On my December 4, 2017 blog post titled “My Best Finishing Tip for Hardwoods” I closed with my “Key Storage Tip” which had worked for me in the past. Well now I’m here to add to that tip. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from woodworking it’s to never think you have it all figured out, in other words, remain teachable!My key storage tip worked well for me until I got down to my can being about half empty, then I discovered that no matter how well I had sealed the can I was getting a film on the top of my finish. After doing some research and once again relying on the expertise of other woodworkers I found that...
I’ve been a lathe owner for a little less than a year so I am in no way qualifying myself as an expert. That said, I have created several salt and pepper mills and chess pieces that have received high compliments so I am an active lathe user. Like many of my “turning” friends I started by purchasing a rather inexpensive 12” lathe from Harbor Freight. If you have about $80 to spend (even less with a HF coupon) and want to see if turning is your thing, I highly recommend this route. I burned this lathe out after a few months trying to drill center holes in my ginders. So, after a few weeks of pondering and...
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...
For the past 6 months we have had our products on display at a local retail marketplace with mixed success. The upside has been the compliments we’ve received on the design of our space (thank my wife), the maximum usage of that space (again, my wife’s doing) and finally the beauty and quality of our products (drumroll please..... the carpenter’s kudos). Whether receiving input directly from customers or indirectly through other vendors and/or employees; our product line has been praised for being both unique and of superior workmanship. We have been very appreciative of the feedback Unfortunately, with the upside there often comes a downside; and that has been sales. We opened our space in January so we were expectant of the...
Every woodworker knows that once friends and family know you have a shop and a few tools, all sorts of random requests come your way. Everything from, "could you remodel my kitchen" to " can you repair a drawer in an old chest". For a carpenter, every request is a bit like a challenge issued.........we hate saying "no" to any project because "sure, I can do that":). It's a blessing and a pitfall. The blessing is that you get the pleasure of helping out a friend, solving a problem, or "fixing" a treasure. The pitfall is that we "wood guys" can end up taking on projects that are either beyond our shop capabilities or that divert our focus. Did I...
