Well, here we are, once again coming up on Thanksgiving Day. Every year, around this time, we are compelled to assess our situations, block out all of the fortunate things in our lives and express gratitude for them. (more…)

2009 has seen the passing of two very well known and admired woodworking icons, Sam Maloof and Jim Krenov. But we also lost another fine craftsman in Alan Peters who died on October 11th. (more…)

This famous quote by Frank Lloyd Wright came after getting a commission, breaking a long dry spell. It took on new meaning for me last week when I closed a deal to provide a fairly large amount of woodwork for a local restaurant. (more…)

Yes, I am a veteran. But I am one of those who had the dubious honor of being a veteran of the only war America ever fought and lost. I have always been somewhat ambiguous about Veteran’s Day. On the one hand I feel that it’s only fitting that we acknowledge the contributions of those who have served their country. But, being completely confounded by the idea of wars in the first place, I can’t quite shake off the sense that we might better serve and honor the memory of those who have been subjected to this horror by making sure that no one ever has to go through that again. (more…)

We have all heard the old expressions about there being more than one way to accomplish a task. This is particularly true in woodworking. In fact there are usually so many different methods available that it is sometimes difficult to decide which would be the “right” way. (more…)

There is no arguing about the appeal of a new, good quality, “high tech” machine. There is something about the sleek lines, the digital readouts, the touchpad controls, the overall look and feel, that makes us want them in our shops in spite of the fact that they can be hideously expensive or that we might not actually need them or have sufficient applications to keep them running at the clip we would need to in order to justify the cost. (more…)