While waiting for my new thicknesser machine, I decided to take the plunge and order another machine – a new band saw. I need a decent one for my boatbuilding anyway.

Half the fun with these purchases is the time spent researching the different machines, comparing their specs, looking at You Tube videos, and reading the reviews. Having made my choice, and found the best price, I rang to make an order. I was very surprised to be told: “Yes, we have it in stock, and can deliver the day after tomorrow.”

With some difficulty – it weighs 230kg – we managed to move it from the drive to Docs Den. Within an hour or so, I had it unpacked, set up, and had fitted a blade.

Over the last two or three days, I have been using it to prepare the stock for the desk project. Wow, it cuts through 4 inch thick oak like a knife through butter!

I now have all the frame components cut close to size, and have used my jointer and smoother planes to get them ‘faced and edged’. I’m ready to get them to the final dimensions in the thicknesser now, but that’s not due to arrive for a fortnight.

Rather than wait, I will probably resaw the wood on the bandsaw, and hand plane to the required thickness, in the traditional way. It’s good exercise, and I love to see thin shavings curl from the plane and to feel the smoothness of the planed surface.

A year ago, when starting out at IBTC, I found it so hard not to over-correct. Now, it seems altogether easier and more natural. I use my ‘winding sticks’ to check for twist/wind, take a few strokes with the plane, and then reassess.

As the sawn surface is planed, the grain becomes clearer, and I love to see the medullary rays appear, so prominent in oak.

Cross-cutting the planks has also been done by hand. I have had a go at sharpening one of my Dad’s old panel saws, which went better than I expected. It’s a useful skill, rarely used in these days of throwaway saws, so I will keep practising.

The shavings have been deposited on one of the garden beds. The garden is almost fully weeded now, and bark chippings are on the way to mulch and suppress further weed growth. Blackbirds love rootling though the bark for insects – it’s amazing how far they can throw chips of bark across the lawn in the process!

I have great respect for all who are working on the front line in healthcare and social care, and admiration for all who are contributing to the national effort. One of IBTC’s ex-students and her co-workers is making ventilators instead of boats – how’s that for transferable skills!

We celebrated our 35th Wedding Anniversary in lockdown, and this is our first Easter on our own. Still, we are all well, and I hope you all are too. All the best!