Buffet table part 4

This is part 4 of making a buffet table and illustrates routing dovetail shaped grooves for sliding dovetail drawer guides to fit.

Making a sliding dovetail router guide Buffet table part 3

This is part 3 of making a buffet table. In it I construct a router guide for routing the sliding dovetails on the underside of the top.

A simple joint SD 480p #woodworking

This shows a simple joint I'm using to connect the front and back to the ends of small chapel shaped reliquary boxes.

Building a buffet table part 2

This is part two of making a buffet table using a plank of spalted sycamore.

Designing straight from the wood

This video shows the very beginning of the design process, designing straight from the wood.

shed

 https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/discover/inspired-to-make/mens-shed/episode-one-1020677109

Handscrew vise

Woodworkers never start out with all the things we think we might need, so we exercise ingenuity and grow stronger and more creative in the process, making do with what we have. Lacking a real woodworking bench, this is how I started, and it's also a great way to get your kids started, too. Featured as a tip in Fine Woodworking #313, December 2024

25% off sale on my Etsy site

 I am having a 25% off pre-holiday sale on my Etsy website. https://dougstowe.etsy.com

A friend of mine, Murdo Laird, created this short video that I'm very grateful for.

Using a Microjig 360 sled #woodworking

The micro jig 360 sled is a device you can make yourself, that can allow complex shapes to be cut for box making. In this video I describe its use in making the ends of chapel shaped boxes.

When routing up to a stop, sawdust will accumulate against the stop block and alter the length of the cut. A block lifting the stop block provides clearance to prevent the accumulation of sawdust that will interfere with the accuracy of the operation.

Routing cleanly to a stop

  A spacer block underneath a stop block can prevent the accumulation of sawdust from altering a routed cut.

Making Lucy's off to college tool box SD 480p

When my wife and I moved my daughter into a coed dorm for her freshman year at Columbia University, I wheeled her stuff up elevators and down the hall past boy’s rooms full of big screen TV’s and loads of computer euippment. 

After my wife and I got back to Arkansas, my daughter called asking for some basic tools. No one on her floor, boys or girls alike, had thought to bring a hammer or screwdriver. I sent off a quick care package and those tools were constantly being loaned out up and down the hall. I also knew what to make her for Christmas. This video is about making Lucy’s tool box.

Cutting small parts safely on the table saw sled

The table saw sled is one of the most accurate and safe means for cutting small parts as one might use in box making. 

There are a few extra safety measures to follow to keep you safe.

where to put your own stuff

I'm working on  small chapel shaped reliquaries,  and unlike my reliquaries of wood that contain samples of Arkansas hardwoods, these will be a place where you can put  your own stuff. Or is "stuff" the right word? Perhaps "sacred objects" might be a better fit. 

These will have wooden hinges, and the lids are being made with breadboard ends to keep them flat despite the tendency of wood to warp this way and the other when exposed to changing seasons.

It helps in using this technique, that the roof sections are small and the amount of expansion or contraction is limited. Note that I sanded the edges slightly where the parts come together. That gives greater definition to the separate parts used in its making.

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

Making a veneered walnut valet box

This is a box I designed and made for an article in Woodcraft Magazine for January 2006. It uses a Thin Air vacuum press and a mix and match veneering technique.

Making a vacuum veneered box SD 480p

This is about an article I had in Woodwork Magazine in February 2007 and features making vacuum veneered boxes using the Thin Air vacuum press. The box is assembled with rabbet joints and uses barbed hinges from craft-inc.com

Fitting a bottom in a box SD 480p

 This video shows a simple technique for placing a bottom in an already assembled box.

an explanation

I've received some push back on my videos that I've been posting on youtube. I realize they are not the best quality of video or editing, but I decided that the content would be worth sharing and I'd prefer to spend my time woodworking and not tweaking videos to get things just right. My point is to inform, not to entertain, so if you look at any of my videos on youtube, which can be found @MrDougStowe, please forgive the lack of entertainment factor, and study the content and techniques which I learned and refined over my last 48 years of woodworking. Assess whether or not they have value to you. If they have value, use them and share them. If not, scroll on.

I've noticed that most of the folks that watch my videos (as is the case with most viewers of youtube) drop off to watch other things well before the end. It's the times. Folks have diminished attention spans. It is far better learning from real life, as I have done. And I get that.

Make, fit and create. Get thee to the woodshop.

Cutting a lid from the body of a box SD 480p

This video is about cutting the lid of a box loose from the sides, thus allowing it to open. A thin kerf blade gives the best results.

Making miter keys SD 480p

Miter keys are a great way to strengthen miter joints. Making the small keys to fit can be a challenge. This video shows how.

Making a walnut and maple table SD 480p

This video shows the making of a walnut and maple hall table using mortise and tenon joints, sliding dovetails an inlaid stones. The first of my tables with rocks and a meandering cut in the top was shown in Fine Woodworking in April 1996. In December 2006 Fine Woodworking featured my inlying of stones in an article called "A Fresh Take on Table Tops."

Making a wooden hinge SD 480p

This video is about making wooden hinges for box making from 1/4 in. stock.

Tape Measure Magic SD 480p

After about 50 years of woodworking, and thirty of teaching other woodworkers, it's occurred to me that there are some subtle things that can make things easier and more accurate with a bit of deeper understanding.

Making a Viking Style Chest SD 480p

I just finished a 5 day class at ESSA with 10 students making Viking style chests. In the class, I guided the making of the chests and master blacksmith Dale Custer guided making the hardware. The nails were made by Tremont Nail Company. More information can be found at ESSA-art.org

The class was designed to allow woodworking students to gain knowledge and experience in blacksmithing. I offer many thanks to Dale for partnering with me on this class.

The class will likely be offered again in late October or early November 2025.

Viking style chests

I'm having a great time at ESSA guiding the making of Viking chests. Five students have finished the wooden part of the project while the other five have been making hardware in the blacksmithing shop with master blacksmith Dale Custer. Today the five from the metals shop will join me in the wood studio to do the woodworking portion of the project. On Friday we'll put all together as a group of 10.

In the meantime, I received a complimentary copy of the latest Fine Woodworking magazine that includes my tip on using a hand screw as a vise for beginners or for woodworking with kids.

Making an inlaid walnut box

I've been going through some old photos and beginning to compile some articles for YouTube. This one is about making an inlaid walnut box and was featured in Woodcraft Magazine in May 2005.

 

Coming in two days

My new book, Designing Boxes comes out in two days and can be purchased through this link at Amazon.com  

Hurricane Helene and the crafts.

The effects of Hurricane Helene on the arts and crafts communities in western North Carolina have been severe. This notice from Mia Hall, director of Penland tells describes what their campus and local community have faced. https://penland.org/blog/hurricane-helene-update-from-mia-hall-penlands-director/#sthash.iNsff1BJ.fUz51Lce.dpbs In this link you'll find an additional link to CERF+, and organization that provides emergency relief to artisans. 

This photo from Spruce Pine, a community near Penland, shows the severity of what they've faced.

Over the past 30 years, one particular political party has made a particular point of denying human responsibility for climate change while also fighting against disaster relief funding. Some in that particular party still claim climate change to be a hoax.

The magnitude and disastrous effects of modern hurricanes had been anticipated by science and political obstruction has allowed things to get much worse. In the meantime we seem to be having an early fall in the Ozarks. The leaves are turning brown, perhaps as much from drought as from seasonal effects.

There is an open house today at the Clear Spring School, celebrating its fiftieth year. It is a great time to learn more about hands on learning.

Make, fix and create...

Robyn's Bench

I'm taking some of my old out of print magazine articles and converting them to youtube videos for the enjoyment and inspiration of a new generation of woodworkers, and in the hopes that some of my own works are not forgotten.
 

Making legs for a wooden box SD 480p

My ETSY shop pre-holiday sales sale.

I'm holding a shopwide ETSY 25% off sale from October 1 through October 30 as a pre-holiday sales event. Supplies are limited and many of my objects are one of a kind. Use this link and the coupon code SAVE25 between October 1 and October 30.