Prodigal Ponderings — carpenter hints RSS



It's Not What You Make.....But How

I don’t subscribe to a lot of woodworking blogs because sometimes too much information makes matters more confusing rather than clearer. That said, I have subscribed to Paul Sellers blogs, as he is one of the real online pioneers (IMO) of woodworking. A recent blog post of Paul's called “Election Day” talked more about his woodworking ideology than about specific tools or products (https://paulsellers.com/2017/06/thursday-8th-june-2017/). In his blog Paul identified a certain passion that I immediately related to: the concept of “It’s not what you make but how.”  I don’t want to take credit for anyone else’s work so I encourage anyone reading this blog to check out his. That said, the concept of “how” over “what” is something that attracted me to...

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Choosing Wood for End Grain Cutting Boards

After making dozens of end grain cutting boards over the past couple years I wanted to share a bit about which woods I consider the best (and most available) for constructing boards.  We’ve said, time and again, that end grain is the premium construction method for cutting boards because of it’s antibacterial properties and kindness to our knife edges. A crucial basis for determining the wood we use is in it’s hardness.  I’ve found the best online source for wood characteristics, including hardness is:  http://www.wood-database.com/  When looking through the database, try to select wood in the hardness range of 850 - 1700; You also want to look for a hardwood with a relatively tight grain pattern, free of knots and other blemishes.  The most common...

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Leftovers

Have you ever wondered what to do with all those leftovers?  I apologize up front to all the “foodies” out there but I’m actually referring to wood.  Whether a seasoned carpenter or a woodworking hobbier we all end up with extra pieces from various projects which usually end up collecting in the “just in case” pile, or eventually find their way to the trash.   I hate to waste things, especially interesting pieces of wood that I’ve taken the time to cut, plane, and glue after matching up contrasting colors and grain patterns.  I’ve discovered that there is another option, and after talking to a fellow woodworker this weekend, I realized I’m not alone. By taking the various leftovers from my end...

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My Biggest Fan - Lessons of Life

Over the past several days I faced a familiar woodworker's crisis: one of my favorite tools, my lathe, quit working.  I had purchased an inexpensive starter lathe awhile back and put out several nice products including pepper grinders, salt shakers and French rolling pins. Now it was time for an upgrade.   Woodworkers love their tools and I’m no different. Many, like myself, also love the research involved before our next purchase; then there’s the weighing of price, practicality and performance.  This is where my #1 fan comes in.   My beautiful wife is not only my best friend but also my greatest encourager.  She knows me; she listens to me, and she pays attention.  As I was wrestling through my decision...

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Sharp Blades, Sharp Cuts, New Cleaning Discovery

I’m not the greatest at keeping my shop immaculate as my workday progresses but I do take the time to clean up at the end of the day so I get a fresh start the next day.  One area that I’m pretty faithful in, however, is in keeping my tool blades clean.  Even without having the blades sharpened (professionally or DIY) you can improve the quality of your cuts by keeping your sharp edges free of residue buildup. If you read my previous blogs you know I don’t have the biggest shop so a lot of my equipment is either smaller or of the “benchtop” variety.  That said, I still produce fine quality products using a variety of hardwoods by investing a little...

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