It’s always great to see a brand new blog being born into the Internet. And, when it’s the blog for one of my supporters, I have to let y’all know that it’s here!
David Venditto has launched the Infinity Cutting Tools blog, and the timing on this is pretty interesting. He is fitting out the woodworking shop in his warehouse, and the first few blog posts are going to be about how the shop is getting set up. Follow along and see how the shop – and the classes that are taught there – progress.
(Sorry this is a day late … When I woke up yesterday, I was sick enough to have to go to the doctor. Bronchitis… again… the second time this year. Total bummer…)
Remember my friend Paul – the guy we built a home office for? He recently told my son Dominic – a computer wiz – about the Raspberry Pi. It’s a chip-based computer from Great Britain that costs all of $25, yet can do some tremendously cool things.
The problem with these computers? They come just as a chipset with some connections. Kind of vulnerable. Kind of clunky. So, one of the things that proud Pi owners do is build their own cases. Some tuck these babies into the chassis of old Commodore 64s. Others in Lego cases. And, some build them out of wood.
This post from the blog Single Lens Reflections shows how the site’s administrator build a Pi case from some plywood. It’s elegant. It’s protective. And, it’s made out of wood. What’s there not to like?
Just do a quick Internet search to see some wild Raspberry Pi cases built by others.
To get to the blog of Joshua Klein, you have to head to Brooklyn.
The Brooklyn Bridge
No, not THAT Brooklyn. More like this one:
There. That’s more like it. Up in the quaint coastal city of Brooklyn, Maine, you will find Joshua Klein and his blog The Workbench Diary. Joshua takes the time to pour the love into antique furniture looking to be restored, and makes replacement pieces for furniture – and new pieces – using traditional techniques.
Besides learning a lot about furniture restoration and building, a visit to his site is just so soothing, and it will do your heart good to watch beautifully hand-crafted furniture built by craftsmen in days of yore get a second chance at life … a better fate than being thrown into a dumpster somewhere.
For those of you who may be wondering where my post was on Wednesday, it didn’t happen. Instead, I was at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside at the National Hurricane Conference teaching – and learning – about hurricanes. With hurricanes Isaac and Sandy fresh in everyone’s mind, well, it was a great conference where we learned lots.
No, I didn’t get to do any woodworking, but I did get to see some tremendous, historic woodwork. Since I was in the Big Easy, I decided that perhaps today would be a great time to highlight a New Orleans woodworker. Dan Alleger has been doing woodworking in New Orleans since 1997, and his work is really spot on. Not only is he building new things, he also does restoring – a skill that came in very handy after 2005’s Hurricane Katrina.
Check out his work. I think you will like woodworking with a N’Awlins feel.
Up in Harvard, Massachusetts (no the university is up in Cambridge – this Harvard is west of Concord) is a woodworker with incredible vision. Scott Morton has one heck of an eye for modern design, traditional techniques and spreading the word about the craft.
Scott has been running his shop for more than ten years, and he has been cranking out some seriously sweet furniture featuring hand cut dovetails, graceful lines and a flair or the modern.. where it fits!
I also want to thank Scott for asking one of the best questions I have ever gotten about this blog – what do you want to do with it? Ya know, one day I want to build stuff half as good as Scott does, and be able to show that off on my site. Thanks for setting the bar so high, Scott!
Did you ever run into someone in your life and know you were going to be good friends? That’s what happened to me at the 2009 Woodworking in America conference held in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. That’s when I ran into this guy from Lawn Gisland, and we hit it off immediately.
His name, as you may already know, is Dyami Plotke. He’s a blogger nearly as prolific as me, and he’s one of the most generous folks I have ever met. Yes, he has stepped to the plate to help me with Get Woodworking Week, has split the cost of a room at Woodworking in America and he is one part of the triumvirate of podcasters at the Modern Woodworkers Association. Not only is he published online, he’s also a frequent contributor to Fine Homebuilding Magazine. The dude keeps busy.
But, the reason I will always be thankful to him is the time he rescued me from the Hurricane Sandy relief effort in New York City this past November for a meal with him and his family. Thanks, man.
What is it about the 48th state to join the Union that attracts so many talented woodworkers?
Today, we go to Arizona to meet another skilled craftsman, Paul-Marcel St. Onge. His blog, Half-Inch Shy, takes its name from the good old early days of his woodworking experience, when he would measure three times, add some extra onto the board and still cut it one half inch shy. This never stopped amazing his dad.
Today, Paul-Marcel has cleaned up his act and is making some sweet furniture, blogging and producing a ton of really awesome videos. You can check him out at many woodworking shows demonstrating for Bridge City Tools. Oh, and he loves hockey. Just in case you couldn’t figure that out!
