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That's sadly about par today; I had much the same experiences and can still vividly remember making stuff during the early 60's in our school 'shop and like yours, it was very well equipped, but I didn't have to forgo wood mangling and take up Latin. Strangely and for some unknown reason, the...

I used to do them that way but you've got an unguarded tablesaur blade there. Much easier and safer to make splines with a slotting cutter on the router table with the added advantage of being able to make different thickness splines. Turn each spline through 90deg- Rob

To separate a box from it's lid, you need to remove the crown guard. Even with the blade at it's lowest setting, you'd need to make four cuts to completely separate the lid; you can't use push sticks so hands would have to hold both the box and the lid as it goes through and there might be a...

Sorry, I don't but one of his guiding mantra's was that if you do happen to make a **** up, (and it does happen, I know all about them ) try and turn it into a feature of the piece. To me, it just seemed the easiest way of turning the 'faux pas' into an attractive feature of the table. I'd...

A tablesaw, even if you had one, is completely the wrong tool. This type of job is reserved for the bandsaw which is a much safer way of parting a lid. In the absence of both, you're left with no option but to use a fine toothed tenon saw (or similar). Simply start sawing at one corner and work...

'Dried' in this case will mean that it's been kilned prior to shipping so the moisture content ought to be already quite low. Wherever you store it the %MC may, not guaranteed, increase depending on how it's kept. I'd opt for No.3 with the caveat that it's also sticked correctly to allow fee air...

I do and it works. When I was in NZ before Christmas, Rick Taylor dries all his ancient kauri blanks in a large sealed box or room with a dehumidifier - Rob

I'd rout out all the domino holes to make one continuous slot across the whole side, which could then be filled with a contrasting timber (ebony for example) and this could be profiled to form a fingertip 'lift' when the table needs to be moved. Even if matching brown oak plugs were used, they...

As others have rightly mentioned, an older Record or Stanley No.5 Jack or even a 5.5 would suite very well, but I'd do some t'interweb searching for a local second hand tool shop (you might get lucky) within striking distance where I could see a selection and pick a few up before handing over...

Once it's down to around 20% outside, it'll need further careful conditioning in a cool room (a bedroom is ideal if it's not centrally heated) to bring it down to about 10%. Lovely stuff, but there can be a lot of wastage on it - Rob

Agreed, the OF1400 is the one to go for - Rob

I first used one of the AirPress vacuum pumps many years ago when working in the trade and when I set up my 'shop a few years later, the Standard AirPress was pretty high up on my 'to buy' list. The kit is unfailingly superb and has worked faultlessly for well over fifteen years, except for the...

That is dreadful on such a small surface area. Pick up the 'fone, complain bitterly, send it back and get a complete replacement saw or your money back as it's not fit for purpose. A warped table like that will almost certainly affect the accuracy of any cuts you're liable to make. I'd also...

I've got to build myself something like this. I currently rely on an Ax bar to hold my few tools and the grippy strength of the magnet isn't enough; the result is sometimes a cascade of turning tools clattering onto and around the lathe. Nightmare - Rob

Just to clarify, Custard, you're spot on but the Kiwi's carbon date the age of the swamp, not the tree itself as it's way to expensive to do an individual log(s). Thus the swamp may have say, an age of 4000 years (and they do vary a lot, between 1 and 40,000 years) but that doesn't necessarily...

Thanks Custard. He's the chap we went to see over in Kent a couple of years ago and he personally selected a half dozen boards of well figured Bog Oak. I'd tend to agree that Bog Oak is pretty hard and dense stuff. His workshop though, is like the inside of a coal mine because he works with...

Thanks for the 'heads up' on using thicker 2mm veneers Custard, much appreciated. I've done lots of stuff with this type of veneer in ordinary oak, American Cherry and English Walnut. Thus far, I haven't had any problems with micro-cracking but the timbers mentioned are relatively benign...

And from me; really awful when a business goes under and I suspect Brexit is affecting many other business in much the same way. I was nattering to the manager in our main furniture shop in town the other day and she said much the same thing; customers reluctant to commit to big ticket purchases...

I'd have to agree Nick that it is something they're prone to do which may be quite frustrating for potential customers waiting for a bit of kit - Rob

+1 - Rob