Kick Back With a Good PDF

Have fun perusing this huge library of downloadable woodworking books (some very old) online.

Fine Woodworking: Finishing Smackdown

Fine Woodworking hosted an event with Asa Christiana and Michael Peckovich going sander to handplane to see which tool creates a finished surface the fastest. Anatole Burkin emceed the event and two dozen woodworkers from the local community were invited to watch. This video shows some highlights, plus a few of the beautiful pieces of furniture on display at the Taunton Press building, where Fine Woodworking is located.

So who won the event? Let's just say a collective galoot sigh of happiness was heard round the world.

*The video above is one that I made for fun. It just shows some images and footage to give you an idea of what the event looked like and a sense of the friendliness. To see the actual live streaming, please visit the Fine Woodworking site.

Duct Tape of the Magnet World

Rare earth magnet, is there no end to your usefulness?







This walnut mailbox with bloodwood flag has seen better days. But considering it's weathered the elements (though under a covered porch) for the last 9 years, it's not too shabby.

When I built it, I was going for a mission style—simple and sturdy—something nice to greet the mailman. And I came up with all kinds of elaborate ways to attach a flag that would tell him when we had outgoing mail.

Then it occurred to me that rare earth magnets might function as a pivoting mechanism. It worked, and still works perfectly. In fact it has just as strong a pull as ever.

The wooden flag cracked, the mailbox cracked. But the magnet is a real crackerjack.

There's Only One Norm

Nice try, Daisy, but no one can replace Norm Abram.
It's going to take more than a flannel shirt, dungarees, and fake beard to fill his workboots.

Chris Schwarz has declared today "International Dress Like Norm Day." And all across the world, woodworkers are honoring the man who, for 21 years, brought woodworking into our homes, nail guns into our hearts, and triggered an economic tsunami of demand for flannel.

Here's to you, Norm.

Thank you for teaching me how to use power tools.

---------------------

....and by the way, Daisy, you forgot your safety glasses.

Epic Norm-imitation FAIL!

Ladies' Day at Hearne Hardwoods

This past Saturday, four of us from the Harrisburg Women's Woodworking Club visited Hearne Hardwoods in Oxford, PA.

The new showroom that's currently under construction will be spectacular when complete. Let's put it this way—they're using ebony pegs for the mortise and tenon timber framing. I think that says it all.

The current showroom houses samples of exotic and domestic lumber, including some jaw-dropping flitches leaning against the wall.

Two amiable labs who like to pretend your legs are a bridge under which they should travel halfway and then stop, and a fluffy puffball masquerading as a cat greet you upon entry.

The people are friendly and helpful and let you wander throughout the warehouse at your leisure.



The women were choosing lumber for jewellry boxes they plan to build at our next meeting and I was looking for wood for handplanes and whatever else caught my eye.

We came away with Curly Cherry, European Plum, Bocote, and a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

WTO Tip: Implements of Torture

If you missed the Wood Talk Online show last night, check out episode #61 on Marc Spagnuolo's site or Matt Vanderlist's site. They discussed interesting, useful, and funny information that they found on the internet, fielded questions, and invited me back to offer another woodworking tip, which can be heard at the end of the show. Thanks guys!

Eye Candy

The Brown International Tool Auction and Dealer Show was held yesterday and today in Harrisburg, PA, and did not disappoint.

Despite the enormous selection of tempting goodies, I only bought a little caliper and a marking gauge that I had never seen before (photos at right). The dealer, Dan Ludwig, told me it was made by a company called Fulton from Washington, D.C., and was patented in 1888.

It has three marking knives, two of which can be advanced and retracted by unscrewing the knob and sliding the two halves of the body apart. The third knife is friction fit and can be adjusted by pushing or tapping on the iron. I bought it because it was cool and I'd like to make one.

DuCo Tools, from the Netherlands, had several 18th c. carved planes—one built in 1718—the styles of which I had only before seen in books.

Tony Murland had some fine pieces, as well: a carved Dutch plane from 1776 and a carved oilstone holder (both pictured last). The low relief carving of tools on the box's lid was especially eyecatching and has been added to my to-build list.

I also ran into some familiar faces: Lee Richmond, from The Best Things; Shannon Rogers, the Renaissance Woodworker; Jim Leamy, maker of gorgeous plow planes; Tom Graham, from Midwest Tool Collectors Association; and a number of other friends.

What a great way to spend a rainy day!

FWW: Hand vs. Power Tool Showdown

Mark your calendars for November 12 at 1:30 p.m. EST, when two Fine Woodworking staff members go sander to handplane to see who can prepare a finish-ready surface the fastest.

Asa Christiana vs. Michael Pekovich
Sand vs. Steel
Innovation vs. Tradition
Electricity vs. Wheaties

Watch it live on Fine Woodworking's site! Check Facebook and Twitter for my up-to-the-minute coverage! Cheer on your favorite technique!
Be there or be a 4-sided, equilateral, geometric shape!

Click here for more info on this historic event.