Magazines

Les Thorne’s stunning Canadian quilted maple platter with airbrushed rim

Welcome to our Autumn Special, which promises to deliver a whole host of exciting woodworking and woodturning gems that are sure to inspire you and keep you busy during the chillier months to come! In terms of what you can expect from our projects and turning section, Grace Silverwood puts the finishing touches to her rocking hippo; in the third of his four-part ‘air guitar’ build, Shaun Newman describes how the soundboard should be made, braced and fitted, as well as describing how to inlay the rosette; next, following on from last month, having machined mortise & tenon joints, Michael Forster sets about making the final components for his craft table; Dave Roberts turns a decorative wall sconce, and reveals the recipe for his favourite eboniser; Phil Davy works out how to restore the moulding on panelled church doors; and last but not least, letting a stunning piece of timber speak for itself, Les Thorne simply adds a dark airbrushed rim to the platter, allowing the quilting figure to really stand out

Robin Gates’ early shaping with the spokeshave

If techniques are more your thing, in the next woodworker’s encyclopaedia, Peter Bishop talks about cluster knots that might be a bit pippy, curves and compasses, all the way through to conky and converting logs into lumber; before Robin Gates makes simple things from windfallen and discarded wood found close to home, and shares his impressions of the Flexcut Carvin’ Jack.

 

“I’m a lumberjill…”

Moving on to features, in ‘Archive’, Robin Gates turns to the August 1946 issue of The Woodworker for a guide to the newfangled iron planes making British woodies obsolete; in ‘Me & my workshop’ we meet Tony Vernon, a furniture conservator who has been running his own business in Devon for over 45 years; next, in the first of a new series discussing his joinery adventures from the 1970s, Gareth Jones recounts the story of being commissioned by a lord of the manor to repair a rather rotted orangery; before Anselm Fraser advises making furniture that works, but taking the functional and adding in something a little bit special or unusual; also, Paul Greer shares a wonderful feature on the story of the Women’s Timber Corps, or ‘Lumberjills’ as they were affectionately known; in a special one-page feature, Robin Gates recalls a wooden dinghy that was a much loved member of the family; and finally, in ‘End-grain’, Edward Hopkins has an unfortunate pain in the neck, courtesy of a false widow spider…

The brand-new and redeveloped FlexiClick GSR 12V-35 FC system from Bosch Professional

As with every issue, we have some of the hottest new kit on the test bench, including the redeveloped Bosch FlexiClick GSR 12V-35 FC system, which Phil Davy finds to be great for drilling/screwdriving in confined spaces. Next up is the Axminster AC200BG bench grinder, which is ideal for refurbishing tools, rather than producing precision edges, but does benefit from a heavy-duty construction. And Jonathan Salisbury also looks at another raft of tools from Wood Workers Workshop, such as the FastCap GluBot 16oz and the iGaging Snap-check and digital read-out gauge.

In this issue, you’ll also find full details of the fantastic Alan Peters Furniture Award 2020, so, if you haven’t done so already, have a look at the website and download your application form now. Help us champion UK furniture making talent while celebrating the life and work of the late Alan Peters OBE. There’s some fantastic prizes on offer as well as the opportunity to have your work displayed in a top gallery, so do not delay!

This month’s competition is courtesy of Trend and gives one lucky reader the opportunity to win a brand-new Compact Storage four-piece Cart set, plus two runners up will each receive a Compact Tool Box 200. Good luck to all those who enter! As well as this, you can also expect to find all your usual favourite pages, including news and courses, welcome, marketplace, next month, letters and readers’ tips, plus much more!

We hope you enjoy our Autumn Special of The Woodworker & Good Woodworking, which is now on sale!