Well, six new recruits have now completed the first of the 12 week IBTC joinery course. The picture below shows my bench and the view of HMS Warrior’s masts through the window.

The learning curve is steep, but it’s great to see progress after only five days. Although I have a long way to go, I already feel more confident using my Stanley Bailey No 4 bench plane: better control and, pleasingly, better results.

My arms and shoulders ache, and I have felt exhausted come the evening, but I’m having a great time: enjoying honing (excuse the pun) my sharpening techniques, and enjoying too the whisper-thin shavings and clean cuts produced when a plane blade or chisel edge is really sharp.

Being such a small group is doubly beneficial: we get as much support, advice and instruction as we could possibly want; and we have that small group cohesion I was so looking forward to, sharing our progress – the hiccups and the successes.

Facing and edging a piece of wood, using a marking gauge to plane to width and thickness – it’s all starting to make sense. And, at the end of the week, we have all made our own bench hook, wooden mallet .. and are starting on our (American walnut) oilstone box.

It’s not just the change from clinical medicine to hands-on woodworking. There’s clocking in at 9am, clocking out at 5pm; regular set tea and lunch breaks … and, best of all, concentrating on one job at a time. It’s early days, but I could get used to this!