What to Check on a Used Plane
I spent forty years on site and another ten in the classroom, and if there’s one thing that gets my blood up, it’s the modern obsession with "new is better." You walk into a big-box retailer today and they try to sell you a plastic-bodied, battery-dependent piece of junk that’s designed to be replaced the […]
Restoring a Boot Sale Chisel
I was sitting at my bench last Tuesday, staring at a rusted piece of Sheffield steel I’d pulled from a junk bin, when a young lad from the college walked in. He was complaining about how his new, expensive set of chisels couldn't hold an edge to save their lives. I just shook my head. […]
Bringing a Rusty Plane Back
I found an old Stanley plane at a car boot sale last Tuesday, buried under a layer of orange grit that looked more like dried mud than metal. Most folks would see that pitted surface and think it’s time for the scrap heap, or worse, they’d head straight for a heavy-duty grinder to sand the […]
Stopping Rust in an Unheated Workshop
I remember sitting in my workshop back in the late nineties, staring at a set of Lie Nibbs chisels I’d spent a fortune on, only to find them pitted and orange after one particularly damp winter. It wasn't some fancy chemical failure; it was just neglect. People will try to sell you expensive, high-tech sprays […]
A Tool Rack That Keeps Edges Safe
I spent thirty years on site and another ten in a college workshop, and if there’s one thing that gets my blood up, it’s seeing a lad spend a month's wages on some fancy, plastic-molded modular system just to keep his kit tidy. Most of those modern "storage solutions" are nothing more than expensive ways […]
Which Clamps to Buy First
I remember a lad I taught back at the college, bright enough, but he’d spent a small fortune on these fancy, plastic-heavy quick-release clamps that looked more like toys than tools. He was halfway through a mortise and tenon joint when one of those cheap mechanisms simply gave up the ghost, letting the workpiece slip […]
Workholding Without Buying Clamps
I spent half my apprenticeship wrestling with a heavy-duty F-clamp, trying to hold a piece of oak steady while my chisel kept skidding across the grain. It was frustrating, dangerous, and frankly, a waste of good energy. People will tell you that you need more clamps to get a stable workpiece, but that’s a load […]
Fitting a Vice to a Bench
I remember a lad I taught back at the college, bright kid but he’d spent a fortune on a massive, cast-iron beast of a vice he’d found online. It looked impressive, sure, but the moment he tried to plane a piece of seasoned oak, the whole thing shuddered and let the timber slip. He’d fallen […]
The Block Plane Does More Than You Think
I remember standing on a site in the late eighties, watching a lad struggle with a power sander for twenty minutes just to smooth out a stubborn end grain. He was covered in dust, his ears were ringing, and the wood still felt hairy. I walked over, handed him my Stanley, and showed him how […]
Trimming a Tenon With a Shoulder Plane
I spent thirty years on-site watching young lads rush toward the router table the second a joint looked a bit wonky, thinking more power equals more precision. They’d spend twenty minutes fighting a machine only to end up with a crushed grain or a messy shoulder that needed more sanding. It’s a waste of time. […]