Fixing a Chair That Racks
Most people think that when a dining chair starts knocking, you need to go out and buy a new one or reach for a heavy-duty power drill to force it back together. They’re wrong. I spent forty years on site and another ten in the classroom, and I’ve seen more people ruin perfectly good timber […]
Rip and Crosscut and Why It Matters
I remember standing in a dusty FE college workshop thirty years ago, watching a lad struggle with a cheap, mass-produced saw that wouldn't cut so much as a piece of soft pine. He was sweating, cursing, and trying to force a blunt piece of steel through a joint, convinced he just needed more muscle. That’s […]
Honing a Plane Iron in Four Minutes
I spent thirty years on site watching young lads reach for a power sander the second a piece of timber looked a bit rough, thinking they could just grind their way out of a problem. They don't realize that a blunt tool is just a way to make more work for yourself. I remember an […]
Inspecting a Plane in Your Hands
I remember standing in a dusty second-hand shop back in the nineties, watching a lad spend half his paycheck on a shiny, brand-new plane that arrived with a sole so bowed it wouldn't have sliced through butter, let alone oak. The salesman was all smiles, talking about "precision engineering," but he was selling him a […]
Sharpening a Chisel So It Cuts Endgrain
I remember a young apprentice back in the nineties, sweating over a piece of seasoned oak, trying to force a blunt chisel through a mortise like he was hacking at a tree root. He was exhausted, the wood was splintering, and he was convinced he just needed a bigger, more expensive power router to get […]