Back in the saddle....

It's almost time to get.... 

OK, maybe not exactly, but I'm definitely on the mend. 

If you've noticed that I've been a little quiet lately, it's only because things happened over here that were out of my control. And I really didn't have a clean head to blog about anything.... modern pharmaceuticals have a way of blurring my ability to write anything coherent. 

 I had a little health scare recently, that included a nasty little surgery. 

And I'll be honest - I think 40+ years of being in contact with toxic materials like wood finishes, caustic fumes, toxic wood products and all the miscellaneous substances that woodworkers encounter every day made that surgery necessary. Of course, I'm no doctor, but there just wasn't a simple reason why my body took the hit that it did.

Luckily, my results were good, and I'll be back to normal (whatever that is!) soon. Thanks to everyone for their well wishes, and especially to my sister and brother-in-law who helped me recover in record time. I appreciate all of you!

Ch-ch-changes....

There have been some big changes over here, and a few of you have written, asking about them.

 And we all know the old adage - nothing is as constant as change. 

I officially retired from teaching a few weeks ago, and luckily - found the best person to take the reins at the shop. 

Say hello to the new owner of Wood It Is! - Jeff Sher has been working with wood for decades, and has been teaching at the shop for a few years. He's smart, talented, and has the perfect personality for coaxing the best out of people.  

I couldn't be happier that he's going to take the school to the next level. His vision for upcoming classes, combined with an openness to hear everyone's opinions about what they want to learn, puts him at the top of the teaching list, in my book. 

I've thought long and hard about what it takes to be a good instructor.  Yes, skill is right up there; you have to know how to design and build quality pieces in order to help people learn how to do the same. Everyone runs into problems from time to time, but the key is knowing how to solve those issues quickly, and with good results. 

And also - I think this is awfully important in teaching - you never want to make your students feel like they've done something that can't be fixed. Or that they've asked a "dumb" question. There are no dumb questions. 

Encouragement is the greatest motivator.

So I hope you'll welcome Jeff into the mix, and consider taking a class with him someday. (He has a few coming up at the end of this month.)

As for me - I'm going back to being a maker. I've moved some tools into a new shop, and look forward to getting back to building furniture again soon. 

But - I'm REALLY looking forward to work with clay again. It's been ages since I've thrown a pot, or glazed a tile. But this wooden mechanical creation by Oliver Pett got me revved up again. 

So if you don't find me at the shop, you'll probably spy me near the slab roller or the wheel. 

Trust me, there are enough designs in my head to fill up a decade or two! 

Speaking of that, here are a few memorable moments of classes at the shop. 

We've had great artists who share their insane talents. Like Master Carver Dennis, who takes students beyond their wildest woodworking imaginations.

And Len - who was always so well prepared, good natured and genuinely cared about his students and their work. 

The classes out at Nellis were always fun!

You know what we did a lot of?... laughing and making friends, all while building. 

Sometimes it could be intense,

 but in the end, I don't think you'll find a single students who didn't enjoy it... the camaraderie, the cool projects, and the skills. 

It's all about the skills. 

Some people even fall in love!

Anyway, I've loved every minutes of my 28 years of teaching - so thanks for the memories!

By the way - this student's course evaluation is one of my favorites.  

Thanks everyone - don't let your (design) guard down... keep making beautiful work.

Two nightstands, from start to finish...

 Ever wonder how a custom piece gets designed and built? 

It usually starts with a picture from a client. Like this picture that was sent.

But sometimes it's not that formal... I've worked from a simple sketch on a napkin! 

In this case, I had this link that gave me an idea of what they wanted. But the table shown in that link wasn't the right height. Nor the right tabletop size. Nor did it have the right number of drawers. THAT'S why someone contacts me! 

I love building smaller pieces like these - they're manageable and interesting to build. When I'm given some guidelines, I usually come up with a simple sketch, like the one shown below.

 And once we agree on a design (we made a few changes) I run to the lumberyard and choose the material. These carcases usually go together fairly quickly/

It's the detail work that is slower, and demands more time. 

Building drawers and hanging them, not to mention attaching the drawer faces, is a true test of one's skills. 

 Then there's the finishing... in this case, three coats of a hand rubbed oil finish, plus a top coat of paste wax. 

I'll be taking a bit of a break from building in the next few months. I'm having some health issues (problems, dammit!) and until we figure it out, I can't take on any projects. 

Wish me luck, and I'll keep you posted!

BTW - a huge thank you to Brenda and Mike, who have ordered so many cool pieces through the years. They're patient, have wonderful taste in furniture, and are so supportive to artists like me. I love building pieces for them!

I've only just begun...

It's been an interesting spring - full of SO many repairs that I can barely keep track of them. This cedar chest is over 100 years old,  and this new lid will hopefully give it many more years of enjoyment.  The new strip of wood on the front edge of the lid is a completely different color, so I had to work like crazy to tint it to match. 

It was a little darker than I wanted it to be, but still... a pretty decent repair. 

The chest was SO old and beaten up that the new piece of wood on the lid didn't match very well. The wood needed to be distressed, to "age" it a bit. For anyone with anger management issues, distressing wood is a great way to get some of that out of their system. I put some old nails and screws into a sock, and beat the top with it. The dents and bruises looked as if they'd always been there.

 I even ordered some cedar oil and rejuvenated the inside of the chest... the aroma was lovely.  

But as soon as that chest left the shop, this rocker wandered in. Well.. the owner of it wandered in, hoping for a repair. This poor chair came in in pieces, and it's a hot mess. 

I'm not sure if someone else attempted to repair it, or if it was built this way - but most of the joints were reinforced with nails. Coaxing them out with needle nosed pliers, 

and then pulling them with a crowbar out filled my afternoon. Anyone who thinks woodworking is exciting needs to think again.

There are so many broken tenons and new parts that need to be made... I'm not sure  how this is going to turn out.

I mean - who nails wood together?!? 

I had a handful of these by the time I was done... and I've only just begun. 

 While I was pulling nails,  students in the other room wrapped up the last day of their mini-workbench class. These benches are the handiest things ever, and she's going to get a ton of use out of this one!  

This work on the chair has only begun - and it made me think of this oldie....

Wish me luck!

Can we brag about one of our students?

 We teach a lot of great classes at the school, but what's even better - we meet some of the best people in Las Vegas. James is one of them. 

When we met James a few months ago at one of Jeff's Pen Turning classes, we had a special fondness for him. It's not just his sweet personality, but the story behind him. How he found his way to the school, and how he planned on turning a class (and his passion!) into something spectacular.

See, just 2 weeks after James turned 7 years old, he was diagnosed with grade 4 Glioblastoma Brain Cancer and given 8-14 months to live. 

Shortly after, James family received the news that he would be granted his Wish of meeting Santa at his summer home in Florida! 

Cancer is not only a physical battle, but a mental one too and the Florida vacation was just what James needed to continue the fight.

Here he is…7 years later, not only surviving but thriving. 

This past weekend, James participated in a fundraiser was Walk for Wishes benefiting Make-A-Wish Southern Nevada. 

When they sent us an invitation to come to the fundraiser, we couldn't resist!

He found his passion (and meditation) in woodworking. 

When asked yesterday at Walk for Wishes what his wish would be now at 14 years old…he immediately said “a workshop”. 

He donated $7 from every pen sale directly to Make-A-Wish. 

Why $7? 

He was 7 years old when diagnosed, 7 years old when his Wish was granted and it’s been 7 years since that diagnosis! 

 I suspect that James has a bright future - not only health-wise, but with his creativity.

 In fact, he has superpowers! 

If you'd like to know more about James, here's a link to his website. It's not fully up and running yet, but you can sign up for his mailing list. 

He has plans to open up an Etsy store, and if he does - please consider buying a pen from him. It's a small gesture, but means a great deal to a young woodworker like him. 

We couldn't be more proud! 

Sure, I can fix that!

Repairs? Sure, I can fix that!

I can't remember another time when there have been more repairs coming into the shop. Chairs, tables, cabinets - you name it, it's probably sitting in my shop. 

Maybe it's Spring cleaning, when people look around their homes and decide to tackle furniture projects the they've been ignoring. During the last couple of weeks, it's been almost overwhelming, especially when these repairs add to the growing list of other pieces I'm building. 

A friend asked me why I bother with repairs.... so here's a story about why I do them.

Years ago, when my family moved from Los Angeles to Ohio, an aunt of mine purchased a small roll-top desk for me. 

But it was missing the drawers. 

We tried find someone to make drawers for the desk... it was nearly impossible. These weren't anything special - just some simple boxes to fit into the drawer openings on the desk. (We had the drawer faces, we just needed the drawer boxes.)

Finally, an employee at a local lumberyard agreed to make them. And even though he had a good heart, the drawers he made were really crude - plywood boxes, the sides were nailed together, and the bottoms stapled in place. All in all - just about the WORST drawer construction ever. 

I remember how hard it was to find someone to do this simple project, and it stuck with me. 

So that's why I do repairs - people need simple woodworking stuff done. 

Like the fellow who brought his son's baseball bat into the shop this week.

He'd chipped the end off, and the wasn't allowed to use the bat until it was fixed. 

I cut the end off, 

taped it to protect the finish, 

and routed a curve back into the end on the router table. 

It burned a little, 

but was easily sanded. All in all, about a 5-minute repair! I didn't even charge him for the repair, it was so simple, and he's a good customer of mine. 

Honestly, I don't even remember half of the repairs I do - they come and go so quickly. 

But this one is a challenge!

 The fellow that brought in these table legs hates their style. He wanted me to turn the lower section into a squared off, taper - and I had to stop and think this one over!

Challenge accepted!

There wasn't any way to simply cut that lower part into a taper. So I decided to make a new lower leg, and attach the two pieces together.

Luckily, the leg still had markings on the end from previous lathe work at the factory where it was made. 

So I put it on the lathe, and cut a tenon on the end, first using a parting tool to cut a clean edge. 

Once I had a clean cut, I made a 1" tenon for attaching the lower leg. 

The size was critical; the digital caliper showed me how close I was. It's just 1/64" too big. 

After I shaved it down just a hair more, I cut the leg apart. 

  I also cut a 1" hole in a piece of scrap, to test it. 

Perfect! 

I still have to make the four tapered legs next, and attach the two. 

Honestly, I don't mind these small jobs - they keep my woodworking skills sharp.

What are you working on?