Working notes
Guides
Longer working notes from the bench: qualitative, sourced where a fact needs a source, and linked to the tool that does the arithmetic. All five are written fresh for this site.
| Guide | Covers | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Steam bending and bending jigs | When to steam-bend rather than laminate, and how steam boxes, straps, formers and clamping jigs actually work. | Revised 2026-08-05 |
| Choosing timber for a project | Workability, movement, durability, cost and UK availability, weighed qualitatively for common project types. | Revised 2026-08-05 |
| Reducing waste in the workshop | Cutting-list planning, offcut management, reclaimed-timber cautions and buying only what the job needs. | Revised 2026-08-05 |
| Designing a workbench that fits you | Height trade-offs by work style, top mass and stiffness, vice placement, and the mock-up-first habit. | Revised 2026-08-05 |
| Orbital sander technique | Grit progression, movement and pressure, swirl-mark causes, and HSE-sourced dust control for sanding. | Revised 2026-08-05 |
Each guide is written fresh for this site — no recycled text from the domain's past lives — and revision dates are real ones. The long addresses these guides live at are kept from the old site deliberately, so existing links and citations keep working.