Weekly Editorial
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Which Room Wins?
Do you remember the old poster that said, “Sometimes I sits and thinks, and sometimes I just sits”? Well, on those occasions when I sit and actually think, questions often come to mind, questions that I think you can answer for me. Recently, the query that came to mind was one of distribution. When I’ve polled woodworkers in the past, it was clear that a large percentage of their woodworking projects were designed to improve their home. (I know that this is certainly true of me.) What sparked my curiosity this time around was this: which room of my home have I made the most stuff for?
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Snowbound Bonanza
I am well aware that in many parts of the country the words “snow” and “shovel” are not joined together as a single noun. Even so, this year, those of us living above the Mason Dixon Line have experienced what might be termed a “bountiful supply” of the white stuff. As my father would have described the situation, the snow is “fanny-high on a tall Lutheran.”
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A Decade of Internet Woodworking Fun
Ten years ago, in April 2000, we emailed our first issue of the Woodworker’s Journal eZine. We sent it out to just under 30,000 woodworkers – whose email addresses we had to scrounge, borrow and beg. Now, there are around 250,000 of you, and for that we are very thankful.
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What Can You Get For A Buck?
How about hours of pleasurable workshop entertainment, or perhaps a useful homefront improvement? A piece of woodworking history? That perfect shop-made gift?
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Thank You
“A wealth of knowledge … something for everyone with an interest in woodworking!” Those were just some of the comments that were used to describe this eZine as we were awarded the Gold Award from the Minnesota Magazine & Publishing Association.
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The Call of the Wild
I admit it. I am of two minds – OK, my kids might say that is an understatement — but when it comes to my wood preference, the statement is dead-on. On one hand, straight quartersawn grain is very pleasing to me. I like it in spruce, white oak, red oak, mahogany … you get the drift. I have built tons of projects with quartersawn lumber.
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Ready…Set…Go!
If you are like me, this is the time of year that you start to get that unsettled, fluttery feeling in the pit of your stomach … it’s gift building season. If you are exactly like me, you can ignore that feeling until, say, December 11th. Which, of course, is not only my birthday (I’ll be 55, thanks for asking!), but is also exactly two weeks from “the big day.” After all, Christmas is in the air (according to advertisers) right around Halloween.
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Flooring Fanfare!
Man alive! When I said that I thought you would have an opinion about my flooring conundrum, I didn’t know the half of it. I got nearly as many flooring suggestions as I received woodworking bromides when I requested them a few issues back. And as usual, you did not disappoint … you will find many of your suggestions and opinions in our Feedback Department, but I’ll give you a feel for some of them here.
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Flummoxed over Flooring
I have had a project on my to-do list for over a year now. In fact, if you had asked me at any time in the past year what the next task on my docket was, I would have told you without hesitation, “I am putting in a new wood floor in my living room/dining room.” And I would not have intentionally been lying about it!
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Autumn’s Woodworking Ramp-up
While I do make a significant amount of sawdust in every season of the year, there is something about the arrival of fall that increases my time in the workshop. Perhaps, as with bears and hibernation, my body responds to fewer hours of sunlight with a biologically driven need to cut, glue and finish. It seems to affect other aspects of my life as well … this weekend, I stopped by a garage sale and could not resist buying a Stanley #78 rabbet plane and a Miller’s Falls bench plane (got ’em both for 40 bucks!).
