I pick up a copy of Traditional Woodworking semi-regularly. It?s a British magazine and it?s interesting to see some of the tools and equiptment not seen here in the U.S. As the name implies, the projects In each issue are mainly solid wood using traditional joinery rather than the typical U.S. woodworking magazines? ?you?ll need a sheet and a half of 3/4? (fill in plywood, MDF, melamine etc.)?. And there?s usually an odd, at least to me, project like ?turn a wine barrel tap and spigot?. Who has wine barrels, let alone wine barrels and no spigot?
But it?s the writing that impresses me the most. Always grammatically correct, you?ll find no dangling prepositions, it?s the vocabulary, and sometimes the spelling, that impresses me. Take the following sentences from a review of the Festool TS-75 EBQ Plus circular saw.
?What sets if apart from so many of its rivals is the effortless performance with which It despatches (sic) even the deepest cuts in the toughest, most recalcitrant timbers.?
or
?It is, quite simply, immaculate.?
Perhaps U.S. Woodworking magazine publishers will work on improving the writing in their magazines.
I can?t remember when I last ?despatched? a piece of wood. I regularly butcher, chop up, slice and dice and rip a board or two. I?d try it on a ?timber? but the Borg doesn?t carry any. I asked about recalcitrant wood at a local lumber supplier and just got a funny look and a shrug of the shoulders.
Other than the Glen Drake Tite-Mark marking gauge, I could find no tool in my shop that I would describe as immaculate. Take that back, the G.N.T. Gordon ebony spoke shave with the brass mouth plates would also qualify as immaculate AND elegant, as would the LN bronze beading tool.
Must be off now - timbers to rectangularize you know. Ta-ta.
charlie b