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Author Archives: literaryworkshop
For Narnia! A Stone Table Made from Wood
Whenever my kids start a new activity, I inevitably get sucked into it myself. This time it was a play at my local community theater. My youngest daughter landed the role of Lucy in a stage version of The Lion, … Continue reading
Breadboard Ends on a Stove Cover
When a friend asks me to make her a stove cover, I decide it’s a great time to learn a whole new woodworking technique. Continue reading
Spoons, Spoons, and More Spoons
During market season, it sometimes seems like all I make is spoons, spatulas, and other wooden utensils. I take photos of a lot of my work, but I don’t always remember to post the photos here on my blog. So … Continue reading
Posted in Woodenware
Tagged craft market, spoon carving, spoon making, wooden spoon, wooden spoons
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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
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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
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The Literary Workshop Blog 