Windsor Chair course Day 8

Drilling and stamping.

One thing you discover with power tools is that you can do a lot of things more powerfully and much quicker
than with hand devices and elbow grease. Such as making errors. Certain devices exist so as to assist with being more precise with the extra power from electric tools.

Jigs, sighting lines and other aids are still required when doing things manually, but the BIG thing is that it is a lot harder to make quick mistakes (you really have to make an effort to make the mistake) and it is a lot easier to stop, reassess, realign and continue on the correct path.

Bit and brace drilling is something I’d never thought I’d do. I could feel the cravings from within for my trusty Lithium powered Panasonic. A grid, and a set of layout lines and perhaps a good eye were required for a good hole. Also, one needed to feel the other side of the timber for when the bit tip ‘just’ broke the surface. Something you would never dream of doing with a power tool.

A final step for today was to emboss our maker’s marks on the base. Spelling, don’t fail me now.