I prepped the layout for the oak doors today. Heavy, heavy work moving largesections around to square shoulder lines and gauge the mortise holes. Got to work work on some machining next, which I do in the machines at my home workshop. I walked over to the walled garden to check my measurements once more…
No rest for me today! Different work, but work none the less. Had to go over a lot of courseworkto present current research work in a cohesive and structured way. That means a lot of things, but most of all it means that my plans to help my fellow enthusiasts increase in power to reverse…
It’s not always a simple thing to measure success, especially in our present culture where many producers drive the large corporate wheel and it’s impossible to identify the individual production of each participant. Life for many today, whilst disguised behind terms like team players and such, seems more like being on a production assembly line rather than…
A crisp brightness changed the scenery this morning and the winds left a gentle tail breeze to jostle the new spring leaves. My mind traces a path through the day yet to be born in anticipation of what’s to come for everyone on the course. I’ve milled the wood for the spatulas and spoons and…
If you read back to a previous blog you’ll learn that my first hand tool workshop Discovering Woodworking was held in Kerrville Texas and was hosted by The Texas Arts and Crafts Foundation at Schreiner University. That seems in some ways to be a lifetime away and a lot has happened since that time. I still…
Well, we really hit it off at the hand tool school today. After a sharp start to the day we got into the joints and that’s always fun. It’s a challenge with high expectations for everyone. All those inner questions like, “I wonder if I can do it.” and “He makes it look so easy,…
It’s already noontime and this morning we went through sharpening planes, chisels, spokeshaves and tomorrow I will cover the various aspects of sharpening and setting handsaws. Pretty standard for me because it’s so critical to what we do today, but for the students it was an eye-opener to see the simplicity and speed of non-mechanical sharpening….
I loved this picture.
For those of you coming to Penrhyn Castle this Saturday for the two-day Discovering Woodworking (2-3 April), it looks like a full class, which means we will have a great time rediscovering those aspects of woodworking John Seymour described in his book as The Forgotten Crafts. My goal is to give you as much of…
The more I think about sharing my creative workspace with others, the more I become conscious that sharing worklife has immeasurable rewards that far surpass the independence of working alone. My friends and fellow woodworkers support the important work that’s true, but more than that, they share my workspace and often I share theirs. Shared life is…