Category: Woodworking

  • Router Table Electrics and Wiring a Contactor

    Now that the frame of the router table is built it’s time to start plumbing in the electrics. As with the rest of this build I’ve gone a little bit over the top and installed an industrial sized contactor. Over all I’m mostly happy with the finished product but read on for details.

  • Building Sash Windows – Part 1

    Materials Paint On my first batch of windows I used Johnstone’s Flexible Primer Undercoat and Johnstone’s Flexible Gloss. It’s not cheap but it came highly recommended by people who have used it and I would be happy agree with them and say this is good stuff. The data sheet claims an 8 year life time…

  • Woodcarving Tool Brands

    Brands The majors brands in alphabetical order are Which brand you go for is a matter of personal preference and it’s a good idea to hold the chisel in your hand before purchase. The Kirchen tools all have an octagonal handles which you’ll either love or hate. The Pfeil tools often get praised on-line for…

  • Turned Pens – 2023 and Earlier

    I occasionally turn a pen or two and I thought it would be nice to catalouge what I make. I’m not great at turning but I get the job done and I’m happy with the final result. This isn’t a complete list of every pen I’ve made but it’s close, I seem to recall I…

  • Wooden Rosette

    Wooden Rosette

    A friend asked me if I could make some wooden rosettes / bosses for the house he is doing up. The doorways (and windows) have decorative surrounds and these are positioned at the top corners. I made a around twenty in total. The picture below shows what I’m aiming for. Prepare the Blanks I’m going…

  • Jet JPT-260 Planer Thicknesser Chain Replacement

    For a while now I’ve been having a problem with the outfeed roller on my planer thicknesser. While thicknessing the machine will make a loud banging sound and the wood will fail to emerge from the machine. For a while I couldn’t figure out what was going wrong as everything visible seemed to be working…

  • Pallet Wood Board

    Pallet Wood Board

    We’ve recently had some building work done and so I had a load of pallets available to try and do something with. As a general rule I don’t like reclaiming wood as it’s invariably full of junk (sand, nails, knots, etc) but there was so much of it I couldn’t just leave it. In the…

  • French Polishing – Notes from a Short Course

    I recently went on a French polishing course and I took a few notes while I was there. What follows below are the notes I took typed up neatly so that I don’t forget everything. Some of it might be a bit disjointed but there are some gems in there and it’s in roughly the…

  • Quick and Simple Picture Mounting

    Quick and Simple Picture Mounting

    A few months ago my parents bought a children’s map of the world for my daughter. They had the map laminated which is great as it means it won’t succumb to sticky fingers. Unfortunately though it means it’s developed quite a spring while it’s been rolled up in the tube. In order to hang this map…

  • Woodturning Journal January 2007

    Woodturning Journal January 2007

    January was a busy month in the workshop. I did more turning than I have done in a long time and, for the first time, I really enjoyed it because I knew what I was doing. There is fun to be had learning to do something new but I believe more fun is had honing…

  • Woodturning Journal July 2006

    Woodturning Journal July 2006

    Since I now had a chuck and therefore access to the end of the wood I wanted to create a hollow form. I looked at the piece of wood I had mounted in the chuck and felt that perhaps it was a little long (25cm) considering my lack of experience and skill. I thought it…

  • Woodturning Journal June 2006

    Woodturning Journal June 2006

    I didn’t get much turning done in June for one reason or another. At the start of the month I thought the tools were getting a little dull. After turning a spindle I decided that there was no point in continuing without first sharpening the tools. My skill level seemed to be going backwards despite…

  • Woodturning Journal May 2006

    Woodturning Journal May 2006

    May saw the turning of yet more spindles of varying quality. I think that with hindsight the tools were starting to become fairly blunt which was slowing down my progress. the first piece I produced was more beads. I was starting to become pretty fed up with turning beads by the end of this piece…

  • Woodturning Journal April 2006

    Woodturning Journal April 2006

    April was the first full month where I could turn and therefore it saw me do a great deal more turning than I managed in March. I started the month with the intention of leaning to produce a good bead and I think I got close to being able to do that. The first piece…

  • Woodturning Journal March 2006

    Woodturning Journal March 2006

    March 2006 marks the start of my woodturning hobby – a hobby that I think will stand the test of time. Before getting to the actual turning I should recount what happened at the start of the month since the turning only occupies the last few days. Some aspects of this entry actually occurred before…