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I don't know if this comes under the heading of Queen Anne but Issue 230 (April 2015) of Furniture and Cabinetmaking has an in depth article entitled Carved 18th Century-style ball and claw foot. Dunno if Queen Anne stuff had that kind of detail but it might be of some use.

I came across this on the Lee Valley website: http://www.leevalley.com/US/Wood/page.a ... at=51&ap=1 It would appear to be a faithful copy of the Preston original and I must admit that I quite like the look of it. I wonder if Lee Valley is considering redoing similar old Preston tools like...

I use this Pfeil marking knife: https://www.classichandtools.com/acatal ... ives-.html It's design means that you naturally hold it like a pen. It just needs sharpening up once in a blue moon on and I can't fault it.

Thanks for the replies. My bench does stand under two north facing windows, the reason for my interest in lighting is the long winter evenings. I could wall mount a light between the windows and one each to either side of them. Now it's a matter of tracking down some quality lights. The...

Has anybody got any thoughts on the best way to illuminate a workbench? I'm thinking along the lines of floor standing angle poise. Are LED lights worth considering and would two lamps be better than one (to cancel out shadows)? Thanks in advance.

Thank you all for the replies. David C: I have your 5 topics DVD as it happens and I had a look at the bit on scraper planes again last night and it answered a lot of questions (I'd forgotten that bit as scraper planes weren't even on my horizon at the time of buying the DVD). I've done a bit...

I was wondering about scraper planes because given that smoothers and hand scrapers exist, one could almost think that they would be superfluous to requirements. Has anybody bought one and regretted it or is there anybody who simply wouldn't be without one? Are they actually better than...

Hah! I'll do a Paul Sellers and claim I've invented a term. Because I need all the help I can get to keep my sawing vertical, I make the knife wall in the usual way and then deepen it significantly with a chisel bash followed by a second paring. The result is quite marked and I self-mockingly...

I would have thought that one key difference between the amateur and the pro is that the latter will have been trained in every technique he could need i.e. he'll have done everything once even if some of those things were only done during training. It's more probable that the hobbyist, as he...

Well here's one hobbyist who can definitely say, "Not guilty, your honour". Experience leads me to believe that the first attempt at anything new is going to lead to less than satisfactory results. I give whatever it is a go, take my time and do the best I can while being very relaxed about...

Custard, I was just thinking that it makes sense to stick with one DVD tutor (and in best "speak of the devil" mode up pops David C from whose DVDs I have learned an awful lot) and to shop around carefully in the internet. My experience is that I would occasionally tap in a term like "chop...

The Essential Woodworker by Robert Wearing, published by The Lost Art Press. This book enjoys a reputation as a classic which is justified, for it is, within its limitations (more on these below), excellent. It is divided into five main parts: Basic Woodworking Skills; Make a Table or Stool...

Apologies: I should have made quite clear that I wasn't referring to the good old Mr Mainwaring types who know their clients and run their branches responsibly but rather to the other sort. As for saving: it's a good habit to get into. I recently emptied my spare change tin (€600, it's a big...

Here's another one for you then: the term "leverage" which you sometimes hear bandied about when the conversation turns to banking. Most people think that if they stick 100 quid in the bank, the bank can lend it to, say a cabinet maker who wants to buy some new chisels. He borrows the Money...

I agree with this, although I am one of those who went from knowing nothing and so started with a jig. Partly at the insistence of the views of people like Jacob on here (they obvoiusly knew what they were on about) I kept trying to hand sharpen and now will happily break off work to hone up...

Benchcrafted have produced a jig for sharpening draw knives which is supposed to remove the safety risks and provide consistent results. I've not so much as clapped eyes on one myself but it might be worth doing a bit of Research.

Gentlemen, thanks for your replies. The sharpest iron in the world and a closed up cap iron it is. Kalimna, thanks for making me aware of the sander possibility but it would be a last resort (if I had access to one) because it would feel like cheating. I want to solve this problem by hand if...

Here are three pictures of a piece of Black Amerian Walnut which formed the end of a board. It was rough sawn and of course the plane revealed the grain. While this strong rippling is visually delightful, it is very hard going and I still have to get the piece flat. I obviously want to lose...

Just in case I've inadvertantly caused any confusion, the one I've got is on the top left pic on this link http://www.marples.co.uk/trial1.html Essentially the same as the one Andy T. showed but with a solid brass face to the fence.

Right then, my Trial 1 Combined Mortice and Marking Gauge made by Marples (around 45 quid from the better tool dealers) arrived yesterday and I've just tried it out. It's nicely made, a little smaller but a little heavier (thanks to the brass face on the fence) than I had imagined. It sits...