To the casual observer there seems to be an ever growing divide between the power tool junkie and the traditionalist hand tool user. The check shirt and tool-belted enthusiast with a workshop full of power tools on one hand and the men in the brown coats who spend more time sharpening tools than using them.... This is, of course, the perception rather than the rule. Stereotyping is just as rife in woodworking as it is in every other walk of…

Iain Whittington began working wood under his father’s guidance in the family garage. Though his career as an Army engineer took him around the world, he continued to develop his woodworking skills, all of which proved invaluable when retirement brought a new challenge – the restoration of a 17th century Devon longhouse complete with fittings and furniture. It’s a job that requires a sympathetic eye for the different styles and…

The saw is more or less already prepared for a particular task by now, the shape established at the dressing stage with, say, a more aggressive hook for rip sawing. However, there are still various sharpening options available to adapt the saw even further.   To start with, if it’s a crosscut filed tooth I usually make a very light jointing first with the flat file to…