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Author Archives: literaryworkshop
How to Sell Your Handmade Goods at a Craft Market, part 1: The Display
It took me a few years to learn to make wooden spoons and spatulas that people actually wanted to buy. But when I started trying to sell my work at local craft markets, I learned something important: selling things is … Continue reading
Posted in Wood and Woodwork
Tagged business cards, craft market, craft show, craft table, display table, market table, signage, signs
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Book Review: Cræft by Alexander Langlands
Cræft: An Inquiry into the Origins and True Meaning of Traditional Crafts by Alexander Langlands, Norton, 2017. $26.95 You may have noticed that there’s a handicrafts revival going on. Every month there seems to be a new craft market to shop … Continue reading
Posted in books, Reviews, Wood and Woodwork, Woodworking Literature
Tagged adventure, Alexander Langlands, book, books, craft, craft book, Cræft, reading
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Build A Simple, Wooden Storage Crate in an Hour
One of the tests of a competent woodworker is the ability to make a simple, sturdy box to order. Just this afternoon, my wife was cleaning and reorganizing, and she asked me to make her a crates to help her … Continue reading
Posted in Build-Alongs, storage, Wood and Woodwork
Tagged box, build a crate, crate, make a crate, nails, organization, organize, storage, wood crate, wooden crate
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The Hardest Part of Learning to Sharpen
The other day, I was teaching a friend to sharpen his plane iron, and it got me thinking about sharpening. Of all the skills I have learned while working wood, sharpening has been the most life-changing. It started with chisels … Continue reading
Posted in sharpening, skills, teaching, Wood and Woodwork
Tagged Chris Schwarz, edge, sharp, sharpen, sharpening
7 Comments
The One Essential Hand Tool
I have a favorite hand tool, one which has been with me (in one form or another) for most of my life. It’s my most-used hand tool, and the one I would be most reluctant to part with. It’s … Continue reading
Posted in Musings
Tagged basic hand tools, Benchmade, essential hand tools, hand tool, hand tools, handtools, pocket knife, pocketknife, sharp, Swiss Army knife
3 Comments
Rebuilding Trunnions on a 14″ Steel City Band Saw
Not long ago, a friend offered to give me his old bandsaw, which he was replacing with a newer, bigger model. The only catch: the old bandsaw had two broken parts, and because the manufacturer has gone out of business, … Continue reading
Posted in Wood and Woodwork
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Crafting (in) the Home: Passing on Your Skills to your Children
I just returned from a conference on community building called The Urban Village: From Cloud-Castles to Blueprints, sponsored by The Servi Institute in Oklahoma City, OK, where I gave a presentation on passing on manual skills to children by letting … Continue reading
The Parable of the Homemade Wine
Once there was a man who had a garden and an orchard. He grew many kinds of fruits–plums, figs, blueberries, strawberries, and grapes. His fruits grew so well that he needed something to do with them, so he began to … Continue reading
Fairy Furniture You Can Make on Your Front Steps
After a big tropical storm made a mess of my daughter K’s fairy garden, she decided to do some remodeling. First on her list was new fairy furniture, so we thought up some simple designs for a table and chairs. … Continue reading
Posted in Build-Alongs, Kids, Wood and Woodwork
Tagged fairy, fairy furniture, fairy garden, fairy house, garden, tree branch
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