Evenfall Woodworks

Evidently I am NOT comparatively busy as the folks who made the following video. Busy does not really adequately express these folks… I’m thinking over exuberant, with double down on imagination…

For those who dig… eh sorry, like hand tools, this will be over the top, but it will be over the top to everyone anyway. Just when you thought you’d seen most everything. Eight some odd minutes of stunning, well, shock… Eh, you’ll just keep watching to see what happens next. It sort of just sucks you in.

For those who prefer better content from me, Thanks, and I am working on some, but for now just laugh a little like I did, and know I’ll be along with better stuff soon!

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What hath brute strength wrought
where finesse has shown cunning?
wisdom, woodworker.

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Ponder gnarled grain
twisting, turning, catching light
the path is simple.

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The least resistance
sharpness is known to coerce
wood can only sigh.

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Sunlight on woodgrain,
Second line jazz New Orleans
such vivid splendor!

~ — ~

Cabriole Bossa Nova
They dance so free standing still–
Femininity.

~ — ~

The Roubo stands strong
Awaiting the woodworkers–
Imagination.

~ — ~

Finesse in silence
unneeded wood whisks away–
Sculpture revealed.

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Ying and Yang of wood
Who is the master of which?
Contest never over.

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The sharp rasp quickens
woodgrain tamed beneath its grasp–
shaped beauty springs forth.

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Inspire yourself
listen, the wood beckons you–
now make some shavings.

~ — ~

Drill Pressed counterbores
Wood chips disappear to vac
Get back to work now.

~ — ~

Walt’s place is Brass City Records and Tools. Those who know Walt know that he is known to drop into a tool forum with a song lyric that doubles as a riddle that somehow describes his latest tool prowl. Please click here for one of Walt’s riddle answers. Walt’s posts are always a great time and he is great to trade with! So as usual, I like to make a habit of going over to his site to look around, because it is always changing. Me? I am usually late to the party but eh… you know how it goes. His site changes a lot as some of you know. Early birds get the worm, fair is fair. Walt knows this and it works that way to shop with Walt too.

Well anyway, Walt’s haunts are the flea markets of New England, where many a tool he finds are straight out of the heart of where the industrial revolution took place. He is also centrally located near where many of these tools were originally made. These are the tools that helped bring that revolution, and are now sought after by many of us who don’t want those tools to become just another historical footnote. (Thanks Walt)

It happens that Walt has a cool link on his site that points to Pat Leach’s (of Superior Works fame) supertool.com site, that I have looked at many times over the years. While we all seem to discuss tool cabinets around at various forums on the net pretty frequently, I don’t recall seeing anyone really discussing this one for a pretty long time. It is worth a visit, or for some of us, a re-visit.

Photo Courtesy Pat Leach

It is C.A Jewett’s Patternmaking Chest. It is worthy of discussion and so let’s, shall we? Continue Reading »

I have had a few folks step up and ask me to take the time to write more often, and they are right, I should. I have some great future articles in mind, so I will try to work on being here more frequently.

The reason why I am writing this post is a bit different, but I think it is timely.

~ Blue Spruce Toolworks Skew Chisels ~

Generally speaking, woodworkers are amongst some of the very nicest people I have had the opportunity to know and befriend in my life. They are creative and artistic, ingenuitive and engineer-like, eager to help, designers, full of dreams and imagination.

They are witty, unafraid to debate and keep each other informed of where they stand, usually with a ready smile on their face. Their willingness to help, and be generous is super heartwarming. I mean, how cool is that? While I am somewhat reclusive by nature, and tend to keep to myself personally, I have had contact with many of you by email, phone, and in woodworking forums. This isn’t lost on me.

The people behind making a great deal of the hand tools which are available to woodworkers these days are almost always woodworkers themselves, who are following dreams, and doing what they love. It is rewarding work I am learning — the friendships and acquaintances we make are wonderful. It is an awesome feeling, knowing that in some small way, a tool you make helps someone improve their craftsmanship, and assists them in accomplishing their dreams of woodworking. Continue Reading »

Today, as I try to write this, Monday June 29, was a tough sad day. I had to say goodbye to a well-loved friend, and one of the coolest spirits I have ever known.

Boomer. 1997 – 6-29-2009

A cancerous abdominal tumor began growing in his abdomen last September.

Tumors ending in the word carcinoma are bad. These cancers, they always take their host. This one got my buddy. I have lost too many loved ones to cancer.

Mine is a garage shop, nice when it is warm to open up garage door, and let it have a breeze, but not so easy when you have a cat with the wanderlust for the front lawn and points beyond. It’s all about the adventure, you know?

He came to me four and a half years ago, sort of a rescue. He and his adopted brother were not able to go with his family on a 3 year Naval deployment to Japan. He belonged to my wife at the time’s brother, who is a really great guy, and though we had two cats already, two became four.

I was not originally ok with becoming the caretaker to 4 cats, but I sorta like cats, and it didn’t take them long to grow on me…

For reasons that don’t matter now, four over time became two again, and one of the remaining two was this ol’ enigmatic guy, Boomer. Continue Reading »

The Woodworks Library is a collection of woodworking books, which includes a number of topical books that are not specifically about woodworking, but are related to, and of possible interest to woodworkers. Continue Reading »

Woodworking season comes around yearly, with Labor Day behind us, many of the summer outdoor oriented activities and chores are soon to be waning. The colder weather will be along soon enough to push us in and keep us indoors.

This is good, it spawns the need to be creative through other ways, and hobbies fill that gap. Problem is, many of us have to use a space for our woodworking hobby that is not exactly comfortable during a good bit of the indoor season. When we are cold, we don’t often enjoy what we want to enjoy as long or as much. We are more in the mode of just do it and get er’ done, rather than enjoying ourselves, where thinking through the process, being in the moment, and feeling like we relieved some stress are all big parts of having a good time. If it isn’t a good time, let’s face it, we generally avoid it.

To add, when you are cold, humans do not think as critically, and can even become distracted from slower thinking. Woodworking, like other tasks that require concentration, really does want your attention in many, many ways, because it is a very detailed endeavor, which can be inherently dangerous as well, so how you help yourself overcome these issues while trying to enjoy the woodworking season is a question that is a good thing to have on your mind.

It isn’t often I am going to endorse a product, in fact I am trying not to, but I am here to speak from the experience I have with the product I bought. This is not a review or a comparison either. I haven’t compared this product to any other. In fact, in this instance, I am using the product I bought more as a frame of reference, so those interested can use this as a frame of reference for their own needs. My want is to help you stay warm in the shop, period. It was my want too. I bought this as a ‘what the heck’ purchase, meaning I did my research, but I really had no idea if my purchase was the best choice or if it was going to work adequately for my purposes. I do not enjoy being cold, and after asking around, no one really knew what to tell me. I got lucky on both counts, because it did work out for me. In fact, it exceeded my expectations. Now that I have tried it, I’ll share my observations with you. Continue Reading »

Back in the 30’s, 40’s 50’s and 60’s of the last century, woodworkers commonly used containers named “MJB”, “Hills Bros”, and “Folgers” for the proper containment of “hardware”. The proper methodology for sorting the “hardware” was to sort through the top inch and a half of the can, and then up end the contents on the bench for a closer sort of the needed hardware at the bottom of the can.

A higher tech solution was to use mason jars, commonly used for canning, and errr, other handy and imaginative uses, and all you had to do was deny knowing anything as to where the canning jars were when it came time to put up preserves, and the high tech part was that you could see in advance that the “hardware” you were looking for was at the bottom of the jar.

Advances in baby food preserving had the Beech-Nut Corporation putting 13 varieties of food into glass jars, beginning in 1931, and the resourceful woodworker in fatherhood found this as a boon to “hardware” storage. The thing was you see, the integral lids could be mounted to the bottom of shelves, making use of otherwise unusable space, and the woodworker could simply look from underneath and see the needed hardware at the bottom of the jar, and not have to spread as much on the bench to sort for the needed pieces. Continue Reading »

Across the top of the site there is the moniker, which like the “Home” block, you can click and return to the home page. Along with the home block, there are six others across the top there, here is a little about them. Continue Reading »

The nature and ways of wood, joinery, adhesives, and style are all things that need to be dealt with in the “what” to build and “how” to build it. Is it furniture, casework, cabinetry? Will it involve carpentry, as a built in as many elements of Arts and Crafts styling will? will it include some metal work or upholstery? Other leading questions like, will I have the appropriate tools, and can I properly fixture the work for all the different elements of construction? What finishes are most appropriate, and how best to apply them?

You see, it is a lot of questions. Fortunately there are a lot of answers. The art and craft of woodworking is age old, in fact, even our great grandparents and grandparents knew a lot about it, and lucky for us, even as much of an undertaking it was to publish books back in the day, the understandings of the woodworking trades, the methods and the how to with hand and power tools was something they authors of that period wrote about quite articulately. There was a want for future generations to know these things, and there was a lot they understood. Continue Reading »