For years, one of the great mysteries to me was, how did artisans of the past make those spectacular decorative twist finials often found on the most elaborate grandfather clocks, highboys, and other high-grade period furniture? In this video, we meet Irion Company staffer Brad Ramsay, an accomplished cabinetmaker and highly skilled carver who shows us the fundamental approach used to carve these flamboyant furniture elements. It’s a technique that can be used to carve spirals in any wood project, be it a finial or even a twisted table leg.

Learn the core skills used including how to secure the workpiece to the workbench, how to start the carving, and how to rough-carve to the layout lines. But most importantly, in my view, Jeff explains how carvers — and all woodworkers — need to read the grain of the wood for feedback. The take-away lesson: let the wood speak to you whether you are carving the twist of a finial or tuning the fit of a dovetail. — Keith (10 Minute Woodworking Video) For more in this series go to: The Big Payoff: Finish Carve a Decorative Spiral (Part 3 of 3)

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The Irion Company specializes in the restoration, conservation, and hand-made reproduction of American antique furniture from the 18th and 19th century. Brad Ramsay is a cabinetmaker and he specializes in period correct carvings.

Japanese chisels differ from their western equivalents in several interesting ways. Most notably, Japanese chisels are forged from a laminated fusion of hardened tool steel and a softer, more shock absorbing wrought iron. This melding of metals offers the woodworker some very important practical advantages over western style chisels — and there are other differences too.

In this video introduction to the Japanese chisel, cabinetmaker Craig Vandall Stevens describes the important characteristics of Japanese chisels and why he is a proponent of their use. Craig is an expert in the use of Japanese tools and he instructs on the topic throughtout the United States and Japan. I wouldn’t be surprised if after watching this video, you aren’t enticed to shop around for your own set. (4 Minute Woodworking Video)

Some segmented turners use a technique called stack ring lamination to “extrude” larger wood turning blanks from pieces of flat wood stock. Cutting the precisely angled rings that make up this glued-up stack is part of the process. There are many ways to cut rings, but up-and-coming artisan woodturner, Mark Damron, has created his own custom tool designed to accurately and repeatably cut large rings at the correct angle and wall thickness with control and ease. This tool is essential to Mark’s large-scale work.

Mark is a toolmaker by training, so creating custom tools comes naturally to him. His custom ring cutting tool is accurate, easy to handle, and safe when used correctly. In this video, Mark explains the basic design of this tool and how he does the set-up. He then shows how each ring is cut. Watching Mark in action is a great lesson in creative tool design and use. Be inspired to create your own custom tools for your work. (3 Minute Woodworking Video)