With another DVD (or digital download) in his excellent series on machinery, Peter Sefton has established himself in tackling what’s easily a dry, technical subject and making it essential viewing for woodworkers. In fact, he managed to keep my attention for just over two hours, which is admirable!
The Woodworker Magazine
Peter Sefton Furniture School graduate Simon Denton tells us of his plans to forge a successful career combining his two lifelong passions: music and furniture making.
The Woodworker Magazine
For many woodworkers, the bandsaw is often the first machine they buy. Not only is it less intimidating, safer and quieter than other workshop equipment, but it’s pretty versatile. From cutting accurate joints such as dovetails, bevels and tight curves to simply sawing logs for firewood, there’s not much it can’t do as a saw. Like any machine it needs to be set up correctly to get the most from it, though. Following on from his excellent range of hand tool DVDs (Series 1), furniture maestro Peter Sefton has progressed to Series 2, focusing on woodworking machinery. Starting with the bandsaw, I should point out that this is the first of three DVDs dealing solely with this machine, the subsequent pair concentrating on Advanced Techniques – we’ll take a closer look at those in a future issue.
The Woodworker Magazine
These days there’s no shortage of information out there for woodworkers that just wasn’t available when I were a lad. Unless you had college training you either had to dip into books, enrol in an evening class or work it out for yourself. Early instructional videos could be painful to watch, a fast track to an afternoon nap, and even now some YouTube demos can be a bit dodgy. A happy exception is Peter Sefton’s series of Fine Furniture Making DVDs, which are professional and certainly absorbing. Admittedly this is the first one I’ve watched, but if preceding discs are of the same standard (Andy King assures me they are), then you may want to reserve the DVD player for an evening or two.
Good Woodworking Magazine
These two volumes from Peter Sefton’s new Fine Furniture Making DVD range are very well produced and the professional and authoritative delivery instils the viewer with confidence throughout. As part of a five-volume series (Series 1), I selected these two as they cover similar areas to the David Charlesworth DVDs I reviewed back in GW320. There are certain similarities within them, which I guess is to be expected as the areas of flattening and preparing stock, as well as the hoary subject of sharpening, are age-old, and the principles are essentially the same. However, for me, Peter has a far more hands-on approach that makes the time fly by as you watch, accompanied by excellent little nuggets of information that explains the reasoning and methodology as you move on through.
The Woodworker Magazine
Buy Now
Timber Preparation DVD
Chisel & Plane Sharpening DVD
Fine Furniture Making Collection – Set of 5 DVDs
Peter Sefton and his students learn about the hand cutting of dovetails and use these newfound skills to make a small chestnut letter rack.
Good Woodworking Magazine
In the last of this series on hardware, Peter Sefton considers the
options when conventional methods give way to new technology.
Furniture and Cabinet Making Magazine
Peter Sefton looks at a range of shelf supports and knock down fittings to suit every budget.
Furniture and Cabinet Making Magazine
Peter Sefton explains why it helps to know your left throw from your right when choosing the best lock for the job.
In this, the second in a series of four articles about choosing the right hardware, I look at a selection of locks from traditional brassware, through to more contemporary rare-earth magnets and push catches.
Furniture and Cabinet Making Magazine
In the first of a new series of four articles about selecting and fitting the right hardware, we ask Peter Sefton for advice on a range of the most commonly available hinges.
Furniture and Cabinet Making Magazine
