For those who haven’t visited the workshop in the last 18months or haven’t seen my social media posts.... In September 2017 we gained a 4 legged apprentice named Monty!

Monty is a very friendly and very bouncy Sprocker Spaniel! He has made the Workshop his 2nd home since Christmas time 2017 and now has his own page on the website with some information about him and some nice photos!

Monty will no doubt be a regular feature on the blog in the future, now that I’ve caught up on 8 months worth of posts!

Welcome to May’s blog post! This month I’ll continue to show the different types of sharpening system I use in the workshop. This time it’s a little look at ‘scary sharpening’.

‘Scary Sharpening’ uses abrasive sheets mounted to a flat surface instead of using individual sharpening stones, this is one of the most affordable sharpening systems available these days and it is the system I’ve been using most over the last few years (I was a bit late to the scary sharp scene).

Unlike water or oil stones this sharpening system never has to be re-flattened due to the flat surface being constant, float glass is the most common surface used but you can also use a bit of mdf or granite. I’ve got one of these... https://www.axminster.co.uk/veritas-glass-lapping-plate-476783

To stop the glass sliding around I use a cheap bath anti slip mat from Tescos!

The abrasive films seem to last quite a long time and when they are worn out you simply peel them off and stick a fresh sheet down. I’ve been using the sheets from Workshop Heaven https://www.workshopheaven.com/hand-tools/sharpening-tools/scary-sharpening.html

This system works well free-hand or with a honing guide, just have to be a little careful not to tear the abrasive with the blade, but that’s pretty simple once you get used to it.

Most of my one to one tuition students find this system perfect for getting started due to its simplicity and low cost.


Look out for next months Tool of the Month!

Next up on the list of website updates!

The aftercare information sheets supplied with Stable Stool’s and the range of kitchenwares is now downloadable/printable via my main website. Handy if your original information sheet has gone missing!

My website has been a little bit neglected recently so here is the first of several updates...


I have been using this in the workshop for nearly two years now as a general purpose finish for smaller items and on restoration work. The wax has been available alongside my original Food Safe Wood Wax in the workshop and in my neighbours plastic free shop ( www.love-joy-home.co.uk ) for around 6 months, now finally it’s made it’s way onto my Etsy shop!


Natural Wood Wax is food safe so perfect for keeping your wooden chopping boards, spatulas and other wooden cookware in good condition. It can also be used on many wood finishes used on furniture and is especially useful for oil-based finishes and for reviving the colour on older furniture.

This is an old fashioned polish made from natural materials namely beeswax, raw linseed oil and carnuba wax which imparts a fine lustre to the wood.

It is available in three sizes 60ml, 125ml and 250ml and will be posted out with instructions on how to use it.

Welcome to April’s Tool of the Month, this month a brief look at Awls....

Welcome to March’s Tool of the Month! This month it’s the Scrub Plane...

The Scrub Plane is a short narrow hand plane with a thick cambered (rounded) blade, they are used to quickly remove lots of wood from the surface of a board, such as when eliminating cup or twist in the first stages of preparing rough stock before being cleaned using jointer and smoothing planes, or when reducing the thickness of a board significantly.


They are used diagonally across the grain and leave behind a wonderfully tactile ridged surface that sometimes can be made into a feature!


That’s all for this month, look out for the next blog post soon!

Welcome to February’s Tool of the Month, this month a little look at an inexpensive but very handy square!

The Shinwa Japanese mitre square costs about £20 and allows both a 90° and 45° lines to be marked quickly and easily. The 90° end is also very handy for setting the height of router cutters and the cutting height of saw blades! All in all a very useful and cheap layout tool!

That’s all for this month, look out for the next blog post coming soon!

Welcome to the first blog post of 2019!

A short one this month, the scale ruler..

What is a scale ruler and what is it used for?

A scale ruler is very similar to a standard ruler just with extra numbers and scales for each measurement ratio.
It’s used to convert measurements/dimensions into a smaller size that’s easier to show on a small plan (designing a house for example).

I use a scale ruler every time I design a piece of furniture and use the metric 1:10 and 1:5 scale most often.

1:10 scale turns 10mm (1 cm) into 100mm (10cm)

1:5 scale turns 10mm (1 cm) into 50mm (5cm)


That’s all for January, look out for next months Tool!

Welcome to the last Tool of the Month for 2018!

This months Tool is handy in tight spaces...

It’s an angle screwdriver attachment for power drills!

A pretty self-explanatory tool really, it allows you to get into small spaces and has a quick change head that accepts standard 1/4” hex screwdriver heads. Handy to have but not an overly used tool.

Look out for next months blog post!

Welcome to November’s blog post!

This month I’ll have a brief look at the Dial caliper!

A dial caliper is a precision measuring tool that is very useful for fine furniture making.
It can measure external thicknesses for example measuring the exact thickness of a drawer front, and it can measure internal sizes too, for example measuring the size of a hole.


Some calipers just have a ruler scale and other like mine have a small anolog dial, you can also get digital dials. Dials allow the caliper to be zeroed which makes for more accurate readings especially if the caliper has had a knock.


That’s all for this month, look out for next months tool!