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Just like many other woodworkers I have a odd collection of clamps varying from budget clamps and orphans to properly planned purchases. However I have always been reluctant to spend a lot on clamps and I always regret it when I am clamping up. As if there wasn't enough stress involved, there...

Spoiler alert What a disappointment. What is the point in compiling a series of repeats when you can just watch the repeats online? What has happened to Roy that he has not had an opportunity to record a new series? Anyone know?

For longer than I care to remember I have been frustrated vice bars that get in the way of my hand sawing. Today, while sawing, it occurred to me how to rectify this problem once and for all. Since I have never seen this described anywhere else I thought I would share it with the world of...

Sometimes I wish I could just trust someone else's plans and build something they had designed and yet I know that if I do not research a new project properly and integrate at least a good proportion of my own ideas I will end up stewing in dissatisfaction. On my travels through books and the...

Does anyone care to share their thoughts or experience on accentuating quilted and flamed maple without darkening the overall appearance? When I plane the maple prior to sanding for French polishing the 3D effect is startling. However when I then sand the surface and start to polish it the...

Followers of Paul Sellers' blog may have already read his recommendation for rasps from the Portugese Company Tomé Feteira. I ordered a number of rasps and saw files from them yesterday and they are due to arrive on Monday. No sooner had I placed my order and they shipped them. All...

Just finished 9 days at the Dutch Design Week ( I know that sounds like a long week to me too) Around 6000 visitors at our location. Loads of really good feedback and one person who came to tell they hated my work. Obviously I need to take down the sign saying 'please tell if you hate my work...

Can anyone advise me on the best product for caring for Wenge veneered loudspeakers? The wood finish is showing white surface specks as though it is drying out. Of course it is important that any nourishment for the veneer does not penetrate too deep as to alter the sound of the speaker...

I have lined several boxes in the past with pig suede (from an old coat) and I am now about to buy some virgin hides and I was wondering if anyone who does this regularly could tell me what adhesive works best (in the longer term) I have been using rubber cement glue up until now. I reckoned if...

Rushing to glue up a box I did not spot it was clamped slightly out of square. #-o It is only a bit out of square but it is going to mess up the interior if I leave it like that. With the hours I spent trimming the dovetails to fit I cannot believe I messed up this part. So I got thinking is...

I think the title says it all. I usually only buy dried/seasoned timber and then leave it in my workshop for six months or longer before using it. However I recently met a woodturner who sources logs himself and he is only interested in highly figured pieces so he can supply me with with timber...

I was inspired by Pauls Sellers' blog about the poorman's router. Then a couple of days later he posted the 'not so poorman's router' again with instructions for building it. I was all fired up now at the idea of saving 30 quid plus on a hand router off ebay that I set to work. Paul Sellers...

I noticed the Lignum Vitea I recently picked up has a slightly oiled like feel to it, more so than teak. Can I just use a white pva for glueing Lignum vitea or does it need something else or different treatment prior to glueing?

Just put down my new Axminster No. 9 1/2 Block Plane and I have to recommend it to anyone looking for a block plane. It is superb and at the money they are asking an absolute steal. I have bid on many vintage Stanley models at 3 and 4 times the price on ebay and missed out each time. So I...

Today while sharpening a blade in an old Stanley spoke shave I decided to true up the cap iron by making sure the rough cast side of the iron was flat along the edge where it supports the blade. After just a couple of strokes across some emery paper it cracked right down the middle #-o (I...

Can anyone explain why shoulder planes are so expensive? They go for princely sums on Ebay. Axminster make a 'cheap' 29 quid job is it any good? I saw a used Axminster one fetch 26 pounds on Ebay last night! Is that just ebay madness. And finally is a shoulder plane so much more effective than...

I am considering buying a thicknesser. :) Should I go for a big bad old robust model that has some life left in it or one of these mobile things like Axminster and Metabo sells? :? My first instinct is to go for an older more robust machine but... many of my older machines have, have been a...

Why does this dowel plate I've made take me back to the time I first time I held a mallet? :D I picked up a piece of steel section when down at the scrap yard foraging for some brass plate. It is not stainless steel but still very hard. Which is why I was busy with it for longer than I had...

I recently came across Paul Sellers cutting dovetails on You tube and was very entertained by his style of woodworking and presentation. I started thinking about following one of his courses and I saw he had written a book. With all the DVDs it is an expensive purchase. Does anyone just have the...

How pleased I was with my latest handcut dovetailed box. However on the dry fit it rocked corner to corner. :oops: The elevated corner lifts 3mm off the table. I told myself it would settle down when I inserted the base ino the rebate groove. But that did not help either. I remember from...