I had MLK off so that meant a three day weekend.  In late Feb I will be giving the woodworking club I belong to a virtual shop tour.  I'm excited about this.  I've used that activity as incentive to give the shop a deep clean and organization.  I will have a longer post about this when it is all done.  Below is a before and after of one area that has been a mess for 5 years.  The mess is... Read more

Over the past I don’t-know-how-long I got a lot of questions or notices that JA’s website “greenwoodworking” was down. Turns out the domain name had expired & someone bought it up. I spoke over the weekend to Anatol Polillo – he’s the one who shot & produced JA’s chairmaking video and built and managed the … Continue reading Jennie Alexander’s website... Read more

 A couple of days ago we had a regular storm out here. We had gusts of hurricane strength and waves that corresponded to the rest of the weather.We ended up blowing out 3 of our stay sails, and we still did 12 knots on just two square sails. So apart from it being a bit difficult to sleep, it was great fun, and awe inspiring as always to see the full force of the sea.When one of the stay sails... Read more

“Take the meanest rusty handplane, clean it up, grind the blade and sharpen it like a razor. Tune the plane, set it very fine and run it over a scrap of oak. Hear the sound it makes and feel the finish. If you share that thrill, set yourself a project to make entirely by hand. By doing so, I once, years ago, renewed my love affair with wood. I have owned some machines myself, but I examined what I was... Read more

Hi Darren, and Happy New Year to you as well.How often do I tap out? Some might say probably not often enough, but it still works for me.Tapping out is the process of reestablishing the flat area between the cutting edge of the plane blade and the hollow. How often you need to tap out your plane blades will be a function of how much you’re using that plane, and how often you sharpen, of course.So it’s probably better to... Read more

We all have a list such as this. Here’s mine. If One is Good, 12 is Better When you acquire a good tool, such as a block plane, and it really, really works, the tendency is to buy all its friends. After I bought my first No. 5 (about 1996-97), I fell in love with...... Read more

I sip my tea while it’s hot. It’s first thing, around six, and I’m always first in through force of habit. I contemplate the things I need to do today, tomorrow and then for the week. This week I will take the dining table I have been working on since Christmas into the house. We … New Day New Week Read More » Read the full post New Day New Week on Paul Sellers' Blog.... Read more

I had to look at my temp monitor twice to make sure I was reading it correctly. I have two of them and both agreed showing the same number. 2 degrees just before 0600. For the imperially challenged, that is about -17C. Boys and girls that is (*^*($#(*& cold. Like yesterday the temp dropped another digit around 0630. I am glad that we replaced the furnace because I don't remember facing these temps with the old one. yikes!The furnace is doing... Read more

Christmas time brings a hunt for project ideas for something for my son to make for his mom.  We started tossing around ideas including things she likes.   She really likes Pelicans.  We’ve been in Florida for over a decade now and they still make her  smile.  So we came up with the idea for a […]... Read more

 Last Friday January 7th we had our first snow storm of the year, it dumped 30 cm, this past Friday January 14 we got another one which brought us 41 cm of snow. Better not be another one this next Friday...Last time I was not well prepared, should had my snow blower serviced.  This time I remembered it on Wed morning called them to pick it up and they delivered it back Thursday PM. in time for this one. Checked it out... Read more

 This morning when I was editing today's blog (01/15) I saw that I had published it on the 14th. It has been a long time since I did that mind fart since blogger updated how to post blogs. It takes two key strokes now and I must have blown right through it on muscle memory. So my apologies for reading the first draft before I edited it. I did edit it and when I went to publish it I found... Read more

This is a commissioned job for a client. I three more to make but using different timbers. Red oak QLD walnut NG rosewood out of ideas What do you think the best wood for this… More... Read more

I like my Carhartt overalls.  When not at work, this is what I wear.  I have no complaints about them.  I've probably worn them about 1,000 days worth so they have held up well.  Still, it's hard to find this kind of info so I thought I would post something about it.What I have noticed is that they right around the knees there is a double seam.  I think I could stick from the instead foam knee pads in these... Read more

Yesterday (11-Jan-22), I laid out and cut four mortises for a stool project I'm working on.  This morning, the moment I woke up, I realized I had done something wrong.  Funny how that can happen - I wasn't dreaming about it or even thinking about it.  All of the sudden I realized the mistake.  I'll admit that I was in a bit of a just-woke-up fog, but when my wife asked me if the error was recoverable, I said "no",... Read more

The livery cup-board's upper level has a cupboard with canted sides, made up of framing, a door and two panels. The door and panels have the same design, the panels being a bit bigger than the door, to allow for them being held in grooves in the frame.All three have a raised section in the form of a lion, so in selecting stock for this, I am looking for a piece of oak that can accomodate this.For the benefit of... Read more