Whither Weyerhaeuser Woodwork?
“I saw the article on Lyptus, but when I go to the Weyerhaeuser site, there is nothing on Lyptus furniture. Where can I see pictures of other folks’ Lyptus projects?” — Dan Schechter
You can see them at the Lyptus website. — Editor
Picture This
“I always enjoy reading Today’s Woodworker, but why do you never show a picture of the person whose work you are showing? I think it would add to the article.” — Tim Netz
We do on rare occasions, provided the person being interviewed is comfortable with that. However, a surprising number of woodworkers do not have their pictures on their websites. We take that as an indication they’d rather not be shown in an article. Perhaps you will enjoy this issue’s Today’s Woodworker more; we included a picture of Doug Berch, with his permission, of course. — Editor
Readers in the Know
When Rob wrote “Know thyself, for which I am pretty sure there is a cool Latin saying•” some readers filled in the blanks.
“Nosce te ipsum. Actually the translation is just ‘know yourself’ but ‘know thyself’ is also an acceptable translation. I have it on the wall next to my desk.” — Rich Marty
“It’s Greek, actually, and is pronounced gnothe se auton. Supposedly it was written over the entrance to the temple of Apollo at Delphi and is attributed to Chilon of Sparta.” — Herb Hedstrom
Herb’s comment piqued our curiosity, so we found the Greek lettering on Babel Fish, then contacted our resident Greek scholar to find out more. Here’s what she had to say. — Editor
“Herb was right. ‘Know Thyself’ was famously inscribed on the walls of the Temple at Delphi, where the oracle gave its predictions. Babel Fish gave you the modern Greek for the phrase, and the reader gave you the correct ancient Greek, though ‘se auton‘ would be elided into ‘sauton,’ if truth be told. In case you want it in Greek letters, it would be. Interestingly, the phrase appears in Latin over the door of the oracle in the movie The Matrix. And, just for fun, the phrase you came up with literally means ‘You are to be knowing’ or something to that effect. It would be pronounced ‘na eestay gnostee‘ (the g is sort of guttural), and may be considered ‘Know Thyself’ colloquially.” — Kaitlin Dresdner
Reader’s Project Makes the Grade
“That grader is incredible. Mr. Hobbs said it took a little over a month to build. How long did the planning stage take? I assume that wasn’t part of the month to build it. If it was, that makes his project even more amazing.” — Dean Johnson
“Congratulations to Merle Hobbs on his project ‘Motor Grader.’ Beautiful work and the attention to detail is very impressive. Great job, Merle.” — Dave Morgan
April Fool!
By now you’ve all figured out that the issue that hit your email boxes on April first was our annual April Fool’s Day issue. As is usually the case, a couple of you were miffed that we took time out to craft humor instead of woodworking projects. — Editor
“It seems to me that adults, supposedly in gainful employment, would keep their noses to the grindstone while keeping their shoulder to the wheel. I realize it’s hard to get anything done in that position, but it wouldn’t be any worse than these April Fool editions.” — Don Butler
Hey, who are you calling adults? — Editor
“I have enough to do without wasting time figuring out that this is just another April Fool’s joke. Please stop this stupid stuff.” — Robert Morrison
“This issue isn’t funny. It’s just stupid. There is already enough stupid content available without your adding to the pile.” — Thom Bailey
Most readers, though, were pleased to see our annual joke issue, or at least resigned to it. — Editor
“April’s Fool’s Day again, huh?” — Pat Mills
“Great job as usual. You had me fooled for a few minutes until I realized the date. Keep up the good work.” — Mike Finnegan
“What a great issue. I look forward to this issue each year. I will have to say, though, that the off cuts and scraps article does hit a bit too close to home.” — Phil Piotrowski
“I think you outdid your previous efforts to produce a hysterically excellent April Fool’s Day journal. Thanks for lots of laughs.” — Joyce Allen
“Best issue to date.” — George Almasi
“Okay, so how far in advance of April first each year do you guys start swapping your medications?” — Phil Gilstrap
About two weeks. — Editor
“This year’s version of the April Fool’s eZine is outstanding. Keep up the good work.” — Bob Wollard
“Great articles. Can’t wait to start on the Extremely Complicated Construction Project. I always look forward to your great April Fool’s edition.” — Michael Barlow
“A most excellent conglomeration of April Foolishness, but may I suggest that next year, you completely fool everyone by publishing a serious version.” — Robert Waldbauer
Part of the issue, the first Web Surfer’s Review thread from WoodCentral, was real. Not a word of it was made up. — Editor
“I thought it was hilarious. The article on teaching young children woodworking was awe-inspiring writing; my hat is off to the writer who dreamed that one up. Two thumbs up for the whole issue!” — Larry Giust
“You once again got me. Well done! I always enjoy these special issues.” —Jim Bauer
“Thanks again from the land of Lake Wobegon for your sense of humor and dedication to our wonderful hobby.” — David Taylor
“Great April Fool’s Joke. One again, I realized it only after I tried to click on the complicated plans.” — Rick Gauthier
“As I always do, I went straight for the free plans. Boy was I pissed. I haven’t cursed that much since my first marriage. I finally caught on while reading the Q&A. Another great April 1st issue, guys. I especially like figuring out the authors’ names.” — Mike Taylor
“As always, the April 1st edition of the eZine caught me at first. I really appreciate that you can help us laugh at ourselves. We all need a laugh in these tough times.” — David McCarthy
“Another great April 1st issue. I really loved the project plans and the make-it-yourself, at home, plywood. Thanks for the giggles.” — Chuck Wright
We did manage to fool a few people, even if only for a short time. — Editor
“I have to say I am quite upset at the thought that someone would encourage children to use power tools. There should be some kind of investigation.” — Bill Cogswell
“A link to the free plan for the Chi Center would be nice.” — Michael K. Reynolds
“No offense, but I didn’t like the Free Plans for that Chi Center.” — Francie Zannotti
“I found the Q&A answers about finishing alder to match Formica® pretty useless. Four ‘experts’ gave short answers that provide four very different results.” — Chuck Kubin
“Please advise a web address for your recent article about Dr. Jekyll’s Hyde Glue.” — Sylvan Wells
“Your article on Dr Jekyll’s glue was informative, but I was most interested in his substitute for shellac. Can you please provide me with a way to contact him concerning this product?” — Joe Tria
“I just read the article on Dr. Jekyll’s Hyde Glue and tried to follow the link in the article but it went nowhere. It looks like very interesting stuff but I have no idea where to buy it. I even googled it but that was a dead end as well. Is the company out of business?” — Paul R. LaMothe Jr.
Once he figured it out, Paul wrote a second time. — Editor
“Thank you. I really feel silly. And to think I used to laugh at my grandparents’ stories about Orson Welles War of the Worlds radio broadcast. You made me laugh at myself, and that’s a great thing.” — Paul R. LaMothe Jr.
Some readers clearly had tongues firmly in cheeks when they wrote their responses. — Editor
“Your story of Resse Entement couldn’t have come at a better time. Just the other day, my five-year-old son was in the shop standing on his step stool and running about 20 feet of lumber through the planer when he stopped, looked at me and said ‘Dad, why am I doing this? None of my friends are into this kind of stuff.’ Now I can let him know that there are other kids out there like him.” — Rob Lammers
“Hey, where’s my free plan? How am I going to recreate this beautiful piece without written instructions?” — Mark Lindberg
“I was unable to duplicate the Chi Center properly from your April 1 eZine. Were the measurements in English, Metric or Chinese?” — Confusedas Onecanbe (aka Scott Crothers)
Typo Corner
The feedback from our April Fool’s Day issue even provided us with our typo corner entry, though we’re not sure whether it was accidental, or in keeping with the spirit of the day, intentionally humorous. — Editor
“This is the one issue I await with baited breath.”
This reader must be eating fish chum. — Editor
