I have been replacing doors at Penrhyn Castle and the oak I am using, as with all oak, can be a resilient wood and its  grain repels the onslaught of chisels the deeper you penetrate into the wood because leverage becomes difficult. I have never particularly liked the boring-holes-and-chiselling method for mortising but in the…

Hawthorn The texture of woodland growth, the shapes of oak, ash, cherry and sycamore cover the treetops after their naked wintertime. How to explain springtime’s vibrant increase, no man can. Flowers add loveliness to the green leaf of grassland pasture and tree but the green brings ease to the eyes as I walk beneath the…

Every so often I am able to personally train a new apprentice and, with the right one, a unique symbiosis of service and learning partner the unfolding relationship between craftsman and apprentice. John has been here for two months now and he’s working out well. He will be with me until December and by then he will…

Here are some of the magnificent doors in Penrhyn Castle. The craftwork of the artis and is exceptionally high and the wood was the very best English oak. Much of it quarter-sawn, the doors have been ganging for 160 years.     Some of the doors curve into a round to fit a round aspect…

Here are the befores and afters side by side.

My Creative Workspace   A short time ago I posted about a shabby looking mahogany box I found at a car boot sale here. I say found but a better word might be rescued had the abandoned box had any life left in it really. As pulled the box from other junk surrounding it a…

I know, it is not woodworking, but I took a break from the woodworking school this evening and went over to the other side of the island to see what was flying around on the wild side. I parked up for a minute to rest and realized that this week the swallows had just come in from…