Category Archives: tools

In praise of the homegrown shavehorse

For most greenwood workers a shavehorse is at the centre of their workshop. An ingeniously simple yet effective device for holding work it is used along with a drawknife to shave chair parts, blanks for the lathe, rake heads and … Continue reading

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Rakemaking Workshop

Despite the recent setbacks with tools, over the bank holiday I ran a one-to-one workshop for Mike Carswell on making wooden rakes. This was hosted by Edward & Romola in the wonderfully inspiring Sprint Mill workshop. Mike has just completed … Continue reading

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Workshop fire

I’ve recently moved house and so have been using space in a friend’s barn to do some of my own greenwood work. On Saturday morning I got a phone message saying there’d been a fire in the barn in the area … Continue reading

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Hand exercises

In my work I use my hands a lot. Carving with knives, axe work, operating powered sanders, bending steamed wood, fine manipulations, gripping and holding work in place, lifting, pushing, typing, even using them as a hammer. It’s a cliché … Continue reading

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Pembrokeshire Snath

A couple of weeks ago I went to London to install a sculptural staircase bannister as part of my day job as a woodworker.  While I was in the south-east I took a side trip to Reading and spent a … Continue reading

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It changed the world!

You can keep your satellite-guided combine harvesters and robotic milking parlours, according to “1001 Inventions that changed the world” edited by Jack Challoner “The scythe is often ranked among the world’s most significant advances in agricultural implements of the past … Continue reading

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Willow bow for harvesting cereals

To follow up from Chris’ post here’s a couple of photos I took last autumn which really show the benefits of using a bow when cutting cereals.  These were taken during our demonstration at Old Hall Farm in Cumbria. My bow, … Continue reading

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Restored hewing axe

The last time I was visiting my girlfriend in Austria we found a hewing axe blade rusting away outside in a chopping block. It was in a pretty sorry state with no handle, rust and some horrendous dents and nicks … Continue reading

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Plasma Cutting

I’m a hand tool worker and get a lot of pleasure and inspiration from working directly with simple tools and the material, there is a beauty and elegance in the traditional tools that were created by our predecessors to accomplish … Continue reading

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Sheaf Fork

I would deny being a tool geek but I do like old tools, know a bit about them and am constantly amazed by the ingenuity of folk  who worked by hand in designing efficient tools for specific jobs. This is … Continue reading

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