Have you had a look at the offerings from Tool-Up and Machine Mart if you click on the adverts on the website, I get a bit of commision, If you buy from them.

I’m a member of a few woodworking forums. – getwoodworking and UKworkshop There’s hundreds of contributors that can give you specific advice. One bit of advice is often – “Buy the very best you can afford”. I would second that advice.
I the best router and router table I could find, Trend, Record Power. But skimpt on the table saw and Planner Thicknesser, Woodstar. Both could be much better but after fiddling and fettling them, they do the job.
Other thing to look at is spend the same money on second hand. This way you might be able to get proper, powerful, professional equipment that should last a lifetime.
Hope that Helps
Regards
Andy

Enjoyed the video about making a door.

Have you considered a section on selecting power tools?

Already have (and can use) circular & jig saws, sanders, drills etc. Now I’m considering buying a router plus table and planer thicknesser, but don’t know where to start, and certainly can’t afford any expensive (or dangerous) mistakes.

Cheers,
John

I’ll add pictures as soon as I can.
A page for recomended merchants might also be good idea.
“Sawfallen” I’ll change to “Sawfalling” and add a bit more detail. It’s a bit of a minefield as terminology and meanings seem to vary.
I’ll have to leave hardwood untill I’ve built up some experiance and I’ve not got anything in the pipeline.
I’ll add a warning about increased risk of kickback with a long fence.

Cheers
Andy

Sorry it’s taken me a few days to have proper look at your site (I’ve been busy). It does look very good though. Do you plan to add more images in future, to support your text?

I had a similar experience to you (almost a year ago, now) when buying “unsorted” redwood. The stuff selected by Bristol City Timber was more like fifths! I went back to exchange some of the boards but, they weren’t very helpful. He tried to make out it was my fault the boards had split (despite the obvious pith!!) and then, to make matters worse, he tried to fob me off with a few lengths of spruce, meaning I would’ve lost money! Needless to say, I haven’t used them since!

The last lot of redwood I bought came from Robbins timber, also in Bristol (barely two-miles from BCT, in fact). It was a little dearer but, this was simply the best quality redwood I have found in Bristol. No splits, no shakes and not an inch of pith! Some of my boards were 8in. wide and yet, not a single dead knot! Trouble is, the majority of these ‘merchants’ won’t let you anywhere near their stocks, for health and safety reasons. Either get to know them really well or, if you really want to pick out your own boards, look for a more traditional yard or sawmill. But, even then, they’ll generally only offer locally-grown or imported hardwoods.

“Sawfallen”… Sounds like an American term?

One of my books gives reference to “saw felling quality”; “this being a mixed batch of grades I to V sold without further sorting, but the majority will consist of IV and V grades with very little of I, II and III grades. Some suppliers market this as ‘V and better’ or ‘fifths and better’.” – Carpentry & Joinery Book 1: Job Knowledges, Peter Brett (2005).

It would be good, I think, if you could do something on common hardwoods (oak, ash, beech, sapele, iroko?) one day.

Under ‘How to Plane Good Pieces’, you advise adding a long flat length of timber to the rip fence. If this extends past the last cutting tooth on the blade then, this is actually a bad idea, as solid wood can bend after the cut (as tensions are released) and bind on blade, allowing the rising teeth at the back to catch it and fire it towards you at high speed! It’s not as much of an issue with sheets but, it can happen.

Cheers,

Olly.