months. This is often my favourite time for working in the woodshop. When I lived in the USA I stoked the stove with my scraps…
I started choosing the wood for the panels of the chest today. They are 3/4 “ thick so that I have enough thickness for the raising and enough to fit in the grooves. My earlier post alluded to the selection of wood but in practical terms here are some of the things I consider initially….
On Sunday morning my students and I met at 8am to check out the local car boot sales. There wasn’t much there, but I found two squares for £1.00. As I sanded away the rust from the combination square the name of the maker emerged and I discovered a Rabone Chesterman square model 1812. The…
People often ask me where I source my wood from, whether it’s locally grown and how I make certain its dry. Reality hits here because there is no stock answer. In the US, wood is readily available in a variety of ways and so options are more varied for woodworkers to pursue. In the UK…
I am always going to address issues surrounding false impressions and information in woodworking because it’s an importan aspect of real woodworking. I have said this before and I’ll say it once more because it troubles me so. The purpose of a hand plane is not to produce light fluffy shavings that waft to the…
When I think of all the friends around the globe working wood, I wonder how trees keep up with supply. George is here from the USA with his friend John and they tell me of storm-dropped trees 4’ in diameter pretty much for the taking. People owning Woodmizer resaw bandsaws for resawing logs make short…