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Hi, and thanks for all the replies. I was disappointed, though, to still not learn the secret of quick-and-easy masterpiece-making... "by the time you are knocking out your 50 or 60th item" !! I was reluctantly starting to pin my deferred hopes on the 3rd or 4th! I'm joking, of course. Just...

It was really hard (impossible for me, to be honest) to get the end-grain smooth. The fibres seem to lay down like a field of wheat. Even after I managed to sand it more-or-less ok, you should have seen the mess after I stained it! Every microscopic blemish, and every macroscopic one too, of...

>> Any pics? Yes, certainly. The colour doesn't show up too well, though. The smaller piece behind has a test application of RPC with amber colourant - it comes up quite nice. You can't see the silvery patches on the leg very well, either - pls just take my word for it. (The big patch is a...

Hi - I got some wood from a reclaim yard. The man said it was "Redwood, cedar". A bright pink colour. But from what I've seen, cedar is used for decking etc, and this stuff is as light as balsa, nearly, and as soft, except for the summer (or is it winter?) rings, which are as hard as nails...

"remove the bulk of the waste with a straight cutter...." Now there's a bright idea... TY!

Thanks to all for the advice. It was getting very boring sanding with grits 400 & over anyway - I won't be sorry to leave those in the drawer. As for the scraper.... as it happens, I just got a plane from Ray Iles (which I'm very pleased with), together with a new blade, and the old original...

Hi again... I've currently reached the stage of sanding, preparatory to Plastic Coating (which, thanks Derek, seems to work great). I started at 100 grit, then 240, 320, 400, 600, 1000, 1200 (!), mixing glass, aluminium, wet & dry (used dry) types as they came to hand. On the walnut that makes...

Thanks, Grinding and Matthew. Those long dovetail joints sound perfect - for when I'm a bit more skilled! What do you do, just put a dovetail bit in a table router? Does it really cut that accurately? Mine (actually an upside-down plunge router with guides for the wood) has trouble even...

PS The subject line always makes me think of a letter I saw in the paper once from someone who forgot to include their return name & address with a film they'd sent to Kodak for processing. So they phoned them up, telling the operator "I've done a silly thing". The operator said "Yes, I'll put...

Good points, Simon! 19mm, and - not that dry, probably, now you mention it! The tulipwood was probably ok, but the walnut had been outside, albeit sheltered, before being in the house for about 4 or 5 days.... Oh.... Think I'd better saw them apart again asap. Damn. *****.

I've got 2 1ft squares of walnut & two more of tulipwood, meaning to put them together to make a bigger 2x2 alternating colour table top. So far so good, but I wasn't thinking when I had the idea that having the grain of the walnut run at right angles to the grain of the tulipwood would look...

Yup, that'll be it. Thank-you.

Hi - OK, I want to make a star-of-David-shaped tabletop, about 3/4" thick, with some kind of beading round the edge. I just want to get the corners as clean as possible with minimal effort and chances of making mistakes... I just thought that some kind of flat blade that could be pressed...

"I am happy to email a Word copy of the article to anyone who is interested if you send me a PM." Hi Jim - I've sent you a PM! Thanks!

Thanks! That was quick! Actually the wood will be about 3/4" thick, so a wide blade would be better. But wouldn't a plane blade be curved a little? Anyway, I'm ashamed to say I don't have one yet. I can always cannibalise an old (or cheap) chisel, but I just wondered, as there seems to be a...

(PS You have to imagine that the corner is clogged with the unsawn bit, after sawing the corner as well as possible)

Hi all. I want to make a clean inside corner, and thought that a chisel that could be held flat on the wood before being hit with the mallet would be good. I've made this ridiculous picture to try to crudely show something like it. (I know you can use an ordinary chisel held with the bevel...

My e-enquiry to Morrells, asking how to order them and if they are ok with Rustins PC, got this response... "These products can only be sold to the trade and are only suitable for over-coating with other Morrells wood finishes. Please email the name and address of your company and we will ask...

Ok thanks Neil & Jon. I'll investigate!

PS - I suppose mahogany colour might lend a pleasant reddish tinge, but I'd rather that was an option, not a necessity!