Merry Christmas

I've recently gained my sixteen thousandth subscriber on YouTube, and I'd like to wish you all a very merry Christmas.

Your support is the reason I continue, and I can't express how happy I am that so many enjoy what I do. A huge thank you to you all.

Channel Update Dec'15

Join in the debate about the usefullness of channel updates, workshop news, etc.

Who to Follow

For some reason, the Google+ follow links on my web pages and YouTube are different.

I don't know why, and I'm not sure how I can change this.

If you wish to get all notifications then please follow BOTH for the time being. That means clicking the follow buttons on this page, and also on my YouTube channel.

I will attempt to consolidate the multiple identities, and keep you posted.

Happy woodworking for now, Mitch

Tidying Up Website

Had a spare hour this evening, and have started to tidy up the website.

I'm useless when it comes to website design, so would appreciate any advice.

At the very least, please let me know if it looks any better today.

Etsy Shop Now Open

For those of you who would prefer a middle-man, you can now find some of my items for sale on Etsy.

My store there is Tree2Gift

Craft Merchandise Now Available

I'm pleased to announce that many of my cut-offs will now be available, after some dedicated crafting, as small items to buy online. Profits will go towards keeping me producing online content - buying materials and consumables, etc.

Please don't feel obliged to buy anything, but spare it a thought when you are looking for gifts for friends and family.

You can view the selection here, or through the Shop-2-Support page.

'I ♥ Yew' bookmark

The Sinking 7 Table

My current YouTube project, the Sinking 7 Table, was inspired by the crossed figure seven common in Europe. In a break from my usual hand tool heavy methods, I am experimenting with a hybrid combination which borrows some time efficient power tool use. I see this as being applicable to the hand tool enthusiast wishing to speed up projects, and the power tool user wishing to integrate true hand tool techniques into their work.

As the series goes on, please let me know if you would like to see some future projects tackled like this.

A Free SketchUp model will be available in due course, on the Downloads page. This won't have live edges, since no two trees are the same, but will show the angles and joint details, and the appropriate sizes for a well balanced occasional table, like the one in the series. Although free, I would appreciate you looking at my Shop-2-Support page, which will soon offer craft items from my workshop too.

Build a Live Edge Table - The 'Sinking 7' Table

I'm starting work on a live edge version of my Sinking 7 Table.

Come watch.



Initial preparation and flattening of the slab/plank using: Hatchet,  Draw Knife, Router, Circular Saw, Plane, Card Scraper

Support from Trend

I'm reaching out to those woodworkers who still like a little extra horsepower in their shops, and covering the use of selected power tools in the building of furniture and other things wooden.

The first company to support me in this, are Trend, who have an excellent range of routing and woodworking products. I'd like to thank them for their support, and their trust in my providing fair and unbiased reviews of some of their products.

For viewers, this will mean you get to see me putting their products through their paces. A list of the products used in videos will be shown at the end, so you can pause and take notes if you wish. Full product details can be found on the Trend website.

Thank You Trend

How to Make a Leather Strop - In 60 Seconds

Stropping is the best way I know to perfect a blade edge. There's a reason why leather strops have been around for millennia, and I'll show you how to make one.

Soon I'll show you how to use it properly too.

Thanks to Derek, who kindly supplied the leather, and encouraged me to make some and compare them with the plain MDF strops I've used for years.

Kanna Setup - Japanese Hand Plane Setup

Watch how I set up my first Kanna, with great results. Then give me your tips for improving performance.
Look out for a follow up video on how to use it - setting the blade for different depths of cut, lateral adjustment, stance, hand positions, etc.

#Hallowood15 Challenge Update - 17 days to go

Make a Stanley 45 Storage Box Part 1

Better Model for Japanese Planing Board Plus Now Available

Many thanks to Ian, who has enhanced the SketchUp model for my Japanese Planing Board Plus. You can find it in the Downloads page, named JPB SketchUp 2015. The old version is still available for those running earlier versions of SketchUp.

Hallowood15 Update - 24 days to go

Recommended Lists - Suppliers

Looking for a woodworking / tool supplier? Here are some I would recommend

Solitaire on the X-Carve (aka 'Peg Solitaire')

Hallowood15 - The Latest Competition

It's coming!

Three Way Mitre Joint - Hand Cut

Here's a nice joint to use for the corners of open shelving stands or display cases.

Patching Nail Holes - 60 Second Series

Want to hide a small defect, nail hole, etc. then here's a simple trick:

Viewer's Gallery

You can now see some projects that some of my viewers have made. I would like to publish work from anyone who I've inspired or helped, so please email me photos with comments.

Viewer's Gallery

I will try and find a space to add this link to the site contents!

Cross for St. John's, Meads, Eastbourne

The local church needed a temporary cross, whilst the original was repaired after falling off.

This video shows me making and erecting it.

Please comment on the style that the guest director brought to it.

Knuckle Joint - Video & Instructable Launch

So, today marks the first joint (pardon the pun) launch of both a 'Hand Cut Joints' series video, and an accompanying Instructable.

The Knuckle Joint,

is the first articulated joint to feature in the series, and should be familiar to anyone who has seen a classic Pembroke table or fold-out card table.

I hope you enjoy both the video and instructable.

Final joints on the sofa table

I've completed the joints for the sofa table, and the video will be released at 2pm (GMT+1) Sunday 19th July.
Please take a look as soon as you can and let me know what you think:  

I ordered the glass over two weeks ago, but it's still not here. I went with a complicated design for a change, and it had to be sent for cnc cutting and polishing.

WOmadeOD on Instructables

You can now enjoy Instructables created by WOmadeOD

Two are entered in contests, so please take a look and vote for your favorites.

Solid Oak Picnic Table for Ten in Outside Contest
 
Low Back Chair from Pallets in Pallet Contest

They all include the appropriate YouTube video from my channel.

Please like, comment, share, and follow me on Instructables.

Card Scraper Sharpening on Instructables

You can now view Instructables on sharpening straight and curved card scrapers:

Straight Card Scraper 
(which includes turning a burr - applicable to all)

Concave Card Scraper

Convex Card Scraper

They all include the appropriate YouTube video from my channel.

Please like, comment, share, and follow me on Instructables.

Survey Time - hooray!!

I know you'll be really excited about this! 😂

Please could you spare a minute to take a quick survey about my site: click here

It would be much appreciated.

Easy Frog Adjustment On Bailey Planes A Possibility

Here's an idea I had a while back, and have just tested out with a basic prototype.

It makes adjusting the mouth opening on bailey pattern bench planes so much easier (like a bedrock design does), allowing the blade to remain in place throughout.

I've not seen anything out there like it, so maybe it's an original idea. I hope so, and I'm sharing it as open source for all to benefit from.

I'd love to hear your views, so please leave a comment, and please share the idea around.

Don't Miss Out On #TOOLMake15 - One Month to Go!

If you haven't entered #TOOLMake15 yet, you still have a whole month to make a tool (or three!) in your shop and enter it.
It doesn't have to be original or flash, just something that helps out doing a tast. Personally, I think you could all manage that, so no excuses, get making!
Full details here
Sponsored by:

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's day to all woodworking dads.

I hope you had the chance for some time in the shop. I know what it can be like, and so far I've only managed enough time to take two photo's! Dutifully watching a family movie at present, while itching to get on with what's sitting on my bench. Well, at least it's only once a year, and I did get a nice present of some Milky Bar Buttons - energy pills for hand woodworkers😁.

Oh yes, those photos. Can you guess what this is? No prizes, is just for fun. I hope to release a video in a few weeks that will provide the answer.

Update to #TOOLMake15

Those great guys at Inventables have told me that their prize need not be limited to the U.S.

I know that will be welcomed by many, especially those who have looked through the Inventables website.

Thanks guys!

ToolMake15 Competition Launch

Squaring a Rough Board Discussion - #HandorPower

#HandorPower

Enjoy

New series starts at 00:00(GMT) 11th January

Be the first to view episode one of a new collaboration series I'm taking part in.

The video is scheduled to go live at 00:00(GMT) tonight! That's 1am for my fellow Brits.

It will appear as a new post on this blog, so keep tuned!

Fox Wedged Mortise and Tenon Photo Guide

I've added some more photo guides for hand cut joints, the latest of which is the fox wedged mortise and tenon. Select 'Joints' from the menu above to see them all.

Fox Wedged Mortise and Tenon

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Spring Competition - 'Build a Box' CLOSED

Thanks to those of you who entered your boxes in the Spring Competition.
The competition is now closed, and I shall be making a video to showcase the finalists.
Please watch out for the video, where you will be able to vote in the video comments section.
Alternatively, you can view and vote for your favourite here.

Please only vote once!

Competition news

The Spring Competition - Build a Box

There is only just over a week left for entries in the Build a Box competition.

Did I set the bar to high? There certainly haven't been many entire yet.

Of course that would give anyone entering a great chance of winning!

Get out in your shops and make a box!


The next competition

Great news. A major UK tool supplier has offered to donate a prize.
You'll have to wait until the launch of the competition to find out more, but if you enjoy hand tools or want to get into using them then this could be up your street.

I haven't fixed the launch date yet, but it with either be combined with the results of the Build a Box, or fairly soon after. So keep an eye out!

60sec Series

I'm going to make a series of short videos, showing the basics of techniques in sixty seconds.

The aim is to entice those not familiar with my YouTube channel to take a look: Studies suggest that short videos are far more likely to to viewed where the channel is not known to the viewer.

A pilot video on sharpening a tenon saw has been posted for a couple of days so far. The overwhelming feedback from subscribers is that they prefer the normal style - not a surprise, and I agree with them. But there has also been positive feedback, including areas to change to make comprehension of content better.

I'll be making some changes to the pilot, and looking to add future episodes from time to time.

Rest assured, the usual style will continue to dominate output.

Busy, busy

With the weather improving, there is so much to do in the garden. But still I have been able to keep up regular YouTube postings. Do please check the recent videos, which include a review of a side rebate plane, completion of the sofa table maquette, initial prep of some slabs for coffee table builds later this summer, and a how to on flattening and smoothing a glued up panel.

I've also been out snapping the spring buds, leaves, and flowers of some of the areas native and naturalised trees, for a little project. More on that later.

Thanks to all of you who sent video ideas in. I now have a stack that should keep me busy for some time.

Don't forget the box building competition. There is still time to enter. The closing date was the 15th May, but since I shall be tied up that weekend, I won't be closing it down until the 17th or 18th now.

Inspired by - Mitre Shooting Board

Always a pleasure to hear that one of my builds has inspired a viewer to make their own.

Thanks to Scott from the USA for writing and enclosing this photo of his newly built mitre shooting board.

Spring Competition

Check out the Prize Draws section for news on WOmadeOD's new competition.

Shop 2 Support Launched

In line with my decision to keep all my online WOmadeOD content free, forever, I am launching a Shop 2 Support store, where you can purchase items for yourself.

The 'WOmadeOD Store' can be found by clicking 'Shop 2 Support' in the menu above, available on all of the site's pages.

WOmadeOD Store specialises in displaying woodworking related items, making it easy to find stuff you'll like, but you can also use the 'Powered By Amazon' link in the search box to visit the entire site.

I've included a 'Highly Recommended' section, which includes stuff that I've bought and found most useful or interesting, and also sections for recommended books and dvds that take my eye.

I hope you will consider starting some, or even all, of your future Amazon visits by clicking through the WOmadeOD Store.

Mitre Shooting Board Build

I recently posted a video intruduction to the mitre shooting board, followed up by one showing how I built mine.

There was a good response to the offer of plans, and I hope to get those done in the future. Until then, I have done a couple of quick sketches which should be sufficient to help anyone eager to build their own.
You can find them here: Sketches.

Introduction video:

Build video:

Check out the recent video on how to prepare a rising dovetail.

The Secret Mitre Dovetail

Check out the recent video on how to prepare a secret mitre dovetail.

Flat Dovetail Marking Gauge

I recently posted a YouTube video on how to prepare a flat marking gauge for use when laying out the pins in a secret mitre dovetail.

I'm now pleased to say that, thanks to the efforts of Peter (a subscriber from Germany), there is now a pdf file available on the downloads page. This provides both a dimensioned drawing, for marking out directly onto the sheet metal, and a scalable pattern which can be stuck onto the metal.

Additional dates for courses

I've added some additional days this summer for tutorials here with me in Eastbourne. Keep checking for more dates.

Check out the Help & Tuition page for details

Tools page updated

Just to let you know that the Tools page has been updated with the latest tool related videos.
I'll try to keep it up to date in future ;)

Upcoming videos

I've had some time spare to shoot some more video for the Hand Cut Joints series. There's still the job of editing to do, but I should soon be uploading the following titles (exact names may change):

• Loose Tongue Mitre (a.k.a. Spline Mitre)
• Planing a Carcass Mitre
• Making a Marking Gauge for Secret Mitre Dovetails
• Secret Mitre Dovetail (a.k.a. Full Blind Dovetail)

Hope you enjoy watching them as much as I enjoyed making them.