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After visiting Dunedin, Florida (see “Woodworking on Vacation? Part 1” below) we headed north a couple hours to the town of Cedar Key. Cedar Key is definitely “old Florida.” I’ve heard it referred to as the “anti-Mouse.” It’s stuck out on an island in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico. (Yes, you can drive to it). From when we first entered the town I felt like we had jumped back 50 years. There are some modern accommodations (though we stayed in a cottage built in 1914), but you won’t find any McDonald’s or Holiday Inn’s here. It’s clearly a “laid-back” fishing community (especially known for its clams).

While driving around town we came onto an old building that was the home of “Wells Wood, Outdoor Furniture.” We found out later that it used to be a Baptist church and I read in the local newspaper that there is some effort to get it onto the National Historic Registry. The large barn-style doors were completely open so we stuck our heads in to see what was going on.

There didn’t seem to be anybody in the shop so we just sort of looked around. We saw this sign on one of the benches (click on photo at right to enlarge). We heard later that the “Wood God” was an older man with an incredible amount of energy. His main product seemed to be cypress outdoor furniture such as Adirondack chairs. They were very comfortable.

Most of his equipment was old Sears Craftsman. I wondered about why he had mounted his table saw to a single pedestal (click on photo at right)?

Here at Woodsmith, ShopNotes, andWorkbench magazines we’re always showing off the latest and greatest ideas in router tables. But check out these two I saw at Wells Wood (photo at left). They’re just a router mounted to the bottom of a piece of fir plywood with legs added. For the “Wood God’s” needs, they probably work just as well as our fancy, schmanzy router tables!

Finally, it’s a good thing I didn’t have a truck with me. Wells Wood was selling beautiful, clear long boards of cypress for only $1.25 a board foot! That would have been tough to pass up.

If you ever get to northwest Florida, stop by Cedar Key. And check out Don Duden, woodturner, as well. His shop is The Natural Experience Wood and Clay Gallery at 334 2nd St. Unfortunately, he was closed when we were in town but I’ve heard some great things about his skills. I understand that he turns daily in his glass-enclosed workshop.

There’s a storm making away across the nation. Tornadoes in the south. Snow, ice, and blizzard conditions in the midwest and north. With the storm comes a lot of tree damage. From broken branches to split trunks and downed trees, there can be a lot of cleanup to do. I’ve got several downed branches in my small city lot from last night’s ice storm.When I’m in the midst of cleaning up debris like this, I always have a hard time throwing away anything bigger around than my wrist. With the price of lumber these days, it seems like there should be something I could do with this free wood.

So I’ve been known to cut the larger branches into manageable lengths and store them in my unheated cellar to dry out. Sometimes I’ll paint the ends to help minimize checking and cracking during the drying process.

So what do you do with this free lumber? Well, of course, it depends on the wood. I find that what I end up doing most is turning smaller projects on the lathe. I remember a few years back my kids making fun of me because every time I went to the shop, I came out with a hand full of handles for my tools. (Making handles for your files, for example, is an easy project to do.) Or you could use your free lumber to make accent pieces for your projects: drawer fronts, knobs, pulls, inlays, and so on. I’ve got some larger logs that I’d like to use to try my hand at turning a bowl, like Brian Simmons did in this podcast.

So while you or your neighbors are cleaning up the debris from less fortunate trees, snag onto the larger stuff and make something beautiful out of it!

For those of you interested in metalworking and woodworking, this post may be of interest:

A Visit to Paul Hamler’s Shop

Looking for a circular saw? Acccording to some WoodNetters, the Makita Hypoid circ saw is hard to beat:

Makita Hypoid Saw

I’m not sure which is funnier - the Craig’s List item for sale - or the forum thread itself:

Craigs List - Chuckle

Even considering repeat posters, over 1000 people took advantage of this “Day After Thanksgiving” Sale:

Official HDT Black Friday List

A few years back, I purchased an old Stanley 71 router plane that was made between 1906 and 1908.  It didn’t come with any cutters or knobs.  Fortunately, the screws were still intact.  Since Stanley used an oddball thread size on most of their planes, it would have been difficult to find replacement screws.

One evening after dinner, I moseyed out to the shop with no particular project in mind.  I saw this plane sitting on the shelf.  I remembered I had a turning blank of bubinga I had purchased last winter.  It had been a while since I had used my lathe, and I knew this would be a nice evening project.

So, I asked the Galoots up on the OldTools list about the dimensions of the original knobs on the Stanley 71 and got several responses.  It occurred to me that I had a box of old plane parts sitting way up on a shelf, so I got it down and starting nosing around.  I found an old knob that matched the dimensions I was given.  Now I had something I could visually match and put some calipers on to get real dimensions.

It took me a little figuring before I found a reliable way to chuck the bubinga blank in my lathe.  Once I figured it out, it went pretty quick.  Let me just say right here that turning bubinga is a pleasure.  No tearout and it finishes really nice.

It’s always the first knob that’s the easiest.  It’s trying to get the second one to match that’s the trick.  I must have fussed around with it for a half hour trying to get it to match the first one.  A little rounding here.  A little shave there.  I finally said, “Close enough!” and called it quits.  I sanded the knobs through 400-grit on the lathe. Then while still on the lathe, I applied some boiled linseed oil and paste wax.  I was pretty happy with how they looked.  And you have to get real close to see that they aren’t an exact match.

Now all I’ve got to do is get some irons for it.  I’m told that the ones from Lee Valley/Veritas will work.  I guess I need to place an order.  They know me by first name by now.

So I’m listening to Wolfgang’s Vault, doing some research on podcasts and I happen upon this guy turning pumpkins at How Stuff Works.

Would the guy turning the pumpkins be called a gourdworker?

Makezine.com has a link to a guy with so much time on his hands that he’s digitizing his entire library of Popular Mechanics magazines! One issue per week…all 103 pages…scanned and uploaded to Flickr.

I’m still trying to figure out how to zoom in on the articles so that I can read them!

George Nakashima was world famous for his free-form furniture that highlighted the natural edges and flaws of the wood. This “Old Hippie” woodworker isn’t world famous, but I like his work just as well.

Gives a whole new meaning to the word Woodstock, doesn’t it?

Woodworkers who are proficient with hand tools like to call themselves Neanderthals. For these guys, an antique bow saw in good condition is a real find. That’s why the “frame” used for this piece of macrame art turned out to be much more valuable the the art itself.

Take heart hand tool lovers. In this case, the term “neanderthal” can also be used as an adjective.