A Vice Judged on Its Screw
I remember a lad in my college workshop years ago, a bright kid with more enthusiasm than sense, who spent a small fortune on a high-end, cast-iron bench vice because a glossy magazine told him it was "professional grade." He spent three hours trying to figure out how to review a vice based on its […]
Transferring an Angle Accurately
I remember standing in a workshop back in the late eighties, watching a young apprentice try to layout a series of mitres using a cheap, plastic-bodied gauge he’d picked up for a few quid. Every time he tightened the wing nut, the scale shifted just enough to ruin the joint. He was sweating, frustrated, and […]
Building for a Humid Room
Most people think you need a workshop full of expensive, noisy power tools to tackle a project like this, but they’ve got it backwards. I’ve spent forty years on site, and I’ve seen more ruined pieces of timber from a rushed router than I ever have from a steady hand. If you want to learn […]
Clamps That Do Not Rack
I’ve spent forty years watching lads walk into tool shops and throw money away on heavy-duty, over-engineered clamps that promise the world but can’t hold a straight line to save their lives. Most of the "expert" guides you find online will tell you to look at load capacities or fancy ergonomic grips, but they miss […]
Setting Nails Below the Surface
I remember a lad on my site back in the nineties, a bright enough boy but far too reliant on his cordless impact driver for everything. He was trying to finish a skirting board, and every time he drove a nail, he’d leave a bruised, ugly crater in the timber that he’d spend half an […]