Added Value Quiz For You!

Finishing off making the two-drawer organiser and filming it too made the week special. Filming for me is never without its trials, not the least of which is the interruption my brain goes through after a lifetime of developing as near an uninterrupted flow to my work. I have been used to the momentary disruptions apprenticing brings and so too customers looking for answers. Managing staff and co-workers back then rarely stopped me mid-cut though. With filming that inevitably happens for a range of good reasons not the least of which is me calling a tenon a dovetail or a plane a spokeshave. I either get stopped through my own fault for one reason or another; sometimes I just forget where I am in the scheme of things. Wrong cuts cat lead to difficult or impossible edits and that reflects on the videographers who love a good outcome in their work just as much as I want in my work. Mid-cut interruptions do affect me because we seem to lose that moment important to expressing intent. Some projects take two or three weeks for us to work through and that's before the editing even starts. Having made a prototype prior to that extends the time even though no filming takes place in that sphere of development.

It's a nice project as I think I said already. Compact, tidy, simple and practical. If you are thinking of taking the plunge into drawer making with a cabinet thrown in, the size is just right--not too small and not too large. Where I used hardwood for the drawer fronts you could just continue with pine throughout and it would look just as nice I think. I am also planning on one from hardwood throughout. A more modern take on the theme. I think I'll vlog on that one.

Making my original model two decades ago made it is just too handy to live without. I will use this second one too and will wonder how I lived without it within a few days I am sure. I daren't tell you how many boxes, tills and drawers I have around my home, home workshop and at work. They are all full of my bits and pieces and you would be amazed that I pretty much know what's inside most of them.

I'm not complaining when I say that filming does not come without invasion. We all work sensitively around one another to allow the artistic licence we need to make good videos and good projects. My workspace is more interesting than most, I think. If you think about all that we have made in no more than an 8 foot by 8 foot of floor space it defies belief. From cots to dining tables, beds, coffee tables and even the more recent workbenches. These dozens of projects were designed to defy the false view that you cannot do good and efficient woodworking using hand tools. Many wanting to do woodworking that were put off are now finding their lives changed as they establish skills they could only ever dream of. I mean woodworkers new and seasoned are perpetuating skill in the doing of it and this is how I can gauge my own successes. Of all the ones we have made I think that what amazes me the most still is the minimal use if any of any machines. You've never seen me use a motorised router but you've seen me use a simple hand router plane. Therein is the difference between myself and the others. In reality, it is most likely that 99% of you never saw the hand router used before you saw me using one and showing its versatility. When you did, you believed in it and you bought it. When no one seemed ever to use one before, I found it amazing that no one begged the question, 'Why is that?'

Up until five years ago router planes by Stanley and Record sold for around £10 on eBay. It was when I started to demonstrate the functionality of the router plane to its fullest extent, expose it to the wider world of real woodworking, the prices steadily rose. Now they exceed £100 and that's directly because of my working with them. In fact, even major producers of premium router planes have difficulty keeping up with stocks as a direct result of our efforts. My success teaching and training means success for all even though they would never admit it.

I suppose what I am saying is that this simple project has an amazing amount of teaching in it as do all of our videos and how-to efforts. The same is true of plough planes too. Whereas many people are amazed that anyone uses such tools, I am amazed that people who call themselves woodworkers don't. Join thousands of friends with a free subscription to our woodworkingmasterclasses.com. We keep expanding our woodworking efforts as an all inclusive group. You'll love it.

So, why Value Added Quiz. Tomorrow I am going to ask you questions about my decisions in the design and making of this project. To see if you can answer the key issues I built into the design. We'll see how you fair!