The Funeral Chair Part One – Dimensioning and Joinery

A few weeks ago I found myself in need of a project that might take my woodworking to the next level. Up until now I have tackled very simple projects while I find my feet in the world of hand tool woodworking. I didn’t want to run before I could walk, but I wanted something that was a little more complicated than the small dovetailed boxes I have been pottering about with recently. Tom Fidgen’s book An Unplugged Life provided an ideal suggestion in the form of The Funeral Chair. As I mentioned in my last post, I am sure that seasoned woodworkers would find this project to be quite simple, but bear in mind that I am a noob. Continue reading “The Funeral Chair Part One – Dimensioning and Joinery” →

August 6, 2015 1

I need your advice

I have mentioned in previous posts that my preferred method of sharpening for chisels and plane irons is on my Eze-Lap diamond plates using a honing guide. I have also acknowledged that I ought really to try and ditch the guide and learn to do it freehand. Well, recently, I have experimented with some freehand sharpening with plane irons, with surprisingly good results. However, I have found that instead of a nice flat bevel, I end up with a rounded one; a convex camber if you will, that curves back from the cutting edge. I have learned from my maestro, Paul Sellers, that far from being a problem, this camber actually strengthens the cutting edge, supporting it and lengthening the time between sharpenings. I don’t know if this is true or not, but it certainly doesn’t seem to have a negative effect. Continue reading “I need your advice” →

July 13, 2015 12

Yet another box

Last year, for dad’s day, my kids very kindly got me a set of Narex bench chisels. Now, I know that they are not high-end chisels, and many a woodworker would probably scoff at them because they aren’t Lie-Nielson or Ashley Isles and didn’t cost the equivalent of the GNP of Ecuador, but for my needs they are perfect. They fit my hands well, they are nicely balanced and they hold an edge well. Also, as a bonus, they came in a nice little box which protects them from surface rust. Continue reading “Yet another box” →

July 11, 2015 4

Bits and pieces

This post is a bit of a hodgepodge, just an update of what has been going on recently. First of all: The Biltong Slicer. I delivered it to my friend and it is fair to say that he was tickled pink. He says that he doesn’t want to use it because it’s too beautiful. That might be an overstatement on his part… Continue reading “Bits and pieces” →

June 3, 2015 0

Sharpening #1

When I was building my shed, it really was a predominantly power tool affair. With one exception. I decided that I would use a good old-fashioned chisel and mallet to chop out the notches for the noggins and studs. There must have been nearly two hundred of them. I needed to learn to sharpen my chisels.

All I had was the coarse/fine reversible oil stone and honing guide that came with my chisels, and that did the job nicely, a bit crude, but fine for the rough work I was doing in softwood.

Continue reading “Sharpening #1” →

March 15, 2015 0

Setting up

So, here is the inside of my new shed. I took a water supply from the house and plumbed in a janitor’s sink that a friend gave me. I put up a few hooks and put my tools neatly on them. I procured some hardwood offcuts from a nearby saw mill. I just need to knock up a lean-to for the bikes and I can build myself a woodworking bench from a beam I salvaged from the old shed.