Magazines

Peter Harrison’s sliding ring box is a challenging project but definitely worth the effort

Welcome to our first issue of 2018 - we hope you like it as much as we do! We’ve got so much in store for you, including a fantastic competition from Trend to kick off the New Year. With a prize total of £1,498, don’t miss out on your chance to win an impressive workshop haul, including the new WRT Workshop Router Table, T5 and T11 routers, and the new T35 M-Class dust extractor - good luck to all those of you who enter!
As well as some great new kit, we also have a wide range of projects for you to make, including Dustin Van den Abeele’s convertible bench design, which features individual rotating plywood components, which can comfortably seat four people in a number of configurations. And if you want an easy project to make over a weekend, Janice Anderssen’s trestle table not only looks effective but requires minimal materials and tools. Back with his second ring box design, Peter Harrison encounters his fair share of challenges but the end result is a slick looking home for treasured possessions that really does look the business. Or, if you fancy getting creative, then Phil Davy’s letter rack allows you to practice your scrollsaw techniques, and Les Thorne’s pyrographed bowl will certainly give you an opportunity to hone your skills.

John Bullar marks a line across the end-grain at two-thirds of the thickness, representing the base of the sockets

In our techniques section, John Bullar discusses how best to cut lapped dovetail joints using hand tools, and in ‘What the Dickens’, Dave Roberts takes a leaf out of Scrooge’s book with a little seasonal reflection. Continuing with his ‘Understanding Timber’ series, as Peter Bishop shows, it doesn’t matter how hard we try when working projects down from raw materials, waste cannot be avoided, and in a new series of ‘How-to guides’, we take a look at how best to use the Trend Skeleton Hinge Jig.

Kevin Stamper’s stunning ‘Morning Storm’ cabinet

In ‘People & Places’, we bring you an exclusive feature that showcases all the winners of the recent 2017 Wood Awards, including the star of our January cover - Mark Laban and his Rustic Stool 1.0 - which stunned the judges as he scooped the 2017 prize for Student Designer Winner. Edward Hopkins brings us the next in his ‘Home Truths’ series as he reviews the nesting habits of wasps, tits and himself, and in ‘Centrefold’, we take a look at Kevin Stamper’s stunning cabinet, which fuses pixel marquetry with expert craftsmanship, before we examine the formula for the mathematics of happiness in this month’s ‘End-grain’.

The supplied fine height adjuster on the Trend T11 router can be used for hand-held adjustment from above

As it’s the New Year, what better way to start than by looking at some great new woodworking kit, such as the Bosch GHO 12V-20 cordless planer and two great products from the Draper Storm Force range. We also take a look at the Trend T11 router, which is still a market leader 12 years on, as well as a clever jaw cramp from Pinie and a cheap and efficient window alarm from Glass Guard.

As well as all of the above, we also have all your favourite pages, including news, courses, letters & makers, before giving you a sneak peek at our February issue, which contains another great competition as well as a fantastic range of enjoyable content.

Enjoy!
Tegan Foley, Editor