Made by Hand - A Beginners Guide to Hand Tool Essentials

A first look at the intro to the DVD I shot. The DVD, Made by Hand, A Beginners Guide to Handtool Essentials will be included for free with each book purchased. I wrote the tune specifiaclly for the intro segment and thought I'd share it here.
Enjoy!

'working wood'

finger joint and dovetail went out walkin' through the wood...
cursing all the alders!

"ain't no crows feet over here boys..."

plane the grain through tapered flame
cathedrals in the aspen

working wood like joseph could, communion in the end grain chamfer down...

unplugg the drill and wrap your hand around the word of working man
'round the word of working man...

and then there were six...

Well here I sit, at the end or perhaps beginning of the Made by Hand journey. The book was sent out yesterday and I'm ready to take off a week or two to spend some time with my family. I'll be posting some new projects as they develop over the next few weeks so check back often.
In the meantime here are some shots of the six projects that will be in my book; Made by Hand - Furniture Projects from the Unplugged Woodshop.
Cheers!


















goin' down the road- a cabinetmakers toolchest


















ain't no feathers around here boys... a wall cabinet with half blind, through and sliding dovetails

















skinny legs and all - a side table with tapered legs


















where the good books go - a small bookcase with through mortise and tenon joinery


















picture pefect - a post and panel cabinet















where the hunters heel - a modern take on a traditional sideboard

Art Imitates Life...Working Wood Style

A picture is worth 1000 words...
Please comment.
Cheers!

Wood Moves...Get over it!

Last summer I built a trestle style table using some reclaimed Angelique for the base frame and some wide Mahogany for the top. Traditional bread board ends were tenoned to the main table top surface glued with walnut dowels added as fasteners. The three tenons were drilled and then the out side two holes were elongated so when the top moved it wouldn't split the wood. When elongating the holes I made a guess at how much the top surfaces width would fluctuate; seems my estimate was pretty accurate and thank goodness for that.
This shot was taken two days ago...
From last summers humidity to this winters dry stale air, the top shrank almost a full 1/4". This may surprise some people to see just how much solid wooden furniture can expand and contract. If all is right in the world the top surface will swell back to it's original size come the spring/summer and the breadboard ends will hold everything flat and true as they were designed...Stay tuned.
Cheers!

Admiring the Work

After a long and rather fulfilling day in the woodshop, Glue Bear takes a step back to admire some of his handy work.
Stay tuned...

Looking into the Face of Reason

A shot of my new glue bottle...
'Glue Bear'
I finally have a mascot-
Just thought I'd share that.
Cheers!

Gettin' on...

Some Wood Shop Glamour Shots!


Not much to say really, all of my writing time is in the pages of the book but I wanted to share some shots from this past week. I'm halfway through projects 4 and 5 which says to me: One more to go...this is a good thing. I'm enjoying the process but can honestly say I'm looking forward to moving onto other non-book related projects. I have two or three custom pieces lined up for very patient clients who have been incredibly understanding of where I'm at with this and why I can't begin anything new until mid-March. As I'm approaching the end of this journey I'm constantly reminded of, and find myself stepping back and seeing again the true beauty of wood and wood working. Enjoy!


With my old Rip saw, still cutting like a dream since Mark at Techno gave it the over-haul; I'm re-sawing some purple heart for a couple of drawer fronts for a small wall cabinet...



Installing a pair of Brusso knife hinges on a Cherry post and panel style cabinet...this is the rather unassuming one that has the interior labyrinth of 128 joints!



Walnut cross-cut...again I can't help but to stop and think wow, this is incredibly nice wood...nice saw too! Another 'Techno' rehabilitation.



And finally the maple carcass to become a small tool box...the first project chapter of six. Stay tuned...