• Hi all and welcome to TheWoodHaven2 brought into the 21st Century, kicking and screaming! We all have Alasdair to thank for the vast bulk of the heavy lifting to get us here, no more so than me because he's taken away a huge burden of responsibility from my shoulders and brought us to this new shiny home, with all your previous content (hopefully) still intact! Please peruse and feed back. There is still plenty to do, like changing the colour scheme, adding the banner graphic, tweaking the odd setting here and there so I have added a new thread in the 'Technical Issues, Bugs and Feature Requests' forum for you to add any issues you find, any missing settings or just anything you'd like to see added/removed from the feature set that Xenforo offers. We will get to everything over the coming weeks so please be patient, but add anything at all to the thread I mention above and we promise to get to them over the next few days/weeks/months. In the meantime, please enjoy!

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  1. Blackswanwood

    David Hockney RIP

    In my opinion a very talented artist and great human being who didn’t take himself too seriously. A sad loss.
  2. Blackswanwood

    Brace & bits identification

    One of my neighbours has given me a brace and bits which she said was just cluttering up her garage. It belonged to her husband (she's in her eighties) but didn't know when he acquired it. I cannot see any makers marks and wondered if any of the old tool experts had any thoughts on likely age?
  3. Blackswanwood

    A question for the electricians

    I know there are a few members who are knowledgeable in electrical matters. I’d welcome their thoughts on the reports that budget solar panels will shortly be available from Aldi and Amazon. From what I have read (on Sky News) these are simply taken out if the box and plugged into a normal...
  4. Blackswanwood

    Robert Thompson/Mouseman

    I was passing through Kilburn yesterday and couldn't resist a quick call into Robert Thompson's place ... The simplicity of these stools makes them even more attractive ... I'm inspired to have a go at this ... If you are looking for that special gift ... Finishing a linen chest...
  5. Blackswanwood

    How many carving tools do you need?

    I’m currently in Marrakech and spotted this guy working hard in his workshop. He is an artisan rather than a stall-holder in one of the souks and was actually quite shy. Using a mixture on O level French and sign language we had a good chat. I have c25 carving gouges and probably use 10...
  6. Blackswanwood

    All the best for 2026 - any resolutions?

    Happy New Year to everyone. Is anyone making any resolutions? Mine is to put my tools away as I go along rather than work amongst clutter. I also need to sort out my work life balance. I’m struggling with being semi-retired! All the best
  7. Blackswanwood

    Hands Cavan Cabinetmakers

    This came up in my YT feed. It’s worth watching if you enjoy suitably attired skilled craftsmen at work. I hope the apprentice is now running the company.
  8. Blackswanwood

    Best Tape Measure

    As I've aged I've found being able to easily read measurements a bit more of a chore. My tape measure met with an accident and I decided to do a bit more research than I would have in the past primarily to find one that is easier to read and ended up going with this ... It's brilliant. It...
  9. Blackswanwood

    Coopering

    I went up to Scawton Sawmill this morning and spotted that they have let out one of their sheds to a cooper. The master cooper was very happy to let me take a look at their work but unfortunately they weren’t firing any new barrels today. Hopefully coopering won’t be replaced by AI!
  10. Blackswanwood

    Nailing Feather Edge Horizontally

    I am making a log shelter for a neighbour which will be clad with 150mm feather edge boards. The boards will be horizontal and my initial thought was to fix it with a nail through the board into each of the uprights of the frame so it will be under the overlap of the board above. Does this...
  11. Blackswanwood

    Peter Follansbee (and other) carving

    Has anyone else had a go at a Follansbee type carving and found it’s A LOT harder than it looks or is it just me? My first attempt was in oak but it seemed to be very unforgiving and brittle. It was kiln dried and had been sat in the workshop for some time. I am wondering if it was “too dry”...
  12. Blackswanwood

    Playing Card Box

    I made this as part of my ongoing exercise to use up offcuts … It has no lining pieces. The lip to hold the lid on is created by routing a groove on the internal face of the components before assembly followed by another offset groove post assembly on the external faces. The trade off...
  13. Blackswanwood

    Richard Maguire aka The English Woodworker

    I don't know if any members used to follow Richards blog/vlog. He's been quiet for a few years but is back posting if anyone interested. It appears he is in a new workshop and while still "matter of fact" his latest video style is a bit different. I guess anyone who used to follow him...
  14. Blackswanwood

    Notre Dame - craftsmanship at it’s best

    I’m currently on Eurostar heading back from Paris. I was particularly looking forward to seeing the restored Notre Dame. Mistakenly I thought the reopening had meant it was done but the work is still very much underway. The towers will reopen in late September which should (I was told)...
  15. Blackswanwood

    Michael - MY63

    Has anyone heard from Michael @MY63 recently? I noticed he has neither posted on here or Instagram since October last year and am hoping he is okay.
  16. Blackswanwood

    Hard working wasps

    This wasn’t there last Thursday but it is this morning. I have to hand it to the builder for both the work rate and impressive design! I have previously had a zero tolerance for wasp nests but have mellowed and plan to leave this one alone. Apparently they only stay for one season so it can...
  17. Blackswanwood

    That moment of relief …

    I started making a cot for my granddaughter a few months before she was born but then put it on hold when I was told she would not need it until aged 6 months. I’m currently getting it finished and it was bolted together for the first time today. Despite measuring everything umpteen times it...
  18. Blackswanwood

    A bit more carving…

    Tudor Rose in oak … More attention needed on consistency of depth!
  19. Blackswanwood

    First shot at an Acanthus Leaf updated with second attempt

    This is my first attempt at an Acanthus leaf carving. While happy with it I need to concentrate on getting the depth consistent and work out how to better do the creases on the pipes.
  20. Blackswanwood

    Carving Gouge Sweeps - does anyone know ...

    ... as I don't! As I understand it the sweeps of English gouges are numbered using the Sheffield system (Pfeil use a similar system). Sweep 1 is straight, 2 is a skew, then moving through 3 to 10 curve of the sweep gets deeper for each number (before reaching 11 which is a veiner and the...
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