Weekly Editorial
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An Orderly World
It’s not exactly a revelation that life is messy. It can be frustrating and confusing and sometimes it’s just not satisfying. But that is not usually true in my workshop. One of the ways that my shop provides, in the words of songwriter Bob Dylan, a shelter from the storm, is the illusion of order and control it provides.
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Woodworking in the New Year
With the New Year well under way, I have got a few must-do woodworking projects on my list that will use my woodworking skills, but they are not exactly run-of-the-mill woodworking.
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Keep On Truckin’
Late last year, I asked for your advice regarding what to make for my first granddaughter’s first Christmas gift. The response from you all was tremendous — both in the quality and the quantity of suggestions that you offered. I truly appreciated the wisdom and thoughtfulness in your emails … which makes it all the more difficult to explain, not to mention embarrassing, when I have to admit that I totally ignored them all and made Maggie Lu a truck.
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It’s Go Time
I am not even sure how I am making time to write this editorial. Having completely ignored the imminent approach of Christmas in recent weeks, I have — as of now —moved into “woodworking shop ninja mode.”
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The Way of All Woodworkers
It happens every year … as the days begin to get shorter here on the tundra, and we begin to don sweaters, fleece, wool sox — and to huddle together for warmth — that singular and vitally important annual celebration begins to loom large on the calendar. No, it is not St Andrew’s Day (important to us who celebrate the clans and haggis), nor is it the winter solstice. No, the anniversary that I am referring to is the 11th of December, 1955.
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The Heat is On!
The painful truth is that I can be a bit of cheapskate. When I used to live in a big old 1906 vintage house, I would try to avoid starting the furnace until the end of October. Now, in Nashville, that’s not such a big deal, but in Minneapolis … my kids used to walk around wearing parkas and looks that could kill.
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I Vote for Woodworking
By coincidence, today is Election Day in the U.S.A. (so go out and vote if you haven’t). Now, I am a pretty political dude in my private life (not here in the eZine. What do you care about my political convictions — not much, hey?), but even a political junkie like myself has consumed just about all I can swallow of the current TV and radio election advertising fare.
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We’re APP to do Anything!
The ways to learn about woodworking are always changing. And I could not be more pleased to announce that Woodworker’s Journal has just added another opportunity for our readers to get great woodworking information: an iPad app. (For now, it’s not available for Android … that will come later.)
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And the Answer Is…
This holiday season will be the first in which I can make a gift for my granddaughter; she was born on the last day of January this year. As you may expect, I am more than a little jazzed about the opportunity, but in truth, the number of potential gift ideas I’ve come up with is actually a bit ridiculous.
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Trees to Lumber
Last Sunday at church, my friend Jay started asking me about making a butcher-block table. He is a handy young man, and had decided that the butcher-block tables that he and his wife had been looking at were simply too rich for his blood. He asked me what I thought purchasing the lumber to make the table would cost.
