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Wooden hand plane, spiral carvings
Alexander Thomson September 14, 2024

Stylised Killer Whale

Dave Western creates from scrapwood a killer whale that is based heavily on a dramatic form…

Rustic coffee table with open book and glasses
Alexander Thomson September 9, 2024

Rustic Coffee Table

Michael T Collins makes a beautiful rustic-looking coffee table. I have long been a proponent of…

Wooden walking stick handle in green foliage
Alexander Thomson September 7, 2024

Lye-shaped Thumbstick

Paul Purnell makes a lye-shaped thumbstick. Following on from last month’s article on joining a…

Furniture & Cabinetmaking

Person pruning bushes in garden with gardening tools.

How to Make a Garden Kneeler

You don’t have to suffer from a bad back to realise that our handy kneeler is just what you need. Things you will need Wood 1. Use a standard pre-sanded pine shelf board, 200mm wide, and cut two pieces roughly 700mm long.  2. Mark hand cutouts near one end of each board and cut the holes by using a jigsaw, first drilling a pilot hole for the blade to go through. 3. Round all edges of the hand holes and the outer edges of both boards with a rasp except at the bottom ends which must be left square.  4. Cut, glue and screw two lengths of batten to the bottom ends of the boards. These will stop the boards sinking into the ground and will help to spread the load. 5. Saw off a length of the same shelf board, slightly longer than the foam rubber kneeler pad you intend using. Cut, glue

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Carved lion with wings on wooden furniture piece.

How to Carve Scrolls

Carving scrolls into furniture is a technique that has been around for many centuries – its simplistic beauty and accurate clean lines blending together several different radiuses. Scrolls can be incorporated into any style of furniture from a complicated baroque chair to a simple, modern-style table. When designing this end table, I wanted the upper section of the legs to resemble a griffin, a mythical creature which is part lion and part eagle. On the lower section of the leg, I wanted a simple form to complement and balance the entire leg. Things you will need Tools Wood Genuine mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) Starting the process Marking the details Carving the curl Carving the leg Finishing off Further reading

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Woodcarving

Golden goat embossed round plaque.

How to Carve a Billy Goat

Johan Roudy shows how to create a small, detailed relief carving in boxwood. This 70mm diameter medallion is part of a small series of low-reliefs I carved. Contrary to the previous ones I made, which showed farm animals in a strict profile view, this billy goat is depicted in a three-quarter view. Adding some perspective effects to the fine details was one more challenge. Whatever the size you choose to make yours, it works very well as a larger, plate-sized carving. The best method I know to deal with that is to divide the design in different layers, and to figure out which elements come in front and which ones come at the back. In this carving, the highest points will be the horns, the muzzle, the tip of the ears and the hanging end of the collar. The head, the neck and the shoulder will be our three main

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Wooden thistle carving on a red wall.

Arts & Crafts Thistle

Steve Bisco carves a stylised piece, inspired by the Arts & Crafts movement The thistle is one of the most easily recognisable wild plants of the British countryside – with its spiny leaves and bulbous flowerhead. So it is not surprising that it’s widely used as a decorative motif. The thistle in culture It has a particular relevance to Scotland, where it has been the national heraldic symbol since the 13th century. According to legend, an invading Viking army was creeping up on a Scottish army’s encampment one night, when one of the barefooted Vikings trod on a prickly thistle, causing him to cry out and alert the Scots to the ambush. The craftspeople of the late-19th-century Arts & Crafts Movement took their inspiration from the flora of the countryside, and much of their work was based on native plants, either in natural or stylised form. The Arts & Crafts style

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Woodturning

Handcrafted wooden condiment set on black background.

How to Make a Condiment Set

Colwin Way turns a simple, but beautiful condiment set. This project is going to be a real mixture of turning techniques and tips. I will be showing you how to turn a condiment set, where we can explore different holding techniques and design opportunities. The set itself, when broken down, is a straightforward enough project and easily achievable with moderate turning skills and kit. However, you can expand on this idea if you want and make it suit your needs and design. I’m using yew (Taxus baccata) for this set (one of my favourite timbers). It has a fantastic orange colour with a really dense close grain. I’ve purposely cut away any sapwood to keep the grain consistent because the white sap for this project would be a distraction. It’s also important to note that yew as a timber is poisonous, so just oiling this project isn’t good enough, and

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Hand-painted wooden bowl with colorful intricate design.

Colour, Creativity and Whimsey

Guest editor Andy Coates interviews artistic woodturner Tic Challis Tic Challis is an artist and woodturner living and working in Suffolk, UK. I first came across Tic many years ago while demonstrating at the club of which she was (and still is) a member. Tic had an example of her incredibly intricate and detailed pyrography on display, a platter if my memory serves, and it was breathtaking. As a long-time fan of pyrography, it was wonderful to see. Over the years Tic has developed her woodturning skills, now demonstrates at clubs around the country, and often attends events and trade shows with Woodart Supplies owner John Woods. Tic’s work is impossible to ignore; it is creative, colourful, whimsical, and often wild, and for me at least, never fails to bring a smile. Woodturning does not always play a part in Tic’s work but seems to have become the canvas she

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Woodworking Crafts

Wooden dragon carving on pink background.

Carving a Dragon from Oak

If you want to make this dragon as a woodcarving, it works well in oak (Quercus robur), although you could use any suitable hardwood. You could also make it as a relief carving on an oak block in the same manner as the stone carving, but I have made it as a freestanding creature cut out from the oak board with a bandsaw or jigsaw. Woodcarving needs more tools than stone carving because of the grain, but you can achieve finer detail with the oak version. Sleeping dragon plan Drawings and how to resize them To enlarge or reduce the size of drawings right click on the image to download it and then go HERE to watch a video on how to use paper with a grid to do exactly that. Things you will need Tools Materials Carving the dragon in oak Preparations Roughing out Carving the detail Finishing Further reading

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Person hiking near large tree in forest.

All About Lime

Gary Marshall takes a look at the lime tree, whose history lies back in ancient times. Think of a lime (Tilia vulgaris) tree and you may picture just one type. However, there are around 30 distinct species in the genus Tilia worldwide. They generally have telltale zigzag twigs and heart-shaped leaves. Limes range from the American basswood (Tilia americana) to the rare and lovely Tilia tuan from China, as well as many hybrids and cultivars. This article concerns three closely related types; the common lime – a hybrid (Tilia x vulgaris) and our British native trees – the small-leaved lime (Tilia cordata) and the large-leaved lime (Tilia platyphyllos). The common lime is a familiar tree in the British Isles; it’s a hybrid between the small-leaved and large-leaved limes and is best seen in an open parkland setting. It’s valued for its stately, tall form, for its bright, lime green leaves emerging in

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