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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…

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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Measuring with a dial caliper on workbench

Stack Marking

Robert Paul Gurney explains how to use ordinary tools to get extraordinarily accurate layouts. The key to accurate marking and layout is to use common tools in an uncommon way. With common marking tools you can achieve an accuracy of one hundredth of a millimetre or better. If you don’t have these tools already they are inexpensive and commonly available. Marking & layout tools The tools you need are: Caring for your tools Before you use them, run your finger along the edges to feel for burrs and to wipe off any bits of dust or particles. You can gently run your finest whetstone over the burrs to take them off and rub them with a light oil when you’re finished with them. Take good care of your tools and protect them from damage and they can last you a lifetime.  Making a ‘stack’ Most layout errors involve the ruler.

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Woodcarving

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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Artist sculpting in studio with plaster busts and tools.

The Diary of a Student Woodcarver

William Barsley talks about the progress of his final year and the transition from student to professional carver. This series follows my journey as I undertake a three-year diploma in Ornamental Woodcarving & Gilding at the City & Guilds of London Art School – turning my passion for woodcarving into a full time profession.  Final year projects With the end of the first term fast approaching, before we know it, the degree show will be upon us (June 2018), and our carvings will need to be finished to the highest quality possible. There is a buzz of excitement around the Art School, with myself and other students enjoying the freedom of working on our own projects. Knowing that my time at the Art School is almost over provides great motivation to learn and absorb as much as possible before leaving and embarking on a full time career as a carver.

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Woodturning

Ancient Roman bronze cup on wooden block.

How to Make a Creative Bowl with a Difference

Andy Coates creates a decorative bowl, which remains attached to its base. A while ago I turned a bowl on the end of a 1000 x 200 x 200mm block of oak (Quercus robur). Surprisingly it sold as a ‘floor bowl’, and I’ve always meant to make another. Recently, I found a large block of very old oak in the wood store and decided to make another, but this time I would pyrograph and colour the bowl. I like the ‘over-sized’ nature of the object and this allows for the inevitable occurrence of somebody trying to lift the bowl off the block and the incredulous look that passes over their face as they realise it is all one single piece. I tend to use material that is not ideal for more refined projects or jobs; old posts are ideal but any large block will do. If your stock is a little

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Two men carving wood outdoors.

A Brief History of Woodturning

Woodturning is alive and well. There is a fabulous selection of tools and equipment available from a wide choice of suppliers. The woodturning clubs are buzzing with enthusiastic members eager to imbibe the latest technology and to be inspired by recognised experts. Today’s woodturning scene is largely one of leisure, supported by a respectable number of professionals. Whatever one’s involvement with woodturning, I wonder how many think about how our craft evolved, and over how many hundreds of years of development have led us to where we are today? Earliest evidence of woodturning Well, we are not talking about hundreds of years, but thousands. Simple lathes have been in use in the UK for at least 4000 years, and recently I was privileged to be able to provide the practical evidence for this early technology. In August 2011, an early Bronze Age 4000 years old cist (a small chamber made

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Woodworking Crafts

GMC Imperial to Metric Conversion Table

Measurements Conversion Chart

Different countries use different measuring systems and typically the USA uses the standard/English/Imperial system and the UK uses the Metric system. It is possible to get calculators to make the conversions but the ones that use fractions are not so easy to find. Below is the conversion chart we use for all our publications and it gives the best results for woodworkers when sizing wood. If you want to do hardware conversions this will not work so well and you will need to find the nearest metric equivalent that the hardware manufacturers in your country makes. If the measurement conversion you require is not listed below simple find two, or more, measurements (in your measuring system) that will add together to make up the measurement you want, then add them and their conversions together to get the resulting conversion. If you wish to save a copy for reference, right-click on

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Three custom wooden duck calls engraved with names.

An ‘All Aboard!’ Train Whistle

John Swinkels and Bernie Leadbeatter make wooden train whistles on a lathe. Bernie brought some wooden train whistles to the club – Woodturners of the Hunter – and was happy to share with us how to make them. The whistles have four holes, and Bernie designed and built a jig that made drilling those holes in a blank an easy procedure. We made a few from radiata pine (Pinus radiata), but found the sound seemed to be richer if they were made from hardwood. So we made four whistles from local hardwood. We made the whistles using jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata), merbau (Swintonia floribunda), coachwood (Ceratopetalum apetalem) and macadamia (Macadamia ternifolia).  Things you will need Materials Bernie’s jig 1. There is an unseen piece of wood that just fits between the lathe ways.2. Under that is another smaller piece that can turn and lock the jig in place.3. The visible lowest piece is fastened

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