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Author Archives: literaryworkshop
Flattening Your Oilstone Is Really Easy
While sharpening some blades this afternoon, I finally got sick enough of my dished oilstone to actually do something about it. I’ve had this double-sided (soft/hard) Arkansas stone for probably 5-10 years and have never flattened it. The soft side … Continue reading
Posted in sharpening, Tutorials, Wood and Woodwork
Tagged Arkansas stone, flat, flatten, flatten stone, flattening, Klingspor, oil stone, oilstone, sandpaper
2 Comments
Folding Outfeed Table for My Bandsaw
I don’t enjoy working with powered machines nearly as much as I enjoy working with hand tools, but I do rely a lot on my bandsaw for cutting down big pieces of wood into smaller pieces. My main bandsaw is … Continue reading
Posted in power tools, Tutorials, Wood and Woodwork
Tagged band saw, bandsaw, bandsaw table, outfeed, outfeed support, outfeed table, steel city
5 Comments
Want to Carve Spoons? Use a Template
On a spoon-carving forum I read, the question of templates comes up frequently. A lot of spoon carvers say they “just wing it,” or as others put it, “just see what the wood wants to be.” Now, there’s no question … Continue reading
Posted in Carving, handicraft, Musings, skills, Wood and Woodwork, Woodenware
Tagged freedom, pencil, spoon carving, spoon template, succeed, success, template, templates, winging it, wooden spoon, wooden spoon template, work
1 Comment
Why Make Your Own Drawer Pulls?
I had finally assembled this dovetailed, built-in shoe cabinet for my kids shoes, and it was time to consider the hardware. (This post is not about building the shoe cabinet, though I give a few construction details at the end. … Continue reading
Posted in skills, Wood and Woodwork
Tagged dovetailed drawer, drawer hardware, drawer knob, drawer knobs, drawer pull, drawer pulls, hardware, money, pulls, shoe cabinet, time
1 Comment
One Last Bedstead
When my youngest child–my only son, R.–finally outgrew our old toddler bed (which I had originally built for his older sister, and which had then been passed down through the siblings to him, and which I eventually gave away to … Continue reading
Posted in Build-Alongs, Kids, Wood and Woodwork
Tagged bed frame, bedstead, handtools, headboard, lapped dovetail, mortise and tenon, shiplap, wooden bed frame
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A Beginning Woodworker’s Toolkit
If you want to begin doing woodworking with hand tools, it’s hard to know where to begin. There are so many woodworking tools on the market. A beginner’s tool kit need not be large, and you can do good work … Continue reading
Posted in books, Wood and Woodwork
Tagged basic hand tools, basic woodworking tools, begin woodworking, beginners hand tools, beginning woodworker, beginning woodworking tools, essential hand tools, essential woodworking tools, handtool, handtools, start woodworking, start working wood, starting woodworking, woodwork tools, woodworking hand tools, woodworking tools
2 Comments
How to Build Carpenter Bee Traps (That Look Nice)
Down here on the Gulf Coast, we have a lot of insect problems–mosquitoes, termites, fire ants, you name it. Another common pest here is the carpenter bee, which is not at all aggressive, and a good pollinator to boot. But carpenter … Continue reading
Posted in Boxes, Build-Alongs, Gardening, Tutorials, Wood and Woodwork
Tagged bee trap, bee traps, carpenter bee, carpenter bee traps, carpenter bees, cedar, deck, mason jar, nails, porch
3 Comments
Ancient Crafts in the Modern World: Book Review
Cræft: An Inquiry into the Origins and True Meaning of Traditional Crafts, by Alexander Langlands, Norton, 2017. $26.95 Amazon link You may have noticed that there’s a handicrafts revival going on. Every month there seems to be a new craft market … Continue reading
Posted in books, Reviews, Wood and Woodwork
Tagged Alexander Langlands, book review, craft, Cræft, forgotten crafts, handicrafts, john seymour
3 Comments
Building A Frame-and-Panel Interior Door
If I had a backup career in woodworking, it would be making doors and windows for historic homes. It’s not that I especially enjoy making such objects more than others. (I’ve never even made a window sash.) It’s that it’s … Continue reading
Posted in Build-Alongs, Home Improvement, Kids, Wood and Woodwork
Tagged brace and bit, cat, dog, door, drawbore, frame and panel, frame and panel door, handplane, handtools, hang a door, hang interior door, interior door, mortise, mortise and tenon, plow plane, tenon, veritas small plow plane
7 Comments
How to Sell Your Handmade Goods at a Craft Market, part 3: Vendor Etiquette
In the last two posts, I offered some practical suggestions for creating an effective display table and interacting with customers at craft markets. But there’s more to being a good vendor than just making your stuff look good and having … Continue reading
Posted in Market, Wood and Woodwork
Tagged craft fair, craft market, etiquette, manners, Market, selling, vendor
2 Comments
