§ by Randy Maxey on January 31st, 2007
I have a dream job. Yep, I really do. I get to read and write about woodworking every day. And I get to talk woodworking with my coworkers. And access to our well-equipped shop is just across the street. Yep, I have a dream job.
As an editor, I don’t get as much time in the shop as I’d sometimes like. I was talking with one of our managing editors yesterday about woodworking and shop time and taking on side projects. You know what I mean. Like the neighbor who happens to see a table saw in your garage and says, “Can you build me a set of bookshelves?” Or your mother-in-law who sees that $99 coffee table in the Sunday paper advertisements and says, “Can you build one like that? Only I want one made out of walnut.” That started a whole discussion about how and if we charge for our time. And if we do, what do we really make per hour and is it really worth it. Read the rest of this article »
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Filed under Custom Furniture, Woodworking.
§ by Joel Hess on January 30th, 2007
Our friends at LumberJocks.com are continuing to grow. It’s one of my favorite woodworking blogs. (I’m jealous of their extensive woodworkers project gallery!)
The other day, I came upon this post about an Australian company called Piric Designs. The company makes several unique products, including the Easy Riser kit for your drill press.
It looks like a really great product and once I find out how much it costs in US dollars, I may have to consider one for my shop!
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Filed under Drill Press, LumberJocks, Woodworking.
§ by Randy Maxey on January 26th, 2007
Yeah, we know it’s almost February. But we’ve finally got all the kinks worked out for posting a FREE SHOP CALENDAR in PDF format that you can download and print. It’s a handsome calendar with quality photos of old tools from the early issues of ShopNotes magazine. We’ll be posting a new calendar every quarter. (This helps keep the file size down for easy downloads.)
We think you’ll be proud to hang this in your shop. And it’s handsome enough to hang in your office or kitchen. So tell all your woodworking buddies about this cool download.
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Filed under Hand Planes, Hand Tools, Power Tools, ShopNotes Magazine, Woodworking.
§ by Randy Maxey on January 26th, 2007
It seems like all the good furniture-making classes and schools are in the New England area. So it’s hard for us midwesterners to have access to respected woodworking instructors from the better-known schools. But this February 23 and 24 (Friday evening and Saturday), Phil Lowe will be in Des Moines. This is a great opportunity for woodworkers in the Des Moines area. This event is sponsored by the Des Moines Woodworkers Association and will be held at the Woodsmith Store. During Saturday’s session, he will show you how to design and build a pedestal table. Now, whether or not you’re into traditional-style furniture, this is a great opportunity to learn and interact with a true craftsman at work. Read the rest of this article »
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Filed under Hand Tools, Power Tools, Woodsmith Store, Woodworking.
§ by Randy Maxey on January 24th, 2007
When we launched WoodworkingOnline.com, we had no idea what would become of it. We just knew that we needed an outlet to talk about all things woodworking. Well, it’s grown in popularity, thanks to you. The number of folks like you that read our pages every month keeps increasing, and we are excited.
Since we’ve started posting videos of our weekly seminars at the Woodsmith Store, we were shocked and very pleasantly surprised at their popularity. Thousands of folks all over the U.S. and Canada and beyond are downloading and watching our videos. We started doing it on a trial basis and were overwhelmed by their success. So overwhelmed, in fact, that our web group here at August Home Publishing is concerned about the load it places on our web servers when so many folks download our videos. So they’re working on expanding our capacity.
And to make it easier to navigate the blog to get to the videos, we’ll be making some changes to the layout of the blog you’re reading now. In the meantime, you’ll notice in the upper right margin that all the videos are listed under “Featured Articles.” And you can you can see them all listed on one page by following this link:
http://www.woodworkingonline.com/category/podcast
So…stay tuned and check back here often for changes that will make WoodworkingOnline.com your favorite woodworking blog. We’ve even got some freebies we’re working on that you’ll be able to download and use in your shop. But that’s all I’m saying right now. You’ll just have to wait to find out what it is…
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Filed under Woodworking.
§ by Joel Hess on January 22nd, 2007
There are two basic methods for making a cabinet. Face-frame construction creates a more traditional look. What’s often called “European-style” (or frameless) construction offers a sleeker and more contemporary look. In this seminar, Doug Hicks and Joel Hess compare and contrast these two styles of construction. They also address the different types of materials and hardware used.
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Filed under Podcast.
§ by Randy Maxey on January 22nd, 2007
Bob Smalser knows woodworking. He’s got a lifetime of experience in building, gunsmithing, forestry, boat-building, and restoration work. He’s also written numerous magazine articles and books. You can read many of his articles here.
I ran across this interesting thread on the Sawmill Creek woodworking forum. Bob raises the question of whether or not the glue joints on your projects are reparable. Up until recently, I would have thought that you wouldn’t ever want your glue joints to come apart. But now I’m beginning to think a little differently. What happens down the road when you need to replace a part on one of your projects? Or a grandchild wants to have that old dresser you made restored?
I’ve learned that those who restore and preserve furniture professionally say never to use a glue that can’t be reversed. And when you think about it, it kinda’ makes sense. Imagine some veneer on a 200-year old dresser that was delaminating or needed replaced. How could you do it if you couldn’t break the glue bond cleanly and still preserve the integrity and value of the piece?
Just food for thought.
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Filed under Woodworking.
§ by Joel Hess on January 17th, 2007
Woodsmith magazine has been around since 1979 and ShopNotes since the early 90’s. When you factor in Workbench (which is celebrating its 50th year in 2007), that means there are literally hundreds of tips to choose from for this seminar. We left it up to Craig Ruegsegger, senior editor and videographer for all three publications, to whittle down the thousands of tips available to come up with his “Ten All-Time Favorite Woodworking Tips!”
What he came up with is a mix of timely tips for most of the major operations in a typical home shop. You’ll find tips for cutting panels down to size on the table saw, to simple ideas to make installing drawer slides easier. As an added bonus, he’ll offer some ideas for protecting your investment by documenting your shop with video and photos.
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Filed under Podcast.
§ by Joel Hess on January 15th, 2007
Each year, the Young Women’s Resource Center sponsors an auction called “Sit On It” to raise money for their organization and to provide quality programming and guidance to the young women of central Iowa. Artists, crafters and woodworkers from all around Des Moines create works of art in the form of chairs, stools, rockers, benches, porch swings, tables, desks, and mirrors for the auction, which is held on Friday, April 13th.
A couple of years ago I built a stool that sold at the auction for over $400. The Knock-apart stool was actually a copy of a design by artist Mike Lyon of Kansas City. The seat is just a chunk of Walnut that I had sitting around. I intended to sculpt the seat to look like a little less rustic, but ran out of time!
The interesting thing about this design is that it’s made with interlocking joinery, using no glue or fasteners, that allows it to be “knocked” apart for storage.
If you’re interested in getting involved with this project, simply send a postcard with your name, address, phone numbers, email, and your business or company’s name to this address:
Young Women’s Resource Center
705 East 2nd Street
Des Moines, IA 50309-1833
They’ll mail you an application form.
If you don’t live in the Des Moines area, look for similar projects in your area. Woodworking clubs can be a good source of information about these types of charity events.
3 Comments.
Filed under Woodworking, chairmaking.
§ by Joel Hess on January 12th, 2007
I’ve never met anyone — who gets into woodworking to save money — actually save any!
First Furniture Project
If I’d known about this rehab process before I bought the rust-encrusted Stanley No. 6 and No. 7 planes that I found at a garage sale for $4, I wouldn’t have resold them for $20!
It’s No RareBear
This is a sweet project that this fella put his heart and soul into. I like it.
There’s a Bird in my Office
-Joel
1 Comment.
Filed under Hand Planes, Woodnet Forum, Woodworking.
