Sharpening a Twist Bit by Hand
I remember standing on a job site back in the nineties, watching a young lad struggle with a cordless driver, swearing at a hole that refused to go any deeper. He was pushing with his whole weight, smoke practically rising from the timber, convinced he just needed a more powerful motor. I walked over, took […]
Tidying a Damaged Plywood Edge
Most people think that once a plywood edge starts to fray or chip, the whole sheet is scrap or needs a thick, ugly strip of solid timber to hide the shame. I spent years watching apprentices reach for the wood filler and a sander the second they made a mistake, thinking they could just sand […]
Sharpening a Blade Too Small to Hold
I remember standing in a workshop back in the late eighties, watching a young apprentice try to shape a curved stair rail with a router. He was fighting the machine, swearing at the grain, and leaving nothing but scorched marks and a mess of sawdust. I stepped in, handed him a well-tuned spokeshave, and showed […]
When a Cheap Tool Is Enough
Most people treat software like a cheap, disposable chisel—they buy the flashiest thing on the shelf, use it until it goes dull, and then toss it for the next shiny model. They get blinded by fancy interfaces and subscription models that promise the world but deliver nothing but clutter. When you're looking at how to […]
An Open Mitre and Three Options
Most people see a gap in a corner joint and immediately reach for a tube of wood filler or a heavy-duty glue gun, thinking they can just mask the problem. That’s a mistake that’ll leave you with a messy, brittle repair that fails again in six months. If you’re looking for how to repair a […]
A Sawbench for Hand Tool Work
You’ll see plenty of videos online claiming you need a massive, expensive workshop and a fleet of power tools just to get started, but that’s a load of rubbish. Most of those setups are just noise and vibration that won't help you find a true line. If you want to learn how to build a […]
Judging a Brand by Its Spare Parts
I remember standing in a workshop back in the nineties, staring at a high-end plane that had gone dead because the manufacturer decided they didn't sell the replacement lever anymore. They wanted you to scrap the whole tool and buy a new one—what they call "planned obsolescence," but I call rubbish. Most people think you […]
Flattening a Dished Waterstone
I remember sitting in the college workshop back in the nineties, watching a young apprentice spend three hours trying to get a chisel keen, only to end up with a bevel that looked like a mountain range. He was cursing the steel, blaming the quality of the tool, but the truth was much simpler: his […]
Standing on Concrete All Day
I remember standing in a lad's new garage back in the nineties, watching him struggle to set up a marking gauge because his floor was nothing but uneven, cracked concrete covered in a layer of cheap, decorative epoxy. He’d spent a fortune trying to make it look like a showroom, but the moment he dropped […]
Clamping a Mitred Frame
Most people think that once a corner on an old frame snaps, it’s headed straight for the bin or a pile of cheap replacement timber. They reach for a heavy-duty glue gun or try to force it back together with some hardware-store screws, only to find the wood splits even further. I’ve spent forty years […]