Author: admin

One of the missing pieces to the screen porch project of two summers ago was a couch. Looking around the net for suitable couches hasn’t been fun: most stuff is too fussy, grandiose, and/or costly. My wife found a simple offering on Craigslist which we bought for $65. It turns out that the owner hauled it up from the Florida Keys and it got spray painted brown as a family project. There are a couple of dog chewed corners. No matter, we like the simple design and the colorful upholstery (and dogs are my favorite people). The price, too! One repair was essential. A bamboo leg and arm post was broken in a jagged horizontal line right above where …

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May 20, 2016May 20, 2016

“The list of Votator applications has grown very long in the more than 80 years since it was introduced, and I would say there is no one whose life has not been touched by a product heated or cooled in a Votator.” – Tony Mathis, application engineer and product manager for Vogt Freezers and the Votator. votator (plural votators) 1. a machine that cools and kneads liquid margarine etc., preparatory to packaging I grew up knowing that my dad (1891-1973) was the inventor of an important manufacturing process that had to do with liquids and food and that it was called the Votator, a corny sounding moniker that fit his delight in corny humor. There were photographs on the walls …

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May 20, 2016May 20, 2016

Sometimes a tricky problem resolves after a few carefully thought out and tested steps. It then becomes “technique” and the original difficulty fades into distant memory. When I redesigned the bearing strip on the Vogt Shooting Board the result called for a 1/8” x 3/8” strip of acetal to be positioned precisely on the upper edge of a tool steel plate that gets fastened to the ramped sidewall. This process added considerable labor over the previous arrangement, but I knew the improvement was worth it. The challenge was to prevent the strip from sliding, which it wants to do while being pressed against the steel, and minimizing the time required to clean up the squeeze out of epoxy. Cleaning cured …

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May 20, 2016May 20, 2016

A small cherry in the center was pulled almost to the ground by numerous small vines. It is early winter and snowless. Skiers will bemoan the conditions but not those of us who like to tend to trees. The landscape now offers a perfect window in which to deal with vines. The invasive Asian Honeysuckle have finally dropped their leaves and berries, giving access to the large roots of woodland vines that establish themselves under their cover, a nasty synergy. Small trees are easily bent by just a few small vines. A few more and they will be broken and overtaken. Eventually the thick ones reach up high in the crowns of large trees and together with winter storms, cause …

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May 20, 2016May 20, 2016

This past winter of 2015-16 was the warmest ever recorded. It isn’t necessary for me to deduce that from meteorological data, I simply need to look in the checkbook under “snowplowing-driveway” and see a fat 0. Since snow related sports aren’t my thing but being outside and working on woodland projects are, I was, therefore, quite pleased with the season. The calendar year did begin with a welcome vacation to a very remote island. My recuperation from last summer’s hiking misadventure got a boost. Lying on pink sand sure has it over granite. One astonishing phenomenon was our pond covered completely with feathery crystals one morning. There was a great deal of wood splitting with my maul (no wedges). An existing …

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May 20, 2016May 20, 2016

I’ll be the first to admit that I have a slight problem: I’m a little paranoid about dust. I want as little of the stuff in the shop air as possible so I continually seek out means to achieve that end. While I do wear a respirator while I work, I frequently have to talk on camera shortly after making cuts that put dust directly into the air. Recently I decided to address two concerns with two separate upgrades. Cyclone Exhaust First, I got rid of my cyclone’s double filter stack and instead opted to vent the fine dust through the wall and outside. The Wynn filter stack I had worked well but it does require frequent …

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May 20, 2016May 20, 2016

Yesterday was the last day of the Guild Apprenticeship with Guild member David Nichols. David was a good sport and proved to be a great helper all month long. He even helped me refine the design of the Barrister’s Bookcase, collaborating with me on joinery and finishing details. Today being my first “office day” in a month, I’m left pondering the whole experience and the lessons learned. One such lesson is one that we all need to remember: mistakes happen. In the first week, a mistake was made that required us to have a complete mulligan. We were building the side frames for the Barrister’s Bookcase and after a quick dry assembly, I noticed a big …

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May 20, 2016May 20, 2016

Every month we like to give back to our audience with great tool giveaways! This month we have prizes from Arbortech, Brusso Hardware and QALO Rings! See all of the products in action below and support these amazing companies! Click here for a consolidated list of all the past winners and prizes Arbortech Turbo Shaft is designed to complement the Arbortech TURBO range or as a stand-alone tool, the TURBO Shaft provides detailed freehand carving to perfectly combine efficiency and control. The TURBO Shaft fits most standard angle grinders and is fitted with replaceable carbide teeth for excellent performance and durability, even when working with the hardest timber. The adjustable depth gauge makes it quick and easy to set …

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May 20, 2016May 20, 2016

At first glance, a turned box doesn’t look all that complicated. It’s essentially two bowls that come together with a mortise and tenon joint. But to pull this “simple” project off you’ll need to execute a specific series of steps giving you access to the inside and outside of both the lid and the base, and you’ll also need to carefully finesse the joint so that the two pieces come together in a satisfyingly snug fit. The Blank I used some scrap 12/4 walnut to make my box, which yielded final box dimensions of 2 3/4″ in diameter and 3″ in height. You can make your box smaller or larger but make sure your blank will accommodate …

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May 20, 2016May 20, 2016