As a child, I loved journals. I bought many. Each had so many pages with so much potential. I still have them to this day. But aside from my name, they remain untouched. That’s because while I loved the idea of creating a record of my thoughts and ideas, the challenge of filling it with … Continue reading Right Now, This Is A Blog Post
When Curves Are Easier Than Straight Lines
I recently needed to make some wall-shelves. I needed three, they needed to fit on a specific wall, and they had to be made of a light-coloured wood. I didn't have any other criteria or requirements. The piece of wood I chose to use was a yellow birch cant about 4 x 6 x 36 … Continue reading When Curves Are Easier Than Straight Lines
A Quick Way to Boost Your Confidence and the Confidence of Your Customers
A lack of confidence in your woodworking abilities can have a serious impact on your health, relationships, and success in other areas of life. Stop with the blah! Present your products confidently with help from the latest product from Wong Tool Works - OK PASSED INSPECTION stickers! For a limited time, you can choose from … Continue reading A Quick Way to Boost Your Confidence and the Confidence of Your Customers
Enough
How much is enough? What should you keep and what should you just get rid of? Whether tools, scrap wood, or spare parts, every woodworker (human?) can relate. My shop is small, and it sees a wide variety of jobs through it from furniture making and repair to small production runs and custom tools. I … Continue reading Enough
A Simple But Practical Storage Project
Things have been busy for me over the last few years and I've been very active in the shop with regular things like organization, maintenance, and tweaks to the shop layout. The focus has also shifted towards product development, although I'm approaching the testing phase (if you're interested in being a tester, subscribe to my … Continue reading A Simple But Practical Storage Project
We Learn More Through Our Failures Than Our Successes
I built four Krenov-style sawhorses about ten years ago and they have served me well. I made them from softwood lumber (pine, I think) using through mortise and tenon joinery. I wedged the tenons of the stretcher, but elected not to reinforce the leg-to-foot joints. Recently, on a couple of the horses, those leg-to-foot joints … Continue reading We Learn More Through Our Failures Than Our Successes
When Something is Expected to Fail but Doesn’t
An experiment to see how quickly a wooden cutting board is rendered unusable I made this cutting board and designed it to fail, but it didn't fail as I expected! Here are the "bad decisions" that I made in an attempt to accelerate the failure of the cutting board. Low density wood I used butternut, … Continue reading When Something is Expected to Fail but Doesn’t
The Cost of a Product
There is a product for sale I am thinking about that seems rather expensive for what it is. However, I cannot knock the design or quality (although I do wish for one modification!) It is simple in design, and neither tight tolerances nor a high degree of precision are required. The basic process of making … Continue reading The Cost of a Product
Reassessing and Looking for Ways to Improve
My favourite screwdriver is a ratcheting one by Rolgear. Years ago, I replaced the stock double-ended bits with an assortment of 3" single-ended bits. Multi-bit screwdrivers like this one are very handy, as they hold 7 screwdriver bits and have a 1/4" hex drive socket which can be useful for sheet metal screws. However, if … Continue reading Reassessing and Looking for Ways to Improve
Cost Over Lifetime
In my last post, I wrote about the challenges I faced getting some work done by contractors. The problem seemed to be a lack of caring. But how do you get workers who care? The three answers that come to mind are: do it yourself, enforce it or encourage it (with carrot or stick, to … Continue reading Cost Over Lifetime
