The one thing I find (as a UK woodworker) when watching US or Canadian channels is (a) they all seem to have massive workshops, like size-of-a-barn massive, and (b) they have machines for everything. I could not tackle many of the projects they do because of limited space, which restricts the machines I can accommodate.

Paul Sellers definitely understands that many UK woodworkers are in their garage or garden shed and keeps that in mind for his projects, and uses predominantly hand tools. I'm not saying I don't like the North American channels, and Matthias is a true hacker as well as a woodworker, but it's a different world.

Just to add my own recommendation: Alain Vaillancourt does some excellent stuff, from his vast workshop located somewhere in the New World:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCsdIja21VT7AKkbVI5y8bQ

You might like Rex Kruger's channel. He has a large shop and lots of machines, but he mainly focuses on hand tools and doing things cheaply/diy when it comes to his YouTube content. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCj4SLNED1DiNPHComZTCbzw

No affiliation. I just found him a couple weeks ago and have been really enjoying it.

I like the Woodshop Junkies channel for this:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzHueSosfT92NUVmhrz7Hjw

It's a guy in South Africa with a small workshop. The main point of his videos is designing space-saving tool mounts and storage for his shop. He uses cheap tools—and lots of plywood—to make some clever stuff.

It's not a channel for seeing furniture made, but it's interesting nonetheless.

Check out the Woodwrights shop that was on PBS

Paul Sellers dimensioned his filming studio to mimic a small garage for a common UK woodworker.

I’m an American with a very limited space to work in and I love Paul’s approach.

I learnt to carve spoons from a few Swedish guys so I have a lot of love for a simple linseed-oil finish :) Can't get any nice, bright, linseed-oil paint in the UK though, which is a bit of a bummer.

I ended up using stain for this current project as the room called for dark wood, but the only two real-wood options for skirting boards in the UK are pine or oak, which are both light woods, so I opted to stain pine for it.

And thank you! Someone at work mentioned his videos recently and I completely forgot the name.

+1 for Paul Sellers. He's a bunch of content on finishing too and I've just tried his combo of shellac + beeswax to finish pine and it works fantastically and is cheap.

Also, not youtube, but https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/ is a great uk online resource, including this thread https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/timber-yards-wip-add-you... on sourcing timber

Most of the fine woodworking folks I follow in the US don't typically use stain much.

Stain is a tool like any other. It can be used garishly and tastelessly or it can be used to complement a piece. See also: carvings, inlay, brasses, or pretty much anything else used for anything beyond holding the piece together.

It is. From a fine woodworking perspective, however, it very often runs counter to purpose when the goal is to take advantage of the natural beauty inherent in the medium.

That's only a goal though. Taking advantage of the natural beauty of the wood is not always the only goal, primary goal, or even a goal at all.

I am super confused right now. I tried to be very careful in my wording to avoid being hyperbolic or all inclusive. Am I giving that impression at all?

Eh, I dunno. I don't take issue with your reply. I suspect some people might read "from a fine woodworking perspective" as snobbery or a no-true-Scotsman that I'm not seeing?

From my standpoint as a woodworker, everybody's money's equally green and if somebody wants a piece stained something garish, it doesn't cost me any more than if they want it in a natural color. Although, as a mentor of mine once said: "You don't have to sign everything you build".

I'll let you know if that perspective changes if I ever have so much work coming in that I have to turn jobs down :-)

Your work is gorgeous. I hope you get to that point.

Thank you!

In "counter to purpose when the goal is" kedean interpreted "when" as meaning "given" rather than meaning "if"

That helps. Thank you.