Flexcut Tools for Carving Spoons: Have you ever wanted to carve a spoon? Flexcut offers a variety of tools designed specifically for carving spoons. Flexcut carving tools have a reputation for being a good value and able to maintain razor-sharp cutting edges. Randy Maxey provides a quick overview of these handy spoon-carving tools ..read more

Northern Lapwing: Mike Wood shows how to carve a stunning countryside beauty. Mike Wood shows how to carve a stunning countryside beauty In this article I show you how to carve and paint a Northern lapwing (Vanellus vanellus). The bird measures up to 130mm long and has a wingspan of up to 870mm. It is a migratory bird that has a distribution throughout Eurasia and migrates further east as far as China and Japan. It is a wading bird and nests on arable pastures, grasslands, uplands and similar situations. A ground-nesting bird, it lays well-camouflaged eggs and the parents guard the ..read more

Masons and Housework: John Lloyd looks at a 15th-century technique that revolutionised furniture making. John Lloyd looks at a 15th-century technique that revolutionised furniture making No, this has nothing to do with secret handshakes and aprons, this is the most important development in furniture construction. Not the combining of concrete, stainless steel and carbon fibre with multiple strips of wood and gallons of epoxy resin to create a curvaceous, multi-media extravaganza, and not the introduction of the Lamello ‘Zeta’ or CNC technology, although all of these are pretty impressive. No ..read more

In issue 381 of Woodturning magazine we have lots for you to enjoy, beginning with our Guest Editor, Kurt Hertzog, who welcomes you to the issue; turns decorative eggshells; introduces us to the inspirational work of Bruce Trojan; and answers readers’ questions. In Projects, Andy Coates makes three items from a single log; Nick Simpson, aka Professor Bergenstrauser, turns a tri-winged box from a perfect cube; Les Symonds makes a flower-inspired desk lamp; James N Duxbury creates a napkin holder with a dash of distinction; Andrew Potocnik makes a pierced lidded container; Kevin Alviti turns a ..read more

How to Sharpen a Chef’s Knife: As woodworkers, we often get asked by friends and family if we can sharpen their kitchen knives. Randy Maxey shows how he uses ceramic waterstones and a honing steel to get a keen edge on a chef’s knife ..read more

John Jordan 1950-2023: We pay tribute to a much-loved and well-known turner. World-renowned turner John Jordan passed away on 28 February and we send our sincere condolences to his wife Vicki, his family and the friends he leaves behind, as well as the woodturning community. John, a woodturner from Cane Ridge, Nashville, Tennessee, was trained in electronics and computers with no formal arts education. He became interested in woodworking in the late ’70s, making furniture to commission until he discovered woodturning in the early ’80s. When he was interviewed for issue 118, John said: ‘Once I ..read more

Veneer Maintenance: Amber Bailey likes to make sure her veneers are in a respectable condition. Amber Bailey likes to make sure her veneers are in a respectable condition As anyone knows, the further into a hobby or craft you get, the harder it becomes to store all your ever-accumulating materials and equipment. As a buyer of veneers, I find myself constantly rearranging my stock for more advantageous storage and access. Although it can be relatively easy to store timber, it isn’t quite so straightforward for delicate veneers. There are a number of factors that really need to be taken into c ..read more

Nutcracker – Variations on a Theme: Ian Woodford shares some ideas for designing and making a nutcracker. Ian Woodford shares some ideas for designing and making a nutcracker Since the early days, when Stone Age man cracked nuts by using lumps of rock, we have devised many methods to get at the edible nut inside the shell. This project is by no means new but is an enjoyable item to make in time for the winter season, when shops stock up on nuts for Christmas. It needs only a small amount of precision as you can vary the design to suit your own style. Apart from a few basic turning tools ..read more

Stylised Killer Whale: Dave Western creates from scrapwood a killer whale that is based heavily on a dramatic form of stylisation common to Celtic and Northwest Coast Art. Dave Western creates from scrapwood a killer whale that is based heavily on a dramatic form of stylisation common to Celtic and Northwest Coast Art If you are anything like me, you find it really difficult to get rid of those little scraps of wood that are too small for your usual projects, but you just know will be perfect for something one day. I have boxes full of these odd bits but ,to be honest, I never get ..read more

Jointer Tune-Up: Rob Porcaro shares some handy tips for tuning your jointer. Rob Porcaro shares some handy tips for tuning your jointer Jointer parallelism After writing blog posts on jointer-planer combination machines and the Hammer A3-31, some readers emailed me questions about how to align tables and knives so the jointer does what it is supposed to do – produce flat, straight surfaces on wood. Here are the steps in tuning jointer tables and knives. The methods of adjustment will, of course, depend on the make and model of your machine, but hopefully this will clarify the overall logic o ..read more