With the tool chest completed, I have been ‘moving on’ to other projects. Here is an update on my work to date.

If we have time, we are due to make a stepladder. Not everyone starts or completes this project during their 12 weeks in Joinery, but that’s the goal (and a deck beam to boot). The stepladder has a fold down platform and, to get a bit of boatbuilding joinery in on the act, the platform is made up of a grating – like on the cabin sole of a yacht – or a shower tray!

Lots of joints and a need for accuracy, but the result is very pleasing. “So sharp, you’d better be careful not to cut yourself,” was the pleasing comment from the head of the school, Barnaby.

Next a bollow plane. A bollow is used to hollow! We will use it to shape the blades of oars. Chiselling out the recesses was quite tricky!

We will be making spars later, so have made a spar gauge, which is used to mark lines along the spar, in order to help us plane it from a square section of timber into a round one. More on that in due course. For now, here’s the finished article.

Last, but not least, we have to make a spirit level. This was a really satisfying little piece, and I am pleased with the result, duly stained … with Peacock oil, no less!

With these smaller projects duly completed, I am pleased to report that I have started my stepladder today. A couple of the lads are a day or two ahead of me, and have found it really challenging, so I hope it doesn’t throw up too many difficulties and I can make good progress.