GPS Tool Tracking
June 30, 2008
Here's some great news from Remodeling Magazine's Chris Keimig: A partnership for Tool Tracking between Ford and DeWalt called "ToolLink": "Coming this fall, Ford will offer DeWalt's Tool Link — a product with the capability to take inventory of all materials in a truck before and after you've visited a jobsite — as an upgrade in all of its F-Series trucks and E-Series vans." ~ click here to read more ~ Read More →
Lumberjocks Summer Woodworking Contest
June 30, 2008
Hey all you woodworkers ~ head to your shop and turn on the fans cause Lumberjocks has just announced their annual Summer Woodworking Contest. Prizes include a 70-piece Master Router Bit Set, Jack Rabbit Deluxe Set, Eagle America Router Bit Set and more! You Get Two Ways to Win: 1. One Man's Junk – ... is a LumberJock's treasure! We're testing your creativity on this one. So, put your woodworking caps on and think of an innovative way to reuse some old hardware, reclaimed...
Cabinet Progress: Top Drawer Completed
June 30, 2008
Since the family is away for a few days I’ll be able to spend some time in the garage and finish up construction of the cabinet. This evening I worked on the drawer. It ended up being a bit deeper than I thought, which is a good thing. I was afraid it was going to end up too shallow and unusable. Assembly was pretty straightforward. I think the trickiest part was figuring out how to create a set of guide rails so that it 1) had something to rest on and 2) wouldn’t tip when you pulled...
Royale with Cheese…
June 30, 2008
I was talking to a close friend today about differentiating twins. I mentioned that my nephews Harrison and Jackson are the most identical pair of human beings I have ever encountered. The only discernible difference is that Harrison has an Alec Baldwin-esque voice that sounds like he smokes 4 packs of Lucky Strikes per day (that is excessive for a 5 year old). I just cannot imagine my two nephews being apart. For example, once when Gail and I were babysitting the twins and their 3 siblings,...
Sharpening a Dovetail Plane
June 30, 2008
Abe Lincoln once said "Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe."Well, I spent 6. 5 hours on Saturday fiddling around with the blades on the dovetail plane and got pretty good, but not perfect, results. The blades were easy—too easy—to sharpen. Too easy, because I realized they had not been heat treated. That's fine if you're working with pine, but to plane curly cherry meant having to resharpen blades that were being nicked by the hard wood and...
How to Green Your Lawn
June 30, 2008
Author: RealWorldGreenAdded: Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:50:26 -0800Duration: 265In the real world, a perfect green lawn is not very green. Learn how to have an eco lawn, with these green tips from Eric on Real World Green. Rate, comment and subscribe and join us at http://www.green-house.tv for more! Read More →
A Toolmaker In the Family
June 30, 2008
My dad, Wayne Bower, has been making turning tools since he started turning in 2006, but recently he finished up what I think is his crowning achievement. (next to his wooden homemade mini lathe) He made a snake hollower, also know as an elbow hollowing tool. A great discussion about it can be seen on Family Woodworking here. Previously he had also made a D-handled capturing rig as well. I've had the pleasure of using it before and can't wait to use the new snake tool. Here are some pictures of the...
It’s 97 degrees outside!
June 30, 2008
That was my mid-afternoon weather observation offering to my patient, devoted wife, as I stood dripping in our kitchen. I’m not like other woodworkers; I have the benefit of an air conditioned shop. I’m bragging, I realize, but after all that’s something worth bragging about. I’m just very glad to have a shop at all, let alone one that is so well air conditioned, and air conditioning that uses no electricity as a bonus! Okay, by now you are beginning to catch on. My shop...
Bob’s Bench – Completed Bench and Friendly Wager
June 30, 2008
Last Thursday I put the finishing touches on my new workbench, just in time for a Friday-morning photo session. The plan was to shoot on location, and editor Christopher Schwarz and I were discussing the plan. The one item not resolved was actually moving the bench from our shop to another shop with a more photogenic parking lot. Chris proposed moving the bench completely assembled, and I said "why don't we just take it apart and move the pieces? I think that will be easier." His...
All Digital Back Issues 50 Percent Off (Plus Free Samples)
June 30, 2008
You can now download any issue of Popular Woodworking back to late 1999. No more sold-out back issues. Or waiting on the postal service for some project you need today. To introduce you to this service on our site, we're doing a couple special things: First, this month we're running a special on our web site – 50 percent off all digital downloads when you enter the coupon code PWDD50. So all the back issues that normally cost $6 now cost $3. This special price is available...
Making Sawdust
June 30, 2008
Started construction of the cross cut sled for my tablesaw last week. I'm generally following the plans as shown in the current issue of Shop Notes. I'm using 1/2" & 3/4" MDF instead of the plywood that the author of the article used. From all I've read MDF is very stable and won't warp like plywood does.I picked up an Incra miter track from the Rockler store for the slide. It has a good fit in the track and when installed following their directions it is adjustable from the top of the sled...
What’s wrong with this picture?
June 30, 2008
What's wrong with this picture?Maybe I'm not working as hard on my 'Working From Home' day as I should be. The thing is, I can't stop thinking about how to divide up the wood for the XLeg Table, which I start working on in class tomorrow. I have 6 boards of 5/4 poplar to work with - all varying lengths. The two in the picture below are simialr in length, but the darker one is not as wide as the lighter one - obviously. A huge deciding factor in which borads I use for which...
Try Monogamy: L.S. Starrett Combination Squares
June 29, 2008
One of the best recommendations I’ve ever received in the world of hand tools came from a power-tool user who has 660-volt three-phase pumping through his veins. It’s 1996, and I’m a newly minted managing editor at Popular Woodworking. David Thiel, then an associate editor at the magazine, has been assigned to give me a tour of the workshop and check me out on the machines. I’ve been woodworking on my back...
Bread Board Ends
June 29, 2008
John is working on completing the Trestle Table I used my tax stimulus money to buy a flat screen TV. The problem is that I have to walk past the TV to get to the shop. So I was enjoying TV in all it flatness when I saw the end of the table sticking out of the shop. It seemed to beckon me as it lay there cupped and in need of work. But, I am a man, so I grabbed the remote and ignored it. Now I am back at it and dealing with the cup across the width of the table. The...
Wendell Castle Interview - Part 1
June 29, 2008
This is a very important interview for the furniture design and woodworking community as a whole with Wendell Castle.Those of you who follow the blog are prepared for this interview. You have been exposed to his web site, gone through his design process, and I have built a piece inspired by Castle in stack and bent lamination, techniques that Castle brought to the forefront in pushing furniture design. This interview is the culmination of presenting to you, a very important figure in our craft.We...
More travel time
June 29, 2008
I am done with the 2 week training coarse in Tulsa, OK. After a very brief stay in Mobile, just to pick up some stuff and kiss the wife, I am back on the road to Charleston, SC. I grabbed a very modest selection of hand tools. Hopefully I can continue my woodworking. If not I [...] Read More →
Oh….I Forgot to Mention…
June 28, 2008
My niece Hannah turned 12 today. Because there were pre-teen girly sleepover things happening at her house, Gail and I invited her 10 year old brother, Isaac, to spend the night with us last night.Isaac and I played Wii. I am not a video game person, but as soon as I tried Wii bowling last year, I knew I had to have one. Isaac doesn't even have a Wii, but as an American 10 year old he has logged about 3000 more Wii hours than me, a full fledged Wii owner. However, I had never attempted Wii golf...
Entertainment Center 4
June 28, 2008
Episode 8 - What I learned this week 2008.06.27
June 28, 2008
A Bone To Pick With Home DepotI’ve got a bone to pick with Home Depot. In a neighboring town, less than 5 minutes from my house, we have a Home Depot and a Lowes in adjacent parking lots. While Lowes is not really harder to get to than HD, I choose to go to HD because I find more of a selection of products – even if the average knowledge of the typical employee has diminished greatly over the past 5 years. If I shop there so much, what problem could I have with them? ...
Episode 24: Where The Heck Are My Chisels?
June 27, 2008
Click here to play In this week’s episode we discuss the various options available for hand tool storage. Ten bonus points will be awarded to those who can correctly identify how many times I say the word “lament.” Read More →
Entertainment Center 3
June 27, 2008
Dovetail Plane
June 27, 2008
I purchased a double-bladed dovetail plane from Clarence Blanchard of Fine Tool Journal some time ago. Clarence assured me that while the plane is not a showpiece, it is a good user...and he was right!My current project has sliding dovetails that attach the top to the base. I have cut sliding dovetails onlyonce before with just a saw and chisels, so I've been looking forward to dusting off my dovetail plane and using it for the first time. Without any sharpening or honing, you can see in the first...
Caulk singles. Fun for the whole family
June 27, 2008
Well, maybe not, but they look like they are supposed to be fun.Have a little caulking to do, but don't need a full tube? Or maybe you don't even own a caulking gun. GE has taken something that already exists , put it in a fancy package, given you less, and is charging you more. Why? Read More →
Goodbye Old Unisaw
June 27, 2008
How about this news? Delta is introducing a new version of its flagship table saw, the Unisaw. That’s probably not such big news since at Delta’s big AWFS event last July in Las Vegas an early prototype was shown (click here for videos from the show). But here’s the real news: This saw is to be built in the United States. Could we be looking at a turning point in woodworking machinery? Could this be the beginning of a swing back to "good ole US of A" manufacturing? The...
The Shop Goldfish
June 27, 2008
By way of being employed in a position that moves it’s people around a lot, I’ve had occasion to re-think my shop several times. Each time feels like a start-up shop except with old friends; tools collected during the last set-up. Take, for instance, the squeaky, shiny Rabone folding rule I scored in a Georgetown, KY antique store more than a decade ago. It was a really nice location to visit during a really peaceful time in my life. The fact that it was worth 1000% of what I paid for it doesn’t...
Marshalltown Enforcer Texture Sprayer FAQ
June 27, 2008
Marshalltown's ENFORCER backpack texture/mud sprayer is quite possibly the coolest texture spraying tool around. With a capacity of 2.5 gallons, the Marshalltown ENFORCER can spray Acoustic/Popcorn, Orange Peel/Fine Splatter, Splatter, Knockdown, EIFS, Stucco, and Deck Coatings/Decorative Concrete Overlay. Unlike a traditional hopper texture gun, the enclosed tank makes spills thing of the past. It works with any standard air compressor and has a maximum output of 1.75 gallons per minute. Personally,...
282 Lumber Species of the Month - Spalted Lumber
June 27, 2008
It's been a little while but lumber species of the month is back again. Today though, we're not talking about a specific species of lumber but more of an beneficial defect that can be found in lumber. Spalted lumber refers to any lumber in which a fungus or mold has begun to decay the wood and leaves a really unique pattern and color in the grain that looks like nothing else. Thanks to Highland Woodworking for donating a WoodSlicer Resaw Bandsaw Blade for...
Another Custom Railing
June 26, 2008
6/20/08 Sam's had a busy week. He whipped up a table/island base for a local cabinetmaker, has been working with Jim on the grill parts and finished up the tapered, trapezoidal posts and bases for a custom contemporary railing that he's working on. The 'feet', (steel plates with threaded supports) will be lagged through the treads and into the stringers and and then the posts will be bolted to them giving them a clean contemporary look. After mounting them and making patterns on Monday he'll fabricate...
Rhubarb Sauce, a New Way to Use Rhubarb
June 26, 2008
Author: GardenforkAdded: Thu, 26 Jun 2008 17:50:03 -0800Duration: 343When you mention Rhubarb, everyone thinks of Rhubarb Jam. On Gardenfork, we show you a neat recipe for rhubarb sauce and, of course, the Labradors help out. Watch the show, then get the recipe on our green/cooking/gardening/country/city living ... Read More →
Win $1500 in Bosch tools
June 26, 2008
All you have to do is register your Bosch tools and you will automatically be entered to win. Remember, only one entry per person. Winner will receive:Power Box Advanced Jobsite Radio (PB10-CD) 18V Brute Tough Combo Kit (CPK40-18) Litheon Pocket Driver (PS20) Litheon I-Driver (PS10) 18V Cordless Fastening Driver (23618) Digital Laser Rangefinder Kit (DLR165K) Recip Blade Kit (S10PKDP) Cordless Circ Saw Blade(CBCL518A)Good Luck. Read More →
