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Category Archives: Wood and Woodwork
Hotel Spoon Carving
I travel for work once or twice a year. This summer it’s a week-long stay in a hotel, and I have evenings pretty much to myself. In such situations, I never want to be without my spoon carving tools and … Continue reading
Posted in handicraft, Wood and Woodwork, Woodenware
Tagged hotel, hotel room, sloyd, sloyd knife, spoon making, spoons, travel, wood spoon, wooden spoon, wooden spoons
1 Comment
From an Old Drawer to New Spatulas
People ask me where I get my wood for the spoons and spatulas I make. The truth is, I find it. Most of the time I salvage limbs and logs from downed trees, but sometimes I find wood in more … Continue reading
Posted in Wood and Woodwork, Woodenware
3 Comments
The Folly of “Prepping”
What is the best way to preserve a seed? I first came across this question in a gardening book, and it’s a trick question. The answer, of course, is to plant it. I have thought about that question a lot … Continue reading
Posted in Gardening, Kids, Musings, Wood and Woodwork
Tagged children, culture, food, prepper, prepping, preservation, preserve, skill, skills
9 Comments
Hardware Storage: Drink More Tea
Today was Workbench-Organization-Day. It’s amazing how cluttered my workbench can get over a few months. It took me a couple hours to toss all those forgotten scraps into the firewood pile, organize the pieces of When-I-Get-around-to-It projects, and–of course–collect and putting … Continue reading
Posted in Boxes, Wood and Woodwork
Tagged box, hardware, hardware storage, storage, tea, tea tin, Twinings
3 Comments
This Isn’t Me Anymore
Like a lot of guys, I used to collect weapons. Well, “collect” is probably too strong a word, but I’ve had various blades hanging on the wall for a long time. But the time has come to take them down. … Continue reading
Fake, Fraud, or Genuine? Book Review
Before there was Antiques Roadshow and YouTube videos that helped antique owners and buyers authenticate real antiques and uncover fakes, there was Myrna Kaye. Thirty years ago, in 1987, she published a book called Fake, Fraud, or Genuine: Identifying Authentic American Antique … Continue reading
Posted in Reviews, Wood and Woodwork
Tagged antique furniture, antiques roadshow, fake, fake antique, fakes, fraud, Myrna Kaye, The Patriot, worm holes
3 Comments
Piano Repair: Fixing a Broken Hammer
When a hammer breaks on our little spinet piano, I try my hand at fixing it myself. It’s a complicated job, with a few surprises along the way. Continue reading
Posted in repair, Wood and Woodwork
Tagged drill press, piano, piano hammer, piano keys, piano repair
2 Comments
Book Review: The Woodworker, The Charles H. Hayward Years. 3 vols.
High above my workbench, I keep the back-issues of a woodworking magazine I subscribe to. It takes up about 8″ of shelf space, but it grows by a fraction of an inch as a new issue arrives each month. Eventually … Continue reading
Posted in Wood and Woodwork
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Making a Dovetailed Recorder Case
Some years ago I was given a wooden tenor recorder. (It’s a Küng pearwood, made in Germany, if anybody cares.) It came in a basswood storage case that the previous owner had made for it, but time and use had … Continue reading
Posted in Boxes, Build-Alongs, Wood and Woodwork
Tagged box making, cherry, dovetailed box, pecan, recorder, recorder box, recorder case, spalted pecan, stopped groove, tenor recorder
3 Comments
A New Kind of Advent Candle Stand
It all started with a rat in the attic. When we brought down our Christmas decorations this year, we found that the old advent candle stand I had built from pine some years ago had been gnawed all over by … Continue reading
Posted in Build-Alongs, Wood and Woodwork
Tagged advent, advent candle, advent candles, advent wreath, cherry, icthus, Jesus fish
2 Comments
