Category Archives: Wood and Woodwork
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
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
Essential Tools (For Me), Part 4: Joinery Planes
There are two kinds of “essential” tools: all-purpose tools that you use for all kinds of jobs, and specialized tools that you use for just one operation. Up to this point in this blog series, I’ve featured tools in the … Continue reading
Essential Tools (for Me), Part 3: Spoon-Making Tools
Because spoon making has been such a big part of my woodworking, I think it’s appropriate that I write my 350th blog post about the tools I use to make spoons, spatulas, and other wooden utensils. These are by far … Continue reading
Essential Tools (to Me), Part 2: The Dovetail Saw
I don’t have a favorite tool. I really don’t. My “favorite” tool is whichever well-made, ergonomic tool will do the job I need to get done at the moment. But if I had to pick one, favorite tool out of … Continue reading
Essential Tools (to Me), part 1: The Stair Saw
A few years ago, I realized I had stopped acquiring tools. Well, more or less. There are always one or two additional tools on my wish-list, and I pick up a new tool (or replace an inadequate one) every so … Continue reading
How to Not Grow a Business
Most successful businesses have a growth mentality. But I don’t want to grow anymore. I want my craft market enterprise to shrink gracefully. Continue reading
