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I've been having a clear out and have hundreds of back copies of various woodworking magazines: Furniture and cabinet maker back to 1999. Years 2001 to 2008 are bound. Fine Woodworking back to 1998 Good Woodworking to 2011 Practical Woodworking 1977 - 1990 Woodworker back to 1954 They are not...

Started a new can of cascamite last night and it didn't mix in the usual way, it needed more water to get a spreading consistency and looked more like white icing than the usual mix, a bit like it does if it's gone off. I suspected it was faulty, it was a new can purchased from Axminster this...

I had some bad news today! Stanley have discontinued their 2 3/8" plane blades. The 5 /12 plane which takes this blade is the standard plane I use for refurbishing on my courses so I am a bit stuck. An extensive search has not found a supplier with a stock of these blades. Record Urwin do...

A while ago Newbie Neil put together a comprehensive list of timber suppliers, I can't find it , can anybody point me towards it? Thanks Chris

For the past couple of months I have had to phone up to order from Axminster because whenever I try to order online I get half way through then get "This webpage is not available". A bit frustrating really, I have tried on both Chrome and MSEdge. Has anyone else had this issue. I have mentioned...

I recently replaced some missing card scrapers in my student benches with new ones from Bahco. I noticed on the instructions on the packaging, as shown in the attached image(I won't go into the holding technique shown!), that they specifically say that the srcaper should be used with a pulling...

Matthew Platt at Workshop Heaven is a good egg! I am sure many on the forum who have benefited from his expertise and generosity would agree. I have particular reason to comment as he went the extra mile for me in sourcing a spoke shave. I have previously bought from WH an excellent small spoke...

Has anyone heard about this bill currently before parliament. A clause makes it an offence to send a "bladed article" through the post. Some brief research has not revealed a definition of a bladed artcile. I think chisels and plane irons could be included in this, if so it could be bad news...

Last weekend I was teaching a course at British Hardwoods and spotted this very impressive table in their rest area, it’s Wych elm burr measuring approximately 2.4m by 1.1m. Tony, the main man at BH, who made the table, explained to me how he went about flattening the board, it would have been a...

Last weekend I taught my first ever ladies only beginners course to coincide with International Womens day. The course went well, although it did overriun slightly. This was mainly because of problems with mastering the plane, there is quite a lot of planing in the course. It's partly a problem...

A few years ago, in a rash moment, I bought a Sceppach Basato 56-2 and regretted it ever since. One problem I have with it is that when I use a thinner blade, 1/2" perhaps, I get a rattling sound from the casing on the up blade side. On thicker blades, 3/4", it's OK. I think what's happening is...

I am currently making a mandora, a medieval style mandolin, and need a violin peg hole reamer 1:30. On the internet they are either about £15 or £50. Does anyone have experience of these, do the cheap ones do the job properly or should I bite the bullet and get the expensive, bearing in mind I...

Since they were endorsed by St Paul Aldi chisels have been much in demand. I used them on my sharpening courses some years ago and found them reasonable quality for the price but now I by the equivalent (Powerfix DIN 5139) at twice the price on Ebay because they are at Aldi (or Lidl) only...

I've spent a while this morning truing up the engineers squares in the tool kits on my student benches. I found that most of them were out of true on the outside edge despite being OK when purchased. This is due to wear from using them with a marking knife. If you've had your square for a while...

On a fly fishing forum I frquent there was a popular and useful Tips for beginners thread. I think such a thread would work well here. The idea being you post about a basic woodworking practice that a beginner may not know about or understand that you think leads to better work . Hopefully the...

I have an Axminster two bag extractor with micro filter drums which has been sitting in my store room for about a year since I replaced it because the motor packed up. I now need the space so I am offering it free to anyone who can collect it. I enquired with Axminster how much a new motor would...

For some time I have had an idea for a good beginners bench that can be made using very basic tools such as a DIYer might have. I never got any further with this until someone asked me to make a basic bench for them. I decided this would be a good opportunity to prototype my idea. This bench was...

Edward Barnsley Furniture near Petersfield, Hampshire, are having an open day on 4th March. An opportunity to see what goes on at one of the very best workshops in the country.http://www.barnsley-furniture.co.uk/news/

Hi I have a Record lathe, the type with 48" long round bars. It's in storage, partly because it's too big for my garage workshop. I don't need a lathe this long now. Would anyone with a smaller Record be interested in swapping bars. If so PM me. Chris

Hi I'm writing a beginners guide to woodwork and I've got to the chapter on jointing. Space is limited so I'm having to leave some joints out. Difficult choice! I haven't done a dowel joint in years so I thought I might leave that out, but then I have a domino which beginners won't have. I...