I've just found Paul Sellers


TerryMcK

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Awesome. If you have never seen Paul Sellers before (I hadn't) then you are in for a treat.
Paul has been kind enough to put his vast experience into video and he has a channel on Youtube.
Here is a video on him cutting a mortise and tenon joint



http://youtu.be/LPBkO2chZxk

Thanks to Woodtalk 127 for pointing us to Paul's poor mans router plane.

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I saw him years ago in person at a woodworking show in Tulsa. He was working at the Homestead Heritage school near Waco at the time. I stood there for a good 2 hours just watching him work. It was some of the best time I ever spent.

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Yeah; I'm a big fan of his *Youtube* videos. He makes everything look so easy.  That's why I referenced him in my post about "Trimming Edge Banding"

 

 

Just a note: I've seen a preview of his DVD series.  IMHO, it was terrible.  Not because of him, but because of the producers/editors.  It was like they were trying to make it into something a kin to "Ghost Hunters" (quick camera shots...  kind of ominous, serious sounding voices, weird 3D graphics).   It's a shame, I would easily have purchased the whole set and watched them.

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I like his uncomplicated approach to the craft and his selection of tools as well. I am a convert to his sharpening system.

 

His sharpening system *looks* so easy, but I wonder how much of it is just 40+ years of muscle memory for him.  I get the feeling he could do it in his sleep if he had to.  What was your experience converting to it?  Was there much of a learning curve?  or maybe a better way of asking the question is how long did it take you until you could quickly get an edge that was equivalent to what you would have gotten with a jig?

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Reflecting back to my apprentice days the people around me did not use honing guides, everyone did it freehand. We then bought a tormek system which was really nice. After starting to do woodworking for enjoyment I decided I wanted to start sharpening by hand again and I looked into all the various options. I really liked the low fuss of Pauls system and I have been really pleased with the results. Give freehand a try next time.

However if you have got a system that works for you stick with it. There is no right way really, everyone likes to do it differently.

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Just a note: I've seen a preview of his DVD series.  IMHO, it was terrible.  Not because of him, but because of the producers/editors.  It was like they were trying to make it into something a kin to "Ghost Hunters" (quick camera shots...  kind of ominous, serious sounding voices, weird 3D graphics).   It's a shame, I would easily have purchased the whole set and watched them.

I did purchase the whole set. Very good quality, very informative, but yes, those 21st century 'intros' will have you screaming after half an hour.

 

Thanks for the link, that's a great video. His brother Peter does some great videos as well.

:D Now all we need is the french accent. 

 

John

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Have you discovered Bob yet? He doesn't go over making the tenon in this particular video (he does that in other project videos), but he does discuss the layout and the camera angles and audio are far more professionally done. My favorite mortise chopping video is the one Roy Underhill did with clear sidewalls so that you could see exactly how the chisel was cutting into the wood.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I found out about Paul Sellers because of this thread and have been watching one of his videos every day. And I am learning a lot from them.

 

 

Have you discovered Bob yet? He doesn't go over making the tenon in this particular video (he does that in other project videos), but he does discuss the layout and the camera angles and audio are far more professionally done. My favorite mortise chopping video is the one Roy Underhill did with clear sidewalls so that you could see exactly how the chisel was cutting into the wood.

 

Paul has a video like that, I just watched it.  He did it two ways, one with a mortise chisel, and the other with a bevel chisel. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I bought the complete set of his DVD's and the book. I built the projects by using his methods and it was probably the most valuable learning experience I've had. I've been in the steel manufacturing business my whole life and while some things transfer between wood and steel, the fine details do not, at least for me. I refer back to the videos a lot for refreshers. Cutting mortise and tenon joints on 4" legs (the work bench video), I thought would take forever. It wasn't that bad and the fit was perfect. It changed the way I look at every project I do now. I built my woodworking shop with every machine I thought I ever need, and while nice to have, I'm finding myself doing more and more by hand and the satisfaction of making quality joinery is much higher doing them by hand.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I saw him this past winter at the Columbus OH Woodworking Show.  I ended up making my own version of his DT marker using hand tools. I made a different style marker using power tools a couple years ago.  The one I made with hand tools is actually far more accurate!

 

742474932.jpg?1362878920

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You have to take your hat off to Paul and thank him for his passion for woodworking. There aren't many out there taking the time to share the old ways of doing things. If I did not own my selection of books I might not know about the dovetail template. Back then they didn't call it the "Paul Sellers" dovetail template  :lol:

 

post-11619-0-95656000-1370541362_thumb.j

Modern Practical Joinery 1902

 

Or simple items like the poor mans router 

post-11619-0-48626100-1370541468_thumb.j

Practical Home Woodworking 1951

 

Or the non traditional mortice 

post-11619-0-70586400-1372283493_thumb.j

The Practical Woodworker circa 1920's

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I'm subscribed to his Woodworking Masterclasses and consider it a huge bargain.  His love of teaching is very evident.

 

I've enjoyed the tool advice on his blog.  He emphasizes that great work can be done with inexpensive tools, and quality matters more than name brand.

 

While I can't ever see myself giving up my jointer and planer and bandsaw, he demonstrates an extremely approachable hand tool method.

 

Knife wall!

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  • 3 months later...

Reviving this thread I guess!  Based upon the feedback in the blog thread, I took a look at Paul Sellers website.  What a treat and great website.  I love his series on building a low cost set of quality lifetime tools.  It makes buying used hand tools a little less intimidating.

 

There is so much valuable information here.  The recent 4 part series on traditional Thoroughbred saw horses is also very timely.  Need to build a set.

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  • 2 weeks later...

What tools did he make in his lifetime tools?  

 

I am interested in building a set of winding sticks, a bow saw, and a set of wooden hand planes.

 

I probably wasn't clear, when I said "build", I meant buying new or used tools that are of high quality but reasonable price.  What I should have said was "build a tool collection".  I do think he has a video on building a bow saw though, you might do a Youtube search for it. 

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My favorite Paul Sellers quote so far came while he was planing some end grain after cutting a slab to length using his knife wall method.

"I don't even have to check it. It's automatically square."

Yeah, maybe if you are Paul Sellers.

In all seriousness I have been watching him nonstop for the past week. His saw sharpening video is great. My saw files showed up today and I have an old Disston coming tomorrow.

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My favorite Paul Sellers quote so far came while he was planing some end grain after cutting a slab to length using his knife wall method.

"I don't even have to check it. It's automatically square."

Yeah, maybe if you are Paul Sellers.

In all seriousness I have been watching him nonstop for the past week. His saw sharpening video is great. My saw files showed up today and I have an old Disston coming tomorrow.

 

I think that is why I like his stuff so much, he makes things seem simple and doable.  Much in the same way Mark does, just in a different way.  It makes some of the more difficult techniques and process more approachable.

 

I also like his old school approach, simple and no need to complicate things. 

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