Dust Control at Three Budgets
I spent thirty years watching lads plug in massive, expensive extraction units only to find themselves still coughing their lungs out ten minutes later. They think if they buy a machine with enough horsepower, they’ve solved the problem, but they’re just moving the mess around. Most of these modern gadgets are built to be replaced, […]
Insulating Without Trapping Damp
I spent twenty years thinking a heavy-duty heater was the answer to a freezing morning in the shed, but I was just throwing money into a drafty hole. You can buy the most expensive electric radiator on the market, but if you haven't figured out how to insulate a workshop properly, you're just trying to […]
Heating a Workshop Without Bankrupting Yourself
I remember standing in my old college workshop back in '94, my fingers so stiff from the January frost that I could barely feel the grain of the oak under my chisel. I watched a young lad try to run a massive, industrial electric heater that cost more to run than his weekly wages, yet […]
Lighting That Shows the Line
I remember a lad I taught back in the college days, a bright enough boy, but he spent half his time squinting at his chisel lines like he was trying to read fine print in a dark pub. He’d bought himself a massive, expensive industrial floodlight that sat in one corner, throwing harsh, blinding glares […]
Working Out Your Bench Height
I spent thirty years on site and another ten in the classroom, and if there’s one thing that gets under my skin, it’s the nonsense you see in those glossy woodworking magazines. They’ll try to sell you on some complex mathematical formula involving your exact skeletal measurements and a dozen variables just to tell you […]
A Workbench That Does Not Move
I spent thirty years on site watching lads rush into a project, buying some flimsy, pre-fabricated trestle table from a big-box retailer because they thought it would save them time. They’d spend more time fighting the wobbles and the vibration than actually working the timber. If you want to do proper work, you need to […]
Laying Out a Workshop Around the Bench
I remember standing in a college workshop back in the nineties, watching a bright-eyed apprentice spend three hours trying to figure out how to plan a workshop layout using a fancy computer program, only to end up tripping over a power lead the moment he picked up a chisel. He had all the expensive gadgets, […]
Making a Shed Usable in January
Most people think that learning how to set up a workshop in a shed means rushing out to buy every shiny, cordless gadget the local hardware shop can throw at them. They see a catalog of vibrating, plastic-cased junk and think that’s the secret to productivity. I spent forty years on-site and another ten in […]
A Workshop in a Single Garage
Most people think that figuring out how to set up a workshop in a garage requires a massive bank loan and a floor-to-ceiling rack of shiny, cordless power tools that will be obsolete in five years. They spend more time browsing catalogues than actually working. I spent forty years on site and ten years in […]