Magazines

• Reach for the sky – Keith Smith describes the design, commissioning and building of an epic climbing frame for his neighbours’ two boys. He explains that he’s tried to include a good range of activities and create a design that’s reasonably testing yet as safe as he could make it. He’s done a pretty good job!
• Taking shape – Paul Bodiam presents the second part of his series on building a tenor ukulele. This month he constructs a couple of jigs and starts work on the curved ribs. One jig will be used to shape the soundboard and back, while the other will support the ribs as the instrument’s body takes shape
• After the apocalypse – Peter Nicholson presents a striking free-standing cherry bookcase, and recounts how he made it for a client who’d lost faith in wall-hung shelving systems
• Drawing to a close – Duncan Rose completes his intricately veneered DVD cabinet by making the seven drawer boxes, fitting the top and shelf and applying the finish. The result looks stunning…

In our Workshop section Andy King, the technical editor of Good Woodworking magazine, continues his journey through the basics of woodworking practice by explaining what’s what in interlocking joints – ones that need no additional reinforcement. Alan Holtham explains that it’s now quite quick and easy to produce traditional framed and panelled doors to a professional standard, as profile-scribing and panel-moulding cutters for the router are now widely available and are relatively inexpensive if you buy them as a set. Meanwhile Keith Smith continues his inimitable Shop Notes column by describing how he’s visited A&E with an eyeful of dust, created a personal symbol of hope for a poorly friend and fashioned a replacement toilet seat.

Our turning section has three relatively unusual projects for you this month. Chris Child turns an attractive little desktop companion to make sure his pen and calculator are always conveniently to hand. Colin Simpson explains how to master the intricate art of cutting screw threads by hand – a process known as chasing – while Keith Smith copies a mysterious object found in an Egyptian pyramid to make a dowsing pendulum for a healer friend to use in detecting illness.

Finally, our regular test section has reviews this month of the following tools and equipment:
• Axminster MT1 mitre trimmer
• Mafell KSS300 cross-cutting system
• Proxxon TBH bench drill
• Makita BPJ180Z cordless biscuit jointer
• Festool Surfix oil finish system
• Axminster squirrel-tail palm plane*
• Axminster Stayput worklight

* This tool was mistakenly attributed to Veritas instead of Axminster in the magazine. We’re very sorry about the error; it was the fault of the editor, not the reviewer.

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