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
I have a carefully-chosen group of manual hand tools that lives in a MFT Systainer toolbox that covers my particular needs for the majority of general tasks. It is always with me whether I'm working in the shop, on site, or around the house. Every once in a while, I vacuum out all the wood … Continue reading Hand Tool Systainer 2023
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
Much of my education in woodworking has been from what I describe as the relentless push to fail. That is, coming up with an objective that pushes the limits of what I can do, what I feel is possible, or what is possible. I came up with the objective to tie a knot in a … Continue reading Tying Knots in Wood
I spend a good deal of time organizing things and processes to facilitate efficiency. This may come in the form of organizing tools in a drawer where I can find them, building or modifying a tool, or designing and speed testing a process. Sometimes, the amount of time that I invest in creating this organization … Continue reading On Being Efficient
When woodworkers think about the scroll saw, they often think of a tool that cuts slowly and is perhaps the power saw with which one is least likely to cut themselves. And, compared to stationary tools like the table saw, bandsaw, and mitre saw, I feel that it is an accurate description Perhaps a hand-held … Continue reading Risk to the User and Workpiece
The latest issue of Canadian Woodworking & Home Improvement is focused on routers and has not one, not two, but three of my articles in it. I had fun challenging myself to put together ten Simple Router Improvements, and executing those ideas. Also in the issue is a short article I wrote about Router Collets … Continue reading Three Articles Published in February/March Issue of Canadian Woodworking
I get some ideas that feel crazy, but are intriguing enough that I want to pursue them. This is one of them. It started yesterday morning with a conversation with my wife. I don’t remember what exactly we were discussing, but I commented that it’s a crap shoot. It’s an expression that I’ve found myself … Continue reading Developing a Product in a Day: it’s a Crap Chute
Last month, I set a record for the largest batch of live-edge cribbage boards made in my shop: 17. I had dedicated cutting, sanding and spray finishing stations set up and was in full production mode working carefully and efficiently. My goal was to build up enough inventory to have a good selection available, and … Continue reading Largest Batch of Live-Edge Cribbage Boards Complete
This photo in my Twitter feed caught my eye. It’s a long workpiece being supported by a custom-built support resting on top of a platform. The photo was taken by Dominic of Be Inspired With Dominic. It may not seem noteworthy, and perhaps it is not worth a blog post, but I noticed that the … Continue reading Know the Strengths and Weaknesses of Your Materials
Sculptural Woodwork by Chris Wong 