Fifty-two years ago, I was released from active military service. I was glad. Almost immediately, I entered college on the GI Bill. I was glad. I majored in history, minored in philosophy. I loved it. I was glad. A liberal arts curriculum requires a student to write, a lot. I was glad… That said, many […]| A Woodworker's Musings
There is no substitute for experience. Your skills become more practiced. Your knowledge base broadens (and, hopefully, deepens). You develop shortcuts that help you expedite the completion of routine tasks. You learn that there are certain rules that can be “bent” without injuring the outcome of a project. And, this is where the arrogance […]| A Woodworker's Musings
Well… It’s a year since my last post. Quite a lot has happened. In October of 2018, my good friend and workmate, Les Elsie passed away. He will be missed by his “brothers”. For the past few years Les and I worked together at least one day a week, trying to get several of his […]| A Woodworker's Musings
Over the last few years, I’ve noticed that there has been renewed interest in (and something of a mystery about) the use of asphaltum in wood finishing. It comes as no surprise that once one of the most widely used products for protecting and finishing wood, is now almost unknown to the majority of modern […]| A Woodworker's Musings
Looking back over 2017’s activity, I see that I posted only four times. Four posts! Not too long ago I’d post four times a week. So what’s happened? After nearly sixty years of woodworking have I had enough? Has “the muse” deserted me? Perhaps. But I doubt it. The last twelve months have included a […]| A Woodworker's Musings
Eight or nine years ago I bought a new lathe. The first thing I did was to make several sets of legs and arm stumps for a pair of Windsor Chairs. I put them into a five gallon pail for safe keeping. There they remained, till now. The first of the pair is nearly complete. […]| A Woodworker's Musings
I met an old friend on the street the other day, a friend I hadn’t seen for a year or so. He walked up to me, smiled broadly and said, “Good Lord, I was sure you had died. You haven’t posted anything since February!”… What an “eye opener!” Truth be told, the past few months […]| A Woodworker's Musings
Woodworking has been subordinated by the work of giving the home interior a new look. But we still manage to scratch out a little time for “making chips.” Les completed another high chair for Raggedy Ann’s soulmate, Andy. Cherry was used and Les opted to give the chair a little “sun tanning.” The result was […]| A Woodworker's Musings
Working in my shop in winter is akin (I imagine) to being sent to the Gulag. Suffice it to say that it’s difficult to be at the top of your game while wearing a toboggan cap, gloves, a sweater and a mackinaw. So the bulk of the winter months provides me with time to […]| A Woodworker's Musings
Those of you who have followed this blog for any length of time know that Les and I tend to work slowly. And, it’s not unusual for us to put aside an unfinished project due to being distracte…| A Woodworker's Musings
Unplugged Woodworking history, philosophy and technique| A Woodworker's Musings
Posts about drawing ellipses written by D.B. Laney| A Woodworker's Musings