Rex Krueger
Published 5 Apr 2023More about the Router Plane Kit:
The Compass Rose Router Plane Kit is your fastest and most affordable path to a quality hand router. Long before Stanley invented the metallic router plane, artisans made their own routers from wood. These shop-made tools were effective and affordable for working craftspeople. Now, Compass Rose Toolworks is reinventing the wooden hand router. Our Router Plane has an extra-large hardwood body contoured for comfort. Instead of a tricky mortise and wedge, our blades are secured with a large brass thumb-screw. Our kit includes two blades in ½” and ¼” (13mm/6mm) widths as well as a pair of threaded inserts and an installation tool. The build is straightforward and can be completed in a single afternoon (plus time for the glue to dry.) We want you to be successful in this build, so we’ve also created a FREE assembly guide and a complete video tutorial on the build. These materials are available to anyone, even if you haven’t bought the kit yet.
Each kit includes:
– American ash body in two pieces for easy assembly.
– Two Cr-V blades, heat treated and ground, ready for final honing.
– Solid brass thumb-screw with 2 inserts, so you’ve got a backup.
– Insert installation tool (steel bolt and 2 nuts).
– Instant access to the PDF assembly guide and video tutorial.
(more…)
April 6, 2023
Make a Router Plane FAST with this affordable kit // The Compass Rose Router
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…)
March 25, 2023
March 23, 2023
A Plane Maker Reveals the Secrets of Old Tools
Rex Krueger
Published 22 Mar 2023Austin Papp comes in to teach us about planes!
[Update: Rex re-uploaded the video.]
(more…)
March 16, 2023
Wooden marking gauges are NOT what you think
Rex Krueger
Published 15 Mar 2023Can an old tool teach us a few new tricks?
(more…)
March 10, 2023
Build a Tool Wall From Scraps and Junk
Rex Krueger
Published 9 Mar 2023You all have seen it in the background! But what’s actually on the tool wall?
(more…)
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…)
February 23, 2023
Winding Sticks don’t have to be perfect!! Make this fast set from pine
Rex Krueger
Published 22 Feb 2023How do you know if your work is flat? There’s a simple tool for that.
(more…)
February 16, 2023
Cut the Sliding Dovetail Joint with common hand tools
Rex Krueger
Published 15 Feb 2023There’s another dovetail that you might not know about. Learn to cut it and use it.
(more…)
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…)
February 9, 2023
Get flat boards EVERY TIME with this simple process // Handtool stock-prep
Rex Krueger
Published 8 Feb 2023Flattening by hand can be intimidating, unless you have a process.
(more…)
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…)
February 2, 2023
Stop FAILING in your woodwork. Use these strategies instead.
Rex Krueger
Published 1 Feb 2023Simple steps lead to great progress, the same is true in your woodworking.
(more…)
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…)
