Australian Woodsmith

The twisted dovetails on the cover of this issue have to be the most difficult joint I have ever cut. Over the years I have cut many hundreds of sets of dovetails by hand and have developed my own quirky techniques (one is I use a hacksaw with the bl

I found it frustrating to try and sand small parts with my random orbit sander. The parts tended to be hard to hold onto and the sander would wobble in my hand, making it easy to round over edges that I wanted square. To give myself a little more con

Moisture meters and how they work is just one topic we cover in the next issue. We also address kickback on the table saw and how to avoid it. We look into the world of knife-smithing and introduce some kits to get you started on your own knife-makin

Hard Burnishing Oil is my preferred finish when I turn legs and spindles on a lathe. The oil quickly floods the sanded surface, penetrating deeply into the fibres of the wood. Working up through the finishing grit sizes (600-1200) has the oil form a

Disc sanders are great for end grain work, while a belt sander is designed primarily for long grain. The issue most novice woodworkers have with belt sanders is that they don’t appreciate the need for the belt to shed the dust that builds up undernea

The fine cut blade on my Japanese Kakuri pull saw is a wonder. When used properly, it cuts a fine and straight kerf. When used incorrectly, the teeth shear off! The culprit is always a novice who is used to western-style tenon saws. I have five gappe

Some woodworking tools thrive with straight, flat surfaces (think hand planes) while others are meant to cut loose a bit. Drawknives and spokeshaves fall squarely in the second camp. As a result, these tools can be a joy to use and open up a new dime

As a kid, I spent hours opening and closing the vice on my grandfather’s workbench. It had wood jaws, a wood handle and best of all, a large wooden screw. Ever since then, I’ve been fascinated by projects with wood threads. Deep, V-shaped threads spi

Working in a small workshop, I used to view a workshop stool as just one more thing to get in the way of getting a job done. But as I’ve aged, I’ve come to appreciate having a stool more and more. And not just for sit-down tasks. Having a place to ta

There’s a branch of the woodworking family tree that begins, well, with a tree. Log sections are split and shaped into rough blanks while the wood still contains a good amount of moisture. Working “green wood” with hand tools is easier than hard, dri

The twisted dovetail is a joint that gets people scratching their heads because even some experienced woodworkers cannot see how it is made until they’ve had a good think about it. But this joint is more than just a puzzle. It is immensely reliable a

Historically, a sofa table has been a quiet servant that waits dutifully in the wings of the room — behind the sofa. As you see in the photo above, this table is fully capable of fulfilling that duty, but you don’t have to stop there. This handsome p

The double acting dovetails that lock the jewellery box together on page 36 take a while to get your head around. Dovetails usually lock on just one plane, twisted dovetails lock on two. This means that they have to be introduced to each other at a 4

We got an email recently that read: Hi, I am a member of the Bribie Island Woodcrafters Association. One of our members found this item but we can’t identify what it might be or be for. We thought you might be able to help. In hopeful anticipation yo

Scrapers are something of a controversial subject. Some turners regard them as little more than a poor relation to gouges and are critical of those who use them. Why this should be eludes me. The scraper is one of the oldest tools in the woodturner’s

Japanese Tools Australia stocks the clever 100 x 50mm diamond sandpapers on page 18. These “papers” are actually diamond-impregnated stainless steel foils that have an adhesive backing. They work very well locked down onto a flat block, but can also

* Simply subscribe or renew your subscription to go into the draw to win a Rebate Block Plane. Based on the original dimensions of the Sargent No 507 this low angle rebate block plane has extra features to make it very versatile. The body is sand cas