For the last week or so the Carpenter has been busy “spring cleaning” and reorganizing his shop. Seems anytime we’re really busy ,even our best efforts fall short in keeping things neat and organized…….lots of sawing, planing, sanding, turning, and gluing has taken place and the evidence was all over the place:) Micah had little interest in helping.... he preferred to lay in the accumulated sawdust outside the shop. The good news is that the “mess” was a result of a number of new products added to our line………. So we thought we’d share them with you here. We added Penblocks at the recommendation of a friend who is a pen lover. She clued us in on how true...
It’s pretty clear that we woodworkers love our wood and for me in particular I get the most satisfaction out of making end grain cutting boards. They are beautiful, functional, durable, forgiving to your knife edges and, perhaps more importantly, they are far more bacteria resistant than the more common (and less expensive) plastic cutting boards. Of course there are other surfaces that you can use to cut on, however materials like glass or stainless steel are completely unforgiving to your knife edges. If you value your knives, you will choose wood; if you value your health, you will certainly choose wood! **We’ve attached some research articles to back up our claims so don’t just go off my opinion, however...
During a recent visit to our retail market space we were talking to one of the managers who has been very supportive of our work. One of the particular items she pointed out was the long display rack I created and on which we hang our handcrafted kitchen utensils such as wood spoons, spatulas and pot strainers for outdoor markets or retail display. She asked if we could make a similar “scaled down” version for a limited space kitchen. My wife and I began to look at options for those who want access to their favorite utensils without having to dig in a drawer or pull one out of a crowded bin. Our design was fairly simple but took into consideration...
My wife is an extraordinary cook and since one of my serious pleasures is eating well prepared, full flavored food, we make the perfect match. One of my other pleasures is finding simple ways to display my woodworking craft while also making our home more functional. Anyone who has rustled through a drawer looking for the perfect sharp knife for a particular job is aware of not only the frustrations, but also the hazards of this method. So after shopping for some magnetic knife holders and being less than satisfied with the industrial “workshop” models, I decided to take a crack at making my own. My first challenge was finding magnets strong enough to hold any size knife without the threat of...
The path to selling our wares is not usually a straight line for a craftsman. Generally we start out making things we enjoy.... discover others seem to like what we're doing.... perhaps sticking our toe in the marketplace via an occasional weekend market..... when it dawns on us "hey, people seriously might be willing to buy what I make on a larger scale". Hence The Prodigal Carpenter's recent foray into the world of retail interior marketplaces..... We recently contracted for a 8' x 10" space in a local interior marketplace known as Woodstock Market http://woodstockmarket.com We considered the environment and other vendors ( This is a large interior market with multitudes of vendors offering their wares) and were impressed, discussed their contract...
