About a decade ago, my boss Steve Shanesy told me something about design that knocked me flat. When he was a struggling custom furniture maker, he took some time off to do something that few people do.

Create a new style of furniture.

That is one of the most ambitious personal projects I could imagine. I wonder if there has there been a new style of furniture created in my lifetime. Does James Krenov’s work constitute a new style? Sam Maloof? George Nakashima? I don’t know the answer to this question, but I do know how one mouth-breather of a woodworker (me) goes about it.

And because I never tire of hearing how other people design pieces, I thought I’d share with you the convoluted path I’m taking this week to make a simple thing for our fall 2008 issue.

I like old furniture – anything from Ancient Egypt to World War II interests me greatly. So when I set out to build something I hit the books to look at as many examples of furniture and decorative objects from that period as I can. In this case, we decided to build an 18th-century wall cabinet for the fall issue, so I cracked open all my books from Wallace Nutting, particularly “A Furniture Treasury.” This out-of-print book is available in many forms and is fairly inexpensive. I paid $20 for my two-volume set at Half-Price Books.

I might not look at wall cabinets when I scan these books. I look at lots of casework pieces and their proportions, mouldings and the arrangement of the components, such rails and stiles from doors.

When I’m saturated (a few trips through the treasury will do that), I’ll start sketching. It’s not formal. I just draw without regard to perfectly straight lines or dimensions. I sketch in the car while waiting for the kids to finish track practice. Or in the few minutes of peace I get between the bedtimes of the two kids. I sketch things that I’m sure won’t work just to give them their day in ink.

The more examples I draw, the better the chance I’ll hit something I really like. I don’t use the Golden Section or any other mathematical formula. It’s all gut.

Then I fire up a CAD program on my laptop and try to turn the sketches into something that can be built and has some dimensions that make sense – a dining table that’s 30” high, for example.

While In CAD I’ll make a few variations that take advantage of the cut-and-paste power of the program. I’ll move the drawers and doors around. Add a cupholder. With this wall cabinet I tried it with two doors (like the Nutting original), one door, then a door with a drawer.

Then I show the CAD drawings to others and ask them which ones they like. Why they like it isn’t as important – though I always ask. Maddy, my 12-year-old, liked the two-door version of this cabinet because of the symmetry and that you could display two contrasting pieces of pottery behind the glass panes. Katy, the 8-year-old, liked the drawer because it could be used to “hold little things.” Lucy, my wife, declined to put a dog in that fight.

Next stop: If I have time, I’ll knock together a prototype in poplar to see if it looks awkward. Prototyping always pays off in two ways: I make small adjustments that improve the design, and I’ll typically keep the prototype for our family.

— Christopher Schwarz

I?m still in a mode with very little time for woodworking. That?s not a complaint since the project keeping me out of the shop is a great opportunity and incredible fun. But there is some news from the shop.

About a year ago I made a new arts & crafts kitchen table with a tile inlay top. I wrote about the process for Woodwork magazine. The article is in the June issue, available now.

Soon I?ll be able to post about the current project. I hope you?ll agree that it?s worth the wait.

After three more hours of CAD work last night, I finished up the preliminary drawings for the next cover project for Woodworking Magazine. We're calling this project "An American Wall Cabinet." But right now a more apt name would be "An R-5 Wall Cabinet."

This morning I spent about 45 minutes building the face frame, tombstone door and drawer front of the cabinet using the pink ½"-thick Foamular insulation board. I taped up the joints with packing tape. Then I printed out the hardware from the Horton Brasses web site, cut it out (Horton scaled it full-size!) and taped it in place.

If you ever wonder how woodworking magazines get away with coverlines like "Build a Bench in a Weekend," this is it. It's our trade secret. We just build it out of Foamular.

After a dry-fit of all the parts (no tape), I determined that the mediary rail in the door was too wide. So I shaved off ½" with a ruler and a knife and it looked much better. Then Senior Editor Glen Huey and I placed the rattail hinges on the stiles so they would work well and look good.

This short exercise also drove me to plan on adding some stopped chamfers on the stiles of the face frame when I build it out of walnut. So all in all, it was worth the $10.

If you've never worked with Foamular, it's a cinch to cut with a knife and a ruler. I used my Tite-Mark gauge to first score the foam's plastic film. Then I followed up with the knife. To make the curve in the tombstone door, I drew it with a compass. The pencil lead didn't cut the foam; it made a furrow in the film. Then my knife could easily follow that furrow to complete the cut.

And what are we going to do with the leftover foam? Easy. I use it for slicing up plywood with a circular saw. I lay the foam down on the driveway, put the plywood on top, and set the sawblade to cut through the plywood and slightly into the foam (and not the concrete). Works every time.

— Christopher Schwarz

LumberJocks raised the bar again with over 50 entries in our Bookcase Challenge. You proved that it’s possible to be very creative even with such a common project and you made the judging process extremely tough for the editors of the Popular Woodworking.

Here’s the summary of the event as well as the announcement of the winner and runner-ups by Glen Huey, Senior Editor of PW:

“Congratulations everyone. The LumberJocks excelled at designing great looking, buildable bookcases and we were certainly impressed with the group as a whole. This became a difficult task for the Popular Woodworking editors. We individually studied the entries to arrive at our own favorites, then brought those to a group meeting hoping we might see a consensus winner. Instead, we had 11 bookcases to work with to try and determine a winning design. Each design had aspects that we both liked and disliked (editors can be particular when it comes to projects for articles, you know). Even the top entries have design or possible construction techniques we would like to see tweaked, but here goes the list.”

“At the top of our list, after much discussion, is Ryan’s Shoji Screen Inspired Bookcase. This is a very nice design and will be a great article in our magazine. We look forward to working with Ryan as his bookcase comes to life in the pages of PW. Congratulations on his upcoming or recent family addition, too.”

“Close behind Ryan’s bookcase was Daniel’s A&C Bookcase with Magazine Drawers. This piece was very close to the top and had strong support from each editor. In the end, we felt that Daniel’s bookcase displayed too strong of a mixture of many A&C designs. And, the magazine drawers, when fully loaded, would be extremely heavy to access.”

“Also a strong contender was Charlie’s Sliding Dovetails Bookcase. What slowed our enthusiasm for this design was the difficulty of sliding dovetails, but when discussed further and a few suggestions were made in how this might become an easier project with a simple adjustment in joinery, Charlie’s design gained momentum, but was just nosed out by Ryan’s design.”

And here are three random winners of the LJ shirt:

• Jeff
• RLS
• MsDebbieP

Congratulations!

Check out this easy way to navigate the countless woodworking tips we offer for your reference throughout our entire highly-informative woodworking website. There is an abundance of interesting and useful woodworking tips here which we have compiled during our 30 years as a leading woodworking educator and tool retailer.

If you have useful woodworking tips you would like to contribute to our website and online newsletter, Wood News Online, send it to us in an email at woodnews@highlandwoodworking.com.

Posted as a limited time offer!

In recent years, many companies have tried to copy the venerable Bessey K Body clamps - with varying degrees of success. One of the better clones has been the Gross Stabil PC2 Parallel Clamps. Recently, Bessey purchased Gross Stabil. They don't need two different versions of the same clamp, so the Gross Stabil model has been discontinued and you benefit from outstanding prices on some great clamps! Quantities are limited, so act fast - once they're gone, they're gone for good! We put these on sale last August and we thought that was it, but we managed to get our hands on a few more. These are absolutely the last ones we'll ever have.

Check out the Red Hot Special!

(If you don't see the Red Hot Special item on our homepage, that means we've sold out, so check back soon for our next item!)

The overlap is done, and now it's time to tackle the lock. Tommy runs over the problems it poses before setting the top, bottom and center lock. When he's done, he creates and sets the back panels for the glass.

While listening to a little Chubb Rock, Tommy puts the finishing touches on shaping the drawers. To prevent tearing with the planer, he relieves some of the edge of the drawer. After being a little too aggressive with the planer, a small tear forms and Tommy checks to make sure both ends are still level with a square. Tommy then puts them in place to make sure the completed drawers fit. He then reviews the construction and design of the fitted drawers and discusses future plans for completing the project.

As I noted back in October, Auriou has closed and is not making carving tools or rasps any more.

Shortly before Auriou closed, we received our last shipment from them. It included some tools we had carried for years and some that were new to us. Today, we are posting some of those new tools to our website. Naturally, supplies are limited to the stock on hand, but we think you'll find these tools interesting.

You can see our full collection of remaining Auriou products here.

Blair

It's now time to cut the sides of the case. This is risky business because any mistakes cannot be corrected and Tommy is understandably nervous. After the cuts are made, he then hand-planes and takes a chisel to the edges.

I am alive.

When I checked email today there were 317 new messages. The most recent one was from the editing staff at Popular Woodworking. Megan was worried I had gone all literary/artsy and pulled an Ernie Hemingway 12 Gauge move or something. I am okay.

I am in Dublin. We have been in Ireland for the last few days, and we are here for another week. I haven't been on the internet since I arrived because I have finally gotten cheap. We've been at the Conrad Hotel in Dublin, and since it costs about a Lie-Nielsen #8 Jointer Plane per night (or in our case a boat load of Hilton Honors points), I refuse to pay an additional 18 Euros (per night) for internet access in my room. Honest to God, the most expensive room I have been in since a stay in Hong Kong in 2005 makes you pay an additional 18 Euros a night to check your damn email.

So tonight I finally grabbed my laptop and found a nice tavern with WiFi.

I will have Irish Woodworking stuff to babble about when we return to the States in the second half of June, but for now I will close with photos of today's Woodworking Research Project.

While in Dublin today, I investigated Coopering.

Here are some photos:


Now some probably wonder why I would take time away from vacation to spend time researching Coopering. Vacation is supposed to be a time to "get away from it all." Well, that is just my dedication to the craft of woodworking. Even during a respite from the stress of work life, I can still find a way to improve my knowledge of woodworking and its history. Basically, I decided to do something to help with my future woodworking articles and my work. It's not always about doing what I want to do. Sometimes one needs to suck it up and be academic.

If you are ever in Dublin, I encourage you to follow in my studious footsteps and do your own research of Coopering. Just look for the place shown below.


Apparently, they have an extensive history in this important area of woodworking.



I suppose some day I should find out what they put in all of those barrels. This trip was only about woodworking...

To commemorate our 30 years of service to woodworkers we are giving away to a single winner a Festool Kapex KS120 Compound Miter Saw Set with MFT 3 Multi Function Table & Festool CT22 Mobile Dust Extractor!

Festool's Kapex KS120 saw, scheduled for release Fall 2008, provides unmatched accuracy & features, including a precision dual-line laser so you can cut exactly on your mark from both sides of the saw. Included, the MFT 3 Multi-function Table- 1 table with a 1000 possibilities, versatility, portability and durability the MFT 3 stands alone as the ideal work surface. As you cut, the Festool CT22 Dust Extractor will help keep your shop dust free & is the perfect shop vac for all your hand power tools with its' triggered switch & shut off delay function. Total approximate value of the Festool giveaway package is $2700!

Visit our complete collection of Festool Power Tools & Accessories!

Official rules and guidelines are available here.

No purchase necessary. Offer void where prohibited. Participants are entered into the drawing upon completion of the online registration accessible beginning Wednesday, March 12th from Highland Woodworking. Deadline for entry is 11:59 p.m. ET on Sunday, August 31, 2008. Multiple entries are permitted.

Enter Now!

Hardwood floors are part of an established home?s heritage. The look of the wood is what draws a guest in and what adds warmth even on the coldest of days. When you decide to install solid wood flooring in your home or office you are not only going for that old familiar aesthetic, but you are also acknowledging that wood flooring is extremely sensible. There is a treasured stability with hard wood flooring, something that immediately elevates the value of your property. With wood flooring you give a nod to the baroque.

In addition to looking beautiful and lush, wood floors are also unquestionably good for the environment. The flooring is, in a sense, insulation between your home and the elements. This insulation is said to be sixteen times as powerful as steel and four hundred fifteen times more productive than steel. Most solid wood flooring is made in America and therefore must adhere to the nation?s strict environmental codes and ordinances.

What grain of wood you select will determine the overall character of your floor. Nothing exudes dependability like oak solid wood flooring. Within each plank you see the life of the tree: the knots and burrs. Another benefit to choosing solid oak flooring is that it does not scratch easily. With proper care, the warmth of the color will last a very long time.

Engineered oak wood flooring is a less expensive option. You get the same look and character, but the installation is much easier. In most cases nails or screws are not necessary, all that you need is a foam underlay. Since most of the engineered oak wood flooring is made in China some may argue that the quality is lower.

While some of the heartiness of solid oak wood flooring may be lost, and the value of your home or business may not increase as much, the appearance is not sacrificed and most people rarely can detect the difference. The greatest difference is in the cost and the installation. A professional with elaborate and specialized tools must install solid oak wood flooring.

A benefit for choosing engineered oak wood flooring is that you have the option of putting in the floor yourself. With the do it yourself craze at full tilt many new and established homeowners are getting excited about improvement projects that can be accomplished within a weekend.

Most major chain home improvement centers not only offer a large variety of engineered oak wood flooring, but they are now offering workshops that will guide you through the step by step process. An added bonus to doing it yourself is that now under floor heating is becoming mainstream. In the same workshop where you learn about wood flooring you can learn about the under floor heat process and how energy efficient a row of heating coils can be.

Choosing to upgrade your home or business flooring is simple, and in most cases, affordable. Going with solid oak flooring or engineered oak wood flooring is up to your taste and your wallet.

Natalie Aranda writes on home improvement. Hardwood floors are part of an established home?s heritage. The look of the wood is what draws a guest in and what adds warmth even on the coldest of days. When you decide to install solid wood flooring in your home or office you are not only going for that old familiar aesthetic, but you are also acknowledging that wood flooring is extremely sensible. What grain of wood you select will determine the overall character of your floor. Nothing exudes dependability like oak solid wood flooring.

by Chris Black

I've heard some of you lament that you do not have enough time, tools, space or skills to practice the kind of woodworking you desire. Many times these subtle excuses serve as psychological barriers which get in the way of us doing any woodworking at all. Perhaps all you really need, however, is to become a little more disciplined in how you approach it.

Here are five bits of advice on how to get your woodworking more organized:

Finding Time
In terms of discipline, military garrisons and monastic communities have similar approaches to daily task organization. The structure of these societies lets you know when and where you're supposed to be and what you're supposed to be doing. Our lives have similar schedules although maybe not as strict or intense. If you break down your day into general time phases, you know when you're to be at work, when's dinner and what time you generally go to bed. Mixed among these phases are natural pauses or down time. The trick is to combine these pauses into a phase so you can work some wood or at least think about it.

I generally spend anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour in the shop every morning before going to work. In the evening my goal is to spend another 30 minutes in the shop. Maybe I'll just sharpen a tool or sweep up, but at least I'm in the shop and productive. I find it pleasant to think about my time in the shop during the day. Sometimes I use these mental vacations to work out a design problem or visualize a complicated assembly. Use your natural down times to mentally organize your finite shop for efficiency.

Projects
I find it extremely useful to plan and organize my limited time before I step into the shop. I like to use checklists I make during the day or the night before. These lists keep me on task so I don't piddle. They might be as simple as a finishing schedule or as complex as a detailed cut list. The point is to create efficiencies so you not only enjoy making the project but eventually complete it as well. The key to eating an elephant is to take one bite at a time and to keeping eating. The discipline comes from staying on task and not starting something else until the current project is done. Recently, I finished a wardrobe I started last winter using this method. It took 10 months but it's done. Do this and you won't have 400 half-finished pieces all over the shop.

Skills
With each project I try to learn something new. It's not always a conscious decision, but an overall attitude or approach I take. Perhaps you'd like to learn to hand cut mortise and tenon joints as an alternative to the dowel joints you're more comfortable using. Choose a non-critical part of the project and give it a go. You can even use your shop time to practice a new skill and not necessarily do any project. In thirty minutes a day for a week or two, you can learn to French polish, cut half-blind dovetails or anything else you wish. Woodworking skills are cumulative. They build on one another. Do this for a year and you'll be amazed at what you've learned.

Space
We all wish we had the perfect shop. I've owned three commercial shops over the years, and I can guarantee you none of them was right. They either lacked proper heating and air conditioning, dust control, a decent finishing room or adequate space, and none of them had all the tools I wanted. In fact one shop we kept in my pickup truck. We'd roll up to a job, unload the tools and start building cabinets right in front of the customer's house. Not much fun in the winter or when it rained. Somehow though I managed to eek out a living and make stuff.

My favorite example of space discipline is in The Workshop Book by Scott Landis. One featured woodworker has his shop in the kitchen pantry of his apartment. He has to open a window to plane long boards. Granted he doesn't have any machinery, but he enjoys his craft nonetheless. Woodworking requires vision as much as it does space. Grab yourself a block of basswood and a penknife and go work wood.

Tools
I recently spoke with a fellow who told me that he had been collecting tools and machines for almost 7 years. When I asked him what projects he'd been working on, he replied none, because he didn't have all the tools he needed. He missed out on 7 years of woodworking because he thought he didn't have the right tools. He might not have been able to do everything he could have conceived of, but he was crippled from doing anything at all because of a perception of need. Remember my pickup truck shop? We were able to produce high quality built-ins with a circular saw, a chop box and a cordless drill. Just because your shop doesn't look like Norm's doesn't mean you can't enjoy making sawdust. My kids come up with all kinds of nifty projects with little more than a coping saw, a rasp and an eggbeater drill.

You don't have to become a monk or a marine to acquire discipline, but you do have to get in there and work some wood!

Visit Highland Woodworking's WoodNews Online Archives for more tips and information.

Here's the first episode of several to come on our time at the Woodworking Show in Atlanta, GA. In this episode we give you a taste of what it's like to attend one of these events. You'll see booth after booth of vendors showing their products to thousands of interested woodworkers, seminars that teach skills, and deals being made on every corner.

We also picked a few vendors that had some really cool tools to show case in our videos. In this first video, we bring you Alex from Carter Products, makers of innovative products for your bandsaw.

While we were at the Atlanta Woodworking Show we were able to talk a few of the vendors into giving our subscribers some great deals on their products. So if you're a subscriber, be on the look out for more information. If you're not a subscriber, it's not too late. Simply head on over to our website and sign-up!

www.WoodworkersResource.com

Tommy and Al provide a sneak peek at the progress of the Bombe Secretary --memorializing the moment with a little song and dance. Enjoy!

Yes now you too can ward off evil with your exterior bamboo blinds. Actually, culture is rich with the uses of many natural growing woods and plants being used around the house. The reasons behind these items being used around the house have changed significantly from ancient times. The Japanese culture used to use exterior bamboo blinds to ward off evil spirits. If you were to study the Chinese culture, you would find that bamboo means long life and in the India culture it means friendship. While in today's world, we may see exterior bamboo blinds as a way to ward off the evil sunrays washing out the television or creating unwanted heat, they have had their purposes in the ancient cultures.

For instance, in Asia, huts were made of bamboo and grass; even the window coverings were bamboo. The use of bamboo in Asia was to keep out inclement weather. So yes, our world has changed to where we find bamboo a signature of the tropical worlds such as Japan and Asia and we find we want to create that atmosphere in our backyard.

Exterior bamboo blinds are great for your backyard, not only because they offer you more shade on your porch and are the envy of friends for decorating your home in a new fashion, but because they hold up during any type of weather. The bamboo does need to be treated for weather resistance every year, and you will want to switch the side that is exposed to the sun every once in a while, but you will be protected.

You will be able to have those indoor barbeques on your porch during a rainstorm and be protected. The bamboo treatment allows for the reduction of mildew not only on the blinds, but also in the area you are protecting.

Not only can you switch, which side is exposed to the sun whenever you need to, but also the installation of these blinds is extremely easy. You do not have to hire a contractor to help you. The instructions are very easy to follow and you just need an electrical screwdriver.

There are two styles of exterior bamboo blinds, the venation and the roll up. The roll up bamboo blind is easier to deal with because you simply roll it up and secure it to the straps on the ceiling. The venation works off the rope system typical of most mini blinds so they tend to get tangled.

You can also find more info on Vinly Mini Blinds and Wooden Window Blinds. Windowblindsreview.com is a comprehensive resource to know about Windows Blinds.

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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Craftsman 3/8 Inch Portable Drill Press

MODEL: 315.11970
SERIAL: P0033

I picked this up on eBay for pretty cheap. Judging by the logo (used from the early 60's to the early 70's) and its plastic housing, I'm guessing it was manufactured in the early 70's.

It has an iron base, a thinwall steel tube clamped to the base with a set bolt, and a motor that rides on the tube with another set bolt with a hand knob so the motor can be raised or lowered on the tube.

It arrived in good condition, there doesn't appear to be any abuse to the tool. But the thing is unstable as hell.

I did some tests with the following bits:

• 1/8" brad point drill bit
• 3/4" spade bit
• 1/4" twist bit

All tests done with a scrap of pine 2x4.

The screw holding the base to the vertical tube was tightened as tight as possible without risking snapping the bolt. The motor housing was lined up to match the base, and the hand knob cranked as tightly as I could. Everything I could tighten from outside the housing was tightened.

I set the speed to "L", put the brad point bit in, and turned it on.

ARRRGGHHH!!!

It sounded like a cheap model airplane! It seems Craftsman put their bottom-of-the-line hand drill inside this housing. At least, that's what it sounds like. Loud and horrible.

I used the handle to lower the bit to the wood. The bit started to take a bite then it jumped 1/4" toward me from where it started. It seems not only is the shaft bearing worn (or just sloppy) but the whole mechanism is loose inside the housing. Not much. A smidge. But enough to allow it to move the bit on the workpiece.

Being this was a brad point bit, I didn't expect any improvements using the spade bit or the twist bit.

I wasn't disappointed.

I am willing to accept the fact that it's a weak hand drill motor powering this thing. For its size and weight that's probably a necessary trade off. But the instability of the chuck is too much to deal with. So off the bench it went, onto a shelf. I'm not going to plug it in again until I have a chance to completely disassemble it and see if I can find the slop.

Of course I'll post what I find. Did you think otherwise?

Rock star T-Mac shows off a compass plane on the curves of the bombe cabinet. Also, he demonstrates a shoulder plane with a few tricks to keep the edge clean. Lastly, he cleans the side of the cabinet with a cabinet scrapper.

I am constantly amazed at the differing reactions that can follow from rather mild advice proffered on woodworking forums.
A recent thread on Fine Woodworking ...

You can get access to great old reference materials over at Toolemera.com. All of it is interesting, but for woodworkers (as opposed to tool collectors) I think the most valuable page is the free links page, which lists interesting old books divided by topic. The scanned page above is from Thomas Chippendale's book "The Gentleman and Cabinet-maker's Director", scanned and hosted by the University of Wisconsin library.

While you're visiting Toolemera, stop by the blog written by the proprietor, Gary. He has a great review of Christopher Schwartz's new book Workbenches: From Design and Theory to Construction and Use, and other thought provoking articles about or related to woodworking.

Most of you know how much I like Andre Roubo's "L'Art du Menuisier" – probably the best and most complete books on woodworking from the 18th century. Heck, I've even considered taking up my French studies again just to be able to read it (more on that later).

However, getting copies of Roubo in this country has been nothing less than frustrating. I got a couple modern reprints through a bookstore in Quebec. And several French web sites carry them (with ghastly hoops to jump through to get them into this country). And all of my efforts to get a reliable and reasonable source in North America have proved fruitless.

Until today.

Thanks entirely to Joel Moskowitz at Tools for Working Wood, reprints of all five volumes of Roubo are now available for sale. These books are immense fun to page through, even if you don't read French. That's because the plates – hundreds and hundreds of glorious line drawings – will teach you more about furniture, marquetry and hand tools than I can. Plus you likely will be inspired to build one of Roubo's benches once you see them in use throughout the book. That's what sold me.

The volumes sell for $70 to $90, which sounds like a lot, but it's worth it. When I was importing these from Canada, that's about what I ended up paying (maybe a bit more once you included international fees). These books will be with you forever, and who knows how long they'll be available.

The other news is that we have some more exciting news about Roubo that we'll be announcing on my personal blog this weekend, LostArtPress.com. This is a personal project that I and another woodworker have been slaving over for a while. So do drop by LostArtPress.com this weekend and check it out. I think you'll be glad you did.

— Christopher Schwarz

It’s safety week on The Woodwhisperer Network.

I covered the vast majority of my safety knowledge last year when I posted about the guy who has to remove a shoe if he wants to count into double digits.

However, I did come up with an important safety thought that I should share:

Differentiate between woodshop tools and toolshed items before someone gets killed and someone ends up in prison. (I know that doesn’t make sense, so I”ll explain.)

It starts with the dog. Our dog Peyton is obsessed with chewing lumber. He’s always grabbing rough sawn cut-offs from the shop and running off to gnaw on them. When he’s out in the back yard, he will jump up and tear the lowest limbs off of the trees. He’s an insane little pruner who leaves jagged limb spurs for any tree appendages he can reach.

Last week my lovely wife Gail decided to clean up some of the trees in the back yard that Peyton had roughed up, so she asked me for a saw. I suppose I should have paid closer attention to her, because Gail is a go getter. After giving me plenty of time to respond to her request for a saw, Gail grabbed one out of my woodshop and went to town on the trees in the backyard. She said that saw sure cut through those branches even though it was not a saw specifically designed for pruning trees. Can you guess what kind of saw she used?

Was it my dovetail saw? No.

Was it my Carcass Saw? No.

Was it my Tenon Saw? No.

Was it a DeWalt Reciprocating Saw? No.

Was it a Coping Saw? No.

Was it a Fret Saw? No.

Gail has style. When the dog jumps up and buggers up the lower limbs of the trees in our back yard, Gail cleans them up with a Panther Saw.

At first I was a little upset, but after hearing her describe how well it cut, I decided to try for myself. Wow…that Panther really does cut!!!!!

My safety advice is to pay attention when a loved one asks to borrow a tool. Gail and I got lucky. The borrowing of the Panther Saw worked out this time, but it could have easily had a disastrous outcome. A kinked blade or a dinged horn would have clearly led to a rumble in the backyard, and only one of us would have walked away.

Gail, you’ve been warned. Touch my Panther Saw again, and I’ll cut you!!!!