Ben Jeffares on Philosophy, Craft and Making.

  • Introduction
  • Craft Posts
    • Woodworking
    • Shoemaking
    • Greenwood
    • Chairmaking
    • Tools/implements
    • Glass
    • Spoonmaking
  • Diving
  • Books etc
  • CV

benjeffares

Structures Cover
Book reviews Books

My most influential books…

…an expanding list. In no particular order, here are some books that I think are important, have hugely influenced my thinking, or I just think are worthwhile reading. I will try and get around to fuller reviews at some point. Links are to Goodreads pages. This will be an ongoing Read more…

By benjeffares, 6 monthsJanuary 15, 2025 ago
Chairmaking Craft Photos Tools/implements Woodworking

From logs, eventually

This is a rather incomplete set of photos showing my recent chairmaking adventure using  using some logs acquired many years ago. Most of them had degraded and some rotted due to poor storage, but I managed to work around the weaknesses and pull together a completely improvised, no power tool Read more…

By benjeffares, 6 monthsJanuary 10, 2025 ago
Misanthropy Uncategorized

Bard summarised my blog.

Okay, so I asked Bard, the Google AI/large language model, to summarise my blog posts, and also reference my LinkedIn profile.  I am suitably amused by the result, and it made a couple of errors, one understandable given the web-site context, one slightly less obvious. The first is my that Read more…

By benjeffares, 2 yearsAugust 23, 2023 ago
Chairmaking Design etc Greenwood Tools/implements Windsor Chair Making Woodworking

The Great Chair Adventure: Part 3

Making and turning. The process of making a Windsor chair in the course I was in was literally from greenwood: we split or reeved timber lengths from Tasmanian Blackwood logs. These were the first and primary pieces that we worked, and they would form the legs and stretchers of the Read more…

By benjeffares, 2 yearsApril 12, 2023 ago
Diving Freediving Marine Reserves Photos Uncategorized Underwater Photography

Freediving Poor Knights

Photos from a trip to the Poor Knights Marine reserve with New Zealand freedivers from around the country. As usual, I have tended to get enamoured with light, geology, bodies in space, as well as the organisms. All photos on breath hold.  

By benjeffares, 2 yearsMarch 29, 2023 ago
Diving Freediving Freediving Competitions Marine Reserves Photos Scuba Diving Underwater Photography

Roatan Photos

Some photos from my 2022 trip to Roatan, one of the Bay Island of Honduras. I was in Roatan to be on the jury for the AIDA World Depth Freediving Championships. I was slightly undercooked as a judge, but I learnt a great deal in the process. Afterwards I hung Read more…

By benjeffares, 3 yearsSeptember 29, 2022 ago
Chairmaking Craft Depression Windsor Chair Making Woodworking

The Great Chair Adventure: Part 2

Craft, Making, and Depression. (Some rather disconnected initial thoughts.)

By benjeffares, 4 yearsFebruary 16, 2021 ago
Chairmaking Craft Design etc Woodworking

The Great Chair Adventure: Part 1

I have wanted to make a chair for some time. And, when I say sometime, I suspect it’s been lurking as a potential project since I was very young. The reason I say this is that when I was young, I used to go to exhibitions and a few other things with my father…

By benjeffares, 4 yearsJanuary 26, 2021 ago
Craft Greenwood Tools/implements Uncategorized Woodworking

From logs: part three

On treenails, drawknives, and the first experiment with a new tool.

By benjeffares, 6 yearsOctober 11, 2019 ago
Craft Greenwood Tools/implements Uncategorized Woodworking

From logs

Green woodworking part two. As we have cleared around the section, we have taken out some awkward branches, and in one case, a tree; a ribbon wood (I will edit this later with the species). I’ve been using the ribbon wood branches and logs as trials as I learn to Read more…

By benjeffares, 6 yearsOctober 6, 2019 ago

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Recent Posts

  • My most influential books…
  • From logs, eventually
  • Bard summarised my blog.
  • The Great Chair Adventure: Part 3
  • Freediving Poor Knights
  • Introduction
  • Craft Posts
  • Diving
  • Books etc
  • CV
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