Do you want to build a toy for a child – or someone else why is young at heart? Can’t find any well-designed plans?
Toys and Joys may be the place you can find what you need. Founded in 1981 by archetecural draftsman and industrial arts teacher Phil Vander Ploeg, the site features numerous plans for sale.
While the site does feature plans for bookshelves, desks and riding toys, the vast majority of the plans are for exacting replicas of vehicles. Cars, trucks, tractors, trains… the list is extensive and the completed projects are impressive.
There is also a customer corner featuring projects built by satisfied clients. It’s amazing to see the variety of woods used in the toys – no doubt there are many satisfied ‘customers’ receiving the gifts.
So, you want to learn a new and interesting woodworking skill beyond furniture making? Something maybe a little more challenging and ornamental?
How about marquetry?
What is it? This venerable craft involves the laying up of intricate veneer ‘pictures’ on a project to create an artistic effect. Multiple veneer species and different materials are used to create the illusion of depth.
How to create this intricate craft is spelled out in great detail at the Marquetry Society’s website. From the most basic starter’s tips to advanced techniques, the Marquetry Society’s site offers a great online tutorial for the craft.
Material options, glue choice and a listing of local guilds rounds out an interesting Internet offering.
Even if you never want to try your hand at marquetry, the gallery of submitted projects is impressive in itself.
So, you can’t get enough of woodworking videos? Do you want to see more – MANY more?
Wood Tube might be the place for you. From shop tours to jig building and new techniques, numerous user submitted videos are there fore the viewing. Most of the videos describing projects and advanced techniques are done in multiple parts, making for easier viewing.
This month, Wood Magazine has put a call out for table saw jig videos, so if you have ever wanted to be a star of the little screen, follow the instructions at the site.
Armed with a tool chest of traditional tools from his Hungarian homeland, skills honed by years of apprenticeship under his father and a burning desire to build furniture, Frank Klausz immigrated to the United States back in 1969.
Since then, his legend has grown. An eager instructor, Frank is quick to point out how woodworkers can master the craft with practice, basic tools and know-how. His work graces the New Jersey state house, numerous private collections and museums. And, he accomplishes much of the work on his projects using classic European style hand tools.
At his website, you can read more about where Frank is teaching, the books he has written and a little about the philosophy of this very talented woodworker.
While it may not spring to mind as a first choice of materials to work with, woodworkers have used miles of plastic laminate on their projects. Whether to create a tough writing surface for a student’s desk, a counter top for a busy kitchen or as a way to build doors which can double as dry-erase boards, plastic laminates are versatile, relatively inexpensive and, unfortunately, have a reputation for being difficult to work with.
This page, brought to you by Woodworker’s Journal and Skil Tools, gives a good tutorial on the basics of installing plastic laminates. The process is laid out in easy step-by-step photo instructions and offers some pretty slick tips for working with the stuff.
So, do you think you have a set of high quality calibrated eyeballs? Can you bisect an angle on sight or put your finger on the exact middle of a circle without measuring?
If so, have we got a challenge for you. ToolCrib.com has posted a simple yet maddening woodworker’s game on their site. In this game, you will do three rounds of ‘eyeball’ measurements… how to make a parallelogram, how to find the center of a circle, how to find the midpoint of a line segment and other tasks. Once you make your selection, the computer will calculate how far off from true you are.
So far, after *ahem* a ‘few’ rounds of play, my best score was 5.5 units… not bad, but not good enough to trust when doing a project installation.
I will give one word of warning… this game is addictive. Set your computer alarm for a few hours from when you start so you don’t continue playing well past your bedtime!
The scroll saw is one of the most underutilized tools in the shop. Most woodworkers think about it when they need to cut an intricately patterned fretwork for a project, but fail to realize its full potential in cutting three -dimensional projects and joinery.
Scrollsaw.com is a site that is totally dedicated to the use of this versatile tool. There is a free guide available for beginning scrollers which gives the basics and history of the tool, and technical information about blade selection, the proper setting of hold down pressure, how to keep your pattern free from dust as you cut and dozens of other topics.
The site also offers links to dozens of plans from the most basic to very challenging. Toys, insartia and even furniture plans are covered in the selection. Some are free while others are for sale.
If you have a scroll saw that’s collecting dust in your shop, this site is worth a visit.
So, you want to learn a new and interesting woodworking skill beyond furniture making? Something maybe a little more challenging and ornamental?
So, you can’t get enough of woodworking videos? Do you want to see more – MANY more?
Armed with a tool chest of traditional tools from his Hungarian homeland, skills honed by years of apprenticeship under his father and a burning desire to build furniture, Frank Klausz immigrated to the United States back in 1969.
While it may not spring to mind as a first choice of materials to work with, woodworkers have used miles of plastic laminate on their projects. Whether to create a tough writing surface for a student’s desk, a counter top for a busy kitchen or as a way to build doors which can double as dry-erase boards, plastic laminates are versatile, relatively inexpensive and, unfortunately, have a reputation for being difficult to work with.
So, do you think you have a set of high quality calibrated eyeballs? Can you bisect an angle on sight or put your finger on the exact middle of a circle without measuring?
The scroll saw is one of the most underutilized tools in the shop. Most woodworkers think about it when they need to cut an intricately patterned fretwork for a project, but fail to realize its full potential in cutting three -dimensional projects and joinery.