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Power Tools
24V Combi Drills
Andy Standing  |  Oct 11, 2008  |  0 comments
Feature Checklist Here’s a list of the features that you should expect to find on a good 24V combi.

Torque control The torque control ring sets the point at which the clutch in the machine disengages from the motor. It is used for screwdriving so that you do not drive your screws too deep. There are usually around 20 settings. The torque ring may also incorporate the hammer and drilling settings, or there may be a…

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News
New fine dust extractor from Makita
The Woodworker  |  Oct 09, 2008  |  0 comments

Dust extraction is an increasingly important requirement when power tools are in operation and the new Makita 447M dust extraction unit meets the highest levels of the performance embodied in the EN 60335-2-69 standard, which is a pan-European prescription. Class M regulations require the dust extraction machine to be able to remove dust from the work area efficiently so that there is no pollution greater than 0.1milligrams per cubic…

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News
Ashley Iles Mk.2 B/E Chisels
Matthew Platt  |  Oct 09, 2008  |  0 comments
The new Ashley Iles Mk. 2 bevel edged chisels are due to be launched on the 1st of November. These are the only handmade English bevel edged chisels on the market and much of the focus of this redesign has been on maximising the benefits that handmaking offers over mechanised production.

Look out for a passaround here on GetWoodworking soon to provide members an opportunity to try the tools out in their own workshops and share their…

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Profiles
John Brown ~ Part 1
Mike Riley  |  Oct 09, 2008  |  0 comments

John Brown died in his sleep on the morning of 1st June 2008. John Brown was a maker of Welsh stick chairs, as well as a teacher and author. His book on Windsor chairs is, I believe, out of print although it is to be found here and there for stratospheric sums of money.

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Profiles
John Brown ~ Part 2
Phil Davy  |  Oct 08, 2008  |  0 comments

The world of woodworking is full of colourful characters, but John Brown stands out as one of the most unique. Often controversial, he was regarded as something of a Luddite by many fellow woodworkers for his loathing of power tools and modern woodworking machinery. In fact, his monthly column in Good Woodworking probably generated more letters from readers than anyone before or since. As a champion of hand tools, he had little time for…

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Profiles
John Brown ~ Part 3
John Brown  |  Oct 07, 2008  |  0 comments
Here John Brown tells of the very moment his career in chairmaking sparked into life. Along the way, in what would be typical JB style, he throws in a disparaging assessment on woodturning. In its life his column generated more readers’ letters than any other subject! Below: Back in 1997, John Brown sculpts a bow arm using a rasp. Note that he does so using an engineer’s vice I have written in my book, Welsh Stick Chairs,…

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Profiles
John Brown ~ Part 4
John Brown  |  Oct 06, 2008  |  0 comments
By appearances and background, the John Brown that Good Woodworking knew was a late-middle aged, middleclass gentleman. Yet in spirit he was a selfconfessed hippy. This treatise on practise and dedication again helps us to understand his approach to woodworking. Right: John Brown allowed himself only the one machine – an ancient bandsaw. Typically it lived outside under a tarpaulin taking power off a tractor! The last two years of…

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Profiles
John Brown ~ Part 5
John Brown  |  Oct 05, 2008  |  0 comments
One of JB’s favourite subjects was hand tools – or rather the advantages of hand tools over machines. Of course he had a holistic approach to the matter. My grandmother had y a theory that the heartbeat hadn’t altered since time began, and that the pace of life should be regulated by that fact. Even 50 years ago she could not understand what all the rush was about. She used to tell me that most of life’s ills were…

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Profiles
John Brown ~ Part 6
John Brown  |  Oct 04, 2008  |  0 comments
There is little question here that John Brown found an inner peace in chairmaking and we dare say he enjoyed a level of happiness in his work that few truly find. His column in early 2001 championed woodworking for beating stress. And while his copy offered a typically eclectic mix of anecdote and empiricism, it was in a small aside titled ‘A chairmaker’s notes’ that John Brown revealed (not for the first time) his tactile if…

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Construction Techniques
Cutting Housing Joints
Andy Standing  |  Oct 03, 2008  |  0 comments
The housing joint is a useful structural joint, particularly in cabinets and shelving units. It’s sometimes also called a dado joint, and is effectively a trench that’s cut across the grain of the timber, into which the end of another component is inserted. The difference between a groove and a housing is that a groove always runs along the grain, whereas a housing runs across it.

A well-made housing is a strong and reliable…

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