Thanks For Watching!

Just over two years ago I thought I'd try posting a video on You Tube to see if it would generate any interest. It has just passed 100,000 views which is better than I could have imagined and has helped generate thousands of orders, particularly to the US.
So as the video says, thanks for watching!

Handworks USA 2015

Handworks show dates have been announced for 2015, and I'll be showing there!
It's in Amana, Iowa 15 - 16th May, see the website http://handworks.co/

The show is being generously arranged by Bench Crafted and here are the doors being opened on the first show in 2013.

There are loads of quality doors prizes and the entry is free!
The prize below was donated by Blue Spruce Toolworks, very nice.

Below (left) is Jameel from Bench Crafted, the man behind the show.
I'll leave you enjoy the rest of the photos.

Customer Dovetailed Boxes

This first box is from Stuart in Queensland Australia who has appeared on this Blog before. He made it to store his dovetailing tools, a few tools that always get used for the task.

The woods are white cedar for the box and figured camphor laurel for the lid.
It's a very nice job and a very useful little box.

The next box was made by Sam from the UK with some nice crisp dovetails.
He didn't say what the woods were but at a guess it's ash, purpleheart and African blackwood, not sure about the panel.

Keep the pictures coming, it's great to see customers own work.

Wonderful English Walnut

I've just finished my latest batch of hammers and you'll notice a few intruders!

I made up a dozen in lovely black line English walnut, it's wonderful stuff. They are the same price as the rippled ash £32, they won't be going on the website, so first come first served!

The walnut came from a friend of mine who specialises (bordering on obsession) in English walnut. See his website http://www.primetimber.co.uk/news/
Below is cabinet I made from a selection of top grade woods from Andy, all cut from the solid.

West Dean Dovetailing Course.

I've been preparing for the forthcoming course and this is what we will be making.
The box carcass is beech and the lid is spalted beech. The sides have all been cut to size and I've grooved them to accept the base, this allows the students to get straight into the dovetailing without spending time on stock preparation.

The end grain beech gives a nice contrast which shows off the dovetails without being too showy.

The lid simply tilts to open, which is very discreet, if anyone prefers adding a handle this can be accommodated.

The inside of the box will be lined to support the lid, involving plenty of use of the shooting board.
I expect everyone to complete this project in the two days, so for those of you coming please make sure your tools are sharp so that we can crack on from the start!

Impossible Dovetails

I was shown this joint at Yandles show. At first glance it looks like a lapped dovetail until you look more closely, it's angled at the top as well.

It was made many years ago out of boxwood and rosewood, both very hard and yet it was still a perfect fit. The pictures below should explain how it was achieved.
Apparently it was a joint used for holding together the top of large bookcases.

Another fine craftsman showed me some dovetail guides he had made and they really were things of beauty!

The two pieces were dovetailed square and then the angles on the sides cut afterwards. He was thinking of adding magnets and using them as a magnetic dovetail guide. Not that he needs one as these were cut totally by hand and were perfect.

Woodworkers Worst Nightmare!

I really enjoy customers sending me photos, but not this time. Joshua Tree Furniture and the Wooden Duck Furniture Store in Berkley USA were both totally destroyed by fire.

At this stage it is not known how the fire started.

It took five hours for the firefighters to get the blaze under control and this was what was left in the morning. Thankfully no one was hurt in the incident. My condolences to Aaron and his staff.

Nice Dovetails.

Here's a first attempt with one of my dovetail guides, not bad at all!  Apparently they went together like a dream. That's hide glue on the dovetails which was used to glue the veneer to the drawer front. I've used this technique quite often to create half blind dovetails but I prefer to use my own bandsawn veneers which are a bit thicker.

The book matched walnut veneers look stunning and I've been promised some more pictures of the finished piece in due course. Thanks Jim.

Customer Project.

A good customer sent me some pictures of his chisel box and he's really gone to town!
The curved openings give the lid a three dimensional feel and the subtle burrs look very nice on the top.

The hinges look like Andrew Crawford's fine stop hinges, they are very discreet and easy to instal.
The Japanese chisels look good quality, I hope so with such a nice box to live in!