Woodworking

I was in Dumfries in April visiting my mum, and a friend of the family there happened to buy a set of four balloon-back chairs, and mentioned it when they came over for dinner. I immediately asked whether they were coming apart in the usual place (where the balloon top rail meets the uprights). Of … Read more

Don’t tell anyone I said this, but there’s more to life than swords. Pens are important too. As are chisels, saws, planes… Pencil Box in Brown Oak, Maple, Cherry, Walnut, and Resin On my recent trip to the USA I was sitting in my friend Heidi Zimmerman’s garden when she dropped a truth bomb on … Read more

 I came across the idea of a book nook quite recently; one just popped up in a search for something else (a book, I think). And I just had to have a go, as it’s a perfect crossover between several of my interests. I was about half way into it when I realised it would … Read more

I’m in that funny limbo state between a book being finished and being published. My translation and interpretation of Fiore’s longsword plays (of which the current working title is now From Medieval Manuscript to Modern Practice: The Longsword Plays of Fiore dei Liberi. What do you think?) is back from the editor, his 2,370 comments … Read more

I’ve had my woodworking bench for twelve years now. It’s been a good workhorse, small enough to fit into my bijou little workshop spaces but big enough to be useful. It first lived in a corner in the old salle, then the tatami shed in the ‘new’ salle: then my garage in Ipswich, and now … Read more

Sitting will kill you. It’s almost as bad as smoking. Don’t believe me? Read Arsebestos, by Neal Stephenson in his compilation Some Remarks, or more fully, Deskbound by Dr Kelly Starrett. So as a matter of urgency, I created a standing desk adaptation for my work space at the Waterfront Studios. The heart of the … Read more