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Project with the Kids - Nesting Boxes
00/00/0000, 00:00 | Woodworking DungeonClick here for one of the websites I used in putting this project together.
Once I got my ideas all together, I started working on cutting the pieces needed to make a couple of nesting boxes. Having quite a bit of that baltic birch ply still available, that is what I used. I also figured the girls would want to paint the nesting boxes when they were done, so I wasn’t overly concerned on the longevity of the ply.
After I had all the pieces cut, I laid out and drilled the nail holes and the bird entrance. Considering that I got the wood for free and already had the nails, I really didn’t want to have to go out and by hinges for this project. I decided that it could be cool, and much more LumberJock like to have a French Cleat system to hold the house to the backing board. Then it was time to introduce the girls!
I had already walked myself through the assembly order, so it went fairly smoothly getting the girls to follow along. We attached the sides to the bottom and the houses side of the French Cleat. Then using the house as a guide, the girls attached the mating cleat to the backing board. The top was added next followed by the front.
The two bird nesting boxes I made with my daughters
A view of the French Cleat system used to access the nesting box for cleaning
The girls both seemed really happy with their houses. Now it’s time to paint and put them in the wild!
Here’s Violet holding her nesting box.
Here are the two girls together.
Petit Bags
03/08/2008, 17:10 | Arts and Crafts BlogI have two pretty and small bags I made last week to show you. I used “unuseful” pieces of felt (that were useful in this case). Using my sewing machine I made, in no more than ten minutes, two little bags.
The handles are made, as you can see, of crochet (just a simple chain with a combining color).
The eyelets are made of crochet too… I made both of them and sewed them with my needles and thread, thats all!
Tobacco River Woodturner
11/15/2006, 12:06 | The Wood Shop
Photo Courtesy Tobacco River Woodturner
John Peters: Mesquite Wood and Segmented Bowls.
I began turning wood in 1970 in high school wood shop and after thirty years as a machinist moved to northwest Montana. I've started making segmented bowls again, as a hobby. I like to use dense heavily grained woods for my projects and Mesquite is one of my favorites. Mesquite takes a high polish, glues well and is hardly affected by humidity and temperature. The vessel in the foreground of the picture of is mostly Mesquite; the zig-zag feature ring is Curly Maple and Purpleheart with Bloodwood top and bottom rings. There are 193 pieces of wood in the bowl. I also use Rosewoods, Ebonys, Hard Maples, Yellowheart, 40,000 year old Ancient Kauri, American Holly and others. I give most of my work away as gifts but I will occasionally sell one. If you are interested my link is sajo@interbel.net.
Thanks for looking,
Tobacco River Woodturner
John Peters
Eureka, Montana.
Jamestown and Bideford
00/00/0000, 00:00 | David's blog287 More July Giveaways
00/00/0000, 00:00 | Matt's Basement Workshop PodcastIt's near the end of July and it's time to give away some great schwag to some even greater listeners!!
This week we have another set of 2-1/2" Whiteside Brass Height Gages for one lucky winner and another great title from Sterling Publishing for a second lucky listener.
If you're interested in getting a set of your own gauges from Woodcraft click here, Whiteside Brass Height Gauges
WIN AN iPOD TOUCH!! If you have the time, please take the new listener survey, and when you do you'll be entered to win an iPod Touch.
If you'd like to enter for free schwag or just have a comment, question or suggestion drop me a line at mattsbasementworkshop@gmail.com or head over to my website at www.mattsbasementworkshop.com or call our Skype Voicemail at 231 354-2338.
Listen to today's show by clicking on the player below
To download directly to your computer Right Click on direct download, choose "Save Target as"
Christmas in Erie PA
00/00/0000, 00:00 | Sauer & SteinerThe usual suspects were there - Jim Leamy, Paul Hamler, Patrick Leach, Don Rosebrook and Martin Donnelly to name a few. I also had the pleasure of finally meeting Roy Underhill. He gave a talk on Saturday night. Early in the show he was walking around in the tool display and demo area and I had to do a triple take to make sure it was him - he was not wearing his hat.
Paul Hamler is just finishing up what I believe is his last set of miniature planes - a Sandusky Center wheel plow. There were several different configurations - Ebony with ivory arms, Rosewood with ivory arms and even a few solid ivory versions. It was a little overwhelming trying to keep track of them all - and when Paul sent me this photo a week ago - I missed “it”.
On Saturday morning, Riley walked over to me at my bench and handed me a small bubble wrapped package. He said “Happy Fathers Day dad”. As I unwrapped it - I found myself holding a very small African Blackwood bodied, left-handed Center wheel plow. Riley answered my question even before I had a chance to ask it - “I got it for a buck”.
I knew something was up, and judging from the smiling faces around me - their plan had worked.
The plane is magnificent to say the least, and if it you left out familiar objects to give a sense of scale - it could pass for a full sized plane. Paul, my deepest thanks for this stunning and personal tool.
Here are a few photos of the pair of left-handed center wheel plows.
And a few shots to try to give some sense of scale. The rebate plane is 1/2" wide and 3-3/4" long.
And some detail shots as well.
That little brass thing the skate is sitting on... one of the bronze buttons I insert into an infill cap iron.
Paul was also delivering some of his scraper plane inserts and gave a talk on Friday night about its history and evolution. As a fellow toolmaker, it was very interesting to see how it evolved, the prototypes and those “aha” moments that happen at the weirdest times. The spring is the (brilliant) key to this insert - and turns it into an elegant and highly functional tool. I can’t wait to get a No.6 so I can use it.
20th Anniversary of the Woodsmith Store
00/00/0000, 00:00 | WoodworkingONLINE.com 
We talk a lot around here about the Woodsmith Store. For a little over fifteen years, it was a small, out-of-the-way haven for woodworkers tucked into the Beaverdale neighborhood of Des Moines. Then in 2003 everything changed.
That was when the old Payless Cashways building in Clive was remodeled and Des Moines became home to one of the largest independently-owned woodworking stores in the country. It is truly a regional destination store for woodworkers from all over the Midwest. The store, now over 20,000 square feet in size, is filled with woodworking supplies, tools, machinery and hardwoods. Think Cabella’s, Bass Pro Shops, or L.L. Bean.
This coming weekend, Friday, Saturday and Sunday (September 21st, 22nd and 23rd), the Woodsmith Store will celebrate its 20th Anniversary with a Fall Fair event. There will be a lot going on, not only in the woodworking departments, but in the painting and gardening departments as well. I just thought it deserved a shameless plug here. Hope you can stop by.
It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
00/00/0000, 00:00 | Skiving OffYears ago I was like a lot of American men, wasting away the pre-work morning watching SportsCenter. It didn’t matter if ESPN’s only highlights were from a Kiwana’s Donkey Basketball Game in Muscle Shoals, sports was the glue that held together the X and Y chromosomes that made me a man.
However, with the passage of time I just started caring less and less. Millionaires on strike…. one brawl after another… corrupt officiating… the firing and retirement of my true heroes…. somehow I eventually gave up on all spectator sports except the Indianapolis Colts and Notre Dame Football. Believe it or not, I haven’t missed any of it.
My life went from one where Coach Bob Knight and the Indiana Hoosiers were a significant priority to one where I haven’t watched a college basketball game in several years. Even the dogs have enjoyed the mellower atmosphere associated with the reprioritization of my life. (Abby did not always like dressing up for games.)
Still, all of the energy that in the past was divided among the Cubs, Pacers, Hoosiers, and Maple Leafs was added to the love I have had for the Colts for the last 20+ years.
And last night officially started another season of the only professional sport I care about. Still, I am a very snobbish fan. I won’t watch the NFL just for the sake of watching football. I am a Colts fan. I watched part of last night’s game only because it featured Eli Manning, and most of us Colts fans have adopted Peyton’s little brother and his Giants as our NFC team of choice.
It has been a long wait since February, but “next year” is finally here. Part of me hates the off season. I hate having to wait for September to watch the team that means so much to me. Yet, sometimes it helps to have a pause or separation. Seven months away from the Colts is enough to make me eager for the start of the season. I cannot imagine what it would be like if I felt this way about the America’s Cup or Olympic Bobsledding. It would be hell to wait years for the return of my favorite sport.
On a personal note, I am glad school breaks are only for the summer. If my scholastic breaks had been 4 years instead of 3 months I don’t think I would have ever gone back for my sophomore year…let alone graduate. Perhaps that summarizes the difference between how we humans sometimes incorrectly view sports versus education. FIFA World Cup can get by with a tournament every four years, and the passion will always be fever pitched. However, it is a very rare student who could take 4+ years off and return to complete what they had started. Also, students typically get paid a lot less (with very few product endorsement deals), but that is a different rant.
Ep15 Carlo Mollino 06 Part 2
00/00/0000, 00:00 | Furnitology ProductionsHere is part 2 of furniture designer, architect, Carlo Mollino and our interpretation of his bent plywood coffee table.
It's machining and shaping and thinking that keeps this Mollino piece a fun challenge to go after.
Between parts 1 and 2, we take Carlo's Plum Pudding and catch it up to Carlo's Birds-eye and the next step.
Enjoy........ I'm sure Carlo would be pleased.
I’ll admit it. When it came time to set up my shop, I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on lighting. Yep…I’m cheap. So I went to my local big box store and picked out the least expensive flourescent shop lights I could find. But just so you don’t think I’m a total cheapskate, I did upgrade half of the tubes to the newer (and more expensive) daylight or full-spectrum tubes for more natural lighting. I learned that lesson from our new shop here at August Home Publishing. Natural lighting makes a big difference.