Rex Krueger
Published 13 Feb 2025
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February 15, 2025
Vintage Workbenches: Quick, Dirty, and Awesome
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February 7, 2025
How to Make a Wallclock | Episode 7
Paul Sellers
Published 11 Oct 2024Refining the cove with a gouge and then scraping it and sanding it prepares us to fit the cove to the timepiece.
In this episode, Paul walks you through mitering the cove by hand using a poor man’s mitre guide and a block plane to trim and fit the mitres freehand.
We walk you through using CA (superglue) to attach the coved pieces securely and permanently in place.
Once done, we can apply our choice of finish. Three to four coats are usually enough after sanding the first to take away any raised grain.
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January 30, 2025
How to Make a Wallclock | Episode 6
Paul Sellers
Published 27 Sept 2024The decorative undercarriage is a matter of choice, and because the clock is somewhat traditional, Paul decided to add the feature to his version here.
The steps are simple and quick to do even without using any machines at all. By creating the roundover followed by the coved profile and joining the two together, we create something of a more classic look in a matter of a few minutes.
Using a traditional carving gouge, we make the cove from a solid section of oak and show you how to refine the cove using a card scraper.
With the main block attached to the underside of the clock, we are to transform the whole appearance of the clock.
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January 25, 2025
Everyone is Wrong About this Traditional Tool
Rex Krueger
Published 2 Oct 2024Yes, your Rabbet Plane can cut Rabbets.
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January 19, 2025
How to Make a Wallclock | Episode 5
Paul Sellers
Published 13 Sept 2024The main joinery for the clock and the panel all came together, and now we are ready to form the roundovers to the top and bottom pieces.
We will use the traditional method using a bench plane and, in our case, a #4 version. Following this shaping, we can focus on the final finishing of all of the components by scraping and sanding the surfaces.
After all of the parts are sanded, we follow specific patterns for gluing up the main carcass of the clock.
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January 12, 2025
How to Make a Wallclock | Episode 4
Paul Sellers
Published 30 Aug 2024The panel for the clock requires a hole for the clock movement, and Paul has chosen a clock insert because it’s accurate and long-lasting.
To install the insert requires one hole, and though you may choose a different insert type and size, the steps will be the same or very similar.
We walk you through the process step-by-step and cut the hole using only a coping saw. Following this, we focus on establishing an exact-sized bevel to create the raised panel and use only a common bench plane to create perfect angles that match the grooves they must fit into without any gaps.
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January 5, 2025
How to Make a Wallclock | Episode 3
Paul Sellers
Published 16 Aug 2024With the main body of the clock together, all the grooves formed, and the rails made ready, we now focus on the remaining four joints — the stub tenons fitting into the grooves.
The precision needed here is essential, and the shoulder lines must be taken directly from the assembled clock to ensure no gaps at these intersections of combined joinery.
Once done, we size, cut, and square the panel to size, ready for beveling or raising the panel later.
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December 28, 2024
How to Make a Wallclock | Episode 2
Paul Sellers
Published Aug 2, 2024This project relies on the appearance of simplicity for its final looks, and as we work through the various elements, we start to see how the joinery complies with other considerations like the grooves we create that will take the stub tenons and then the side beads that correspond with the front edges and rails to slim down the face view.
These are additionally a few new tricks to learn as you work through this project. We take you step by step through each stage to guarantee success.
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December 24, 2024
Did I RUIN this woodworking antique?
Rex Krueger
Published 23 Dec 2024Whoever made this plane certainly had their head in the stars.
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David Friedman on elegant solutions to problems
Sometimes the solution to a problem is obvious … at least once someone else has pointed it out:
Recently, when writing a check, it occurred to me that requiring the amount to be given separately in both words and number was a simple and ingenious solution to the problem of reducing error. It is possible, if your handwriting is as sloppy as mine, to write a letter or number that can be misread as a different letter or number. If redundancy consisted of writing the amount of the check twice as numbers or twice as words the same error could appear in both versions. It is a great deal less likely to make two errors, one in letters and one in numbers, that happen to produce the same mistaken result. It reduces the risk of fraud as well, for a similar reason.
That is one example of a simple and elegant solution to a problem, so simple that until today it had never occurred to me to wonder why checks were written that way. Another example of the same pattern is a nurse or pharmacist checking both your name and date of birth to confirm your identity.1
That started me thinking about other examples:
The design of rubber spatulas, one bottom corner a right angle, the other a quarter circle. One of the uses of the device is to scrape up the contents of containers, jars and bowls and such. Some containers have curved bottoms, some flat bottoms at a right angle to the wall. The standard design fits both.
Manhole covers are round because it is the one simple shape such that there is no way of turning it that lets it fall through the hole it fits over.
Consider an analog meter with a needle and a scale behind it. If you read it at a slight angle you get the reading a little high or low. Add a section of mirror behind the needle and line up the image behind the needle. Problem solved.
If you try to turn a small screw with a large screwdriver it doesn’t fit into the slot. Turning a large screw with a small screwdriver isn’t always impossible but if the screw is at all tight you are likely to damage the screwdriver doing it. The solution is the Phillips screwdriver. The tip of a large Phillips screwdriver is identical to a smaller one so can be used on a range of screw sizes.2
Ziplock bags have been around since the sixties. Inventing them was not simple but a new application is: packaging that consists of a sealed plastic bag with a Ziplock below the seal. After you cut open the bag you can use the ziplock to keep the contents from spilling or drying. I do not know how recent an innovation it is but I cannot recall an example from more than a decade ago.
1. This one and some of the others were suggested by posters on the web forum Data Secrets Lox.
2. I am told that the solution is not perfect, doesn’t work for very small screws, which require a smaller size of driver.
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December 18, 2024
How to Make a Wallclock | Episode 1
Paul Sellers
Published Jul 19, 2024Why are we making another Wallclock? Find out here: https://woodworkingmasterclasses.com/…
The basis for everything Paul has taught in woodworking to woodworkers around the world has been that with three joints and ten hand tools, you can make just about anything from wood. Each of these joints is irreplaceable and so each one stands alone in its importance of use.
The variations on the joints can triple, and in the case of the housing dado, there are but two additional versions. In this project, we take the most complex of the three versions to make our clock.
By the time you have made this joint and the clock, you will be fully equipped to make the other two versions. The tools you will use for all three variations are the same. We walk you through each step to bring total clarity to the tools, the joinery, and the methods and techniques. You will love making this oak wallclock project as much as Paul has in the dozens he has made since he designed it.
Remember, all the methods used will be adopted for dozens upon dozens of other projects throughout your life.
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December 14, 2024
I Tried All The Cheap Bench Grinders … Here’s what happened
Rex Krueger
Published Aug 14, 2024GRINDERS!!!
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December 1, 2024
Retrofitting Aluminium Clamps | Paul Sellers
Paul Sellers
Published Jul 26, 2024Aluminium clamps are lightweight and ideal for 99% of woodworking.
I have tried almost all of them and been disappointed because they can look the same on the outside, but it’s the thickness of the walls of the box section that counts. This is how I retrofit all of my ‘U’ shaped rectangular bar sash clamps.
It takes only a few minutes to do each one, but what a difference it makes when you do. Lightweight but with great strength; once done, my clamps are up there with the best of the best.
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November 20, 2024
What on earth is a Buck Board Bench?
Rex Krueger
Published Jul 25, 2024Furniture Forensics returns thanks to the mysterious Buck Board bench.
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November 15, 2024
Three Ways to Cut a Housing Dado | Paul Sellers
Paul Sellers
Published Jul 5, 2024At least half of my woodworking life has been dedicated to demystifying the art of hand tool woodworking, and this video proves the truth of it.
The simplicity is this though; with just a handful of hand tools, I create three housing dadoes in 4″ wide hard maple, and the watch strapped to my wrist tells it all. I hope you enjoy seeing this video as much as we had making it.
We wanted to show you exactly how hand tools are still current technology at its best, and it’s available for everyone, including your kids!
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