LATEST STORIES

Profiles
New Age of Reason
The Woodworker  |  Sep 20, 2007  |  0 comments
It’s Saturday in High Wycombe. In 96 hours, Peter Rolfe’s writing desk has to be finished and in Cheltenham, ready for the opening of the Betty Norbury — the familiar shorthand for the annual Celebration of Craftsmanship and Design exhibition of which Betty is the curator. It’s a deadline that Peter can’t afford to miss: the exhibition is arguably the premier showcase for…

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News
Veritas limited-edition stainless steel edge plane
The Woodworker  |  Sep 10, 2007  |  0 comments
This stunning limited-edition edge plane is cast in stainless steel using the lost-wax process. It shares the same long body, oversize grip and polished hand-contact areas as our bronze plane, but incorporates the advanced blade adjuster and stabilizing set screws from our iron edge plane.

It has a 14° bed angle and a 30° blade skew and comes with a 1/8" thick, 1-1/4" wide lapped A2 steel blade. The depth-adjustment mechanism is a…

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Timber & Veneers
An introduction to air and kiln drying
Keith Smith  |  Sep 02, 2007  |  0 comments
Air Drying Air drying is the traditional method of drying timber. Once the log has been sawn, the boards are stacked on battens or ‘stickers’ These should be made of softwood to prevent marking the boards. Stacks are built up which should be protected from rain and sunlight. If green wood is exposed to the elements the heart doesn’t dry and the outside keeps cycling from wet (when it rains) to dry (when the sun shines) this is one cause…

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Jigs & Workshop Aids
Surface planing with a thicknesser
Ben Plewes  |  Aug 21, 2007  |  0 comments
If your workshop is anything like mine, the addition of this surface thicknessing jig will be a welcome one. It does exactly what it says on the tin, insofar as it allows you to surface a wide board using a thicknesser. The problem I encountered in my basement sized workshop was that I had enough room for a small six inch surface planer (on wheels) and a ‘portable’ thicknesser (also on a wheeled cabinet). The thicknesser can plane timber…

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Workshop
Garage door upgrade
Keith Smith  |  Aug 02, 2007  |  0 comments
...After Before and... My workshop used to be a stable block and I thought that trying to insulate the whole area effectively would be an impossible task. So I just insulated and heated one of the 11ft square loose boxes and tried to work on smaller projects in the winter. This year I had some larger commissions and needed to work through the cold weather. I then had a little accident. I was planing the edge square on some…

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Extractors
A quick guide to dust extraction
Andy Standing  |  Aug 02, 2007  |  0 comments
Woodworking is an activity that does generate a lot of mess. If you mainly use hand tools, the shavings and sawdust tend to build up at a fairly manageable rate, and a quick sweep up at the end of the day can keep the workshop tidy. However once you begin using machinery, you suddenly become capable of generating a large quantities of chippings and sawdust that will quickly overwhelm the workshop. This is the time when you realise that you will…

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Extractors
Types of dust extractor
Keith Smith  |  Jul 25, 2007  |  0 comments
There are two basic types of extractor, the coarse dust or chip extractor and the fine filter extractor;

1. The chip extractor has a centrifugal fan which draws a large volume of air along the inlet pipe, past the fan blades and into a collection bag. This produces a high volume, low pressure airflow and its performance rapidly reduces if used with pipes or ducting smaller than 100mm. Also the filter has to be relatively coarse or it will…

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Extractors
Understanding dust extractors
Keith Smith  |  Jul 25, 2007  |  0 comments
Protecting yourself against the hidden dangers of dust is a must. Keith Smith, The Woodsmith, unravels the myths and facts of dust extraction. Modern woodworking techniques involve the use of powered machinery and tools which create large amounts of chips and dust. Efficient extraction ensures that not only do you protect your health, but your machinery works more efficiently, and the workshop is a better and safer environment to work in.…

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Power Tools
18V Combi Drills
Andy Standing  |  Jul 25, 2007  |  0 comments
Saftey Cordless drills are generally fairly safe tools. Assuming that you can avoid drilling holes in yourself, the main hazards are encountered when drilling into walls.

• Always make sure that you will not hit a mains cable, water pipe or similar obstruction. If in doubt, don’t drill. Use an electronic detector to verify the position of any hazard.

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Hand Tools
Six of the best F-Clamps
The Woodworker  |  Jul 04, 2007  |  0 comments
1. Bessey K-Body Price: from £30 Toolbank 0800 068 6238 www.toolbank.com The king of clamps. Immensely strong mechanism. Jaws remain parallel even under heavy pressure. Hardened steel rollers and superpolyamide jaws. Wooden handle with ideally pitched thread. As strong as a sash clamp but much faster. Available in sizes from 300mm to 2500mm with 85mm throat depth. 2. Screwfix Speed Clamp Price: £8.89 Screwfix…

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