Friday, March 15, 2024

my ETSY shop

I've published some additional items for sale in my ETSY shop. You can find it here: https://dougstowe.etsy.com

By selling a few things, I make room to make more.

Make, fix and create... Assist others in learning likewise.

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Torii tables

I do some furniture that slips away without people in our local community seeing it so many folks are unacquainted with the range of my work.

The tables shown I call Tori tables as they are inspired by Japanese architecture, most particularly the shape of a Torii Temple gate.

I'm sharing my work here in the hopes of attracting folks to apply for my 2024 Woodworking Residency at ESSA. The details can be found on the ESSA website. https://essa-art.org/instructors/residency-program/

Some of the aspects of the Torii Table are  exposed mortise and tenon joints, the shape (of course) and the treatment of the wood, with each piece managed with a sense of reverence for the  material and for the tree from which it came. In addition to the wedged through tenons the tops are floating with the expansion and contraction allowed to take place toward the middle of the table... A future I illustrated in my second Fine Woodworking article "A Fresh take on Table Tops," published in 2006.

Want to take your work to the next level? Perhaps I can help.

Make, fix and create...

Sunday, March 10, 2024

C.P. Huntington

Let me say to you that all honest work is honorable work. If the labor is manual, and seems common, you will have all the more chance to be thinking of other things, or of work that is higher and brings better pay, and to work out in your minds better and higher duties and responsibilities for yourselves, and for thinking of ways by which you can help others as well as yourselves, and bring them up to your own higher level. — C.P. Huntington (1821-1900)

How many times have you been involved in manual work, and had your mind wander in ways that brought some form of gift to others or to yourself? It happens all the time. Never underestimate the value of mindless work. It offers unseen pleasures and surprises, when we invite the right spirit to attend.

Make, fix and create...

Friday, March 08, 2024

adapted hand screw

I've started a small oak stand for miscellaneous in our second bathroom and have been cutting and planing stock. In the meantime, I modified an old hand screw by cutting the handles off and replacing them with octagonal ones on each end of the threaded rods.

These will fit the wrench I made yesterday and  will allow the hand screw to be used as a vise when clamped to a table, desk or bench. The wrench will enable young hands to get the hand screw tight. The shop made octagonal handles are white oak and are glued to the threaded rods with epoxy.

My simple point is that every classroom in America should be readied for hands-on learning.

Am I crazy or what?  I'm powerless to make the changes I have in mind, so that's where you and others can join in. 

My book Designing Boxes has had the publication date changed to June 25, 2024.

Make, fix and create... Assist others in learning likewise.

Thursday, March 07, 2024

Mentored residency in wood.

The deadline to apply for my mentored residency program at ESSA approaches. More information can be found on the ESSA website, including the application material. https://essa-art.org/instructors/residency-program/


As leader of the program, I'm author of 15 woodworking books and over 100 articles in various woodworking magazines including Fine Woodworking. While I'm best known for box making, I've also done a lot of furniture design published in books and articles and for individual clients. For instance, the table shown was for a contractor in Little Rock and is assembled with mortise and tenon joints and sliding dovetails. The rocks embedded in the wood are a theme used in some of my furniture work and boxes.

Residents in the workshop will have full use of the ESSA machine room, lathe room and bench room, my experience in helping to move to the next level in their work, and on campus lodging. Larry Copas, a local woodworker with profound experience in all kinds of machine use will also be available as a resource to residents. You may contact me directly with questions if you like.

Make, fix and create...

Wednesday, March 06, 2024

hand screw

Today I made a simple hand screw, but using common all thread and barrel nuts as the hardware. One of the things I discovered in the process is that all thread takes a lot more time to adjust than common hand screws. Those have threads going opposite directions and adjust twice as fast.

You'll note that in this that I put both handles on the same side so it can be adjusted while clamped to a table or bench.

It was fun making this, and working through the challenges involved. It would be easy to make a Moxon vise using the exact same technique.

Make, fix and create... assist others in learning likewise.

Tuesday, March 05, 2024

Adding legs to a box.

Adding legs to a box. The box is made of ash with walnut accents and veneered top.

Make, fix and create...