It?s safety week at Popular Woodworking. Reading their blog this week took me back to my start in woodworking.

When my wife and I bought our house, we decided that we wanted a tile-top kitchen table. I opted to try making the table after we failed to find what we had in mind. I enjoyed that experience so much that I thought I?d get more involved in woodworking.

I started slowly. No multi-thousand-dollar trips to the woodworking stores, I got some handheld tools and went about reading everything I could find. Before long it became clear that a table saw would be a useful tool. I shopped around for a used contractor?s saw and found a Delta at a reasonable price (though I had to drive to Pittsburgh to get it). ?Now,? I thought, ?I?m a real woodworker.?

I got the saw setup in short order. While I had read about table saw use, I don?t believe that I had ever before used one. I set the rip fence, fired it up and began pushing a piece of oak through. After a couple of seconds the oak was on the other side of the room, striking the water heater with a very loud noise. Unhurt but a little shaken, I shut off the saw and went upstairs. My first (and only experience with kickback).

I don?t remember what I thought about -- if I considered selling the saw and taking up golf -- but after a while I ventured back down to the shop. The water heater sported a nice new dent, a convenient reminder that I could have been sporting a nice new dent. Luckily something made me decide to give it another try, to climb back on the horse.

Woodworking has been an important part of my life since. An inauspicious start notwithstanding. It?s good to think about such things once in a while, to remind ourselves that our hobby (or profession) involves inherent risks. Fortunately, the risks are balanced by great rewards.

You can sharpen your woodworking skills with helpful tips and techniques from the editors of Woodsmith and ShopNotes magazines. Get a FREE tips sent to your email address each week! Got to Woodworking Tips.com and sign up today.

Here?s last week?s tip from Woodsmith online editor Ted Raife:

When gluing up a mitered assembly, I often rely on band clamps to pull the joints together. They?re easy to apply and provide the even clamping pressure needed to keep things square.

The only catch is that the sharp mitered corners of the assembly have to be protected from the pressure exerted by the band. My clamps came with metal corners meant for this purpose, but they often damage the corners they?re supposed to protect.

My simple solution was to substitute more forgiving, corrugated cardboard pads for the hard metal corners, as shown at right. The cardboard pads provide plenty of protection without leaving any unwanted evidence of their use.

You?ll find more great project tips, techniques, and plans at PlansNOW.

Good Woodworking,

Ted Raife
Online Editor, Woodsmith

Send for a preview issue of Woodsmith magazine

After the doors are fitted into the cabinet opening the next step is to layout and create the hinge mortises for the knife hinge pairs. Each door has one pair of knife hinges as they come in pairs. I use spacers and my small adjustable square to make certain the doors are spaced uniformly from the cabinet case. This is important as the door reveal all around needs to be uniform. After the hinges mortises are marked the process of creating the recesses is accomplished with small chisels and a small hammer.

My
Wooden Rings are made to last a lifetime. With just the normal care any
fine piece of jewelry is given and some furniture wax. I handcraft
every ring to bring out the warmth and honesty of the wood. Each ring
is hand formed from thin layers of wood chosen for its grain and
durability. learning how to make a wooden rings has been a rewarding
process of discovery which for me continues to this day. I have learned
that the wood which is chosen carries more than just its physical
traits but more than that the wood carries deeper meaning. Take white
oak for example, sacred to the druids and the Greeks, the oak is a tree
of strength, protection and durability. It represents inner fire,
courage and nobility of spirit. The birch symbolizes birth and new
beginnings. TheBirch is feminine in nature and is used for protection,
purification.




Visit me at web site At:
http://www.craftsman.etsy.com



Your one of akind wooden ring will give you the warmth of knowing that
the true value of a fine piece of handcrafted jewelry is knowing how
much meaning it
has.



(Click on
image for a larger
view)

>

Here's the second interview we did at The Woodworking Show in Atlanta, GA. This interview is with Jim Heavey of Wood Magazine. Jim tours the country working at woodworking trade shows for Wood Magazine.

Jim's job is to conduct workshops that teach woodworking skills such as how to cut and install crown moulding, building small jewerly boxes. installing cabinets, and everything inbetween.

I hope you enjoy this interview. If you have any questions you can email us @:

contactus@woodworkersresource.com

For more information on woodworking and to sign up for our newsletter so that you never miss a video, go to:

www.WoodworkersResource.com

Thanks to my job and the freelance work I do for The Fine Tool Journal, I get to see a lot of specialty handplanes that most people see only in the catalogs or in one of the lusty tomes by The Sandor.

But despite getting to actually use a corebox plane and dozens of other unusual and cool forms, I tend to stick with the basics when I build. I use the jointer plane more than any other bench plane, followed by the smoothing plane and block plane. A few other specialty tools – router planes, a moving fillister and a plow plane – round out my personal set.

One plane I’ve never quite made nice with is the Stanley No. 95, the edge-trimming block plane. This tool is now made by both Veritas and Lie-Nielsen Toolworks in iron or bronze. And though the two brands have some significant differences, the basic form is the same.

The No. 95 is a block plane with a skewed blade and an integral and fixed 90° fence. The idea is that you press the fence against the face of your work and the tool planes the adjacent edge perfectly square to the face.

I’ve never been fond of the tool – I tend to use my jointer plane to dress edges square to the faces. But during the last few projects I’ve built I’ve found the tool in my hand a surprising number of times. I’ve been using it to plane solid-wood edging square and flush to plywood. I’ve been trimming face frames flush to carcases. And I’ve been dressing rails and stiles of doors and face frames before assembly.

That last task finally convinced me that the tool is a gem for a shop that blends power and hand tools. Here’s why: When I dress stock by hand, all the edges of my rails and stiles end up planed square from the jointer plane. So the No. 95 sits idle.

But when I dress my rails and stiles with a powered jointer (as I’m doing this week), the edge-trimming plane shines. The goal there is to remove the toolmarks, to keep the edges perfectly square and to not remove a lot of material. The No. 95 accomplishes all three goals with aplomb. Typically one or two light passes is all it takes to get crisp inside and outside edges on the parts for a frame-and-panel construction.

Here are a few tips for use: First, the set-up is key. The iron has to project evenly from the mouth or your edge won’t be square. Take some test passes and examine the shavings. Their thickness should be the same on both long edges. Shift the iron around until the tool makes a consistent shaving and a square edge.

Second, press down on the toe of the tool with more force than you would use with a block plane. The plane tends to want to rise out of the cut in softer woods. Also, use one hand to press the tool’s fence against the work and use the other hand to press the work against the fence on the opposite side. All this pressure ensures your cut won’t go astray, which can be trouble.

Now, despite my crush on this tool, I haven’t been able to justify getting both a left- and right-hand version, however. Because my stock is dressed with a planer, it’s true on both faces, so I can work with the No. 95’s fence on either face of the stock without worrying about grain direction. The tool can be pushed or pulled with ease.

Now if I could just find the same love for my chisel plane/paperweight I wouldn’t feel so guilt every time I open a certain drawer in my toolbox.

— Christopher Schwarz

The next photos will be of the finished planes - I promise.

Notice the chisel (my thinnest) and how it compares the the waste area next to it. If your thinnest chisel is a 1/4", you cannot cut pins that run to the width of the saw kerf: your chisel will be too wide to remove the waste.

You may recall that a few weeks ago I wrote about trying to use Sketchup to draw the tensioner for my inkle loom and again about how I learned a method for visually faking a round over. Well, I think that tonight I figured it out how to make the edges actually rounded. I'll try it tomorrow and if it works, I'll post about how it was done.

I was digging through a pile of old woodworking magazines today and came across the very first on I bought when I took up woodwork. Surprised me how many years I've been doing this (although not THAT many!)
And as I flicked through a few pages I noticed a familiar theme for hobby woodworkers. One that I have noticed on a few woodwork blogs I keep an eye on. And that is the old cry "when I have enough tools and a dream workshop I will start producing stuff".
When I took up woodwork it was to make my own furniture - custom sized to fit my home, built to a higher standard than the rubbish we see in shops and made for less money. And it is way to easy to become distracted from that original goal and become a "tool head". You know, if only I had (insert latest tool release here) I could make that table we want. And we are all guilty of this.
Be honest - how many tools do you REALLY need to make a worthy project? Take a moment to take stock - do you really need 6 routers and 9 smoothing planes........... ;)
It is too easy to be distracted - get in that workshop, sharpen a few tools and MAKE something.
Now pass me that Axminster catalogue......... ;)
Philly

Tommy and Al use the whiteboard to review how the table drawer was constructed. The drawer looks as if it was built using three separate pieces of wood but it's one banding with three miters on it. They then move to the table saw to demonstrate.

Tommy and Al talk workshop safety and make a table saw push stick to ensure all your digits stay intact.

A page to discuss Mesquite Tables,Doors,furniture,mantles,slabs,burls,root-balls,logs,scraps for trim,turning blocks,turning sticks,artisans,crafts & firewood.

When you design a piece of furniture to build, there are three well-worn paths (some might call them ruts) to follow.

The first path is to design a piece in a wholly original style. This actually happens about once or twice a century, and its rarity is why we don?t have furniture styles such as ?Early Bill,? ?Middle Chuck? or the ?Late Butch Period.? Few people alive can claim they have successfully launched a style, but don?t let that stop you from trying.

The second approach is to build replicas, either spot-on or with mild alterations, such as an additional drawer, or substituting a square ovolo moulding for a bead. This is a good way to learn the vocabulary of different styles, though it is time-consuming to learn everything by the doing. Some woodworkers (even professionals) might build only six pieces in a year.

The third approach is to design a new piece with vintage parts, like rebuilding an old car. With this approach, you expose yourself to hundreds of images of the form. You could look at tables, cabriole legs or Arts & Crafts desks, for example. Then you select your piece?s dominant element from the library ? say a leg, a door or a bonnet ? and design your piece around that. (However, you can?t easily mix parts from different genres. It might seem like a good idea to put a Honda push rod in a Chevy, until you hit that metric barrier.)

When asked the secret to good design, Steve Hamilton, a builder at Mack S. Headley & Sons (headleyandsons.com), boiled it down to two words: ?Picture books,? he said. ?Get a bunch. Look them over.?

Design on the Run
Designing a suitable early American wall cupboard for Woodworking Magazine began with a day in our collection of books and images. You don?t need to spend a lot of money to build a book collection, most of the resources you need are at the public library and on the Internet.

My first stop was Wallace Nutting?s ?A Furniture Treasury.? This book is available in many different forms, and it?s common to find copies for about $25. The book is as-advertised. It?s hundreds of pages of images of early American stuff that has been organized into categories such as ?chests? and ?Windsor chairs.?

The second source was auction catalogs from Christie?s (christies.com) and Sotheby?s (sothebys.com) auction houses. The catalogs these houses publish for their Americana auctions are outstanding. Good images. Good overall dimensions. And good history lessons as well. These catalogs can be pricey at $50 or more, but you can usually browse the catalogs on the Internet for free, though sometimes you have to register with the auction house (registration is free).

The third source was an old favorite of mine from my grandparents? library: ?Fine Points of Furniture: Early American? (Crown) by Albert Sack. This common book can be had for about $10 ? the new revised edition is much more expensive and rare. Sack?s book compares different kinds of pieces and ranks them as ?good,? ?better? or ?best.? This book helps hone your tastes in mouldings, proportion and turnings.

After a day of reading, I chose a fetching tombstone door from Nutting?s book and found many tall and skinny shapes for wall cupboards that looked like pieces I had seen at Winterthur, the DuPont?s Delaware estate and museum.

My design firmed up when my doctor got too busy for me one Wednesday. After showing up for my appointment, I was told there would be an hour delay. So I sat in my car and sketched about 10 wall cabinets. I didn?t worry about dimensions or joinery, just the overall look and feel of the piece. Each sketch took about five minutes and tried out variations on the door (one or two?), the drawer (one, two or none?) and the width of the stiles and rails (chunky or light?).

After those sketches, I chose the best two designs, sketched them again and showed them around to woodworkers and friends. It sounds like a lot of work, but I have found that good design is like making stir fry: You first chop vegetables and mix sauces for a long time. The active cooking time is real short ? if you?ve done your prep work.

? Christopher Schwarz

Highland Woodworking adds the CarveWright CNC Wood Router to our collection of woodworking tools. The CarveWright Woodworking System is winning awards for product innovation in woodworking, as it brings modern CNC technology and the power of the internet together with traditional woodworking. The CarveWright can be used to perform a variety of functions such as routing, cutting, carving and jointing and while considered a woodworking machine, it is also capable of creating detailed designs in other soft materials like HD foam and suitable plastics.

The CarveWright while compact, just slightly larger than a bench top planer, is a full-on, 3-dimensional CNC milling/carving machine. Use it to make signs, carve decorative reliefs or mill just about anything you can imagine in wood, HD foam and some plastics. The CarveWright can handle work up to 5” thick, 14.5” wide and almost any length. Its onboard computer and project design software makes it simple to use even for the novice. Just insert the memory card into the machine and an LCD screen walks you through the process. You don't need to bring your computer into the shop or even have it connected to the CarveWright. You can manipulate designs in almost anyway you like from their 3D pattern library, or create your own. For PC users the minimum system requirements are Windows 2000 or XP with 128MB RAM, 75MB of hard drive space and graphics card with OpenGL support. Mac users need OS 10.3 or later.

The CarveWright includes a carving bit, a cutting bit, two 1/4” bit adaptors, a bit removal tool, a vacuum bag, memory card w/programmer, design software and instructions.

Highland Woodworking is also pleased to announce an addition to our popular Saturday Mornings at Highland Free Demonstration Educational Series. On Saturday, June 28th, 2008 at 10:00am visit our retail store in Atlanta, Georgia where Ben Arthur will demonstrate the basic use of the CarveWright Machine.

A question on dovetails on WoodCentral led to a discussion of their history, and one of the posters produced a link to a photo of a box with some of (if not the) earliest examples of dovetails on record:

Ancient Roman box, dated from the 2nd or 3rd century, currently located in Limesmuseaum Aalen (German language site) in Baden Württemberg. See the original link (Google translation) to the photo on woodworking.de.

It's a fascinating piece, I think most would agree.  I love this sort of old research...  and there's some real sophistication in the design of this box - though I guess sophistication shouldn't be a surprise when you review artworks of the period.  Helenistic statues display the foremost sophistication, for example...  But I digress

The poster also included an informative link to another German site on Roman woodworking tools I also found very interesting.

This box some fairly sophisticated woodworking - and obviously the dovetails' design is well developed at this point.   It's pretty obvious to me that they've been around for (literally) thousands of years...  Interesting that the idea of craftsmanship hasn't really changed all that much in all this time, isn't it?  There is a legacy to woodworking that goes back hundreds of generations, which is something that is easy to forget in the "we do it so much better now" frame of mind.

 It reminds me of some of the items that have been passed down to me..,.  One of my most treasured came from the old country with my grandparents - it's a traveling/storage box known as a "koffort":

Koffort - an antique Icelandic traveling/storage box that's been in my family for at least 150-200 years.

This box was originally made in Iceland, and my parents both believe it is at least 150  years old, and was quite possibly much, much older than that.  It was handed down to my father from his great grandfather when he was 13 years old...  By dad's account, his great grandfather had told him that "it was very old" when he himself had received it from his great-grandfather when he was 13 years old in 1933.  If we trace that path, his great grandfather would have been 13 years old in 1868, a difference of 65 years.  I don't know where, when, or by who it came into his great-grandfathers possession - but if it was "very old" then, I would guess that makes it at least 50 years older than that, which puts it at 1818 or so - and it could easily be yet older - but I have no documentation or even any oral history beyond what I've told you.

The construction of the box is quite simple and elegant - very similar to a "six board chest", but without any legs and a slightly more involved lid design.  The corners are dovetailed, and an iron strap has been added for strength at each corner:

Dovetailed corner with iron strap

I doubt the strap was original to the box - most like it was added some time later.  These boxes were heavily used and abused, and traveled with the owner all over creation.  Often they would also be used like what you would use a safe for today...  The angled "handle" on the side is repeated on the far side and is angled to make the box easier to be packed on the back of a mule, horse, or ox.

Inside the only additional item is a small tray at one end:

Interior view

Looking closely at the tray, you can see it's also dovetailed - and you can see the primitive hinges, which I also believe are not original:

Tray at one end is also dovetailed

The fact this is also dovetailed is important in showing the attention to detail this box was given during it's construction.  One also has to remember that when this box was built, Iceland had no real native timber of it's own.  Almost all wood came in the form of imports from abroad or, and this is more likely the case for a personal item like this, from driftwood.  Logs would follow the current up to the shores of Iceland having started anywhere along the shore from the Caribbean to upper Labrador in Canada.  Wood, therefore, was quite precious.

Another similar example I have is a larger version of the koffort, which I guess is called a "kista":

Kista - a larger version of the koffort

This is from mother's side of the family.  It's not nearly as old, I believe mom thought it dated to the late 19th or early 20th century.  It's a little more crudely made, but still uses dovetails in it's construction:

Dovetails on the Kista

 This particular box sat in a dirt floor barn for many years, and the bottom had rotted out of it.  Dad repaired it at the same time he refinished the koffort.  He did a good job at the restoration, but I'm not so proud of the finishes he chose.  But still, I'm proud to have them both here with me.

In my spare time over the last couple of years I've been working  on my own version of a koffort.  I'll post about it someday when I'm finished, but needless to say that anything I do will pale in comparison when you consider the history of these pieces, which is what I think truly makes them special.  I can only hope that, some couple hundred years from now, somebody is marveling over my creation wondering who the craftsman was that made it, why he did, and if he was as proud of his koffort then as I am of owning it now.

 

Now that I got my lighting back and functional, here's a better pic of the pencil shown in the previous post.

I've been asked about how I photograph my projects. When I think of it/am not too lazy/have batteries I use this rig.

It's a portable small item studio purchased at WalMart for $50. It includes two color corrected incandescent "hot" lights, the tent, blue and gray backgrounds, a little tripod, and a carrying case.

I also have a handheld strobe attached to the PC socket in my Kodak Z7590 digicam. The camera is held by a really REALLY old Graflex tripod.

In the photo is a roll of shipping tape. I use that as a lint catcher because there's always dust and lint and crap that settles on the background cloth. Adhesive tape is the easiest way to remove it on the spot.

Though it does show a little of the environment I grew up in - these were the first thing I thought they were singing about the first time I heard that song...

No, I'm talking about the real thing, which are used for making yarn from raw materials such as wool or cotton:

This one is an antique, made sometime in the later half of the 1800's, and was built by the brother of this man - my great great grandfather:

Jon Vium (my great great grandfather) was well known for his handmade spinning wheels, and he made dozens - if not hundreds - of them that he sold to neighbors and at market.  He was an avid turner, and used a treadle lathe.  He lost his leg when using an adze to flatten some birch - he missed and hit his foot.  This was far out in the sticks, so doctors were several days away at least.  A member of the family was sent to retrieve the nearest doctor, but by the time he was able to get there gangrene had set in.  The amputation took place on the kitchen table, and the sterilizing agent and anesthetic used was whiskey...  There's more, but suffice to say not many can say they have it so tough today.

Even after losing his leg, he continued turning - with the treadle lathe - until his death.  I used the above picture of a whell his brother made because while there may be some of his spinning wheels remaining, I don't know where they are...  There was one that had sat outside for many years, and though it was heavily weathered and missing pieces, dad was able to create a reproduction of the wheels that granddad made using it as a reference along with the wheel pictured above - here's  his version, made in maple:

 

Dad was very proud of his recreated spinning wheel.  It's as close a copy as he could come up with given what he had to start with.  Here's a different view:

Spinning wheels are literally spin fibers such as wool (and other materials) into yarn for use in knitting.  I don't think I can remember my grandmother when she wasn't halfway through another knitted quilt - she was prolific.  She made hundreds of them... I still have several myself that she hand knitted - but she usually bought her yarn at the store in the later half of her life... though I remember telling her showing my mother how she would use the spinning wheel when she was younger - it was on a wheel much like these.

 Fibers first need to be "carded", where a pair of "carders (wooden handled planks with a series of metal combs are used to literally comb the fibers straight - here's grandmother's pair, with a "rolag" of wool started next to it:

 

I won't go too much into the process of spinning yarn, but if you are interested there are other sites more with more experienced information than my own...  including http://www.joyofhandspinning.com/ and some videos on YouTube.   Basically, the fiber is combed straight and rolled up into a "rolag" like above, then one end is mounted in the wheel.  Once you start spinning the wheel, it pulls on the fibers as you feed it, and it twists them at the same time, like a rope at the same time spooling them onto a bobbin.   Twisting makes the thread stronger by intertwining the individual fibers into one continuous thread that you can't pull apart without a good amount of effort. 

My uncle was so impressed, that he took dad's wheel and made his own version - his in walnut: 

These are built as closely as we know to the originals great granddad made, and both of them work - as they have been used.  But - not much, I think... just enough to prove they work.   Most people these days don't knit, much less spin their own yarn anymore - but as with anything, there are still a few out there who are continuing the craft.

Most of the parts for each are turned on the lathe...  These wheels were made using a jig and a router, though originally it would also have been turned on the lathe using a face plate and jig.  The string you see around the wheel is the drive belt...  it rides in one of a series of grooves directly above the wheel - each sized differently so different speeds can be used.  The higher the speed, the more twists per inch are produced on the yarn.

 This particular style of wheel is known as a "castle" wheel, which was popular for those who want to travel with the wheel, or have just a small amount of room for it - the latter of which would have been the case for most of my ancestors.  The houses were not large, so if something could be made to take up less space, the better.

These wheels are an exersize in functionality and design - they are beautifully designed wooden machines that are truly an art form.  I've always been drawn to them, as they are the most aproachable tool - they look like some sort of fancy furniture, but were one of the basics of life not so many years ago, when people used them to make their own fabrics, sheets, blankets, and clothing.  There wasn't a Walmart on the corner, and if there was they couldn't have afforded it anyway.  Their only choice was to literelly make their own - well, everything, almost...  One simply has to respect that sort of independence.   There are modern makers who have updated the design to work better and use modern technology (ball bearings!) - but most of the modern incarnations seem soulless to me, lacking that part of them that I see as art.

When I was younger, I always wondered how such a cool song could have been about a spinning wheel...

Blood Sweat, and Tears - Spinning Wheel

What goes up must come down spinning wheel got to go round Talking about your troubles it's a crying sin Ride a painted pony Let the spinning wheel spin You got no money, and you, you got no home Spinning wheel all alone Talking about your troubles and you, you never learn Ride a painted pony let the spinning wheel turn Did you find a directing sign on the straight and narrow highway? Would you mind a reflecting sign Just let it shine within your mind And show you the colors that are real Someone is waiting just for you spinning wheel is spinning true Drop all your troubles, by the river side Catch a painted pony On the spinning wheel ride Someone is waiting just for you spinning wheel is spinning true Drop all your troubles, by the river side Ride a painted pony Let the spinning wheel fly

 

Of course - when I read the lyrics, I realize that the song is really about a homeless guy in a Mustang...

 

Photo taken at the Marc Adams School courtesy of Marc Adams.



I ...

I've successfully added a new feature to the Norse Woodsmith website - blog feeds directly from some of my favorite woodworking bloggers - including Chris Schwarz, Adam Cherubni, Alice Frampton (Alf, at the Cornish Workshop), Gary Robert's Toolemera blog, and others.  There are links to their latest blogs at the bottom of the page, and a link to a list view of posts arranged by individual blogger) or, if you prefer, the latest posts in their entirety by following the links in the "Community" pull down menu above.

I'll be adding more as I come across more that I feel have relevant content...  and blogs older than 16 weeks are automatically purged.  I enjoy reading all of these blogs on a regular basis, and hope you find them interesting as well.

Leif

Post Script:  These blogs are not located on this web site - they are simply RSS feeds from the individual's sites and contain only content available via RSS (no web site content).  Clicking on some of these links (such as those at the bottom of the page) will take you to those web-sites directly.  I am not responsible for the content of these feeds.

Note - if you are the owner of one of these feeds and do not wish me to publish it here, just let me know and it will be removed.  But if that is the case, for your benefit I would suggest you not publish the content via RSS...  Or set your teaser length to get people to click a link to "read more" on your own site.

The diamond was salvaged from a previous ring.
The ring shown is a Burley Maple wood ring with a real diamond set into it.

I have learned that the wood which is chosen carries more than just its physical traits but more than that the wood carries deeper spiritual meaning.

Your one of a kind wooden ring will give you the warmth of knowing that the true value of a fine piece of handcrafted jewelry is knowing how much meaning it has.

See more at : http://www.simplywoodrings.com

Satisfied with his selection of wood, Tommy delves into the beginning stages of creating the drawer fronts - laying out the dovetails. After cutting the blank into a shape, he takes his shoulder plane to smooth rough ends and "sights" to make sure they're level.

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.

"I used to be Irish Catholic, Now I'm an American..." those were the words that changed my life.

I was 14 years old, and my brother had just put the new (to us) cassette into the stereo of his car. The years before this moment had seen my sense of humor shaped almost solely by network TV and Bill Cosby albums. However, George Carlin's Class Clown was my graduation from the School of Cosby to the Working World of Carlin.

The weird thing is that George Carlin and I appeared so different on the outside. I have always been the the squeakly clean, crew cut honor student who never even considered a single experiment with drugs or alcohol. Also, my politics seemed nearly 180 degrees off of George's. However, George taught me timing, delivery, and he most importantly taught me that in my world it doesn't matter what a person looks like, thinks like, or acts like if he can make me laugh.

George and I did have some similarities though. We were peeved by some of the same pets. In one of his books he mentions how much he hates the fact that 99.9% of the world mispronounces forte. His response to the argument that the dictionary lists "for-tay" as an accepted secondary pronunciation is to say that the reason it is secondary is because it is not the PRIMARY (correct) pronunciation of "FORT."

I used the above example of forte in describing to my wife that 99.9% of the world doesn't understand damping of vibrations. To reduce or damp a vibration one would install a damper. If one desired to make something wet, he could reach for a spray bottle to serve as a dampener and could dampen the offending dry item. It bugs me that the repeated misuse of a word actually leads to its becoming an accepted usage. I recently saw in an Engineering dictionary that with regard to noise and vibration, dampen has now become an accepted substitute for damp. To paraphrase my late comedic mentor, the reason dampen is an accepted substitute is because it is not the primary (correct) word.

I may have always appeared to be the poster child for the nerdy, hard right, but when I would open my mouth and unleash a volume of sarcastic wit in the style I learned from George, it made me the life of the party. Thanks to George Carlin my circle of friends includes stoners, cripples, religious nuts, MILFS, doctors, immigrants, gays, convicted felons, soccer moms, truck drivers, professional athletes, former Captains of Industry and the legally blind. I love a variety of ladder climbers, under-achievers, and the comfortably uninformed and unconcerned.

I am a man of the people, and I owe a big part of that to a former radical, dope-smoking hippy who was willing to rip on anybody if he thought it would get a laugh.

The world is a sadder place today now that George Carlin is gone.

However, George will always be with me because he provided me with alternatives to consider when I reached the formative years of my adolescence.

George made me a classroom hero by providing me with the mantra I gleaned from his Class Clown album, "Well, I'm Bored...why not deprive someone else of their education."

It's good to know with people reading my blog at their places of employment depriving their bosses of the time they should be working, I continue to be the same apparently squeaky-clean smart ass 14 year old kid George Carlin turned me into.