Wednesday 29 July 2015

Another Tool Chest Finished.


Although a number of students managed to finish their chests and trays on the course it's been good to see others who have got on and finished them when they have got home.
This is John's chest with a tray that glides down and a soft close lid.


He hadn't had a go at dovetailing with the guide before and took his time to get things right at every stage. It certainly shows in the result.


Wednesday 22 July 2015

Shots of a Finished Tool Chest.


Here's Martin's chest fitted out and full of tools. He's managed the piston fit tray as well as the soft close lid and should be proud of his efforts.


He finished it with four coats of Osmo hardwax oil which should give good protection for many years to come.

Sunday 19 July 2015

New English Tool Chest Course Complete!


After five full on days here is everyone proudly showing their results, all 17 of them. Some finished the chest as well as both the piston fit trays and the others weren't far behind.
A special thank you must go to Steve Hopper the head of department at Bridgwater College http://www.bridgwater.ac.uk/ who made all this possible. Not only did his team and students machine up all the timber, but Steve took nearly three weeks of unpaid leave to supervise this week as well as the week coming. My thanks also go to Bob who worked tirelessly to keep the work moving through the machine parts of the course.
With Chris Schwarz running the course next door and staying at the same hotel as many of us, the evening's entertainment was also taken care of. He seems to know all there is to know about styles and construction techniques and old English and European furniture. Asked about coffins, of all things, he has apparently has made a couple and gave us a detailed description of the Lancashire Toe Pincher! You get what I mean.


A few students decided to cut their dovetails without the aid of my magnetic guide, most regretted it in such thick timber but Bernard (Bern) did a flawless job with his new Skelton saw http://skeltonsaws.co.uk/ He was also one of those who finished his chest and piston fit trays.


At least half the participants had never cut dovetails by hand before which I found a little disconcerting at the start but everyone managed and some did a remarkably clean job.


Derek Jones was helping out most of the week and the loan of two Karl Holtey planes http://www.holteyplanes.com/ was greatly appreciated by many in the class. Here's Geoffrey with a Holtey thumb plane.


Simon happily shooting away with one of my Lignum jack planes. He was particularly generous with his time and help to many of the others in the class.


The box sides were planed and sanded up prior to the lid being separated.


The boxes below are ready to be separated with a hand saw, the initial cuts were made on the router table to ensure everything lined up.


Below is Bern's mitre shooting board which was used for the friction fit mitred lining. He enjoys making jigs and it showed, this one was immaculately made and dead accurate. It was made from Bob Wearing's plans.
 
And here's Bern enjoying the other Holtey a No 10 mitre plane, leaving behind a flawless surface and a pile of fluffy shavings.

As a diversion on a coffee break, Derek produced a wonderful quarter scale anarchists tool chest made by Mario Terenzi. The detail on the chest was incredible down to minute hand cut dovetails, it is a real tour de force.


In addition to the chest there were some superbly made and fully functional tool also made by Mario.

So with the course complete, most people seemed extremely pleased with the results and perhaps surprised with how well they did. I'll leave you with a comment from Martin after watching his tray descending into the chest, 'that's the best thing I've ever made!'

Saturday 11 July 2015

Dansel Gallery


I made a trip recently to the Dansel Gallery in Abbottsbury, Dorset to drop off some more boxes.
This is a wonderful gallery dedicated to wood craft.
There are plenty of pictures for you to enjoy here, there seemed to be quite a Krenov influence to a number of pieces.
Needless to say if you find yourself anywhere near Abbottsbury it's well worth a visit.














Thursday 9 July 2015

Article on Roubo Workbench in F&C Magazine


I made the cover of F&C this month with my Roubo work bench.
It is a nice 4 page article complete with a full set of exploded plans.




Tuesday 7 July 2015

A Wonderful Work Shop!


Here is the workshop of Stuart in East Sussex, a good friend of mine.


It has two stories and a lot of space, I'm jealous!



Here's his pivoting wall cupboard to maximise convenient stool storage.


A very neat set of metal drawers in a shop made cabinet.
I had to include the very poor shot below just to show the size of the wheel on his user made leg vice.


A nice heavy Felder bandsaw.
 
A very well organised and equipped drill press.


A lovely big cross cut table, fitted with both a radial arm and sliding mitre saws.


and finally a pair of inset Veritas vices at the other end of his sturdy work bench.


Sunday 5 July 2015

Wonderful Piano!


Good customer Paul McNulty http://www.fortepiano.eu/ sent me these pictures of his latest project.
A replica of a Graf piano made for Beethoven around 1825. It was made for the Kunsthistorische Museum Wein.  Humbling stuff!