OK career change decided. Now what?
Well first off I had little knowledge on fine wood craft. That needed some attention. Also, I didn’t know where I could gain the knowledge. That also needed some attention.
I began as everyone does on Google*. Looking at different websites and Colleges to see what courses were available. Luckily I came across The Northern School of Woodwork at the Wharfedale Workshop in Ikley.
An email and call later from Nick, I’m booked on to both the beginners and intermediate courses. Better still my old employer was happy to cover the costs as part of the redundancy package.
Beginners course errrr Begins!! We built a small box using simple dovetail joints, setting up and handling a plane. Other basics of woodcraft and the workshop. Loved every minute of it!
Dry fit and joints needed some fine tuning. Final result. Proper chuffed with myself.
Intermediate Course. Building a small cabinet with drawer and door.
This was fun. Using the various different hand plans. Block, Router, Shoulder and Bull Nose. Who knew there are so many variations of Hand Planes (19 it says on one website). Well I guess Carpenters wood (ha see what I did there) know off course.
Glue up of the cabinet box. Make the drawer with dovetail joints. Rebate for the back panel. Making the door and hand planning to ensure a tight fit.
Finally. Giving the whole piece a light wax. The course served as a great grounding point to identifying where I needed to focus and improve my abilities.
Also and more importantly how did I want to make my products. This was important for me.
For example. I could use the Router or Router table to smooth over all the edges of my products. Handmade should use as little power tools as possible. To create that smooth edge I use a block plane and then lightly hand sand.
OK, the main bulk of the sanding say on a table top is with a rotary sander. Otherwise the time and costs would be huge. But, the edges are done by hand.
I guess some power tools are neccesary. Table Saw and Mitre saw for sure. Accurate cuts at the start of any project is key. Otherwise your on to a losing battle.
Thanks for reading. Check back soon. Another Blog post is in the pipeline.
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