Historic Cold Spring Village

If you are looking to immerse yourself in the history of the craft of woodworking, there are few alternatives better than visiting a historical recreated village. Sure, some of the big ones such as Plimoth Plantation and Colonial Williamsburg are world-renowned, don’t be too hasty to pass on a look in your backyard.

In Cape May County, New Jersey, you can find Cold Spring Village. This 30 acre site houses 24 buildings from the late 18th century, each staffed with interpreters who give visitors an insight into the ways of life in that time. You can find potters, blacksmiths, carpet weavers and – most interestingly – a cart wright working at the Douglass Carriage House.

Remember to keep your eyes open for treasures such as this one… you never know when you will have an opportunity to see history come alive.

North Bennet Street School

Located in the city of Boston’s North End, North Bennet is one of the preeminent schools of craft in the country.

Students enrolling in the school can pursue a number of disciplines, including bookbinding, locksmithing, instrument building, preservation carpentry and furniture building.

The furniture building course of study is an intensive two-year long program that focuses on developing both the modern and traditional skills that must be mastered to produce high quality product.

Even if you have no interest in enrolling in the program, a listing of alumni websites will give you insight into the quality of the training and work successful students can turn out.

Dornob.com’s Creative Custom Wood Benches and Chairs

A chair is a chair… A bench is a bench…  right?

Right…

This site, Dornob.com, features a wild selection of designs from up and coming artists.  Architecture, interiors, kitchen wares and other important  elements of the home are considered and designed with flair. And, the furniture.  Well… Wow…

The piece featured here comes from the bench and seating collection. Woodworker Pablo Reinoso is well known for taking functional pieces – like this bench – and moving from the expected to the wildly out of control. This bench gives the illusion of a comfortable place to sit near an ivy-covered wall.

Take a look at some of the other stunning work featured on this site.  I guarantee you will be inspired…

Swingplans.com

If you live in the northern hemisphere, you know it’s summertime.  Besides retreating indoors into the air conditioning or taking a dip in a lake or pool, one of the best ways to beat the heat is to recline a comfortable shady seat, grab yourself a cold beverage and relax on an old style porch swing.

Yes, there are plenty of porch swings out there to buy, but we’re woodworkers!  Swingplans.com offers a number of sweet looking plans and patterns for a wide variety of handsome looking models. The site also offers plans for stands and links to hardware to make building your swing as enjoyable as sitting in one.

Scroll Saw Woodworking and Crafts Declaration of Independence

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

With these words, the colonial leaders in the British colonies on the east coast of North America told King George III to go take a hike, thank you very much, and declared that they were going to make their own country.

That happened way back on July 4, 1776 in a hot assembly hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and took a great deal of courage to draft and sign.

Then, there’s this version, which took skill and patience – and some courage – to build.  Woodworker Bill Thurlow took 580 hours spread over eight years to create this scrollsawn replica of the Declaration of Independence from 1/2″ thick maple.

This link goes into great detail of the construction of this incredible project.

The Woodshop Widget

Quick – how much would an 8/4  board that measures 6 inches wide by 80 inches long that costs $7 a board foot cost?  ($46.69 before tax)

How much shellac flake would you need to mix into 72 ounces of denatured alcohol to get a 2.5# cut?  (22.5 ounces)

How’d I get my supernatural woodworking powers?  Did that lightning bolt that hit me in the head have anything to do with it?

No, it’s not superpowers… but it’s a super-handy woodworking tool that Marc Spagnuolo and programmer Kenneth Woodruff cooked up to make shop calculations that much easier.  The Woodshop Widget is a free program you can use online or on your iPhone/iPad/iPod.  It allows you do calculate the board feet in a board and the price, shellac cuts, convert between fractions and decimals, determine the amount of expansion and contraction you will see in a board and even has links to top shop tips.

Marc and Kenneth are in the process of considering an Android-friendly version.

While it may not be able to answer all of your woodworking questions (Who invented the circular saw blade?), this little program can help make your shop time a whole lot more fun.

Meisel Hardware Specialties

This coming Sunday in the United States is Father’s Day.  For woodworkers who have kids, it’s a great weekend to get into the shop and spend some quality time with the little ones building some family projects.

But, what to build?  And, what are some of the best tips to follow to make that shop time more enjoyable for everyone?

Published woodworking author Paul Meisel may have the answer.  His site offers a wide variety of project plans and the necessary hardware to make your shop session a success.  From the easiest to build birdhouse to something a little more complicated – like a tennis ball throwing trebuchet – give dads (and moms, if they are of the woodworking persuasion) plenty of choices to consider.

Browse the plans… you just might like that togetherness a day in the shop can bring on this special weekend.