Making an adjustable sled runner

Wooden runners for sleds have a tendency to expand and contract with changes in humidity and may fit one saw, but not another. It is easy to make your own adjustable sled runners. You can buy runners made of aluminum or plastic, but they require precise drilling for screws to fit... a source of frustration and error.These, the result of years of experience making table saw sleds are intended to help. I originally published this tip in Fine Woodworking.

the need to find failure

Students currently in school need to be offered multiple pathways to success — but multiple pathways to failure as well.  All should be required to fail at something as it’s in the best interest of society that they do so. 

For instance, a young man or woman destined for college would benefit from time in the high school shop class, for even if they were a complete and utter Kutz, they would learn respect for others who had demonstrated greater skill. And for those with greater skill, they would have the chance to witness a rise in their own self-esteem, demonstrated before others, thus easing the gulf between.

Instead of always being pushed aside from academic success and feeling a gulf between themselves and their college bound peers, they might find themselves feeling a deeper connection. We all share a common bond in that we all try and then fail at something. It's being human.

In the recent presidential election (and the one before that), there was a measurable gulf between college educated voters and the skilled tradesmen and rural folks voting on the  other side. As in all things, education makes a difference and the decision made to separate high school learning into separate branches can be found as an important factor in making us a fractured society. Let's put things back in their right places through a restoration of hands on learning at all levels of education.

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

Designing Boxes

 My new book Designing Boxes is now available from Amazon.

A tribute to John Ruskin

This is a box I made for an article in Woodwork Magazine published in December 2003. It was dedicated to Arts and Crafts philosopher John Ruskin. It features steel hinges made from steel strap and decorative corner straps made in an old English style.

Making a rustic walnut writing desk

This video is about making a rustic walnut writing desk for an article in Woodwork Magazine in October 2005. Its features include a one piece slab top, textured with a rotary chisel. A base using my torsion rod technique for strength and stability, and a lap drawer and drawer support box made with hand cut dovetails.

Selling stuff.

A reader asked a very good question and one about which I can offer almost no help.

He said he's been making lots of boxes inspired by some of the ideas in my books and has been giving them to family and friends. Because there are two festivals at which he would like to sell his work, he wondered about how to price his boxes. I can tell you how to cut a dovetail joint,  but how to price one's work is a difficult question that's beyond me to answer while the world is so overrun with so much inexpensively manufactured stuff.

I responded as follows:

I  know nothing quality of your work, or the market and level of interest in buying it. High quality craft shows will bring a higher value generally than selling in your local farmer’s market. Are you well  known in your community and have some kind of following? Being good friends with lots of folks can help. 

The old tried and true business approach would be to look at your boxes in relation to time, materials and overhead expenses… What is an hourly rate that you are comfortable with, and what do your materials cost? Is your time sitting in a booth trying to sell worth anything? If you are thinking of a business, and not just a hobby there are expenses involved.  As a pure hobby,  booth sitting and attempting to sell your work may be worth something to you as a social outlet. If that’s not the case your pricing should include payment for time selling it and the costs of exhibiting it. I've done many shows where the cost of doing the show ate up all the profit I'd hoped to make.

There are also factors of efficiency. If you are really fast and efficient you might be able to sell at a lower price, though the individual boxes may hold less meaning for you or for others. If your boxes are extremely well crafted and creative with your own designs, perhaps  a higher price might be in order.

I can offer no easy formula. You might look at what similar products are selling for in the shows you’re proposing for yourself. And of course, there’s the thing of just selling at any cheap price to get rid of it so you can make more… Giving your work to charity auctions, can be a good way to offload inventory and clear the decks for even better work.

That’s about the best I can offer. I recently put my products on Etsy for 25% off sale. They weren’t selling, so I’ve lowered the price and the discount helped. Customers will ultimately decide what your boxes are worth to them, and that will help you decide their price and out of frustration you may decide to continue giving them to friends. 

Here in Eureka Springs we seem to have more non-profit organizations than any place else on earth, and my wife frequently shops in my box storage for things to be sold to benefit others.

Make, fix and create...

Making a buffet table part 5

This video shows using a 14 degree dovetail bit in the router table to form dovetailed drawer guides to fit on the underside of a spalted sycamore plank being used to make a buffet table.

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.

A preview of a technique students will use in my upcoming ESSA class on making a Viking style chest. Making a coopered chest lid. Viewers may be curious why the fence in on the left rather than its usual position on the right. The reason is to take advantage of the blade's left hand tilt enabling the cut to be made without stripping away the tape.

 

Gluing a mitered box.

Assembling a walnut and spalted maple box using rubber bands as clamps to hold the box together as the glue sets.
 

Fitting a floating panel lid in a box

 

Making a  mitered finger jointed box is a bit more complex than a regular mitered box or a finger jointed box but offers opportunities you may not want to miss in your box making.

 I'm loading a few processes onto my youtube channel. I have to more than double my yearly watch hours in order to make any money as a "YouTuber."

Attention to woodgrain

Push sticks

 

preparing for class

I have a class at ESSA coming up in which we'll make Viking style chests from white oak. To prepare for the class and refresh my memory, I've made the parts for a coopered lid. Unlike the Vikings we will use power tools, a thing made necessary by the fact that two days from the week long class will be spent forging the hardware. 

In the woodworking portion of the class we'll not shy away from techniques that provide a greater chance for success.

I applied tape to the inside surfaces of the lid staves before the angles were cut. With the tape remaining in place as the edges are glued, excess glue will be easy to remove. The Vikings had no blue painters tape. I do. To glue the staves, we'll simply  tape the staves together on the outside, apply glue between them and then use additional tape to pull the parts tight to each other. The excess glue that gathers on the inside will peel off with the tape.

Make, fix and create.

Sanding table top

I'm getting around to finishing the table I started as a demonstration during my table making class at ESSA   last week. The broad flat surfaces lend themselves to sanding with a random orbit sander. The edges, in order to keep lines crisp, require hand sanding with a sanding block. The wood is white oak. Its color will darken when a clear oil finish is applied.

A photo shows my happy students from last week's class. Mario's table was already packaged for shipping home to Buffalo, NY.

Make, fix and create... 

cyborgs? I hope not.

 

A friend, Josh Pauling offers interesting insight into the Amish use of technology in this article in Front Porch Republic—https://www.frontporchrepublic.com/2024/09/steel-manning-the-amish-the-wisdom-of-communal-discernment/

And a student from last week's table making class at ESSA shared a photo of his finished table. Making Dan's table unique from the others done in class is a gentle inward curve along the front and ends. Our studio assistant Megan made a very cool sanding device to assist Dan in developing a smooth curve along the front edge.

A number of years ago, a writer for Time Magazine was excited to introduce his two year old daughter to the wonders of his first love, gaming. Then he decided to consult experts in child development. One expert he nicknamed Suzie Joykiller in response to her careful explanation of all the developmental hazards computer technology offers to kids. When he asked Suzie about the wonders of hand/eye coordination he expected his daughter's pecking around on flat screens to provide, "Suzie" asked him whether or not he'd heard of scissors.

Josh Pauling, along with co-author Robin Phillips have a new book out "Are We All Cyborgs Now? Reclaiming Our Humanity from the Machine."

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

moving beyond the junk in American life

An essay in the New York Times by David Brooks alerts readers to the "Junkification of American Life." He doesn't mention the role that crafts can play in altering our American culture, but I wish he had. The junk he's discussing is not of the hand-crafted stuff you can find on Etsy, but instead the diet of empty calories we find on our phones, in our choice of foods and in overly shallow relationships with each other.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/05/opinion/entertainment-junk-psychology.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Ik4.Y1GA.ZQGFRevK-i1-&smid=url-share 

In my shop I've been working on wooden hinges to be used in making small wooden reliquaries, these not for holding samples of Arkansas woods, but that folks might use in housing and celebrating things of great value to them. You may think of them as shrines that folks can use to cherish and celebrate precious things. The chapel shape will alert to what one might find inside.

But the real value is not in the finished product, or even in their use, but in the shaping of myself... my refinement of self into higher form. In simple terms, it's about the value we discover in our own aspirations. 

Otto Salomon had noted that the value of the carpenter's work is in the objects the carpenter makes, but the value of the student's work is in the student. One should never think that carpenters are not learning and growing for they are students themselves. In the ideal life, learning, making, growing and offering value to others must be affirmed as a thing with no seams between.

Yes, I'm sitting on the porch with my dog Rosie, with the flat screen of my laptop staring me in the face. I'm also looking up to see the beauty of the world staring me in the face. I'm preaching (forgive me), just as one might from inside a reliquary of wood. Position yourself if possible to live in the real world that exists beyond your own head.

Make, fix and create.

obsequious observance of flat screens

 There's a story of Captain Cook having arrived at an island, and his arrival was not noticed by the natives on the beach until his men disembarked into smaller boats. Up until that point, the billowing sails of the ship were observed in the familiar as clouds.

A reader reminded me of something I'd written a few years back about Huxley's Doors of Perception and the role that the hands can play in that. I wrote pretty well back then.

https://wisdomofhands.blogspot.com/search?q=doors+of+perception

These days due to our obsequious observance of flat screens, will we see nothing that's not flat? In the meantime, I'm sitting on the porch with Rosie. The woods are alive in quiet sounds. Rosie's nose is lifted to catch scents from which I can only imagine.

making wooden hinges

In the shop I'm setting up to make small wooden hinges. Unlike those I've made in the past, these are made with thinner stock and utilize 1/16 in. brass rod as the hinge pins. My plan is to use the wooden hinges on small white oak reliquaries. The hinges will fold in two points, allowing the sides and roof sections to fold flat giving easy access to the samples of wood within.

I'm working from a picture in my head so the plans may evolve. My first test hinges are reasonably robust. Even in a smaller size they appear clunky. But don't worry, they can be made much more interesting and beautiful.

This link is to my article in Fine Woodworking #234.

https://www.finewoodworking.com/2013/06/06/wooden-box-hinges

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

A reliquary of wood

I've placed the wood samples in the reliquaries for display. Now it's time to move them out into the world.

I'll begin looking for places they can be displayed or sold. I'll take suggestions. 

Each contains 25 samples of native Arkansas hardwoods in their natural colors. The reliquaries are made of white oak, and based in part on a small tin reliquary in the Nelson Atkins Museum, and also on a Sunday School finger game, "Here's the church, here's the steeple. Open the doors and see all the people."

Make, fix and create.

wooden plant trivets

In 2002 I made some wooden porch and deck trivets to lift our potted plants, provide air circulation and protect the wood underneath.  Being over 20 years old they're ready for replacement. I made these from cedar, so when the year is done and planters are put away the old ones will be composted and the new ones will be ready for the next 20 years. 

wood samples

I've finished labeling and finishing wood samples for the reliquaries. The photo shows 28 different species of wood, all from Arkansas. I turn them to look like little people that children might find in a set of blocks. But later editions of the project may take a simpler approach allowing me to have the names of the woods laser engraved on each piece. My old man handwriting is not as legible as I would like. 

One of the things you may notice in working with Arkansas woods is that they may not be quite as colorful as some imported tropical woods, but they still offer enough variety of color to do interesting things. And we know where they grow, and can devote some resources in making sure they'll be around for the next generation to enjoy.

Make, fix and create...

wood comes to life

I've applied an oil finish to the reliquaries, and had the pleasure of watching the natural color of the wood come to life. The quarter sawn white oak is radiant.

On the radio this morning they were discussing the problem of boys in schools, but would have benefitted by knowing about John Amos Comenius for he had the problem with boys solved in the sixteenth century.

John Amos Comenius, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Amos_Comenius was born in 1592 and was considered the father of modern pedagogy (the science of education). He observed: 

"Boys ever delight in being occupied in something for the youthful blood does not allow them to be at rest. Now as this is very useful, it ought not to be restrained, but provision made that they may always have something to do. Let them be like ants, continually occupied in doing something, carrying, drawing, construction and transporting, provided always that whatever they do be done prudently. They ought to be assisted by showing them the forms of all things, even of playthings; for they cannot yet be occupied in real work, and we should play with them."

What better play can we find for either boys or girls, than the activities found in woodshops? The most important point buried in Comenius' quote is the phrase, "now as this is very useful, it ought not be restrained." And the point is that our best leverage on boys learning is to make use of their most natural inclinations. We can say the same for girls as well. There's a saying that you can't push a rope. You can pull one to very great effect. By ignoring the nature of the child, we create education that is destructive, ineffective and least efficient. But if we were to use their natural inclinations to our best advantage, schooling would become efficient, effective and undamaging. If a great teacher in the 16-17th centuries could understand children so clearly, and if subsequent educational leaders like Pestalozzi, Froebel, Comenius, Salomon and Dewey understood children so well, why has education fallen so far off track?

Admittedly, having children do real things in service to their families and communities requires having smaller classes, more teachers and greater preparation than having large number of students sit idly at desks while lessons are administered. And so we have schools where the primary objective has become classroom management rather than learning and development. And now, according to Republicans and folks from the NRA, classroom management should include ready access to guns.

I have another new tool to be used teaching woodworking to kids. Anyone with experience woodworking with kids and the tiny nails required will know that nails get spilled and wasted, and it takes time to pick them up. The small square of  cherry, as shown in the photo, has rare a earth magnet embedded in the surface and provides an easy means to supply the necessary nails  for a project. Since my students liked working in close proximity to each other, one magnetic block can be shared between two students.

Make, fix, create, and adjust schooling so that students learn lifewise.

 

How refreshing.

I have the reliquaries assembled, ready for signing and finish. Each will display with 25 samples of Arkansas hardwoods. These are absolutely impractical objects, but my hope is that they will end up in museums or in places where their message may have transformative effects.

I submitted an article for publication in an online journal and was told that they'll evaluate it when the staff returns from a no internet retreat. What a refreshing idea. We are each, I think, overwhelmed by too much meaningless and distractive overly shallow connectedness, when getting off the usual online stuff would provide greater insight.

When Arificial intelligence first began to threaten schools by allowing AI services to do student writing I had a simple idea. Require the students to write directly about the things they know from personal experience... Not the BS you find online. In other words, avoid the Kardashians unless you are one.

One of the advantages I've had as a writer is the gift of doing real things. Seek that gift. 

more steeples

I'm continuing to work at the lathe on turned steeples for the reliquaries. They need not be exactly alike (a very good thing). They're easy and fun so I'll make extras and choose the ones I like best.

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

steeples

With all my turned hardwood samples complete but for touch up sanding and labeling, I've begun turning steeples to fit the reliquaries of wood. I'm using my old Shopsmith as my lathe. With some additional sanding, the first of five will be complete.

The steeple has a 3/8 in. tenon on the lower end so that it can fit a hole to be drilled in the chapel ridge. 

Make, fix and create.

moving toward simple from complex

I'm now at the point of attaching the reliquary bases to the upper assembly. So, with a vast range of experience and the desire to show off, I began thinking of complex ways that I could demonstrate to complete a relatively simple task. Fortunately circumstances directed me back toward a simple approach. 

The interior structure of the reliquary involves drawer guides that run parallel to the direction of the wood grain in the base. While complex thinking directed me to screws or dowels and the challenges they present for accurate alignment, there is actually no stronger joint than wood glued of same species with grain running parallel.

Is it not odd that we often overcomplicate simple operations, adding to them a greater likelihood of error? A question a craftsman must keep at the forefront of mind is this: "How can I simplify this and thus reduce mistakes?" 

If you've used wood glue, you'll have noted the way pieces being glued can slip and slide in relation to each other as pressure is applied. The simple answer is to let the wood absorb enough of the glue and the glue to get tacky before applying pressure. And then one must observe that pieces have remained exactly as you want. If not, a very careful tap with a block and mallet will quickly loosen things if you've noted misalignment before the glue is fully set. Check and check again.

One of the things that I hope is happening these days is the greater recognition of the value of the common person, woman or man. The world is chock full of folks doing wha they can to make the world a better place. We may get mesmerized by money, power or fame, but let's keep things simple. And simply express love for each other. And if your first inclination in dealing with others is not the expression of love. Get therapy. 

One way to express love is by crafting useful beauty to share with others.

Make, fix and create...

For the growth of it.

I'm taking a slight break from the lathe where I've been turning small samples of Arkansas hardwoods to place in the reliquaries of wood. Add it up. Five reliquaries, 25 hardwood species in each, and that's a lot of time on the lathe. They're small, but require intense concentration. Each has to be checked carefully to be sure the bases fit the holes where they're to be placed in the boxes.

I received a nice email thanking me for the inspiration offered by my books and youtube channel. The sender was a retired MD and medical specialist. He included photos of his excellently crafted work. He also had a question about how to sell his work. I get that question a lot.

You’ve probably noticed that the world is overrun with way too much stuff and that folks in general do not recognize any particular monetary value in things made by hand. Medical services are particularly in high demand. Woodworking is not. So we find other reasons to do it. My wife shops regularly in my office for things she can donate to one charitable cause or another. In charity auctions the work brings only a portion of what I would think of as their value compared to what I’ve invested in them.   I do sell things occasionally on DougStowe.etsy.com. I also have galleries in the state and local area that sell my work and I used to sell my work at craft shows, which are a tremendous amount of work and often disappointing.

I will point out that selling things is work. I have a friend that sets up at the farmer’s market each week. He has the process down. He quickly sets up the tent and arranges his merchandise and occasionally sells a few things… mainly  toward Christmas. He likes seeing the folks and seeing them admire his work. But his prices are so low that he can’t make much money if that was his objective.

Make a plan to give away as much as you can. That will clear the decks for making more work. And we must recognize that the best reason to do woodworking (or other crafts) is not to make money from it, but to grow from it. There are so many things to learn from it, and there are no limits to how far one might grow.

If you are recently retired from making the big bucks, a crafts practice like woodworking might be a way to continue to learn and continue to give back.

While away from the lathe for now, I'm hand sanding the bases for the reliquaries. Because they have a 30 degree table sawn angle around the perimeter, hand sanding with a sanding block is the best approach. Machine sanding would round the edges and remove the crisp lines that accentuate the design. 

The sanding block is a piece of birch plywood with a piece of self-adhesive sand paper applied.

Hand sanding is work I look forward to as it can be done as I sit on the front porch and as golden doodle Rosie rests near my feet.

Make, fix and create.

Manual training for all

A friend of mine, Connie Goddard, has published an article in the Front Porch Republic, "Manual Training for All." It is based in part on research done for her new book Learning for Work published by the University of Illinois Press.

You can find the article here: https://www.frontporchrepublic.com/2024/08/manual-training-for-all/

Make, fix and create.

I am now in the most tedious part of making reliquaries of wood... making the turned samples of various hardwoods. I used a dowel forming bit on the drill press to form the tenons on each one, but still fitting tight, they need the touch of a skew and sanding block to allow them to fit with some ease into their spots in the box.

Then to give them human like form, completing the connection with the old Sunday school finger rhyme, I use the skew to shape heads on each piece.

They resemble the kinds of "people" one might find in a set of Legos or blocks. I'm using my old Shopsmith as a lathe to turn the small pieces and a Super Nova Chuck to hold them in the lathe. What we're learning about trees is that they live in cooperative communities and communicate in ways we never even dreamed. And so to place them in a sacred setting may help others to find reason to cherish the trees and forests that we've taken for granted.

The Shopsmith (a model 10 E) is a multipurpose machine that my Dad gave me for my 14th birthday.

Make, fix and create...

adding a base

 I cut a pieces of wood to size so that it protrudes 1/2 in. on each side to form bases for the reliquaries. I then used the table saw to cut each edge at a 30 degree angle. You can see the results, and after the bases are sanded they can be mounted to the reliquaries using screws from underneath.

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

moving toward completion

I'm moving toward  completion on the reliquaries of wood. Bases will be added as well as turned steeples. After applying a Danish oil finish the process of adding samples will begin. Each will hold 25 turned samples of Arkansas hardwoods.

building an odd shape

Making the reliquaries of wood involves fitting unusual angles, and that leads to hand work as machines are too complicated for the casual woodworker to set up. Routing for hinges to fit the sides of the boxes was done prior to assembly, but fitting the lids to the box requires some more typical hinge mortising hand work.

To make things a bit easier and more accurate, I did use the router table to partially rout where the hinges will fit, establishing the depth of the mortises. From there, fitting the lids required careful marking of where the lids would align with the hinges already fitted to the box. So far, so good, but with hand work, there's alway a chance for error.

Make, fix and create. Risk it. You'll be rewarded.

Fitting lids

I'm in the process of fitting lids to each side of reliquaries of wood, in preparation for installing hinges.

Make, fix and create. 

A stand in for fitting lids

I have the roof/lid floating panels assembled for the reliquaries, but then am faced with cutting them to size... a thing complicated by the angles. They have to be cut at a 70 degree angle along one edge and to fit the top rail at the other.

Since it is impossible to put an assembled lid in place and mark it for cutting to size, I use a stand in. By fitting a narrower piece, I then know the angles and table saw settings to cut the lids, taking those settings from the perfectly fitting piece as shown in the photo.

Make, fix and Create. Give your life greater meaning.

things don't come quick or easy

Things don't come quick or easy in woodworking. The photo shows the fitting of the small lids for the reliquaries of wood. Each requires a level of precision and set of operations beyond what a carpenter might face in framing a house.

While a carpenter might erect a series of walls in a single day, the woodworker might spend a week or more working on a small box. 

This is not a complaint.

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

bridal joints

This is a bridle joint that I'm using to join the pieces surrounding a floating panel and forming the lids on the small reliquaries of wood. I have a simple jig that fits the table saw crosscut sled for forming this joint. I've proposed the jig and technique for an article in Fine Woodworking.

Make, fix and create...
 

beginning assembly

I'm beginning the assembly of the small chapels that will function as reliquaries of wood. My wife asked why I'm making them. One reason is for fun. The other reason is the story they tell... that our forests are sacred, deserving our knowledge and respect.

I was contacted by a man seeking help in developing a program for home schooled kids from his church. That raises for me the question as to why Sunday schools don't offer the same kind of learning opportunity Jesus found in his father's shop. Are church leaders oblivious to the moral values imparted through the creation of useful beauty? And are they oblivious to the history of the church? And most importantly, are they oblivious to the obvious interest in attending that woodworking would arouse in their young ones? 

I've been contacted over the years by many folks hoping to launch woodworking with kids programs. One of the major challenges they face is that of finding funding for their work. Woodworking Sunday Schools might provide an answer.  

The assembly shown is temporary, and just to provide positioning for the center display as it is glued in place. Real assembly will take place after all the parts are sanded, and after the top rail is given its final shape.

Make, fix and create...

fitting front doors to small chapels

I'm making a bit of progress on my small wooden reliquaries that will hold samples of Arkansas hardwoods. 

As some know, I've made thousands of wooden boxes, but perhaps these reliquaries are the most meaningful as they are intended to convey a sense of sacredness regarding our forests. 

The front doors will be trimmed to length and then fitted as the front of small trays that will hold 10 of the wood samples, with the balance being held in the space above. The wood used here is white oak.

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

reliquary of wood

Back in around 2000 I was invited along with a number of other Eureka Springs artisans to make a shrine expressing the things we held sacred. The show was held in a gallery at the University of Arkansas. I decided to make a reliquary of wood, inspired by a small metal reliquary in the Nelson Atkins Museum in Kansas City. That reliquary inspired the  shape and size of mine, but rather than making it of metal, I made it from wood to hold 25 samples of Arkansas hardwoods, each worthy of reverence, with that term being inspired by Eric Sloan's book, A Reverence for Wood, and often associated with religion.

The way this box opens is related to a children's hand game, that some might remember. The game goes, "here's the church, here's the steeple. Open the doors and see all the people. In this case, the small wooden chapel is occupied by samples of the hardwoods of Arkansas.

The reliquary in the photo won best of show one year at the Springfield Art Museum. It is currently on display at the Museum of Eureka Springs Art. I made 3 and two are held by private collectors.

I'm currently making more. 

Make, fix and create...

important overlooked consequences

There are important and overlooked consequences of making beautiful and useful things. One of course is that we save money over the cost of buying things. Another is that by investing our time in such pursuits, we're not out shopping for useless stuff that we could easily live without. A third is that we learn. A fourth is that we develop character. A fifth is that we develop relationships in our own communities, quite unlike and on a deeper plane than those from shopping for useless stuff. A sixth is that by example, we model behavior that is more responsible to the environment, and may inspire others to do as we're learning to do ourselves. I can easily go on, but perhaps this is enough to digest in one day.

By embarking on a craft, you'll learn more.

Any craft will do.

In my shop I'm applying an oil finished to the boxes I sanded last week. I've added a few boxes to my Etsy site: http://dougstowe.etsy.com including this walnut and oak box with a fake drawer. I had mistakenly put the lift tab on the base rather than the lid, and this was my fix. The box is unique and available.

Make, fix and create.

Balancing economy vs. THE Economy.

When we spend money, it's good for others as it stimulates the economy. When we save money by doing things for ourselves, it's good for our own households, and also good for the planet, in that it reduces the impact of consumerism and the transport of materials and goods great distances and at great burden to the environment.

One of the differences between Educational Sloyd and the Russian system of manual arts training was that while the Russian system involved the making of useless parts of things, Educational Sloyd involved the making of things useful to family and community life. 

The Russian system was intended to develop workers for industry. Educational Sloyd was developed in response to a flood of manufactured goods that deprived the citizenry of their long standing self-reliance on things they could make for themselves. Its development was partially in response to the loss of community character that commonly came from the making of those things.

By making things useful within the family and community, the student would receive the benefit of being recognized as useful, and families would recognize the importance and value of schooling.

As Salomon had noted, the value of the carpenter's work is in the things the carpenter makes. The value of the things the student makes is in the student, reflecting the deeper relationship the making of beautiful and useful things brings to the student, the family, the community and nation.

The two carvings shown here were done by my great uncle, Charles A. Richards in Ft. Dodge, Iowa during WWII as his nieces and nephews were at war. They brought no benefit to THE economy but brought other things. And as we worship THE economy, we should pay greater attention to other things, and practice of economy, also called thrift.

Make, fix and create...

Sanding Small Boxes SD 480p

a fourth point

 A fourth point in educational reform

The fourth point is that teachers need to be drawn at least partly from the pool of those who didn’t necessarily do so well in school. Late bloomers and failures are important to engage in teaching others. 

A reason for this is that when faced with stress, as happens in most schools, teachers tend to fall back into positions most comfortable to them, often meaning the ways they themselves were taught. And those who go to college are generally the ones who learn comfortably by rote, rather than by doing. We need trained doers in schools whose most comfortable fall back positions are getting things done rather than talking about stuff. In doing real things, all the senses are engaged, more fully engaging the various parts of the sensory and motor cortices in the brain, establishing a deeper level of engagement and remembrance.

A child's use of senses should come first. An understanding presented by Comenius in the 17th century.

"The ground of this business (education) is, that sensual objects be rightly presented to the senses for fear that they not be received. I say, and say it again aloud, that this is the foundation of all the rest; because we can neither act nor speak wisely, unless we first rightly understand all the things which are to be done and whereof we have to speak. Now there is nothing in the understanding which was not before in the senses. And therefore to exercise the senses well about the right perceiving of the differences of things will be to lay the grounds for wisdom and all wise discourse, and all discreet actions in one's course of life, which, because it is commonly neglected in schools, and the things that are to be learned are offered to scholars without their being understood or being rightly presented to the senses, it cometh to pass that the work of teaching and learning goeth heavily onward and offereth little benefit."

Make, fix and create.