Crispness comes in things we least expect––and then too, as if to surprise us the more, at times we least expect. There comes a sharpness to what we do that defies our ability to encapsulate what we feel yet undeniably it came from our own imperfect hands, causes us to stop, to hold our breath…
This box is my latest offering in box design. I was very pleased with the outcome and decided we should video its making for others to make. I cannot recall the timing of things but in the way of how all things often come together, my family wanted to contribute something in support of my…
How often we see figured grain and say how pretty that looks (and it does), imagine exposing such beauty and such wood to enhance a piece like the neck of a spoon, a ladle’s bowl. Why choose so for the back of a cello and a violin, its neck and scroll and more in the…
Well, of course, it is! It seems that all things extra in life now carry the added titles of well-being, mental health care, and quality of life together with two dozen others. Often this state of well-being breaks down into something encapsulated as physical wellbeing it’s really a relatively new term identifying what has always…
. . . .cuts grooves fast and accurately. But it does a lot more if you want it to. I think we might have undervalued the wooden plane but even more so the men that used them for centuries before we abandoned them almost altogether. It’s the lightness of them that we really lost but…
. . . by any other name be as sweet? Mention router to anyone and the mind immediately conjures up thoughts of a screaming, two-handed hand-held machine in Bosch turquoise, Dewalt yellow or Festool bright green and black. Additionally, that is with you the machinist wearing protective headgear like a gladiator ready to do battle….
Looking back through my archives I found this piece I designed, made and videoed for Woodworking Masterclasses. I wanted a piece that could be made from store-bought one-bys but that would enable me to teach a variety of things surrounding housing dadoes by hand. It was a great project. Ever since I began teaching other…
We created a video covering the progress on the Sellers’ home up to the end of 2023, to show what we have achieved over the last three years making two dozen and more sizeable pieces primarily using commonly available hand tools and a bandsaw for resizing stock. When everyone says it can’t really be done…
Having leveled the edges top and bottom and then too the outside we can focus on fitting the bottom and the lift-up lid. Fitting the bottom first allows us to take care of minor discrepancies in squareness before fitting the lid. Making the first corner square and then working parallel will push the box into…
It was the thought of Christmas that did it—that and the fact that I love my box design for several reasons. I have made half a dozen of the designs without the idea of personally making money from them or future ones. I’m thinking this to be a benevolent piece. I want to give them…