catching up...

 Just like my students, I have some boxes to finish now that I've arrived home. I have 4 demonstration boxes from one class and another 5 to finish from the other, and because I had flown home between classes, I was able to bring all home Sunday in the truck. Just as my students have become more prolific in class, I have, too.

I still have miter keys to add to one box and will add a top panel and plywood bottom to another. Four boxes will need hinges. When they are completed some will be kept as demonstration boxes. Some will be given as gifts, and some will be sold.

As is always the case, my students at MASW were interested in how to sell boxes. Some would like to supplement their incomes by selling their work. Some are just curious how a craftsman can assign a value to his or her work. There are no easy ways to sell, and it is extremely difficult to determine what a box is worth. It is certainly easier to make boxes than to figure out how to make a living from their sale, and one of my students reminded the class of what Shaker box maker Jon Wilson had said many years ago. When asked whether a person can make a living making boxes, he responded, "Yes, but you better figure out some other way to have fun."

In my case, I am very lucky. I have fun making boxes. I have fun teaching box making, and I have fun writing about making boxes.

Make, fix and create...