It's that special time of year in the South when the outdoors beckon and nature "teases" with alternating days of gentle warmth and the last vestiges of cold. The daffodils have put on their early show, as well as the forsythia and Bradford pear trees, while the dogwood and azalea are preparing for their stage entrance. We have bleeding heart in our garden which is like the "trumpeter" of Spring .... emerging from the ground and offering it's pink blossoms in what seems like a matter of days... Following closely behind, the hosta starts to emerge from the ground And the Dogwoods prepare to join the azaleas in their floral display Besides the urge to go outside and "play...
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...
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...
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...
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...
