A workshop journal about making furniture by hand: joints, timber, finishes and small pieces.
Jonathan W Gooch writes this journal from a one person workshop in Somerset, covering hand cut joints, timber selection and oil finishes. Each entry is written up after the piece is finished and keeps the mistakes in, with the measurements that made the difference. Newest entry first.
28 Jul 2026
A three legged ash stool uses about one metre of 40mm stock and takes nine hours across two days. The seat measures 38mm thick and 300mm across, the three legs splay 12 degrees from vertical at 120 degrees apart, and the 25mm through tenons are wedged with dry oak.
15 Jun 2026
Polymerised linseed oil on walnut builds to a low sheen over five coats and six days, with 24 hours between coats at 18 degrees and 55 percent relative humidity. Bare planed walnut looks grey until the first coat, then turns deep brown with purple in the darker streaks.
09 May 2026
Quartersawn European oak moves about 4mm across a 300mm width over one year in a Somerset garage workshop, and flatsawn oak of the same width moves closer to 8mm. Three pin meter readings per board, all between 8 and 10 percent, decide whether the board comes home.
02 Apr 2026
Hand cut dovetails in oak use a 1:8 slope, which measures 7.1 degrees, sawn with a 15 teeth per inch rip filed dovetail saw. Two mistakes account for nearly every bad dovetail: sawing across to the wrong side of the knife line, and leaving a hump on the socket floor.
Written in a single garage workshop in Somerset. Copyright 2026 Jonathan W Gooch. Journal index·About