A few years ago, shortly after Norm Abram hung up his tool belt from the New Yankee Workshop, a young woodworker with a distinct New England accent debuted a new woodworking show on PBS. It was Tommy MacDonald, and in the past three year, he has entertained and informed woodworkers with a variety of projects covering the basics all the way through more advanced techniques.
This site features a listing of the projects he has tackled, some basic skill-building techniques, a peek behind the scenes of the productions and a whole lot more. If you are looking for a whole lot more background on the show, this is definitely the site to visit.
Workbenches have been a hot topic as of late with woodworkers. And, one of the most popular bench designs that has been built is the Roubo bench, with it’s thick top, through mortised legs and stout dimensions.
But, another design that should be considered is the English style – or Nicholson – bench. It’s a piece of engineering genius, giving plenty of clamping and working area.
One of the best – and best documented – resources was put together by Andy Margeson. He took the time to show us how he designed, built and photographed the bench from start to finish. And, boy, what a finish!
North of the Canadian/U.S. border, Ian Waltenberry is running a blog attached to the Tool Store of Canada. While he does reviews of the tools offered on the site, the strength of his blog is the incredible number and the skill of the projects he’s building.
The blog is a nice balance of projects, reviews and techniques – a great place to spend a few hours and get some ideas for your shop.
As I had written on Wednesday, I am building a trophy case for a friend’s daughter. They live in parched Yuma, Arizona, while my shop is here in soggy Tampa, Florida. So, how much will the boards in my project shrink when it arrives at its new environment?
Fortunately, there are resources like today’s link of the week that can help. Chief Woodworking’s blog has some interesting information on why wood moves when humidity changes, how different cuts of wood (quartersawn vs. flatsawn) react to these changes and a calculator to determine how much a particular board will move when the humidity changes.
Now, I will be able to stack the deck in my favor. I hope.
So, what has woodworking coach and mentor Andy Chidwick been up to? Well, he’s only been teaching some members of the next generation of woodworkers in his shop together with Salem, Oregon shop teacher Dan Mattson.
In many ways, this program is not just teaching woodworking – it’s also helping to get at-risk kids looking forward to a more successful future…
One of the greatest challenges faced by this teaching team was their lack of interest in this subject and getting the students to see beyond the now to realize what kind of industry skills they could develop. Through hands-on instruction, a healthy dose of competition and the very real possibility that they may lose their space in the program if they chose not to focus on what was being done has already developed a sense of pride in each of these students.
Read along with Andy and company as they do their life-changing work.
This weekend over at the Tampa Convention Center is one of the greatest assembly of wood turners that we will see all year. The American Association of Woodturners Symposium is setting up shop across the bay from where I live, and the work there is going to be amazing.
The event will have hands-on lessons, galleries, lectures, vendors and other really cool demonstrations. I have a very busy weekend planned here at the house, but I will try to get over there to see this amazing gathering of turners.
Ciao! For today’s link of the week, we’re crossing the Atlantic and headed to beautiful Naples, Italy where a woodworker named Guiliano has been running a hand tool woodworking blog since 2010.
His blog is in English, so it’s easy for folks to navigate. And, what you can see! His posts cover everything from woodworking projects built primarily by hand to more advanced repairs on metal and wooden bodied planes. Saws, chisel work, sharpening… it’s all in there. Definitely a feast for the eyes.
