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Slant Lid Tool Chest Class
WHAT:A class marrying both the skills of traditional blacksmithing and traditional hand tool woodworking with the goal of making a highly attractive slant lid chest with a drop front.WHO: The...
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Installing A Blacksmith Made Plane Stop
I am not usually interested at throwing darts at any product offered on the woodworking market, but I have a few sore spots, things I've come to believe in deeply, that require some criticism from me.I...
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Changing Gears
I have a white board in my shop that lists the projects I have in front of me. This spring it was nearly full. I had thrown my everything into prep for the Dutch Tool Chest Class combined craft class...
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Three Parts Why
A few weeks ago I upgraded from a splint, to a motion limiting brace that I think looks like a starter kit for an Iron Man costume. It limits my elbow from 60* to 110* and I wear it 23 hours a day...
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ABK: Always Be Knolling
Knolling: The art of organizing similar items into the same space and arranging them in neat rows and lines. A well known and understood process in the Lego building circles I find it amusing that it...
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Summer Vacation 2K19!!
When people find out I got hurt (a torn distal biceps tendon) and this resulted in a significant time away from both my shop and my paying day job (16 weeks in total) the common well-meaning response...
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Introducing "The Memory Remains"
Mavrik is a aged wizard from a fantasy world. He has fought wars, won riches, negotiated with dragons and bedded queens. He retired to his tower to rest and read and nap whenever he damn well pleased....
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Good Hours.
I never had a person "teach" me anything about woodworking. I don't remember growing up with a single true lesson or lecture on the importance of reading, self-reliance, work ethic, or being a man....
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Passion Project Progress
Mavrik the Sorcerer suffers from dementia, it’s easy for him to get caught up in the memories of glory past. But what about the horror relentlessly approaching his doorstep? Will he recover enough of...
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Inside A Dutch Tool Chest
This past spring Tom Latanè and I teamed up for a joined craft class mixing blacksmithing and woodworking. Students forged hinges, a static hasp, loop, and escutcheon with Tom and I walked them through...
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A Rant And A Confession For My Conscience...
Not what I sat down to write this morning...this round's been in the chamber a while, I guess it finally triggered.Sponsorships, or the illusion or assumption of them is a weird stigma inside this...
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2020 Combined Craft Class
I only get to teach one class a year and I'm so lucky to offer it in conjunction with Blacksmith Thomas Latane. I get to teach a group of students hand tool woodworking techniques. He teaches them...
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Inside a Dutch Tool Chest: Saw Storage
This will be a quick series walking through my decisions in kitting out the inside of my new Dutch Tool Chest. The possible ways to do this are exponential in number and I'm not even imagining my...
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Inside A Dutch Tool Chest: Plane Storage
Continuing this quick series on kitting out the inside of my new Dutch Tool Chest. I understand that everyone tackles the problem differently and everyone's tools and needs are different, but I still...
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With All Apologies
If there's something to be learned in the lessons of the current world it's how insignificant your plans or desires are in the face of everything possible. You cannot control the world, not even one...
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Recuperation.
Welcome to The Well Of Overthinking. Draw up the bucket and ladle out a draught of the cursed waters. Introspection will follow forever after.For a long time I’ve obsessed over a stupid and wasteful...
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New Goals, New Normals, Same Steps Forward.
A little over a decade ago I started clicking keys on this blog for one real reason. I wanted to get more comfortable with writing. My deepening interest in woodworking gave me something to write about...
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Appreciation and Concern
I've lumbered into the my basement studio, coffee in hand, to steal some time and do some proofreading on a project and maybe plan out an illustration. As I settled into the beaten wingback I do...
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Zen and the Art of Vicious Cycle Maintenance .
I’m embarrassed to admit this is my shop when I walked in this afternoon. It’s bad. It’s really bad. But worse - it’s not “I have a dozen projects I’m juggling” bad. It’s an “I haven’t really been...
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You Gave Me All The Answers but I Only Want To Hear Them From You…
I’ve worked in healthcare since 1994. I started as a CNA, 3rd shift in a nursing home and I’ve worked as a Surgical Technologist since graduating in 1999. A week and a day ago (2/6) was my worst day...
View ArticleUrn Build Design Video Diary: Day Zero
There is no point in fighting your nature. I cannot allow a loved one to purchase one of the horrible production urns available from the Funeral Home. Even if they have a nice burl grained wood, they...
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Darrel W. Olson.
Darrel W. Olson Darrel Wayne Olson, 74, of West Salem, Wisconsin, unexpectedly passed away at Gundersen Healthcare in La Crosse Wisconsin on Feb. 6th, 2022 He was born in Roseau, Minnesota to...
View ArticleUrn Build Design Video Diary: Day One
My father's official funeral service was yesterday. Not to ruin the suspense... but I did finish the urn in time. Since I did shoot the majority of the build, I will work my way through and post the...
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The Fortune of a Lucky Moment.
Noon…Vacation…No plans other than not going anywhere…First Gin & Tonic of the day...Jack White booming on the Bluetooth speaker…Shedding my velvet…Sunshine…Comfy pants…Just me and my wife… Middle...
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My Leap Of Faith.
Hi guys! Remember me? This post is an end AND this post is a beginning. I have chosen to call an end to this Blog, It will stay here - but I won't be adding much to it if anything ever again. (Sounds...
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