Magazines

Les Thorne’s turned platter with spalted apples

Welcome to our May issue, which is full of the joys of spring and ready to inspire you to get busy in your workshops! Not only do we have a varied range of projects for you to make, we also have some very interesting and useful technical articles, plus some fantastic features for you to enjoy. Speaking of projects, Clint Rose starts by presenting an entirely unique design for a bird table, which includes a series of planters to make it really stand out, before Tristan Dare creates a unique cutting board design consisting of 100 pieces of beautiful contrasting wood. In addition, we have a couple of great DIY projects from Phil Davy, the first of which details the simple steps for installing a Suffolk latch on a ledged and braced door, and the second shows you how to quickly and easily replace a rotten window board, not forgetting our monthly turning project from Les Thorne, which this month sees him using a piece of spalted beech to turn a platter accompanied by a selection of apples in exotic timbers.

On this small jewellery box, John Bullar used mitred dovetailed corners and when it is assembled, the top and bottom panels are trapped in grooves in the sides

And if that’s not enough, in our technical section, John Bullar shows how box making projects are well suited to a small workshop with a few good quality tools, as well as being an ideal way to demonstrate fine furniture making skills. Next, Peter Bishop looks at how manufacturing processes and techniques have developed to utilise wood, as well as the classifications of sheet materials and composite boards, before John McMahon admits to being a frustrated naval architect as he shares the tale of how he went about building the wheelhouse for a large, steel hulled riverboat. Back by popular demand, Dave Roberts returns with a brand-new series entitled ‘Borderlands’, and this month looks at the subject of timber-framing, and we also have a great article on responsible forestry, as Shaun Stevenson of G&S Timber highlights the importance of sustainability when sourcing timber.

Chris Vesper with his trusty ‘Bandosawrus’

Moving on to our ‘people & places’ section, in ‘Home truths’, Edward Hopkins makes three useless objects and finds that they aren’t; in ‘centrefold’, Andrew Lawton’s latest exhibition piece, made using solid blackbean, is a contemporary example of British furniture made from a very rare material; and in ‘End-grain’, Edward Hopkins tells the distressing tale of patination. For our featured profile, we talk to Chris Vesper of Vesper Tools, who also graces our front cover: regarded the world over for producing first-class precision hand tools, Chris has certainly worked hard to achieve success, which makes his story all the more inspirational.

A pair of comfortable textured rubber handles on the Makita DRT50ZJX3 offer great control of the tool, and one of these can be swapped for the bar grip handle that’s standard

As usual, we have some great kit and tools on our test bench, including an exclusive review of the Makita DRT50ZJX3 cordless LXT router, which benefits from four different versatile bases and includes a whole host of accessories, helping to make this a very comprehensive kit. Phil Davy awarded it the full five stars, meaning it’s definitely a serious cordless contender. Next up we look at a range of Shogun Japanese saws, with all three capable of producing fine, efficient cuts in a variety of materials, before we get to grips with IRWIN’s new range of QUICK-GRIP One-Handed Bar Clamps.

And don’t forget, if you send in your top workshop hint or tip, you could be in with a chance of getting your hands on a magnificent Veritas low-angle jack plane, worth over £250. See our letters and makers pages for details - good luck! As well as the above, we also have all your usual favourites, including news and courses and ‘Around the House’, as well as giving you an idea as to what our June issue will entail. All this and much more in GW331, which is now on sale!

Enjoy!
Tegan Foley, Editor