‘Tis better to give than to receive.‘ I have absolutely no idea where that saying comes from, but I do understand the sentiment. Getting gifts from others always makes me feel a little embarrass. But giving a gift is certainly a joyous feeling. Even more so, if the gift was made by my own hands […]
So, I was pointlessly plunking around on the internet the other day, when I should have been down in my shop, merrily creating something that would make me happy. But I came across a question in a chat room that inspired this column. “I have always admired people who can build things from wood. But […]
Unless you have studied industrial design or architecture, you may never have heard of a man by the name of George Nelson. But his singular genius affects almost everything you create in your woodworking shop. Nelson hit his stride as a designer in the 1940’s, and by the mid-50’s he had essentially created a style […]
There isn’t a living room in the world that doesn’t have a coffee table sitting in front of the sofa. It is probably the single most common piece of furniture ever made. Coffee tables get abused. Drinks, hot and cold, get set on them. Food gets spilled on them. Flower pots create water rings. Magazines […]
The Whirligig is a glorified wind vane that harnesses the power of the wind to move a little cutout of a (usually) human figure back and forth in a repetitive motion. Sometimes this poor little puppet is endlessly chopping or sawing the same piece of wood. Or it’s a golfer who swings away relentlessly at […]
You build a beautiful backyard patio, create lush gardens around the edges, and surround it with grass so green that it almost hurts your eyes. Still, something is missing. While the patio creates a useful space just outside the back door, the rest of the yard doesn’t really provide any sort of gathering place. It […]
There is nothing more satisfying for a woodworker than to watch two pieces of wood become perfectly mated together as you tighten the screws, set the mortise and tenon, or slide the dovetails together. Creating the perfect joint that permanently turns two pieces of wood into a seamless, enduring creation is after all, the essence […]
So, you want to build a bookcase. Whoop-de-doo. It’s a rectangular structure with horizontal shelves. About as exciting as watching the grass grow, right? Now, what if I told you that your bookcase could be used to hide the best secret in your entire house? Using a bookcase to hide a secret room is certainly […]
If your dog has a life anything like mine does, you have to admit that he’s a member of the family. At dinner time, all of the humans sit on nice chairs at a beautiful wood table. But poor little Frankie eats out of a bowl on the floor. It’s time to change that. My […]
As woodworkers, we are always looking for new things to build. Tables, chairs, cabinets. All kinds of pieces to beautify our homes with the elegance of personally handcrafted fine wood furniture. But when we think about what our children would like for their birthday, for example, we run to the store and buy the latest […]