Thomas McCurnin
03-14-2020, 12:25 PM
Sharpen Your Tools
Use Your Chisels to Measure and Set Marking Gauges
Use a Knife for Marking Lines
Use a .5mm Pencil on the Knife Marking Lines
Make a Knife Wall with Knife and Chisel to Help With Sawing and Mortising
Leave the Line (Or Half of It)
Saw and Plane to the Line. Leave The Line!
Lead With the Bevel When Chiseling Mortises to Make a Ramp
Use a Mallet to Split a Tenon Wall After Forming a Shoulder With a Saw Neat Trick)
I’ve been a woodworker for 40 plus years and shunned hand tools for anything that could plug in. So this 6 day course opened my eyes to the Paul Seller’s methods. We did not use gloves, push sticks, masks, or eye protection (except when using the grinder for sharpening). We made shavings and chips not dust.
The six day class was a little like Karate Kid in that we practiced marking, sawing, planing, and chiseling for a couple days before using those skills to make dovetails, mortises, and tenons. And eventually 3 pieces of simple furniture.
The instruction was nearly identical to watching a Paul Sellers video so those methods must be fairly commonplace. The mortise technique was a challenge but after a few days I finally got the mechanics of the ramp. The splitting a tenon technique was brilliant. I found I could make a mortise and tenon faster and more accurate than with a table saw. I still need practice sawing.
The school was Homestead Heritage in Waco Texas and I would give it high marks for the quality and patience of the instructors and the school-supplied tools.
Use Your Chisels to Measure and Set Marking Gauges
Use a Knife for Marking Lines
Use a .5mm Pencil on the Knife Marking Lines
Make a Knife Wall with Knife and Chisel to Help With Sawing and Mortising
Leave the Line (Or Half of It)
Saw and Plane to the Line. Leave The Line!
Lead With the Bevel When Chiseling Mortises to Make a Ramp
Use a Mallet to Split a Tenon Wall After Forming a Shoulder With a Saw Neat Trick)
I’ve been a woodworker for 40 plus years and shunned hand tools for anything that could plug in. So this 6 day course opened my eyes to the Paul Seller’s methods. We did not use gloves, push sticks, masks, or eye protection (except when using the grinder for sharpening). We made shavings and chips not dust.
The six day class was a little like Karate Kid in that we practiced marking, sawing, planing, and chiseling for a couple days before using those skills to make dovetails, mortises, and tenons. And eventually 3 pieces of simple furniture.
The instruction was nearly identical to watching a Paul Sellers video so those methods must be fairly commonplace. The mortise technique was a challenge but after a few days I finally got the mechanics of the ramp. The splitting a tenon technique was brilliant. I found I could make a mortise and tenon faster and more accurate than with a table saw. I still need practice sawing.
The school was Homestead Heritage in Waco Texas and I would give it high marks for the quality and patience of the instructors and the school-supplied tools.