Once I began to hone my craft from hobbyist to woodworker, my friends began to take notice of the quality and creativity of my craftsmanship. With that came plenty of suggestions: "have you considered making.....?" Although flattered I have also become a realist who recognizes very quickly the limits of my skills or the time and effort that would be involved in trying certain things. As every woodworker advances we also become more aware of our own idiosyncrasies that we factor into any project. I am one who gets distracted easily so simply making the same thing over and over again, no matter how good I've become at it, becomes less interesting let alone challenging. Enter new challenges worth tackling. One of...
By now, if you've been following our blog or other social media, you know that we have transitioned from the interior marketplace we occupied and are taking a different approach. We continue to market our creations here on our online store, however we're now taking a different approach to "brick and mortar" venues. In our ongoing "learning" process, we realized that our "niche" products (end grain cutting boards, cheese boards, pepper mills and sets, and other culinary tools) reach our target customers best when placed in venues where compatible products are found. Hence, we recently were welcomed to show our wares in a local olive oil and balsamic vinegar store here in our hometown. ( Olive Tree and Vine........
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...
I recently finished a 'special" project.........while undertaking a new cutting board design inspired by another woodworker's online video, I finally got around to making a special cheese board for my wife. I've made numerous ones, some in the beautiful "tumbling squares" pattern as well as several others. She has helped with the design details, sourcing and choosing the complementary hardware for each, but every completed project found its way out the door as either a gift to someone special or to our retail marketplace. So as I took on this new design I decided it was time to rectify that situation. Here is a link to the "Slovenian Woodworker" who inspired my new board... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cniYoTxiEek&t=48s After considering his...
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...
