Wednesday, September 07, 2016

Kniven är slöjdarens bästa vann

"Kniven är slöjdarens bästa van. Se bara till at den ar vass och att du inte skar dig!" These words launched Valdemar Stubbes Slojdskola by Mattias Isaksson. It is a lovely little book of instruction I brought back from Sweden in 2006, and even yet tests my understanding of the Swedish language. Translated, the words mean: "The knife is the handicraft maker's best friend. Just make sure it is sharp and that you do not cut yourself!" Amen to that.

The small booklet is a good introduction to things you can make with very simple tools, and the knife recommended is the same one we use at the Clear Spring School. The booklet is well illustrated so that you can understand it even without understanding svenske.

I have been cleaning nearly all day in preparation for the arrival of members of the American Folk Art Museum on Saturday. There will only be eleven members on this visit and another 25 or so the following weekend. So I will leave the shop, finish room and office clean for the coming week, even though that is relatively difficult to do.

As I mentioned, I have been going though old photos and slides in preparation for a 40th year of woodworking celebration. The photo at left was when we built my garage workshop about 27 years ago.

This morning we had another 5 pigs in the trap, each weighing about 50-60 lbs. The one good thing about the process is that it gets me out at the crack of dawn, just as soon as it is light enough to see whether the trap door is open or closed. The process of hog removal is rather depressing on the whole and getting out to find the trap empty is rewarding in that it offers the illusion that we are making some progress. But the game camera showed three additional pigs of the same size outside the trap after the trap door was closed. We know of 4  or 5 other full sized pigs that visited the trap the night before, and other landowners throughout the area are having similar problems with feral hogs.

Today in the wood shop at the Clear Spring School, my students from first through 6th grades will be making Sloyd trivets and desk boxes.

Make, fix, create, and insist that others be granted the opportunity to learn likewise.

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