Twice Warmed.

"Chop your own firewood, and it will warm you twice," is a quote often attributed to Henry Ford, however, it seems obvious that it was probably around long before he was born.  Henry Ford, despite some of his shortcomings, was not a man to waste anything.  In fact, Kingsford charcoal was originally started by Henry Ford and E.G. Kingsford (a relative of Mr. Ford) as a way to make money from some of the scrap wood coming off of the Ford Motor Companies assembly lines.  The wood was turned into charcoal and suddenly his waste wood became a useful and profitable industry.

While I am not particularly interested (at the moment) in starting an industry from waste products, I am interested in some wood that people are ready to set ablaze.  I like splitting firewood by hand.  It is good exercise, it's simple and repetitive, it gets me outdoors, it gives me a chance to zone out, and it's both aggressive and zen-like at the same time.  The only drawback is that I don't have a fireplace.  Our house was originally outfitted with potbelly stoves for warmth instead of full fireplaces, a bummer for me over a hundred years later (as small children and hot iron stoves in the middle of the room do not mix well).  I do, however, have friends and family that appreciate some split firewood from time to time so, fortunately, I don't have huge mounds of chopped wood just sitting around.  One of the best results of splitting wood is that occasionally, I'll find something that I decide to hoard in my shop (along with too much other junk).

While sending the splitting maul through a piece of maple, I found the beautiful piece of pink hued, slightly spalted maple below.  I set that section of the tree aside and set back to work splitting up the rest of the wood.  From maple, to walnut, to oak, I have found quite a few beautiful pieces of lumber just by paying attention to the wood I'm splitting for the winter...plus its free!  I'll let this piece, and the other four or five just like it, dry in the shop for a season before I turn it into something.  In this case this piece will become a saw handle, as will some of the others if I don't turn one or two on the lathe first.

Speaking of the lathe, I have turned more practice pieces from "firewood" than I care to count since I set up my lathe last year.  They are often great pieces of wood which take only seconds of prep with a small hatchet or the bandsaw prior to chucking them into the lathe.  Additionally, if I screw up and wreck one I can just toss it in my neighbors fireplace and keep warm while I mooch his wine without worrying about how much I paid for my practice mistake (read: kindling).  Now that I think of it, another benefit to splitting wood for other people is that sometimes they will give you booze for firewood (suckers)!

So next time you have a small project planned, need a new handle for a chisel or saw, are in need of inspiration, or just want to stay warm, consider splitting some wood.

Virtue in Rest

The author of Why Your Life Sucks, Alan Cohen wrote, "There is virtue in work and there is virtue in rest.  Use both and overlook neither."  Unfortunately, the first time I had seen that quote was about ten minutes before I decided to write this.

2012 was a terribly, ridiculously, extremely, ass on fire type of year a really busy year.  So, I took a break (crashed in a fiery blaze) for a few weeks...from just about everything to spend some time with my family and really try to soak in the holiday season.  By soak in the holiday season, I mean I drank beer and ate food until I exploded.  This busy schedule of eating and drinking left me little time to do much else, I know, poor me. Fortunately, that rest was what I needed to get reinvigorated.  Once I started to get fidgety from all the sitting around, I was able to make a list of blog ideas, get some plans ready for a few projects this year and cram in a little reading.

Books are always a welcome gift in my house, especially old ones.  My sister recently took a trip abroad to visit her favorite place on earth, London.  Fortunately for me, I had the wherewithal to remember to ask her to keep an eye out for old woodworking books while she shopped for weird European fashion.  I too love London, but rather than shopping for umbrellas I like to look for antiques.  England (and a lot of Europe for that matter) is a great place to search for old books because, as Eddie Izzard famously pointed out, Europe is where history comes from, which makes finding some of these old out of print books easier in antique book stores in England than here in the U.S.  So in between trying on rubber rain boots and taking artsy photos of old castles, my sister had time to stroll through a few antique book stores.  It just so happened that she brought me back a real gem.

Mmmmmm Delicious Knowledge

This book is chock full of awesome information.  It starts with known properties of wood, touches on species identification, and contains a plethora of plans for woodworking projects from beginner to advanced.    I found some similar books online from a London publisher edited by the same man from the early 1900s.  The book isn't dated so it is hard to tell but it has many traditional projects from the early 1900s inside.  Yes, there is even a rummage tool chest.  I will be building some of these projects this year and I'll scan and post the projects I build as they are being constructed should anyone in need of a good project happen across this blog while looking for cat videos.

Tool Chest Plans, Which I Will Post...

Loaded With Projects From Simple To Chippendale Furniture 

I have a lot in store for the blog this year including some interviews with local woodworkers, the Roubo bench (FINALLY!), some tool making, and a bunch of videos!  Stay tuned because it's about to get exhausting.

O.P.V. Hotrodding A Tote

Other Peoples Videos

For some reason, we have created a culture over the last fifty or so years that is terrified of voiding warranties.  We all seem to be afraid to tamper with stuff from the manufacturer, as if they are watching over our shoulder or as if their product is so perfectly designed and engineered that any tweak will ruin it forever.  I say rubbish.  This has gone as far as manufacturers (ahem...apple...cough) sealing their products or using proprietary fasteners to hold them closed.  This unfortunate mentality often spills over onto tools (power tools included) as well, especially when we pay top dollar for good ones.  I wouldn't hesitate to sharpen a dull blade or flatten the sole of a plane, so why then would I flinch at fixing a tool that hurts my hand?

If a tool is uncomfortable in the hand I find myself hesitating to use it, or not using it as it is intended which makes working with it more difficult.  Why not then, adjust it to fit properly?  The video below was one I was planning to shoot until I watched Mr. Paul Sellers do it better than I ever could.  The music is a little dramatic for woodworking, but the information contained within is golden.  New tools, and many old tools for that matter, scream for modification, refinement and a little tweaking (true tool collectors avert your eyes).     If you are squeamish about modifying an antique tool to fit your hand, pick up a new one and tweak the hell out of that little guy.  Handsaws with wooden handles are a great place to start.  In order to make the handle modifications worth your time you'll need to get one with a decent saw plate and something that can be sharpened.  Many new saws have hardened teeth, which makes them an enormous pain to sharpen but lets them stay sharp for a very long time.  Here is a "2 pack" of stanley saws with "resharpenable" blades, the handles are horrible but that can be changed.  They also have a pre-made "hang hole," as if hanging a saw from the handle somehow hurts the saw.  If you like the hardened teeth you can always tweak a handle or replace the plastic ones with a home made tote and just swap the plate for a new one later if it gets too dull to cut well.  

In any event, here is a great video covering the tweaking of a saw handle made by Mr. Paul Sellers (his entire instructional DVD line is excellent).  I should like to get my videos to this quality some day, but first I'll need to organize my shop.

Restoring a Saw Handle - with Paul Sellers from Artisan Media on Vimeo.

Finish Something.

Like a lot of woodworkers I know, when it comes to finishing a project (as in applying a finish) I have a bad tendency to tune out.  I use a lot of wipe on poly, salad bowl finish (General Finishes brand), paint, or wax because they are easy and go on quick.  I had never thought of applying finish as a "fun" thing to do...until I met Mr. Don Williams.

It isn't as if Mr. Williams suddenly made the process of applying finish entertaining (it is after all, the literal precursor to watching paint dry), he simply provided some insight into traditional finishes that made them entirely approachable and had some results that were anything but boring.  

Just Beeswax

Thorough Thoreau...Part 2

Puzzles can be fun.  As a child, however, I got bored with flat cardboard puzzles easily (I sported a very limited attention span).  The puzzles that kept my interest were the three dimensional interlocking ones, oh, and Legos.  This last weekend, I got to partake in the assembly of a monster puzzle... and it was awesome!

Oak Timbers In Housed Dovetail Form

Over Romancing The Stone.

I have always suspected that we (modern folk) tend to over-romanticize our predecessors a bit.  Before I go any further, I must state that I intend no disrespect to those talented craftsmen who have come before me.  In fact, I hold the the artisans that paved the path for modern woodworkers in high esteem.  I do feel though, that they were a lot more like you and me than many people want to believe...and this is where I will loose some readers forever.

Some Tools Of Old, Ready To Come Home!

Woodworking In America 2012...Part 1

I have finally done the impossible.  I managed to persuade my wife and daughter to come with me on an entirely woodworking-centric getaway weekend.  This may be the first step down the slippery slope that my wife has long feared.  My woodworking addiction has now spilled over into our vacation time.  Their accompaniment, however, has allowed me the pleasure of enjoying my weekend nearly guilt free!  Cincinnati offers them loads to do while I sip from the vast font of knowledge spewing forth from the mouths of the masters (get my geek on in woodworking classes).