Magazines

GW is back to championing young talent, and this month we meet 17-year-old Matt Underwood – a young turner with bags of enthusiasm and a very bright future ahead of him. Barrie Scott visited ‘Matt’s Shed’ and wrote a fantastic article on how this young lad has been well and truly bitten by the woodturning bug. He’s a clever so-and-so and as well as winning his fair share of prestigious awards, also knows how to make his own tools! Matt Underwood sings the praises of the AWGB’s Youth Training programme and how this helped him to develop his skills, pushed him to enter competitions and learn from some of the top turners in the field, and one thing’s for sure - this turner has a bright future ahead of him. Good luck, Matt!

Chris Schwarz teaching at the Port Townsend School of Woodworking

Another great feature this month is on the Port Townsend School of Woodworking in Maine. It was a pleasure to speak to the man behind the school striving to preserve the tradition of hand tool woodworking and whose mission is to “inspire a lifelong passion for craftsmanship through education in woodworking and traditional building trades.” Tim Lawson helped to set up the School and has go on to establish a community like no other. And the answer to their success? A shared love of woodworking, a passion for helping each other and problem solving along the way.

Noah Weinstein’s clever ‘rainbow wood’ chopping board

I was intrigued when I heard the term ‘rainbow wood’, but this is actually an incredibly good way of using up those scraps of left over timber that accumulate from various projects. We’ll be featuring a whole kitchen projects series from Noah Weinstein, but in this issue he shows us how to make a handy chopping board, which also looks great!

Sometimes, with complex joints, it can be helpful to clamp the wood at an angle to the saw cut remains vertical, as John Bullar shows

John Bullar’s new beginners’ series is going down a storm, and this month, in part 4, he covers the subject of choosing and using hand saws for furniture making. Although a very broad topic, John uses his expertise to guide you through the various types available; how to use them to the best of your ability; available accessories to improve your sawing, and much more. As John advises, if you are planning to get involved in furniture making or have already started, a decent quality backsaw (probably a small tenon saw) is a wise early investment.

Gavin Campbell of Freed Veneers was keen to point out that it isn’t just sliced or peeled veneers that are available

Amid testing all the latest kit and being throughly impressed with the Chicago brand open-ended spanners and the Lansky Blademedic sharpener especially, Andy King found time to drop in on Leighton Buzzard-based company Freed Veneers. Who knew there were so many different varieties! As he reported, this company really do have something for everyone, from highly-prized veneers, to contemporary coloured veneers, all the way through to traditional boards - there really is lots of veneer in ‘ere!

In terms of what else you can expect from this issue, Michael Huntley discusses roof structure in his ‘small structures’ series; we take a look at Made in Ratio’s ‘Alpha’ chair; Phil Davy gives us the lowdown on Womad and also makes a Mission-style mirror; Andy Smith has a great workbench build for kids, and Les Thorne shares his tale of three bowls. We also have a great competition in conjunction with  StandSafe Workwear, which gives you the opportunity to win 1 of 5 full workwear outfits, each worth over £80, so be sure to enter now!

All this and much more in issue 306 of Good Woodworking, which hits the shelves on 27 May.

Enjoy!

Tegan Foley, Editor