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The butt can have some lovely brown flex in it and the wood is often far tougher nearer the roots. Great wood to use, but mainly I have used it green. It can be problematic with stain often coming out a bit blotchy.

No one has mentioned the Axminster 400/1000 diamond stone at I think about £23. Very good value and has been serving me for a few years now, I have no issues recommending it and is far cheaper than DMT, which I also own.

Lovely plane, great idea using birch ply. I use to do sell at some new age shows and made boxes from birch ply which where shaped and carved. I had a few people coming up wanting to buy and asking about which wood it was with such lovely grain. When I said birch ply they put it down as if it was...

I use a lot of ash green, air and kiln dried, on the whole lovely stuff. Like any wood it can vary in quality. For strength go for fast grow ash, for ease of use with hand tools go for slow grown stuff which will be weaker. Fast grown 8 rings per inch or less, 2-3 rings per inch is the fastest I...

Great, I bought some years ago form Lidl. They have been much abused and the glass on the display has been broken and mostly fallen out, but they work just fine. The ones I bought I think where British made as well

Why use leather? The strops I make have leather one side and canvas the other. The leather has a bit of give in it and is good for tools like axes that I want a slight convex edge on. The canvas has no give and I use that for my knives and backs of chisels and plane blades.

So no problems with wearing or damaging your diamond stones

Has anyone flatten their ceramic stones? What are your thoughts of using a diamond plate on one?

Thanks for that, very interesting reading. As someone who is self taught and never worked for anyone else it is always interesting to see how others charge and how long processes take.

I only have one tool that is collectable and will only ever be displayed. I did think about using it but as it has all the original labels still on it it is worth more in its unused state. Such a shame. Some old tools I think are really beautiful and are very well made with a lot of thought gone...

For my bowls I use cold pressed linseed oil, this is food safe and a natural Sussex grown product. I use a deep fat fryer and immerse the bowls and plates into it. This is the only way I have found that the oil will actually go into the wood. It takes time to dry, but is the best natural product...

Most lettering, pictures and the like will be done with lasers these days, CNC controlled. Sand blasting is another way but best done on larger planks of wood, a mask is put onto the wood and and the the letters etched with a sandblaster. Both involve a large investment in kit £3000 min second hand

Again nice looking knives. Just the shape and style I like using, what sort of bevel have you put on them. I like a 20 to 23 degree bevel with a micro bevel just to strengthen the edge. Basically they just are primary bevel only.

Great looking knife and a good shape for spoons. Most hook knives I have seen and used are just glued in with a 2 part resin, no need for pins as well. I like the shape of the second spoon. As for holding all my work is done with axe and knife, if I do use a drawknife on any larger spoons then...

I use a drawknife both bevel up and bevel down depending on what I am doing, because of the ergonomic shape of the handle will I be able to use this knife bevel down? If I can not use it bevel down then it is a waste of money. I agree with everyone else,, centuries of the same design often means...

I recently bought a veritas long handled spoke shave. WOW and WOW again what a pleasure to use, and why have I been struggling with the stanley and record one for so many years. Everyone has been loving it, in fact some of my students are finding projects to make so they can use it.

I would go for the Mora knives. I have also used them almost daily for 20 years, for the price they cannot be faulted.

These modern augers are great, RogerP, either in a brace or power drill. The holes and tenons have to be square, I have been asked to make a wing chun dummy, for a client

30mm square through mortice up to 250mm deep. How? This is going to be through a large stick, well tree trunk. I will need to cut 4 of them. The tenons going in them will need to be easily removed, I actually need a slight slack in the fit. I am quite happy to use hand tools. Does anyone know...

Start small and local, go to your local craft shows in the local town halls etc and talk to the stall holders and organisers. There is no point spending more that £30 £45 on a show for the first few times. Start small and any mistakes you may make will have little impact and you will also learn...