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Open book on stacked snowy books with lights
Alexander Thomson November 2, 2024

Christmas Gift Ideas

This Christmas, gift craftsmanship and creativity with a carefully chosen woodworking book With the festive…

Close-up view of sharp knife tip.
Alexander Thomson November 30, 2024

Sharpening Theory

Nic Westermann demystifies sharpening carving knives and chisels A few years back the (now ex)…

Oneway wood lathe machine for woodworking projects.
Alexander Thomson November 29, 2024

Lathes for Woodturning

Although woodturning lathes vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, the basic requirements of the lathe dictate…

Furniture & Cabinetmaking

Gothic cathedral facade with intricate stone carvings and arches.

The Gothic Style

A revolutionary advancement The Gothic style started around 1150 in France with the cathedral of Saint-Denis in Paris. It spread quickly outwards across the realms of France, England and beyond. As well as having a distinct decorative style, it was a technological revolution in stonemasonry. Displacing the thick walls, stout columns and round arches of the old Romanesque style, the Gothic church had slim clusters of columns which soared skywards, branching out into slender stone ribs which met in the middle of the roof in high, pointed arches. The slim columns were braced by ‘flying buttresses’ on the outside to prevent the roof vault collapsing outwards. With this structural stone framework, the walls could be pierced with large windows and delicate tracery, flooding light into the interior. During Gothic’s 400 years of domination, there were inevitable changes in fashion – mainly in the tracery and vault ribs. In the Early

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Wooden baby changing table with clothes and supplies

Baby Changing Station

Alan Holtham creates an elegant project that will make life easier for parents It is some years since I had anything to do with changing nappies, but at the time I did serve an intense apprenticeship spread over three children and the procedure is forever embedded in my mind. In fact I got so good I could do it with my eyes shut, which was often the best way really! As with woodworking where you cannot beat a decent workbench to get the best results, so a changing station with the baby contained at the right height and with all the paraphernalia immediately to hand makes the job so much easier. I also wanted refinements like ‘touch to open’ doors that you could open with your knee to get the forgotten wipes, without having to let go of the squirming infant. This one was designed to match in with a

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Woodcarving

Hand-carved stone and wooden dragon sculptures on palm leaves.

Carving a Dragon from Stone

Steve Bisco is inspired by a medieval dragon in Christchurch Priory. Christchurch Priory in Dorset, is a cathedral in all but name. It’s one of the largest churches in Britain, reflecting the historical status of Christchurch as an important medieval port on the south coast of England. The Norman core of the building, started in 1094 and finished around 1150, was built in the Romanesque style, with the round arches and heavy columns that preceded the later and lighter Gothic style. It is well worth visiting for its carved stonework and woodcarving. While on such a visit I was stopped short by a small dragon nestling at the foot of one of the columns in the nave, apparently asleep but with its mouth partly open as if ready to strike if disturbed. It was carved in medium relief on the upper surface of one of the limestone blocks at the

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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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Woodturning

Woodturning on a lathe with carving tool.

How to Turn a Perfect Sphere. Part 2

Now you should be ready to finish of your sphere. However, a sphere is only created in the details of the finish. Any inconsistencies in the curvature of the item, and it is strictly speaking, not a sphere. So at this point you may think you are on the home straight – alas, there are still many process between your carefully crafted ball and the perfect sphere! Wooden mounting cups To achieve this secondary holding method, we need to turn some wooden cups to hold the sphere securely without marking it. I chose two pieces of tulipwood (Liriodendron tulipifera), a relatively soft hardwood of around the same density as the redwood I used for the balls. One is simply held in the chuck and turned to a cup shape, the other needs to fit onto your live centre. I am fortunate that I own a Oneway live centre which features a threaded

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Woodturning on a lathe machine.

Why Turn Punky and Soft Wood?

Alan Wasserman looks at using imperfect wood, starting with the implications and things to consider when using soft ‘punky’ wood. Why write an article on using imperfect wood for your woodturning project? Imperfections in wood can include rot, spalting, discolouration, bark inclusions, worm holes, voids, cracks, fissures, etc. Each has implications when they are present in the wood. Some might say that if the wood has imperfections it should be thrown on the fire pile – after all, wood grows on trees!  Timber Quality wood can be located and bought from many sources. Perfect timber costs money – depending on the species and figuring, a lot of money – but it can be what is required. What about wood that isn’t quite perfect – like getting our hands on a piece of driftwood or being offered or coming across a felled tree or sections from a tree surgeon? What about

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Woodworking Crafts

Drill bit cutting into spinning wood on lathe.

10 Tips for Drilling Better Holes. Part 2

Continuing on from 10 Tips for Drilling Better Holes, Part One, Kurtz Hertzog shares his time tested methods to guarantee accuracy and quality when drilling holes. Keep things cool Smoke is never a good thing when drilling wood. You can drill quickly and efficiently without creating a lot of smoke. On occasion, you may get some, particularly from those species that like to burn such as cherry (Prunus spp.), but it should be rarely and only a little bit. If you’ve got smoke erupting from your drilling, regardless of your drilling method you’ve got other problems. Chances are it is one or more of these: when a drill is dull, rather than sharpen it we often just push harder and speed up the rpm. Smoke can often be caused by far too aggressive speeds and feeds. Slow things down and let the tool do the work. Plugged flutes will also

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Glass of red wine on wooden coasters.

End Grain Coasters

Paul Purnell makes coasters using pen blanks. Large end-grain projects are reasonably straightforward if you possess a planer/thicknesser and a huge industrial drum sander, but not everyone does (including me). These coasters are an introduction to working with end-grain without access to this equipment. Once you are able to manage these, an end-grain chopping board is feasible. It is crucial that edges are flat and at 90° to each other. Without this, there will inevitably be gaps in the finished piece. This project is a challenge, but a worthwhile one. Anyway, a few gaps will show the coasters were handmade. If you have an accurate bandsaw or tablesaw, you could cut the blanks from your own wood stock. However, this will limit you to the types of wood you have. I experimented by ordering 30 pen blanks via the internet. Their size and 90° accuracy varied, and strangely the more

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