Paul Sellers
Published 27 Jan 2023This is truly an action-packed episode, with so much teaching on various techniques passed down through the years but mostly lost to upcoming generations. From saw stop-cuts to planing and shaping with spokeshaves, planes, rasps, and files, we include many strategies for you to learn from.
From these final fitting and shaping stages, we walk you through the glue-up phase so that every joint seats perfectly, because there is more to clamping a project than just tightening the screw thread and hoping for the best. We want the project to be dead square when the glue is dry, and clamps can indeed clamp a project out of square.
Our way is the proven way used by centuries of crafting artisans.
——————–
(more…)
June 12, 2023
How to make a Wall Shelf | Episode 3
Comments Off on How to make a Wall Shelf | Episode 3
June 1, 2023
How to Make a Wall Shelf | Episode 2
Paul Sellers
Published 20 Jan 2023With all the housing dadoes completed and the main body together, we must cut the middle shelf to length and determine the shoulder lines for the stepped part of the stepped housing dado joint.
The practicalities ensure that all of the shoulder lines close up perfectly. The patterns we use are important to a wide range of other projects, so learning them now aids us in establishing patterns of construction.
These joints are used in a wide range of shelving units, ranging from bookshelves to toy storage and many other projects. The unit we build here has three types of commonly used housing dado, and the joints we consider mostly as the bookshelf joints.
That said, it can be used for toy boxes and firewood boxes, but we also use it in drawer making too.
——————–
(more…)
Comments Off on How to Make a Wall Shelf | Episode 2
May 10, 2023
How to Make a Wall Shelf | Episode 1
Paul Sellers
Published 13 Jan 2023This was one of Paul’s first teaching and training projects he developed specifically for his hands-on classes for early woodworkers to start on. That was in the early 1990s, so 30 years ago, and many a thousand students have made it to learn about shelf making.
The goal is the mastery of accuracy using sharp tools to develop two types of housing dadoes, the stopped and the stepped.
This video gives the first woodworking joint most woodworkers start with and shows how to get a snug fit every time.
(more…)
Comments Off on How to Make a Wall Shelf | Episode 1
April 25, 2023
Planing & Scraping Awkward Grain | Paul Sellers
Paul Sellers
Published 9 Dec 2022I try not to be purposely controversial, but often, the wood demands a completely different tactic when it comes to truing and prepping for further steps like panel making and joinery.
Whereas some will say use this bevel-up or that bevel-down plane, use a York pitch, or whatever, the combination of methods and the addition of a #80 cabinet scraper will get you where you need to be, in very short order, but it might just defy convention.
I show you how to tame some very awkward sycamore in this video.
——————–
(more…)
Comments Off on Planing & Scraping Awkward Grain | Paul Sellers
April 14, 2023
How to Make a Shaker Candle Box | Episode 3
Paul Sellers
Published 25 Nov 2022Two things Paul has always noticed to be intimidating to woodworkers are recessed or mortised hinge setting and applying finish. The smaller the hinge and the project, the more flaws show.
Following these steps will give you the confidence and success you want, and the hinges will align the box lid perfectly every time. We cover distances and the layout patterns, hinge sizing, and so on throughout this episode, along with how to apply shellac using a 1″ hake brush.
The result is a perfect box. Enjoy yourself!
——————– (more…)
Comments Off on How to Make a Shaker Candle Box | Episode 3
April 7, 2023
How to Make a Shaker Candle Box | Episode 2
Paul Sellers
Published 18 Nov 2022With the dovetails all fitting, we are ready to clean up the inside faces of the box, ready for gluing the corners together. It’s a systematic process that minimises the risk of messing up.
Lots of tricks of the trade for gluing up and checking the whole for squareness, etc. Planing out any unevenness ensures a pristine finish, and we definitely follow a process that gives top-notch results.
The lid and bottom of the box are both rounded over, and the simplest thing is that we only need one tool, the #4 plane, to achieve amazing results. The final stage is to glue the bottom onto the box and prepare the lid for hingeing.
——————–
(more…)
Comments Off on How to Make a Shaker Candle Box | Episode 2
March 31, 2023
How to make a Shaker Candle Box | Episode 1
Paul Sellers
Published 11 Nov 2022Many new to woodworking find the concept of hand-cutting dovetails intimidating, and yet it is one of the most fundamental joints used in woodworking. Dovetails are the joints we use for making all kinds of boxes, large and small. They are designed to take certain pressures throughout their lives as drawers, cabinets, and boxes of every shape and size.
The methods of squaring and preparing stock are the critical preface to laying out the joints, so in this episode we show you the steps we take to that end. Following the stock-prep, we focus on a method of layout and making that makes the process fast, efficient, and accurate, after which we cut all four dovetail corners.
(more…)
Comments Off on How to make a Shaker Candle Box | Episode 1
February 25, 2023
Making a Simple Stool | Paul Sellers
Paul Sellers
Published 26 Aug 2022I am always surprised how few woodworkers have made a simple three-legged stool, and every woodworker should make at least one. I developed this for benchwork instruction, which makes the whole methodology different and unique.
Whether you are a seasoned woodworker or a raw beginner, there is so much to learn about hand tools, wood, technique, and grain structure in this simple stool. It’s just a few hours of very pleasant woodworking and it can be completed with just a handful of common woodworking tools.
I hope you enjoy making yours.
——————
(more…)
Comments Off on Making a Simple Stool | Paul Sellers
February 16, 2023
Twist Solution | Paul Sellers
Paul Sellers
Published 7 Oct 2022Take the guesswork out of truing up a twisted board by setting lines that guarantee dead-on accuracy. When we buy wood, it is often too twisted to work with, so we must remove the twist, cup, and bow.
This quick tip gives you lines to work to with only minimal measuring and a positive outcome.
(more…)
Comments Off on Twist Solution | Paul Sellers
February 8, 2023
Hand Planing Awkward Grain | Paul Sellers
Paul Sellers
Published 21 Oct 2022We are often taught to plane in one direction or the other, planing along the grain, but some grain is better planed across the long axis to counter reverse grain caused by the roots of knots in the wood. This goes against the grain with many woodworkers, and yet it can be a perfect solution to get a really good surface.
I am not saying it works every time but more often than you might think; it puts you in the driving seat when wood seems to defy conventional means of planing.
(more…)
Comments Off on Hand Planing Awkward Grain | Paul Sellers
January 31, 2023
Workshop Tour | Paul Sellers
Paul Sellers
Published 23 Sept 2022Many of you would have seen Paul go from working in a castle to reducing his workspace and ending up working in a single-car garage. This workshop has evolved over the years and is constantly adapting to Paul’s way of working.
Come and look around the workshop as Paul shows you what his shop entails and how it all aids him with his hand tool woodworking.
——————
(more…)
Comments Off on Workshop Tour | Paul Sellers
January 20, 2023
Drawer Making | Paul Sellers
Paul Sellers
Published 11 Aug 2022This is part of our Paid Membership Drinks Cabinet series! To check out more visit: https://woodworkingmasterclasses.com/…
Paul went into a detailed explanation in this dovetailing of the drawer for the drinks cabinet for everyone to truly master drawer making.
It’s the small details that these explanations demonstrate, and we hope that you truly enjoy the whole process of dovetailing for the rest of your life.
Oh, and the videography throughout the episode is stunning for everyone to learn through too. You don’t see this normally. Superb! The calm serenity captured in a man’s work, the confidence, and the love of the craft.
You’ll enjoy seeing the whole drawer come together by every stroke of the different planes Paul uses and then, too, the dovetails tying the whole together and glued up. Such a beautiful art form!
(more…)
Comments Off on Drawer Making | Paul Sellers
January 9, 2023
How to Carve a Bowl | Paul Sellers
Paul Sellers
Published 29 Jul 2022I can’t imagine any woodworker who wouldn’t at some point in their woodworking, want to carve a bowl from a chunk of wood using their hands and a couple of basic tools.
I put this together to show the basic steps and tools I suggest as patterns and methods of working to create a three-dimensional shaped object from solid wood.
You can use any wood you have as scraps, including construction lumber. It’s a neat couple of hours of work and great to do with the kids too.
——————–
(more…)
Comments Off on How to Carve a Bowl | Paul Sellers
January 2, 2023
Shaping your Saw Handle | Paul Sellers
Paul Sellers
Published 15 Jul 2022I have encouraged people to customise wooden saw handles to make them more dynamic in hand, but here is the simplest one yet and one I can thoroughly recommend doing as it makes the saw yours! Removing the studs and replacing them is more of a faff than it is worth when all you want is a decent saw.
In this video, I take a saw that cuts well and can be resharpened a thousand times with a simple triangular saw file. By doing this, you are no longer buying into the throwaway saw market and you own a lifetime saw.
You can do this, and we will show you how!
(more…)
Comments Off on Shaping your Saw Handle | Paul Sellers
November 2, 2022
Essential Wood Finishes | Paul Sellers
Paul Sellers
Published 1 Jul 2022When it comes to wood finishes, for most, it is like watching paint dry, but we woodworkers must come up with something that makes our work look good, has durability, and is generally easy to apply. Over the years, I have tried most, and the two I lean on the most are shellac and water-based clear varnishes.
Chemicals as solvents used in paints have harmful effects, and we have become more conscious of the problems they cause. I wanted to let people know what I use in the day-to-day.
These two are the ones I rely on the most, but I do use other finishes from time to time.
(more…)
Comments Off on Essential Wood Finishes | Paul Sellers
