Author Archives: literaryworkshop
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
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
Names on Tools: Past and Future Owners
Awhile back, I published a post about vintage tools with previous owners’ names on them. While it’s fun to imagine (and sometimes deduce) the character of the men who owned and used these tools before they came into my hands, … Continue reading
Meet My Dumb Apprentices
When I began working wood in earnest more than 15 years ago, I was working almost exclusively with hand tools, by choice but also by necessity. Most operations–smoothing boards and joining them together–were fun and even efficient with a fairly … Continue reading
Building the Mule Chest
Most of the time my projects begin because I have a problem I need to solve, and sometimes they begin with me reading a book. This time it was both. The book I’ve been reading is The Anarchist’s Design Book … Continue reading
De-Cluttering Your Time: 3 Keys to Reducing Screen-Time
Last week I said I wanted to reduce the amount of time I spent on social media–essentially de-clutter my time just like I’m trying to de-clutter my space. The hope was that I could make more time for doing things … Continue reading
How to Do Woodworking on 24 Hours a Day
There is ample historical evidence that at the beginning of the 20th century, many people felt that their lives were so rushed that they never had enough time to do the things that they really wanted to do. Back then, … Continue reading
Beating the Clutter-Creators: Habits and Strategies
There are many de-cluttering schemes out there, and because I live in a small house with a fairly large family, I have gone through many de-cluttering events, from simple tidying to annual cleaning to outright purges. In her book Making … Continue reading
Clutter-Creator #4: Stuff of the Past
We woodworkers are a nostalgic lot. Even those who work mainly with modern power tools can ooh and ah over an 18th-century highboy made by hand. Reverence for history is one thing that has kept me working wood primarily by … Continue reading
The Literary Workshop Blog 