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Author Archives: literaryworkshop
How I Make a Spoon
From a tree to a spoon, this is how I make wooden cooking utensils. Continue reading
Posted in Wood and Woodwork, Woodenware
Tagged craft market, spoon carving, spoon making, wood spoon, wooden spoon, wooden spoons
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Working with Weird, Local Woods (part 2)
In my last post, I described some of the working properties of two local woods that I have harvested over the last couple years: southern magnolia and crepe myrtle. In this post, I’ll describe three more species that have no … Continue reading
Posted in Wood and Woodwork
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Working with Weird, Local Woods (part 1)
I live in one of the most bio-diverse regions in the world–the Mobile-Tensaw Delta in southern Alabama. That means I have access to a very wide variety of tree species to work with. Many are non-native species, and most have … Continue reading
Posted in Wood and Woodwork
Tagged biodiversity, crepe myrtle, crepe myrtle wood, local wood, magnolia wood, southern magnolia, wooden spoons
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Four Steps to Rust-Free Tools
Ever since the dawn of the Iron Age (whenever that was), rust has been the enemy of the woodworker. I live in the wettest region of the continental USA, so rust is ever present to me. Even though I store … Continue reading
Posted in Wood and Woodwork
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Planing Stop
To plane down a piece of wood by hand, you have to immobilize the wood. If the workpiece is small enough, it can be held in a bench vise. But if the workpiece is too wide or too long, it … Continue reading
Posted in Wood and Woodwork
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The Story of My Stanley # 4 1/2 Smoothing Plane
A week ago I wrote about my growing preference for lightweight tools instead of heavy ones. While writing that post, I remembered that I had never blogged about how I came to own my Stanley #4 1/2 smoothing plane. Here … Continue reading
Posted in Wood and Woodwork
Tagged 4 1/2, Anant, smoothing plane, Stanley, stanley #4 1/2, stanley 4 1/2, type 17
5 Comments
Loose the Weight
I used to prefer heavy tools. Now I don’t. It has taken me longer than it should to recognize that, given the choice between two tools of similar quality, I should choose the one that is lighter in weight. Let’s … Continue reading
Posted in Wood and Woodwork
Tagged hand plane, hand plane weight, handplane, handplane weight, heavy hand plane, heavy handplane, hoe
5 Comments
Crosses and Craftsmanship
When my church did some remodeling, they salvaged several painted pine boards and commissioned me to make some decorative crosses out of the wood. Some were gifts for volunteers; others were sold in a missions fundraiser. From a joinery point … Continue reading
Posted in Wood and Woodwork
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Tool Chest Guided Tour
Ten years ago, I was collecting hand tools at a rapid rate. I had most of them tucked into various crates and tool boxes, but others were just sitting on the benchtop because I had no better place to store … Continue reading
Posted in Wood and Woodwork
Tagged cherry, hand tool storage, pecan, pecan wood, tool chest, tool storage, toolchest
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The Literary Workshop Blog 