September 2008 Blog Posts
Technorati Tags: Inspiration,Art,Mirror,Technology Woodworking and high-tech engineering are joined together to create high-tech art. The viewer's image is captured, and the 'mirror' tilts the blocks to create an abstract image from hundreds of blocks that are tilted to reflect light or cast shadows. Read the entire article at EnvironmentalGraffiti.com. Technorati Tags: Inspiration,Art,Mirror,Technology
There are many people who would say that they are driven by the desire to compete, or driven to madness, but in truth very few can say they are driven by their woodworking skills. Literally, not figuratively. The notable exception to that statement is Joe Harmon, the creative genius behind Splinter, the 700 horsepower supercar that he built with his own hands. That's impressive, but not entirely unusual. There are many grease monkeys putting together their own fibreglass cars in their garages, and though it does make a rare care, Joe Harmon seems to have upped the ante and...
Keeping with the theme of wooden toys for children, I thought I'd present another book review. Again, I am searching for gift ideas for my 14 month old daughter's first Christmas, when she will be almost 18 months old. The book I have before me today is Toys, Games, and Furniture from the Family Handyman series by Reader's Digest (1995, Roundtable Press, ISBN 0-89577-790-8) The book is hardcover, approximately 8-1/2" tall by 11" wide (an unusual format), and is just shy of 200 pages long, with heavyweight paper and a good binding. I should...
I came home last night to find a pleasant surprise in my mailbox: The Oct/Nov 2008 issue of Woodsmith magazine arrived! If you have never checked out the magazine, I invite you to go to your local library and look up a few of the back issues. In it you will find a rather unique magazine, printed on heavy card-like paper with virtually zero advertisements. What you will find inside is at least three major projects with plans and instructions, numerous technique and informational articles, product reviews, and much more. The only drawback of the magazine is it...
With my daughter Amber being just 14 months old, my thoughts turn to toys, toys, and more toys! Christmas is fast approaching, and already my wife is planning presents. Whether I have time in my workshop or not, it is always easy to do a little research and dreaming aided by books. Today, I thought I'd share my thoughts on a book by Jim Makowicki titled Making Heirloom Toys (1996, The Tauton Press, ISBN 1-56158-112-7). The book is hardcover, approximately 9"x13", with sturdy pages and a good binding to keep the...
Plywood is a great building material. It is strong, dimensionally stable, and is available in large sheets, up to 4' x 8'. That last benefit is also a problem for most of us woodworkers, since we are often working alone and it is unsafe to wrestle a 4x8 sheet of plywood over the table saw, at least without the aid of a couple partners or the judicious use of infeed and outfeed tables. The one-person solution is to reverse the situation. Instead of moving the wood over the blade, move the blade over the wood! Just use a...
Lee Valley, home of the ever-popular Veritas tools, is offering free shipping for orders placed between September 18th and 21st. So if there was a tool that you had your eye on, now may be the time to buy it. Of course, that only applies to ground shipping to the continental United States and Canada, and does not apply to oversized items, but that still leaves many items to choose from!
Get started early on your Christmas shopping!
Technorati tags: Tools, Gift Ideas, News
Always striving to be unique in my creation efforts, it is often advantageous to look at the products of the giants who have paved the way before us. Still on my inspirational journey on wooden clocks, I ran across the National Watch and Clock Museum's web page on "The Beeler Escapements." These are not constructed out of wood, however the science and innovation are similar to those involved in wooden clocks.
Though the site does not give any technical details on the different escapements, they do show a little of the various visual elements each escapement offers. You can Google each escapement...
Every once in a while, I'll see some piece of woodwork that really gets my creative juices flowing. A piece that inspires me to dream about making something similar.
This time, I happened across an article by Wayne Westphale that appeared in Fine Woodworking (Jan/Feb 1986 and Mar/Apr 1986). In it, he details first a bit about the theory behind mechanical clocks, a bit on the math, a bit on how to translate these ideas into the world of wood, and finally, in the second article, how the actual clock is made. Though the article is well written, I did not...
Featherboards are a quick functional project that you can make out of any scrap you have around the shop.
A featherboard is easily constructed from a piece of wood roughly 8" to 12" long and 2" to 3" wide. Make a diagonal cut along one end, and cut parallel slots starting at the diagonal end in towards the flat side, around 3" to 4" long. Make the slots about 1/8" apart, and smaller if you are able.
Using Featherboards
Using a featherboard is as simple as clamping it to your work fence with the "fingers" pointing down like a hold-down clamp, or...