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After several bad experiences with tulipwood, I stopped using it for tall or wide doors. It is impossible to get a long piece straight- every time you take a pass on the planer, it moves a bit more. I use colour no defect beech instead and have never regretted the small extra expense.

I turn cabinet knobs and use a small ply disc with an m4 bolt trapped in its centre- this is held in my chuck. I then put m4 inserts in the blanks. They are just right for fixing the knobs too. The only thing to be sure of is to use the screw inserts not the flanged ones as these will often come...

I don't like the plastic ones- I've had too many of them break or pull out on Howdens kitchen units. I use these, fitted to a 25mm MDF block. I use quite a low plinth height (about 80mm usually), and the kickers are just screwed to the blocks- the overhang hides the screws. The nice thing about...

Not all birch plies are the same! I'm not saying don't get it, but if you are planning to use it for large doors, for instance, I would be a bit wary.

You don't really need anything very special- the sides are easy (assuming the corrugations are vertical) because you have a straight line to work with. The open ends of the corrugated are covered by the windowsill at the bottom and a simple bit of steel, folded at about 100 degrees, tucked under...

All of those things work ok until you try to do heavy work on a small piece of wood. Then you're ******.

I'm always a bit worried by easy fixes. Your problem has arisen due to differential expansion- wood expands across the grain but not along the grain. If you plane off the red area you may find that come the summer your top is bowed in the other direction. If you want to do this I would recommend...

I would steer clear of Doug fir myself. I've worked in lots of period houses and I can't recall encountering it. It is also horrible to work by hand, splits too easily and has a funny smell. I agree about the unsorted redwood. You also used to be able to get the soft yellow pine which is common...

Why not make the whole step out of planks, finishing the ends with a bullnose, and then rout a shallow groove to let in your stringing? It would be faster, stronger etc

To turn the topic on its head, I never use a spindle gouge at all, but use my bowl gouge for spindle work.

Hi, I rashly gave a client a swatch of timber samples, and they chose brown chestnut for the legs of a large table. Trouble is, it's hard to find, even in 2"! Has anyone any ideas? I'm in Cambridge but would travel or arrange a courier

I read somewhere (maybe Alan Peters' book)? That it's good practice to make your drawer housings a bit narrower at the back- that way you can make your drawers square and parallel and they will fit very nicely- tightening up slightly when they are pushed fully home.

Many years ago I had to make a 1/2 size umbrella from Douglas fir for a Sadolin advert. I had never worked with Doug fir before, and was quite shocked by how horrible it was! I eventually came up with an arm on a pivot, and a bracket for a 4" angle grinder with an Arbortech blade. The process...

Hi, these people do very nice router bits which I have used for similar work. https://radiantools.com/

Hi, it's three pieces- the bow, the barrel and the wards. Just stuck together with super glue. The barrel is just done on the lathe, and the bow and wards are jigsaw/bandsaw/linisher/spokeshave/chisels/rasps. The best tip I can offer from the process is that when making the bow, it's best to...

Just done it. :)

Here's a big key I have just made from alder. It's going to be cast in steel.

I don't agree that the skewer blocks are unhygenic. My sister has had one for 20 years and is as fit as a fiddle. And at £11 for a fresh set, it wouldn't kill you to replace them every decade or so.

So doesn't the motor have a capacitor? Because it sounds pretty much how my extractor carries on when it has burnt out yet another one.

Hi, I had the same problem with my saw. The only way to cure it properly is to go back to basics, which is that the table is probably not aligned with the blade. If your table has a slot in it, you can use that as a reference. If you have a depth gauge, vernier etc, you can go from the face of...