Crafts

About a year ago, my colleague and fellow Fiorista Bob Charrette kindly agreed to let me use some tracings he had made from Il Fior di Battaglia,  originally for his book Armizare, in my own little book of mnemonic verses, the Armizare Vade Mecum. As a token royalty payment I offered to make him four wooden … Read more

One of the problems with the books I write is that they involve a lot of previously published work. This tends to leave my desk piled high with books, which then get buried under further piles of not-books. My daughter’s chest of drawers (10€ from the recycle centre) finally died and was not worth fixing, … Read more

I am in the process of editing the first printed draft of my translation of the 15th century manuscript De Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi. This involves old-school actual writing with pens and stuff. I normally do this kind of thing in the mornings at the kitchen table- it has the best light and best access to … Read more

My Mum bought a sugar spoon in the sixties, and wanted a couple of copies done for two friends of the same vintage. This spoon is a classic example of the angular designs of the period, optimised for mass production and a bit tricky to reproduce in small numbers. The time to build the necessary … Read more

But a nice one to have… whisky glasses (even empty ones) do not belong on the arm of a sofa. They may spill! But for ages now, that’s where they’ve gone. Given the quality of the single malts involved, this is a very high risk situation. The solution: This little table is made from scrap … Read more

This post shows examples of some woodworking projects I’ve done over the last 10 years or so. Some readers of this blog have asked about custom work- in short, I don’t take orders, unless offered sufficiently vast sums of money to compensate for taking a fun hobby and making it into work, or you happen … Read more

It’s my youngest daughter’s second birthday next month, so I am making her a fairy castle picture frame- each window will have a photo of a family member in it. The watercolour is the basic sketch I’m working off, though there are some changes occurring between the painting and actually cutting wood. The castle was … Read more

This is my second wooden plane, following Mr Finck’s advice quite closely. The oak I got for it wasn’t quite thick enough for a one-piece, so I made a virtue out of necessity and made the cheeks out of walnut, with the crosspin and wedge to match. The blade is a 1 1/2″ honey from … Read more

So, planes then: my first attempt, with a blade from Plektra trading, which straight off the bat took lovely angel hair shavings. It has since been adapted for a lovely 2″ Krenov-style blade from the one and only David Finck, author of Making and Mastering Wood Planes, and was instrumental in making my second plane, … Read more