This is truly an action-packed episode, with so much teaching on various techniques passed down through the years but mostly lost to the upcoming generations. From saw stop-cuts to planing and shaping with spokeshaves, planes, rasps, and files, we include many strategies for you to learn from. From these final fitting and shaping stages, we walk you through the glue-up phase so that every joint seats perfectly, because there is more to clamping a project than just tightening the screw thread and hoping for the best. We want the project to be dead square when the glue is dry, and clamps can in ..read more

With all the housing dadoes completed and the main body together, we must cut the middle shelf to length and determine the shoulder lines for the stepped part of the stepped housing dado joint. The practicalities ensure that all of the shoulder lines close up perfectly. The patterns we use are important to a wide range of other projects, so learning them now aids us in establishing patterns of construction. These joints are used in a wide range of shelving units, ranging from bookshelves to toy storage and many other projects. The unit we build here has three types of commonly used housing da ..read more

This was one of Paul’s first teaching and training projects which he developed specifically for his hands-on classes for early woodworkers to start on. That was in the early 1990s, so 30 years ago, and many a thousand students have made it to learn about shelf making. The goal is the mastery of accuracy, using sharp tools to develop two types of housing dadoes, the stopped and the stepped. This video gives the first woodworking joint most woodworkers start with and shows how to get a snug fit every time. The next part of this project will be available on 12th January 2023. The post How to Mak ..read more

Two things Paul has always noticed to be intimidating to woodworkers are recessed or mortised hinge setting and applying finish. The smaller the hinge and the project, the more flaws show. Following these steps will give you the confidence and success you want, and the hinges will align the box lid perfectly every time. We cover distances and the layout patterns, hinge sizing, and so on throughout this episode, along with how to apply shellac using a 1″ hake brush. The result is a perfect box. Enjoy yourself! You can view the previous episode of the project here. You can view the first episod ..read more

With the dovetails all fitting, we are ready to clean up the inside faces of the box, ready for gluing the corners together. It’s a systematic process that minimises the risk of messing up. Lots of tricks of the trade for gluing up and checking the whole for squareness, etc. Planing out any unevenness ensures a printing finish, and we definitely follow a process that gives top-notch results. The lid and bottom of the box are both rounded over, and the simplest thing is that we only need one tool, the #4 plane, to achieve amazing results. The final stage is to glue the bottom onto the box and ..read more

Many new to woodworking find the concept of hand-cutting dovetails intimidating, and yet it is one of the most fundamental joints used in the craft. Dovetails are the joints we use for making all kinds of boxes, large and small. They are designed to take certain pressures throughout their lives as drawers, cabinets, and boxes of every shape and size. The methods of squaring and preparing stock are the critical preface to laying out the joints, so in this episode we show you the steps we take to that end. Following the stock-prep, we focus on a method of layout and making that makes the proces ..read more

In this blog we are continuing to share some of Paul's favourite woodworking tips he has collected over the years. You can catch up with part 1 and part 2 here. Poor Man’s Rasp Get a dowel (eg. a broom handle) and cut it in 2 lengthways, glue sandpaper around this to make a poor man's rasp. The rounded side is great for shaping a hollow, and the reverse side can be used for flat surfaces. Tighten up Split Nuts on a Saw Handle To tighten up split nuts on a vintage saw handle, file out the middle section on a screwdriver to fit into the grooves of the split nut heads without damagin ..read more

In this blog we are continuing to share some of Paul's favourite woodworking tips he has collected over the years. You can catch up with Part 1 here. Removing a Buckle in Saw Plate To see if your saw is buckled, turn it so the teeth are facing up and look down the length. If it is buckled, rest the spine on a hard surface, such as a bench top and grip the handle with both hands, Whack the spine against the bench top then check to see if it has realigned, if not, repeat the process. Planing Plywood Edge To avoid fractures on the edges when planing plywood, use a chisel to take o ..read more

Having worked with hand tools for over 50 years, Paul adopted many tips and tricks to help him in his everyday woodworking. In this blog post we’ve shared some of his favourites in the hope you find them useful too! Pulling a Plane Sometimes you can’t get your body in the right position to push the plane along the grain, to avoid tearout by going against the grain, simply turn the plane around and pull it towards you. Temporary Gauge Lines The marking gauge is useful when laying out, but you might not always want a permanent mark on your project. Set the stock to the required distance ..read more

Is there a tool you can’t quite get sharp enough? A technique you keep trying but can’t master? Are your joints not coming together as you had hoped? You may come across several hurdles on your woodworking journey which are hard to overcome. We want to do our best to help you on your way to become the best woodworker you can be, whether that be as a profession or a hobby, we are here to help! We want you to help shape the content we publish, and to ensure it’s relevant for you, we’re asking what you’d like to see. Let us know what you want us to cover, it might be an already existing guid ..read more