Dave Jeske at Bluespruce Toolworks is now offering a fishtail detail chisel. Very cool!

Recently, joglo can be applicated as :

* Decorating of the house

* Support of the roof to get Pencu style.

* Placed in the edge of the pools as a relaxing place

* Placed in the house yard or garden.

*Placed in the backyard or terrace at the back house

* Garage or as a roof protection of a car

* Soko Guru or support of pendopo

For years now - I have owned, used and struggled with various Japanese saws. Specifically Dozuki's. Struggled because I could not quite get the hang of using them. I always thought it was because I had spent too much time using western style saws and could not change my habits. So my few Dozuki's hung on the wall. I looked over at them from time to time - and even tried them every now and again - with similar disappointing results.

I was lamenting this situation to a good friend a while ago and he offered to send me one of his saws to try out. The saw arrived on January 7. Now this is not just any saw - it was made by Yataiki. I was pretty overwhelmed when it arrived - partly because of my track record with Japanese saws - but mainly because of who had made it (and has since retired from sawmaking).


There were quite a few details of the saw that really caught my attention. The first was how fine the teeth were - about 19 ppi. And the set... or should I say lack of set - there is virtually none to speak of. The blade is extremely thin - and absolutely perfectly strait.



There is a texture to the blade that is quite remarkable. The blade is tensioned by tens of thousands of little hammer strikes and then burnished. Yup - this was not an average saw.

The saw stayed in my shop for many days as I contemplated using it. Normally I don't wait to long to try out a new tool, but this one was different. I emailed my friend to let him know it had arrived safe and sound, but also to get any advise on using the saw. There were many emails sent back and forth all of which were helpful and set the stage for the first use. There were a few key pieces of advise - a relaxed grip, don't try to muscle the saw and let the saw do the work. A "relaxed grip" was described like holding a hammer. If you hold a hammer too rigidly, the striking (vibration) will hurt your arm. The grip should be relaxed enough to still control the hammer, but loose enough to keep the vibration from your wrist and arm. That was a brilliant piece of advise!

I practiced using the saw in my head - trying to anticipate how it would work. I had a few "free" hours on Jan 16th and decided to work on a few kitchen drawers. I took a deep breath - and finally tried the saw. I was not prepared for the results - it was perfect. I mean truly perfect! The start of the cut was smooth and clean and the saw tracked flawlessly leaving a clean and very thin kerf. And it cut fast. I was using the saw to cut the tails on the 1/2" hard maple drawer sides.

As I was using the saw, I noticed I was feeling for the straightest pull stroke - making sure I was not introducing a twist or lateral forces on the blade. The lack of set makes this really really easy to do. I cut a few kerfs and they all turned out perfectly. There was one kerf that did not follow the line perfectly, but instead of trying to correct for it - I let the saw cut along the started path. The words of my friend not to muscle the saw were ringing through my head at this point. In the end, that kerf was only off by a degree or two - all part of the story of hand cut dovetails.



I decided to stack four, 1/2" thick drawer sides together and try a cut or two. Pictured above is that first kerf... just as perfect as all the others.



And another shot of another 4 drawer sides.



Here is a shot of the 4-up drawer sides in my Tucker vice. A really nice feature of this vice and set up is that I can rotate the vice so I am sawing perpendicular to the floor.

Now for the really sad news. As I mentioned earlier, Yataiki is now retired - he is no longer making saws. As far as I know - he did not have an apprentice. If you ever have an opportunity to try one of his saws - or a handmade saw from another maker - you owe it to yourself to try it. I feel incredibly blessed to have been given this opportunity to use one of his saws.

Quad Tapering and Al Babble--Tommy and Al sit down to talk about the spade foot of the Federal table. Tommy outlines how he used the drill press to create the spade foot on the marker board and then reviews how he created the tapered table leg. Al concludes with discussing the Red Sox season opener.

Yesterday I picked up a bench grinder for dirt cheap from CL. The seller said it worked fine, and the price was right. When I went to pick it up the only thing I checked was bearing play. I was pretty unconcerned with electrical issues since I can repair most of those. No play was detectable to my hand so I took it.

I got it home and discovered there was no way the seller could have used the thing. Probably ever. The crimp on the spade connector to the switch wasn't tight, and the grinder would not turn on. No biggie, new connector properly crimped, and it works beautifully.

At the end of this minor adventure, I realized I should document the thought process I went through.

I knew going in that a cheap tool WILL have flaws. Regardless of the story given by the seller. So how to minimize the risk is the real challenge.

For the above mentioned grinder, I decided before going in that the most difficult thing to repair FOR ME would be bearings. Wheels are cheap (and would probably be replaced anyway), electrical is easy to me, even a motor can be replaced if absolutely necessary. But bearings would be the hardest thing to me and absolutely a deal breaker. Grinders are cheap enough new that I wouldn't even take a free one with bad bearings.

So when I got there, and the seller wasn't in a hurry to plug it in and show me that it worked, I just did a wiggle check and spin check on the bearings. They felt good so I paid and left.

When I bought the tablesaw and jointer combo last year, bearings and gears were my main concerns. I knew it was rusty, but surface rust repair was within my reach. The guts were nice, only the bare cast iron surfaces were rusty.

So pick the 'deal breaker' problem(s) and stick to your guns. If you can press bearings all day long, but electrical wiring is a mystery to you, find the stuff with good electrics and bad bearings. If all you are comfortable with is painting, then find the uglies with layers of klown paint and make them purdy.

There are deals out there, but what's a deal to me may not be a deal to you.

A beautiful floor Starts with premium custom-milled Mesquite HardWood flooring from Arizona Desert Mesquite.



Photo Courtesy of Murdock Floors

Mesquite HardWood Flooring is the most stable solid surface you can put under your feet.  Custom milled tongue & groove planks made to your order insure the width and length you need. Matching BaseBoards can also be milled to your specifications. A wide plank Custom milled HardWood floor with Matching wide-tall base boards is a truly stunning SouthWest statement about you and your home.


Photo Courtesy of The Nelson Family


Photo courtesy of Wilkinson Flooring

Mesquite HardWood Flooring is an excellent choice for high traffic areas.

The opening building of pendopo reflected characters like wideopen, friendly and generously character, which always welcome to the guess everytime.

Pendopo has four directions of carved pillars (soko guru) with 12 (twelve) second pillars (soko penanggap) on the right and left side and 20 (twenty) third pillars (soko penitih) on its sorrounding.

Therefore, even the building looks not so high, but give the impression of "momot" which means capable to path everything, because of its wide roof also there is nothing inside the building hence represent the basic of opening.

It match with the function of pendopo that always located in front yard as a place to held official meeting, art show, or traditional ceremony, also to accept honourable guess and official guess in the huge amount.

It made pendopo fabulous and great. Beside that, pendopo can be used as a place to give courses of karawitan and dance.

 

Welcome to The Wood Shop? This entry was posted on 9/21/2006 3:11 PM and is filed under Welcome. Picture Saloondoors2 Courtesy of Warsaw WoodWorks Welcome to The Wood Shop !  Let me first start by Introducing myself to you and let you know what we're all about . My name is Dan Rose . I am the head broom and dust-pan guy around here , so let's help keep it clean. I'd like to discuss Mesquite HardWood and other things wood as well.  Some basic rules : Feel free to post here and visit often. A reminder this is a public forum , your postings here are NOT a private matter. Please no foul language , no links to pornography ,  no extreme political , race , or religious views need to be posted here. Difference of opinion or approaches to a problem are OK , but personal attacks and name calling will not be tollerated. Please let this be a retreat from those things and a place to come and discuss the beauty and warmth that is offered by our common passion , wood. I'll be writing some articles that cover basic properties of Mesquite , Industry News and specific things we are doing here at Arizona Desert Mesquite to improve our service and support of the Mesquite HardWood market in the USA. We'll showcase some of our dealers and end use customers and their pictures and experiences they have had with Mesquite. Most of all I hope this can become a place to learn new things , to share information and knowledge . Everyone that will be featured here can teach us all with something new and exciting to be shared with others . Again as a reminder , this is a public forum. ADM does not take responsibility for content here posted by others. As time permits , I WILL edit any comments that in MY opinion do not meet our standards. So pull up a Log and Set a spell. The Root Beer is cold and there's a gentle breeze a blowin' from the SouthWest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2/2/'07 - Check out the New photos Submitted by Murdock Floors on the HardWood Flooring Page ... Awesome ! Reminder : to see full page content click on  the    MORE>> marker wayyyy over to the right under the opening page.

 

So today I get a copy of the WoodWorker's Book Club bulletin and it lists the "Top 50 Member Favorites." I eagerly flipped through to see if my book on workbenches made the list.

It did. It was No. 30.

I was quite pleased by this bit of news. It was good to be on the same list as Taunton's "Complete Illustrated Guides" (at No. 1), Kerry Pierce's "Pleasant Hill Shaker Furniture" (No. 2) and Jim Tolpin's "Measure Twice, Cut Once" (No. 3, and one of my favorite woodworking books).

But my moment of glee was quickly flung into the dirty litterbox when I saw what aced me out at No 28: "Black & Decker's 24 Weekend Projects for Pets."  

That put my tail between my legs. Time to go home and start writing that birdhouse book I've had on the back burner.

— Christopher Schwarz

The measurements of the boards which comprise the four drawer case panels are a tad smaller than originally planned, so I have had to forgo squaring the ends of the boards of each of eight boards. Instead I have assembled the eight boards into four panels and will instead square then ends of these panels off. It is just an arbitrary decision at this point and doesn't affect the assembly of the panels, although nicer panels would have resulted had I squared the ends of the boards first. This also allows me to dial in as much length as absolutely possible in each of the panels.

I had also jointed the mating edges of each of the boards, the edge which mates with the other, matching board of the panel. This went well and I let the boards sit for a day or so afterwards to determine if any further cupping would result. A very small bit of cupping did result, and of course it becomes more pronounced due to the width of the panels. The next step involved scribbling witness lines across each of the cupped faces of the boards and handplaning the outside edge area working towards the middle. I regularly go back and forth with a flat, steel rule to determine how much progress is being made. I also try not to overshoot... which essentially decreases the overall thickness of each of the boards.

At this point, I have four panels ready to be squared to finish dimensions, both in width and length. A small part of each of the panels form the sides of the drawer case. I will also need to cross cut these sections off, which leaves me with four shorter panels which form the tops and bottoms of the drawer case.

I'm going to take some time and spend it outdoors today. We had wintry weather until late last week, but this week has been getting wamer and sunnier with temps in the low 70's today. We've had such a long winter up here, and this weather couldn't arrive soon enough.

It's April and Hendrik is back to answer more of your questions.  This month we're talking about dealing with troubled stock.  Since nothing is worse than dealing with cupped, bowed, twisted or crooked boards we answer your questions about how to tame these problems or maybe even avoid them.

Today is part 2 of our discussion, so hopefully if we haven't answered your question yet we will today.

Remember for comments, questions and schwag entries drop me a line at mattsbasementworkshop@gmail.com.

 Listen to today's show by clicking on the player below

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As requested, here is a photo of the Dovetail Saw which Mike made for me.

It is ...

Should you ever happen across me anywhere on the face of the interweb, muttering at length on the evils of poly-uckathane varnish, don't think it's from a position of strength now, will you? No, it's not because my hand is innocent of inflicting such horror; rather that's it's largely based on personal experience. One such varnished chicken came home to roost not long ago. Talk about a blast from the past - an early endeavour that was condemned to be returned to its perpetrator on the demise of the owner. There's an argument against living a long life, if ever I came across one. The idea of further youthful projects returning like so many homing pigeons is enough to make me wake up in the early hours in a cold sweat. But that's by the by.

Tommy starts a BIG dining room table (approximately 14' long) and walks you through the wood selection, milling, sitckering, and routering out the top. As Tommy goes through this process he explains the science behind the wood. And don't adjust your computer screen, Tommy isn't turning into the hulk, just blowing off some steam.

These last couple of weeks, I have been getting well acquainted with my "new" jack plane. I don't really like what I am finding out. For the record, it is an old Sargent that says VBM on it.

I bought it off eBay for a cheap price a few months ago. It seemed to be in fairly good condition with no obvious damage or rusting. The works were a bit tight and needed a bit of lube and a number of other minor issues. The biggest story here was the banana sole. By banana sole, I mean it was high on the ends and low in the middle. Also, the area around the mouth was a bit worn testifying to a good bit of use.

As part of the fettling process, I cleaned it up, sharpened it, and so forth. I also worked on flattening the sole. Actually, I did make a lot of progress on flattening it. Finally, it seemed to me to be reasonably flat, and I was tired of rubbing it across my Norton stone (not the way I would recommend doing it, by the way).  read more »

Hi Folks
As you have probably gathered, I now spend more time in the workshop than I used to. Last week was probably 50 hours, slightly more than the odd evening I used to do. This has a good side (I get to spend more time in the 'shop!!!!!) and a bad side. Let's talk about the bad side........

Maintenance.

There - I've said it.
When time is short it is pretty easy to put off essential workshop maintenance - planer blades a bit blunt? "Ahhhh...leave it 'til next time." And this goes on until the planer is unusable (not that it stops you using it) Grinder need the wheel truing? "Maybe next time - I've only got this blade to do" And before you know it, it takes half a day to true up the Tormek because it is now shaped like a jelly bean.......
So I have been spending precious time carrying out much needed maintenance wherever (and whenever) it is needed. This has elicited quite a few sarky comments from the Wife (i.e. "you spend more time moving your workshop around than you do making things", etc.......) and she is right, it does seem that way. And why?
Because I let things go too far. The old saying "A stitch in time..." is so true. So go on - do yourself (and your workshop) a favour. Keep it in good condition - you'll work quicker, cleaner and to a higher standard. And that's gotta be worth it :)
Have a good week,
Philly

All the dentil molding is on and now it's time to add another layer. Tommy shows how the applied dentil molding looks and how the soffit and quarter round fit over it. He then attaches them to the case. Tommy cleans up the dentil molding with a chisel so it is flush with the quarter round. After gluing the final corner in place, the first part of the crown is done and Tommy can enjoy a victory cigar.

My last post showed how a piece of pine being used in my current project looks before I start working on it.

After running the board through the planer and jointer, it then looks like this:


The planer gets rid of the nasty looking rough surface and leaves what resembles a typical looking board.

This typical looking board is then glued to another typical looking board to create a wider typical looking board. When that wider typical looking board is sanded, it looks more like this:


stay tuned as progress continues...

To be used by Hobby & do-it yourselfers to display their Mesquite and other fine wood projects.


Check out this fist entry From Ronald Hesketh ... It's about Time ...


Read this heartwarming story about two Men and a Very Special Clock ! ...           >>>>>> Click on "more " >>>>>>>> 

It's April and Hendrik is back to answer more of your questions.  This month we're talking about dealing with troubled stock.  Since nothing is worse than dealing with cupped, bowed, twisted or crooked boards we answer your questions about how to tame these problems or maybe even avoid them.

Today is part 1 of our discussion, and since it's Friday that means it's Feature Friday so one of you lucky listeners is winning some free schwag!  Are you the lucky listener??

For anyone interested, coming up on April 11 & 12, 2008 there's a great little tool demo and woodworking school openhouse going on at J. Miller Handcrafted Furniture in Chicago. The details can be found at Lie-Nielsen.  There will be some great demos by a number of well known woodworkers and I'm planning on checking it out myself.

Remember for comments, questions and schwag entries drop me a line at mattsbasementworkshop@gmail.com.

 Listen to today's show by clicking on the player below

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In 1980, my brother and our friends (a couple of toe-headed twins named Keith and Kevin) decided to start a club. We figured since we liked riding our BMX bikes along the side of the tracks of the Burlington Northern route than ran west out of Lima, through our village of Elida, and off toward Delphos we naturally needed a club to encompass the excitement of peddling 20� bikes in the blazing sunlight. We discussed some names, and somewhere between Danny Zucko’s T-Birds and the Doug Henning Magic Men we came up with a name…The Black Panthers.

Don’t ask me how four middle class white boys in Northwest Ohio came up with the same name as Huey Newton’s black Mao-ist/socialist movement. There are some who believe the human brain stores every piece of information a person encounters in life, and the limitation of human existence is not the possession of knowledge but the ability to recall. (This leads to the possibility that hypnosis can cause one to recall seemingly tiny, unperceived details from previous life experiences.) So perhaps one of us had heard Walter Cronkite mention the Black Panthers in our pre-teen lives, or perhaps Keith and Kevin were actually black radicals just passing as Arayan twins…who knows. The point is the four of us decided to call ourselves The Black Panthers. We even went to the T-shirt shop at the mall to see if they had any panthers iron on thingies that we could have put on black shirts. They didn’t. We could have had fuzzy block letters spelling out Black Panthers put on shirts, but that seemed lame. We thought about getting custom air-brushed t-shirts, but that was too expensive. So we just waited 3 or 4 days and forgot about it as focused on our 2 on 2 football games where each person running the ball claimed to be Earl Campbell. Edward and I moved back to Indianapolis a few months later, our family having only spent 6 months in Elida.

I spoke to my brother a few days ago. I haven’t heard from Keith or Kevin in over 27 years. 26 years after the disbanding of The Black Panthers of Elida, Ohio, Panther Fever hit me again. In 2006 when I bought my first hand plane and fell into the Galoot Crevasse, I purchased the two volume boxed set of Garrett Hack’s books. I really wanted The Handplane Book. I bought the boxed set because I love books, and I love to think I am getting a bargain. I had no real interest in the second volume of that set, The Handtool Book. But when those books arrived at my house, I got Panther Fever. One look at the Woodrough and McParlin Panther Saw on the cover of The Handtool Book and an abscess formed in my soul. I instantly had an infected cavity that could only be filled and healed with a Panther Saw.

I went looking for them on Ebay. There were none. What’s the deal????? None on EBAY???? Are they rare, or something? Some Googling told me they were rare. One website went as far as to estimate there were only 30 in existence. Obviously, there are probably more than 30 of them around, but I like how some people vehemently disagree with that total. I’ve seen bulletin board posts that say things like, “Oh, he’s full of crap if he says there are only 30 in existence. The total is probably closer to 50!!!! There could even be 100 of them if they were all dragged out of the barns and basements.�

I couldn’t find one. Gail and I went down to John Sindelar’s last year and there were four of them mocking me. I asked John about them, and he said, “I’ve had a few of them through the years, but I kept these because they were unique. These are weird ones…� (Friends that is a man after my own heart. His collection is so extensive he only collects “weird� Panther Saws.)

A year or so ago a Panther Saw finally showed up on Ebay. It was beat to death, and it went for about $600. I couldn’t do it. I didn’t even bid. A few weeks ago another one showed up. It wasn’t in Sindelar Condition. It had a couple of issues. It had a blade that had seen so many sharpenings it was only about an inch and a half tall at the toe. Also, it had a big nasty drip of latex paint on the handle. Even though I felt my background as a black panther (Elida, Ohio white guy pre-teen chapter from 1980) entitled me to own this saw, it was actually my Ebay bid that made it happen.

So, even though I spoiled this story a week and a half ago by showing Gail pruning trees in the backyard with my Panther Saw, I am officially on record as being a panther owner. I have described my Panther Saw as being like a Gutenberg Bible that is missing Psalms. Sure, given its condition, it is not the most desirable sample in the world, but why don’t you show me yours before you say anything bad about mine.

A couple of weeks ago a Panther Saw in really good shape turned up on Ebay, but the final $1800+ bid did not meet the reserve.

How many are out there? There have to be at least 30 Panthers. I think there are still more than 50 Panther Saws in the world. There could be as many as 100. Mine isn’t perfect, but owning it does make me feel like I am special. And I haven’t felt this special since the Nigerian Government sent me that email asking me to help them move some money around through the use of Money Orders...

Today I want to share with you two strange desings.

The first one is a very nice pair of earrings, made of wood beads (they´re beautiful). It seems they belongs to an indian, isn’t it?

The following desing it´s a spiral. I love spirals! I made the wire structure first and then embroider the beads.

See you next craft!

When it comes to essential reads in the world of woodworking, I consider "Choosing and Using Hand Tools" by Andy Rae as one of the most important. 

Andy does a great job of presenting an amazing amount of information about a large number of tools both traditional and non-traditional to the woodshop.

This book isn't just filled with a few pictures and a couple of little descriptions of each tool, but instead Andy does a great job of making sure the reader has a good understanding of the limitations and capabilities of each tool and to which family they belong.

Copies of "Choosing and Using Hand Tools" can be found at both Sterling Publishing and also at Amazon.com.

Hendrik has agreed to come back in May to talk about starting a woodworking business.  So remember to get your questions in as soon as possible.

Also, Hendrik is starting his annual three part finishing seminars: 
Part 1 "Preparing the Surface and Staining" - April 26th or May 3rd. 
Part 2 "Hand Finishing and Rubbing Out"    - May 10th or 24th.
Part 3"Antique Restoration Techniques"      - May 31st or June 7th.
So if you live in the Toronto area or feel like visiting it, and you want more information about Hendrik's finishing seminars, send an email to info@passionforwood.com

Of course you can always drop me a line with your questions, comments, suggestions and schwag entries anytime.  Just send them to mattsbasementworkshop@gmail.com.

 Listen to today's show by clicking on the player below

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To download this show directly to your computer just Right Click and "Save Target as".

This fall, our magazine is sponsoring the first-ever weekend conference devoted to hand tools and learning to use them.

We're calling it the Woodworking in America conference, and we'll be bringing together the country's best hand-tool woodworkers and manufacturers for a symposium in Berea, Ky., on Nov. 14-16.

There will be more than 40 short classes on tools and techniques during the long weekend, plus a marketplace where toolmakers can display (and sell) their wares, social events with the demonstrators and toolmakers and more.

So who is going to be there? Here's the list of people who have agreed to teach seminars during Woodworking in America as of this date (with more to come):

Roy Underhill: Known as "St. Roy" to the legion of fans who watch "The Woodwright's Shop" on PBS, Roy worked at Colonial Williamsburg and then launched his show about traditional hand tools.

Frank Klausz: One of the country's consummate craftsmen, Frank is a professional New Jersey cabinetmaker who trained in Hungary and has a lifetime of experience with the full range of handwork.

Michael Dunbar: Founder of The Windsor Institute, Michael has single handedly revived the craft of building Windsor chairs, has trained thousands of woodworkers and is a passionate student of the art and history of handcraft.

Adam Cherubini: The author of Popular Woodworking's popular "Arts & Mysteries" column, Adam is a devoted 18th-century woodworker who builds period pieces using period tools.

James Blauvelt: A Connecticut cabinetmaker, joiner and carpenter, James owns Bluefield Joiners and is a student and teacher of Japanese tools and traditions.

Robin Lee: The president of Lee Valley Tools in Ottawa, Ontario, Robin has been a driving force behind the expansion of the Veritas line of premium handplanes and a caretaker of the company's immense tool collection.

Thomas Lie-Nielsen: The founder of Lie-Nielsen Toolworks in Warren, Me., Thomas has been making and selling premium traditional hand tools for 27 years. Thomas's company was the trailblazer in reviving many traditional forms of tools that had been lost.

Larry Williams and Don McConnell: Two of the principals behind Clark & Williams in Eureka Springs, Ark., Larry and Don are bottomless wells of information about traditional tools and their workings. Both are accomplished woodworkers, planemakers and tool historians.

John Economaki: The founder of Bridge City Tool Works in Portland, Ore., John has long been a pioneer in developing new (and very beautiful) forms of hand tools for woodworkers.

Konrad Sauer: The owner of Sauer & Steiner Toolworks in Ontario, Konrad is one of the leading makers of custom infill handplanes.

Wayne Anderson:Wayne specializes in designing and building custom infill handplanes that are deeply rooted in the past but are each a completely original work of art.

Ron Hock: One of the earliest and most important players in the revival of handtools, Ron makes high-quality replacement plane irons, chipbreakers and marking knives in Ft. Bragg, Calif.

Mike Wenzloff: The founder of Wenzloff & Sons sawmakers in Forest Grove, Ore., Mike is a long-time woodworker and expert in saws and saw sharpening. His premium saw business has exploded in the last two years.

Joel Moskowitz: The founder of Tools for Working Wood and an expert on woodworking history, Joel has recently been making many traditional hand tools, as well as selling them through his catalog and web site.

Clarence Blanchard: The publisher of "The Fine Tool Journal" and the president of Brown Auction Services, Clarence sees more old tools in a week than most of us see in a lifetime.

Kevin Drake: After studying under James Krenov at the College of the Redwoods, Kevin founded Glen-Drake Toolworks, where he combines woodworking, toolmaking and education. His innovative tools have received numerous awards; we named his Tite-Mark one of the "Best 12 Tools Ever." 

If you are interested in attending, please visit the web site that is dedicated to this conference at WoodworkinginAmerica.com and sign up for the conference's newsletter (the sign-up box is on the top right of the page). You'll then be the first to be notified of when registration will open (it will be before July 1) and the pricing for this event.

Attendance will be limited to a few hundred people (we want to keep the event intimate and manageable), so be sure to register as soon as slots become available. We are expecting the conference to sell out.

There are more announcements and surprises ahead that I cannot share with you right now, so please stay tuned to the blog and the conference's newsletter.

— Christopher Schwarz

I learned the basics of using Follow Me in Sketchup, and it solves the problem of creating round overs on the tensioner plan I've been struggling with. Now that I know how to use this tool, it's fairly easy. This task that has occupied at least 5 hours of my time can now be completed from scratch in under 5 minutes (with several mistakes). Here's how I do it:

1. Draw a rectangle 1.5 x 6 inches.
2. Using the line tool draw a section 1/2 inch long at the tip.
3. Using the line tool draw a section 1 inch long on the right side.
4. Draw a line connecting the two sections.
5. Delete the resulting triangle.
6. Using the Push tool, extrude the shape to 1.5 inches.
7. Orient the object so I'm looking right at the square end.
8. Using the tape tool, drop a reference line 12.25 inches from each side.
9. In the top left corner, use the arc tool to draw an arc that runs between two intersections and tangent to the sides.
10. Do the same in the bottom left corner.
11. Select Camera, Standard Views, Iso.
12. Orbit slightly if necessary to get a good view of the arc and the area it defines.
13. Select Tools, Follow Me.
14. Click on the small section formed by the arc and the corner.
15. Move the cursor to follow the four edges that want a round over and click when they are all defined.
16. Select Camera, Standard Views, Bottom.
17. Select Camera, Standard Views, Iso.
18. Repeat steps 13 ? 15 for the bottom.
19. Select Tools, Dimensions.
20. Add dimensions as needed.

Having learned to do it so quickly and easily, I'm almost embarrassed at the amount of time I spent trying to do this with Intersect Selected and other means. But I'm super excited about the Follow Me tool, which will allow the creation of custom moldings and other details that I couldn't do before.

I don’t like cut flowers. Flowers don’t do anything for me. I do know that they work. I understand the pheromone rush they ignite in women, but they sort of kick off the opposite reaction in me. I truly don’t like the smell of flowers. I have tried to explain to my wife, Gail, that flowers affect my nose and almost create a tingling/burning reaction. (I think they negatively impact my allergies).

However, I am not anti-flower. For me, I think flowers are a lot like colonoscopies. I don’t personally like them, but I’m glad mankind has them around for the people who want and need them.

In years past I would do the roses thing. I think the only flowers I provided to old girlfriends were roses. However, when I met Gail it somehow came out that roses just weren’t her thing. So, for the last 11.75 years, I have not purchased roses. Instead, I just call the florist and say something like this, “Give me something nice between $75 and $100. You guys are professionals so I’m going to defer to your expertise.� I can tell you without question…this technique works.

Earlier this week Gail achieved a personal goal. (She made it 24 hours sober.) So I decided to send her flowers yesterday. I called the florist and quoted a dollar amount, and had them write the following item on the card, “This has nothing to do with Valentine’s Day. This is because I am proud of you. Love, Jeff.� The lady took the credit card information, and then she said, “Would you like to go ahead and set something up for Valentine’s Day?� I responded, “Despite what the card said, this is going to cover Valentine’s Day, too.�

Gail works in a Doctors’ Office. The nursing staff is comprised of all women. The physician Gail works for is female. So I know that when I send Gail flowers, I am putting myself up there on the pedestal so that Gail can say, “Y’all lookee here at what my man did!!!!!!!!!!!!!� Let me also say this…I really love women. If Gail was 1/100^th the flirt that I am, we’d be divorced in a week. So it is my goal to always be the guy that Gail’s friends compare their husbands to. It’s just my sick and twisted, spotlight-hogging personality that I want all hot chicks on the planet to think that I am the greatest guy in the universe. (I am always working on back up plans in case something happens to Gail...) At Gail’s office the flowers went over BIG.

Gail didn’t bring them home yesterday. She will leave them at work this week so she can enjoy them (and so they continue to get shown off to her coworkers). She emailed me this morning and said that when she walked in the office she could smell them when she was in the hall around the corner from her desk. I emailed back, “So you’re saying your entire office smells like a funeral home????� I am glad the flowers aren’t coming home yet. I really do hate the smell of flowers.

However, this afternoon it hit me. I finally figured out what flowers truly mean to women. It’s something like this….

I’m coming back to the office after lunch and the Woodcraft van is sitting in the parking lot. Oooohhh…somebody’s gettin’ a present!!!!! I go back to my desk and sit down thinking about who in the office is dating someone new, or who has an anniversary, or who may have learned some new X-rated move. Suddenly, the phone rings and I answer to find the receptionist asking me to come up to the front desk. I get that little flutter in my belly, and I head toward the front. As I round the corner, I can see the brown cardboard box with the Lie-Nielsen logo. It’s a BIG box!!!!!!!! The receptionist is smiling and she tells me that I have a present. The box is about 10 pounds, and when I flip it open I find a Jointer plane. It’s the Big One. It’s the #8. Also, it has the optional Cocobolo Handles. I open the card and read, “Just because I love you….G.�

Rather than put it back in the box, I cut open the blue anti-rust plastic and pull it out. I sort of embellish it with the packing paper (my version of wrapping it in swaddling clothes) and I take it back to my desk where I set it up on top of my overhead bin. In a steady stream every guy in the office comes by to look at my Jointer Plane and tell me how beautiful it is. They take it down and sweep it through the air smoothing imaginary timber sitting on an imaginary bench just outside my office.

The women in the office see all of this, but most don’t get involved with my gift. But every guy tells me how beautiful it is, and they tell me how lucky I am to have a wife like Gail.

Beautiful tools unexpectedly delivered to you at work so that all of your friends can see how much your wife loves you. That’s what flowers are.

(Ignore the fact that Lie-Nielsen Jointer Planes don’t rust and disintegrate over the course of 8 days… it will destroy the analogy and drag you back to the reality of expensive dead flowers and realistic gifts from your wife…like new socks.)

HI Folks
I've been beavering away in the workshop trying to get myself together for the upcoming Yandles show. Planes left, right and centre! But I'm trying to steal a few minutes a day to work on a side project (or two!)
A guitar. Now, a lot of you may know I play guitar. I've made a solid body electric (a PRS style) but never tried an acoustic. So I finally ordered a set of plans from Stewart-Macdonald for a Weissenborn style lap steel guitar. An interesting acoustic guitar - it is played sitting down with the guitar flat on its back on your lap.
I've used timbers that I have in stock - sycamore for the top and paduak for the back and sides. All quartersawn and dried in my workshop for about four years. I cut 3.5mm slices on the bandsaw - fun cutting five foot long by 10 inch tall slices! Glad I fitted that new blade.......
I've jointed and bookmatched the top pieces and have glued them up. Just need to get them to final thickness (2.5mm) and then I can start "building"!
Cheers
Philly