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I've built my first staircase in solid oak using traditional methods only - except the stringers are made with a jig and will be wedged with softwood (big props to Mark Milner's "Simply Stairs" book). Its only a half flight going between split levels but it includes a landing which I made. I...

I'm about to make a bunch of doors, we bought a 17th century house in bad repair and the large modern extension is full of crappy 1970s hollow hardboard doors that I want to replace. I plan on making the doors because the house is special and deserves a custom touch, having never made entry...

Is Roy Sutton's the ONLY DVD on Spindle Moulding in the known Universe? An hour googling suggests it might be - (what a gap in the market). Does anybody know if there's still a last copy for sale on a dusty bottom shelf of some tiny hardware shop somewhere? I cant seem to find it anywhere for...

Hi, I'm after getting a decent saw, I have a few options I like from the Axminster Industrial saw to the Xcalibur. My concerns are that I would need to get the saw around the side of the house over soft and uneven ground - and I would almost definitely have to do it on my own (the missus swore...

I'm thinking of making some Tudor-esque curved/arched top doors for my home and I have seen a few period examples (example below) where the top rail is mortised into the stiles at an angle - like a kind of open haunched joint - does anybody know the proper name of this type of joint so I can...

Can anybody recommend a R&S router bit set for making an external door? - ideally beaded or bead and cove. I cant seem to find any except for the Freud ones in the USA - and why can't I seem to buy proper Freud bits in the UK or Europe???? Seems mental since they are made in Italy. Anyway, if...

Hi, I intend to fabricate my own Foreman style machine - I have built a couple of CNC machines from scratch so mechanically I am not too daunted by it because it seems a simple enough set up. What I am puzzling over is what drill unit to use and I wondered if anybody knew of a drill without a...

I'm building myself some kitchen-style cabinets - actually they are for the utility room but they will be free standing kitchen-style and made out of laminated pine panels and oak face frames which will be painted - country kitchen style. I've read a few comments on here and elsewhere about the...

I need to cut some aluminium plate for a full scale CNC machine that I am building and I have a fair bit of aluminium to cut - both plate and extrusion. I know very little about metal work, I was hoping that with the right blade, I could speed things up by running it through my Axminster Hobby...

I have the festool dust collector that I use for my festool mitre and track saw and by far the best feature of it is the fact that it starts up the dust collector automatically and immediately the second you power up your tool by plugging your tool into the power socket on the dust collector...

Her Indoors wants me to build a coffee table and her only stipulation is that she wants it black walnut and with crossed-stretchers. The image below is not the exact table I am building but this is the kind of leg-stretcher layout I need to make. I am looking for advice on build order and how...

I'm perhaps Britain's newest and most nervous first table saw owner. A couple of months ago I decided that i'd like to build my own coffee table and - being like a lot of you I'm guessing, got distracted into setting up a complete small home workshop instead and all this while I am supposed to...

I'm looking at the Axminster TS-250 table saw and those who are familiar with it will know that it comes with the option of a right hand extension table and a sliding table. Might be a stupid question, but none of the books and videos I can find seem to cover exactly what their intended...

I'm going to be building my first drawers and want to create simple yet effective centre drawer runners - I find the bulky metal side brackets too "IKEA" and ugly and yet I dont like how side drawer runners stick. Can people offer advice on the pros and cons of centre runners and if they are the...

Sorry to launch another "beginner-stupid" question but I have been offered a few oak boards (kiln dried) some of which are a bit split at the end (10 to 20% of the length). To make usable stock from it is it best to rip a split board either side of the split and discard the centre section to...

I picked up one of the Dakota morticers from Rutlands while the sale was on over the weekend. It seems a substantial piece of kit and generally good value and well built for a modern bit of kit. Being new to woodworking, and given the woodworking machine tradition of providing the worst assembly...

Being a beginner I am just setting up my workshop (previously known as the garage). The garage/workshop currently has just a single electrical socket installed and I am guessing that this is a spur from the main house downstairs socket loop since it doesnt have any cable going back out from it...

Hi, I'm a beginner so apologies if this is a stupid question, but how does one measure a recessed space accurately - for example, the exact distance between the innermost space between 2 rails or aprons? The joinery techniques of folding in a tape measure is only accurate to approx 2 to 3 mil at...

Hi, I'm still brand new to woodworking and have been watching a DVD of Ian Kirby where he explains that the standard way to get timber for woodworking is to buy boards (hardwoods) and then harvest your cutting list from within those boards - he says that the grain will never run straight on...

I'm new to woodwork and so I'm in the process of buying gear and getting set up. Seems that a great many of the jigs and more clever gizmos out there are coming from the USA (and 12" dovetail jigs, 1/4" & 1/2" router bits all appearing standards) and of course the vast majority of instructional...