You know, two things really confuse me: doing my taxes and watching a game of cricket.

When I was back on campus at the University of Maryland, I can remember stumbling across a field where a cricket club was playing a match.  I sat for a while and watched the action.  It was very interesting, but I was baffled by the rules.  One of the club members approached me and I asked him if he could explain the game to me.

“Sure,” he said, and started by telling me how cricket was the sport that eventually created baseball.  The description went on for about another twenty minutes.  I thanked him for his time and wandered off, even more confused than before.

One thing I am not the least bit confused about, though, is the care it requires to build a cricket bat.  This vital piece of equipment, I have learned, takes a tremendous amount of care and craftsmanship to ensure it has the right amount of flexibility.

Let’s take a look at the show How It’s Made to see just what traditional woodworking techniques go into making one.

One of the most beautiful looking and sounding instruments is the violin.  The soaring strings can bring tension and excitement to lively pieces and melodious strains for more relaxed pieces.

Our friends at the Discovery Channel show ‘How it’s made’ follow along with the process of building one of these beautiful instruments.  From wood selection through the final finish, get a look at how these gorgeous instruments are crafted.

How It’s Made:  Godin Acoustic Guitars

A guitar may appear to be a simple instrument, but there are many steps involved in building one.  Even on factory made acoustic guitars, there is a tremendous amount of hand work that goes into crafting an instrument that can be played hard but still make beautiful music.

This week, we go back to the show How It’s Made to see how Godin Guitars crafts their acoustic models. Even with many skilled employees and specialized tools, it still takes nearly three weeks for a guitar to go from a rough stack of materials to a beautiful instrument.

There are a lot of really bad shows out there on TV. I mean, REALLY bad.  So bad, in fact, that I spend most of my time watching the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, the Science Channel… you know, educational stuff.

One of my favorite shows is called How It’s Made. I’ve seen it on both Discovery and the Science Channel. This show is great – it shows exactly how different common everyday items are made in an industrial setting.  I’ve seen how different foods, instruments and vehicles go from their raw components to the finished products.

While at first blush it may seem morbid, one of the most fascinating segments was about how wooden coffins are made.  The skill and craftsmanship really show in each step of the build, and the finished product is beautiful to behold.

Since this is a behind-the-scenes look in an industrial setting, many of their techniques involved require special tooling and manufacturing jigs to accomplish.  However, their techniques are still  interesting to watch and can be applied to other projects.

Remember that Frank Klausz guy?  You know, the fella who can cut dovetails with his giant bowsaw in 3 minutes flat?

Well, he’s back at it again!  Frank was a presenter at the recent Woodworking in America conference held in Berea, Kentucky. This time, he offers viewers a unique perspective on how he can quickly and efficiently cut a mortise in a block of wood with a proper mortising chisel.

Some things you might notice about Frank’s technique:

• He works well within the scribe lines of his mortise, only paring to them at the very end of the process
• Even though the walls of the mortise are kind of rough looking, a mortise cut this way is just as strong as one cut with a hollow mortising machine or plunge router.  Remember, craftsmen cut millions of copies of this very joint with little mechanical help for thousands of years.
• Notice also that he never scratched the glass…
• Sure, this does require some skill, but Frank is using some pretty smart mallet blows to cut.  It’s not a skill that requires a long time to master or an overly gentle touch.
• Again, a mortising chisel is the only way to achieve such results.  Bench chisels aren’t designed for this kind of application and shouldn’t be used for such work.
• For projects that require only a few mortises, this method might be faster than dragging out and setting up a hollow chisel mortising machine.

In case you were wondering, the photographer is none other than Roy Underhill, from TV’s The Woodwright Shop.  I’m kinda surprised – I didn’t know Roy knew how to use a modern tool…

See the Saw Stop in action

The Saw Stop – an interesting new advance in safety technology – is a very impressive thing to see.  Basically, the saw can sense the difference in electrical conductivity of the materials it is cutting.  If the blade is only cutting wood, the saw just hums away.  But, if the blade contacts your finger, it triggers a safety mechanism that stops the blade almost immediately and drops it below the table top. Instead of an amputation, you’ll only have a small scrape where the saw’s teeth touched your skin.

Regardless of how you feel about the saw or safety equipment on your machinery, seeing this in action on high-speed film is very impressive.  The Discovery Channel show Time Warp trained its high-speed cameras on the saw and triggered the guard.  The video shows the dramatic results of what forces are involved in stopping a common 10″ diameter table saw blade.

Of course, you must remember to never, never, NEVER try this at home! Saw Stop is – and should always be considered – a last line of defense against injury. There is no substitute for following sound safety practices when using a table saw.

So, you’re close to graduating high school, and you still haven’t decided what to do with your life?  I mean, I’m sure you are watching those Europeans fighting that war, and the Japanese Empire making trouble over in the Orient.  And, I know the economy has been terrible as of late.  But President Roosevelt says that the future looks bright for us.

I hear you are pretty good with your hands, and you have a good grasp of mathematics.  Since you are having trouble deciding what vocation you want to follow, I’ll thread this film into the projector and we can talk about what kind of job you want after you watch it.