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. 

A third point

A third point in educational reform (one emphasized by educational sloyd and progressive educators from the time of Pestalozzi), was the relationship between the concrete and abstract. All abstract studies should be preceded by concrete learning to build a coherent and useful structure of knowledge. Educational psychologist Jerome Bruner and others have called this “scaffolding.” 

For example, we make a huge mistake pushing kids to read before they’re doing real things…. reading is abstract, doing is concrete. Building from abstraction leads to further abstraction, and we never outgrow, nor need we outgrow our connection to the real world. And all children, even those in fantasy worlds of their own making, know the difference between what's real and what's been made up for their amusement or distraction.

How can they possibly know? The real world is full of sensory data, conveyed through the senses without which students are left ill equipped to test the truth of what they are being taught.

In the World Beyond Your Head, Matthew Crawford’s sequel to Shop Class, he’d written in his final chapter of the quote from me used as epigraph of chapter one of his first book, 

“In schools we create artificial learning environments for our children that they know to be contrived and undeserving of their full attention and engagement… Without the opportunity to learn through the hands, the world remains abstract, and distant, and the passions for learning will not be engaged.” 

We put learning in a context of grades and test scores but in essence are telling students that what they're being taught does not really matter, as it appears contrived and undeserving their full engagement.

Crawford stated in his later book, “I don’t think this is true for every student, but it is true of enough students that we ought to worry about it." Taking a wider view, I contend that ALL students even those deemed most successful in the current model pay a toll for the artificiality of hands-off schooling, and they too, deserve more. In fact, as we turn the world over to new generations, we also deserve more, as I mention in my recent article in Front Porch Republic, AI, Misinformation and Manual Arts Training.

 https://www.frontporchrepublic.com/2024/01/ai-misinformation-and-manual-arts-training/

Make, fix and create.

education reform step 2

The second thing to recognize in educational reform is that activities that are by nature real, engaging all the senses create a better network of remembrance, connection and utility in the brain. This has been proven by research. 

Learning that takes place hands-on, meaning it was accomplished by being physically present thus engaging all the senses has much deeper and longer lasting effect. You can think of the brain as real estate, and hands-on activities and experiences are noted in the full breadth of sensory and motor cortices with greater impact and depth of interconnected remembrance. Students sitting at desks with thumbs a-twittle is a waste that serves none well.

Modern classroom learning where students sit at desks, while teachers attempt to instill information into their brains insists on student passivity and leads to passive unresponsive lives. That may be useful to a political society in which direct engagement is to be squelched. But a democratic society requires active engagement of each and all in making the decisions that affect our own lives.

Again, the answer is simple. Insist that classroom teachers lead students in doing real things. Getting out of the classroom into real life is advised.

The walnut and spalted red oak box shown was made as a demonstration box in  class at ESSA years ago. In it I demonstrated hand cut dovetails and the making and use of wooden hinges.

Make, fix and create.

easy as one, two, three, four

There is a great need for educational reform in the US, so to make things easy, please follow for the next three days as I explain. 

The first thing to recognize is that the brain, even among college students is good for only a very few minutes of lecture. Even the best minds wander and must for newly delivered information to be compared both to that which had previously been learned or taught and to the student’s own personal experience. 

Scaffolding, an integrated structure of previously acquired experiential learning supports the integration of new learning. Teachers in classes that drone on and on serve none well, and even the best and brightest may be struck by the triviality of what they’re being taught. 

Steering education away from the model in which a teacher stands at the head of the class could be as easy as requiring each teacher to provide students an opportunity to do real things related to their subject matter. If in doubt, consult the school shop teacher for ideas if one is available. 

In the meantime, 50 boxes are now through the first sanding process, have had the edges routed, and are ready for orbital sanding, grits, 150, 240 and 320 before signing. 

Make, fix and create.

more on fifty boxes

I now have 50 boxes assembled and ready to begin sanding operations. I start with 100 grit on the belt sander, then move to 150 grit before using the router table to contour the edges and corners.

Then I'll use an orbital sander to smooth all surfaces in preparation for applying an oil finish. What will all these boxes be used for? Your guess is as good as mine. But they're an honest product, and made to last.

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


 

A great discount offer

Amazon is offering a three for the price of two sale on my book Wisdom of Our Hands. It's a great opportunity for artisans and crafters to share insight into our own lives and creative inclinations with others. 

The way the offer works is this. Go to this link.  Then where it says "Get 3 for the price of 2" click "add items" and you'll be taken to the offer. Add the number of copies desired and when you go to the shopping cart, normal discounts will be applied and a free copy will be deducted from the price. Buy six and get them for the price of four, each already at a special discount price.

Want to know why to give this book to others? Joe Youcha, writing for Wooden Boat Magazine said the following:

I read it in two big gulps, and as I did, I identified with the book’s message so much that I began making  a list of everyone I thought should read it. By the time I finished, that list included anyone studying at a craft school, all the people I work with, and all the people I’ve ever taught. I especially wish I could buy copies for all the people who taught me, and who are no longer here. I actually want to buy it for everyone I know.

If you have a craftsperson in your life, this book may explain some things about what motivates them. And if someone in your life aspires to become a craftsperson, this book offers insight into having a successful, productive attitude while pursuing a craft. If you're not involved in a craft, this book will raise your awareness of the value of craft. — Joe Youcha, boat builder and founder of Building to Teach.

Some readers may remember the wooden boats we built at the Clear Spring School? Joe was the inspiration for that, and the designer of the Bevin's Skiff. 

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

fifty boxes

Yesterday I inlaid the lids of 50 small boxes, cut the lids to length and am ready for hinging and assembly. I was helped by having the inlay already made (by myself) and by being of a certain age and experience.

Much is made of Biden's age, while hardly a word is said about Trump being younger by only two years. In the meantime, youth is not always a good thing.

While whippersnappers (of various ages) are running hither and yon, providing evidence of youthful vigor and misdirection, wisdom and experience are on the side of those who may be working at a slower pace while getting more done.

In box making it's important knowing what to do. It is also important to know what things are not to be done that distract one from a straighter path. Two things one may learn over a period of time are what not to do, and what to value in the doing.

I do not know whether President Biden's campaign will survive the stupidity with which he's being assaulted. Agism is rampant in America, even against those in their 40's, 50's and 60's. Young folks, eager to make their own marks, and too impatient to grasp the value of what's gone on before appear to be moving fast. If you look past the motion blur you may find that they may lack the efficiency of some older folks. I'm better at what I do than I was 48 years ago and the small boxes I make are even better and more refined. That happens. I take naps sometimes. They help. And just because we may seem over the hill, we're not.

A note on the boxes—Governor Bill Clinton carried my small boxes as gifts from the State of Arkansas on some of his foreign travels. They are made from Arkansas hardwoods and showcase the value of the forests of the "Natural State."

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

Join with me in a pledge

Yesterday afternoon I prepared lid stock and inlay for making nearly 50 boxes. Today I'll finish routing the tops for pieces of inlay to be fitted and size the inlay to fit. After gluing the inlay in the lids, and they're cut to length, hinging and assembly can begin. Years ago I'd imagined growing old with the making of these boxes and in a few short years I'll be as old as Biden and I'll still be making boxes as beautiful as ever. 

Trump is now trying to distance himself from project 2025, the Heritage Foundation's plan to put radical right wing policies in place. He says he wishes them luck but doesn't completely agree with all of their proposals that were put forth in his name, put forth with the promise that nothing violent will happen unless liberals interfere.

We're in deep trouble as so called "conservatives" threaten revolution. There are so called red states and so called blue states and we live in the United States of America, where as Lincoln noted, we have the challenge of working toward a more perfect union in which the rights of all are respected, including the rights of women to make their own decisions regarding reproductive health, and in which industries are controlled to prevent our early deaths and the deaths of those we love from toxic air and water.

In a more perfect union, we take care to protect the voting rights of others, and we vote to make sure the rights of all to the benefits of that more perfect union are upheld.

Join with me in a pledge. I will not vote for anyone who refuses to stand for the rights of others to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness or refuses to accept equality under the law. I will not vote for anyone that supports a would be, want to be king or a president who claims the authority of a king, or a Supreme Court that offers him that power.

Yesterday morning we assembled two new router tables at ESSA to replace two that I'd made for the school when the shop was first opened. The old router tables with new wheels added will become rolling carts, useful when planing stock.

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

Making small boxes

I try to keep an inventory of boxes to fill orders, as they're much less expensive to produce in multiples, and therefore cheaper for customers to buy. When supplies get low, I make more. The photo shows yesterday's labor. I cut and machined parts for nearly 50 small boxes in walnut and linden. Processes involve forming small mortises on the box ends for the front, back and bottoms to fit, then forming matching tenons on the front and back and rabbets along the edges of the bottom panels.

Because these are regular production items, I keep routers set up and ready to serve, thus cutting time that would have been spent setting up, and thus avoiding errors that might occur in setting up tools.

Most Americans know at this point that if defeated in the November election, Donald Trump will claim election fraud and turn his minions loose to restore him to presidential power. It will be like January 6, 2021, but worse. Then with the backing of the Supreme Court, he'll be given unprecedented power to do what ever he likes. Here are a few things he and his Project 2025 plan for us.

• Abandon support for NATO and allow Russia to defeat Ukraine.
• Remove protection for women's reproductive health.
• Cut Social Security "in order to save it."
• End the Affordable Heath care Act that provides health insurance for millions of Americans.
• Round up millions of migrants in camps and export them, threatening our agriculture and construction industries as well as the lives of millions.
• Deregulate industries, and abolish the EPA thereby allowing us to be poisoned by toxic waste and left with nothing we can do about it.
• Withdraw from climate accords and continue to insist that the climate crisis we all face is simply a hoax, and that we should "drill baby, drill," as forests burn, cities are flooded or bone dry and insurance rates soar.
• Increase tariffs on all imported goods, thereby adding greatly to inflation.
• Weaponize the Department of Justice against all political opposition. That means me.
• Appoint more corrupt Supreme Court justices, making sure we're screwed for the next generations.

Some will say, "surely he's just talking and won't really do all that stuff." Let me assure you that he will. given the power of a king by the Supreme Court, he surely will, and must be stopped.

In the meantime, I have little power, so I say what I know to be true and  I make boxes. The box making provides some solace. 

Happy Fourth of July.

A Garden of Children

This is a new article I've been working on, just published this morning at the Front Porch Republic.

 https://www.frontporchrepublic.com/2024/07/a-garden-of-children/

The rise of kindergarten was closely associated with the rise of the manual training movement.

Make, fix and create.

black jobs, hispanic jobs

During the Trump-Biden debate this week, in which an elderly man confronted a very slightly younger serial liar with great vigor at lying and a distorted sense of reality, Trump warned that millions of immigrants were coming to take "black jobs, and hispanic jobs" clearly characterizing some jobs as lower, less worthy of respect and placing them along racial lines as though there weren't a large number of white folks doing the same work to support their families. 

There's a long history of such characterizations in American politics, in denial of the basic Jeffersonian precept that all men are created equal. The false premise is that some jobs are intellectual, and some are not. And in that is a huge failing among "intellectuals" to acknowledge the amount of intellect invested in jobs and activities that have a physical component. For instance, making a box.

Trump bragged about his proficiency in golf... one of the most cheated at physical pursuits and one allowing your "handicap" to be used in measuring your performance in comparison with others... thus allowing you to claim a win without actually winning... a game perfectly suited to Trump.

Would you rather have a president with compassion or one who can lie with vigor? I would rather have one who shows respect for all persons and all labor.

Make, fix and create. 

great show and reception for residents

We had a great reception and show of work by participants in our two week woodworking residency at ESSA. I had the honor of observing growth.

Guests had the honor of meeting these fine artists, seeing their work, and buying some to keep. A portion from work sold will support future residencies.

The two week mentored woodworking residency was considered a great success.

There’s a theory in physics called quantum entanglement… that if two particles are introduced to each other, they can be thrust to the furthest corners of the universe and what’s happened with one is known to the other. I believe the same thing happens with people when our creative lives merge. Surely we will have occasions to remember our time together at ESSA and the things we’ve learned in each other’s company.

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

Make something with your hands even if it's hideous

 https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/28/well/mind/hand-crafts-creation-art.html?unlocked_article_code=1.3U0.Ysmx.QmV9TVwr2V2U&smid=url-share

woodworking resident's show

I'm inviting you to the showing of works by our residents from a two week residency at the Eureka Springs School of the Arts. Woodworkers have been busy finishing works for display and sale.

Among the works are a variety of band sawn boxes, like my own that's shown. 

Make, fix and create...

 

Publication delayed

The release of my new book Designing Boxes has been delayed until October 2024 due to the change in ownership of Taunton Press. 

Earlier in the spring, Taunton Books, which had been sold to magazine publisher Active Interest Media, was then sold to Abrams book publishers, a larger press. It has been a bit confusing and disappointing. 

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that there are no further delays.

Make, fix and create...

A book to share with others

Joe Youcha, founder and director of Building To Teach wrote about my book, Wisdom of Our Hands: Crafting a Life in a review in wooden boat magazine as being a book he would want to share with the mentors from his own life and with his students. Amazon is making sharing just a bit easier with a discount price and an additional discount if you buy two or more copies. You could also, if you like, get a copy from your local library, or buy a single copy and share it with others.

John Ruskin has said that in taking a straight shaving from a plank you'll have learned a thousand things that the word of man cannot express. The Wisdom of Our Hands: Crafting a Life may make those things easier to express.

Make, fix and create....

Woodworking residency at ESSA

I've finished the first week of my two week residency program for advanced woodworking students at ESSA. Between opportunities to help guide and encourage other woodworkers, I've been busy doing a few things to help the shop. For example I made seven new wooden mallets for student use, new backing boards for the two compound miter saws, and a newly invented hold down for use on sleds. 

In teaching I’ve noticed that not all students have the same hand strength so holding down both pieces while cutting on a sled can be a challenge. For beginners, knowing where to place their hands during the cut can be confusing at first.

The inspiration for this simple device came from Marc Adams school where students are advised to use simple similarly shaped but thin hold downs to keep fingers a safe distance from the blade when using a compound miter saw. For use on the table saw sled as shown, the tunnel underneath provides for passage of the blade without cutting the device. The outside, placed anywhere on the device guarantees that the hands are away from the blade. The extra thickness of this hold down being made from 4 thicknesses of MDF provides pressure over wider, thin stock as would be used in box making. It’s also useful for holding down smaller parts, again keeping the hands a safer distance from the cut.

I've submitted a tip on this device to Fine Woodworking for their consideration.

In the meantime, the August 2024 issue of Popular Woodworking arrived in yesterday's mail. It includes my 6 page article on making a Torsion Table.

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

Box with legs

I like to finish what I start, and so a mitered finger jointed box I started as a demonstration last week now has hinges, a walnut lift tab and surface mounted hinges. An oil finish and lining will come next. I show a simple method for installing a lining on my youtube channel here:  https://youtu.be/qwOGNBmrOjk

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

mitered finger jointed demonstration box

I've taken a few minutes today to move a demonstration box from my last week's box making class toward completion. This box is assembled with mitered finger joints, a more advanced box making technique. 

Today in the shop I added a floating panel lid. I then cut the lid from the body of the box, and as you can see, I've been shaping feet to give the box a lift. 

After sanding the legs will be glued to the corners of the box. Before the lid is hinged to the body of the box I'll add a walnut lift tab to the front.

Make, fix and create...

demo box

These are photos of a demonstration box, one of two designs made by each of my students before the floodgates were opened for them to spend the next three days working on boxes of their own design. This box is made of white oak and cherry. The unusual color of the white oak is due to a state of decay at the center of the log before milling.

5 day box making class

I just finished a great 5 day box making class at ESSA. My 7 students made between 3 and 5 boxes of various designs. All claimed that they loved the class. 

In the past I've discussed the difficulties presented by unrestricted economic growth. That's the subject of this article in the New York Times that you can read as my gift.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/08/books/review/shrink-the-economy-save-the-world.html?unlocked_article_code=1.yE0.P4Am.Cx6g__KVMhDp&smid=url-share 

Statistics on economic growth only measure the flow of money from exercises of making and spending. I like to suggest that there are more important things than money that money offers no measure of. The care we offer each other is an example.

One simple way to gradually withdraw from the destructive economy would be to cease buying things made of plastic and to buy hand crafted things from wood instead. 

By doing so, we'll have invested in the learning and character of other human beings, and will acquire useful objects of greater lasting value.

Make, fix and create... 

Easy Sharp

Taytools.com has developed an easy way to sharpen chisels and small plane irons. I've tried it. It works. And while I had to make my own jigs to go on the drill press (I made three, one for ESSA, one for Clear Spring School and one for my home shop) Taylor Tool Company now sells the jig and supplies at a reasonable price.

https://lddy.no/1jwo9

Make, fix and create...

entanglements

 Physicists have noted and proven that if you take two particles, introduce them to each other and then thrust them apart to the furthest reaches of the universe, what is done to one is noted within the behavior of the other. The phenomenon is called quantum entanglement and may someday help us to understand higher levels of human inter-connectedness and inner-connectedness.

Friedrich Froebel had been born the son of a Lutheran minister and his mother had died at a very early age. He was a bright child and cherished by his father's second wife until her own children came along. At that point he was left to fend for himself to obtain the emotional support every child needs. At an early age he was sent to live with an uncle and became apprenticed to a forester, and it was there in the Thuringian forest that Froebel discovered a love of botany and the seeds were planted for what would become Kindergarten, a garden of children. In witnessing the wonders of nature he likely gained a first glimpse of the inter-connectedness of all things.

In college Froebel had planned to become an architect but had an opportunity to work as an assistant to Christian Samuel Weiss, a leading authority on minerals and crystallography. Helping to organize the collection of minerals for Dr. Weiss, Froebel was to witness how things of great beauty grow from patterns inherent within. Should children, given the right circumstances, not grow in the same manner? You see the impact of his work with Dr. Weiss in Froebel's development of his gifts, one through 6 which were designed to lead the child into an exploration of the structure of the universe and through association with other Kindergarten activities, construct their own place within it.

Many of us have seen, even before the internet and before facebook and tik tok, evidence of our inter-connectedness and inner-connectedness. Living in a small town and knowing a few folks, I'll think of someone as I drive through town and then see them coming toward me in the next car. This is not always the case but happens often enough to make me wonder. Under such circumstances, we don't need facebook to remind us that we are a part of one another and that what we do reflects who we are and may be guided by unseen patterns within.

And so, what are we to make of all this? Froebel had suggested three uses for the Froebel gifts. One was to use blocks to create what he called forms of knowledge. Forms of knowledge were used to represent numbers and mathematical constructs important to the growth of the child. Another use was to create forms of beauty. These were to develop the child's design sense through representations of symmetry and rhythm. The third use was to create what Froebel referred to as forms of life, representing the objects to be found in everyday life, thus connecting with the child's natural inclination to serve others by making useful things. So you take these three things, development of intellect, artistic sense, and inclination to serve and you have the formula for growth.

It's ironic that Froebel did not become an architect of buildings, but instead an architect for a system of education that allowed the child to grow from within, as a crystal or flower might grow. In his autobiography Frank Lloyd Wright said about his play with Froebel blocks and their impact, "I can still feel those maple blocks in my hands to this day."

I've become fascinated of late, by the simple realization that when a light shines upon an object, its colors are reflected outward without limit into the whole of the universe. So where do we set the boundaries of self?

The illustration from wikipedia shows an experiment demonstrating quantum entanglement.

If you are reading this, we are entangled.

Make, fix and create...

easy handling

The Nääs style Sloyd chisel handles are very easy to replicate and that might make the design appealing to some. Rather than being turned on the lathe, they are simply shaped using a bandsaw and then sanded. To drill for the tangs to fit, I used my ShopSmith set up as a horizontal borer and used a 3/8 in. drill bit to fit the tangs of the Czech made steel blades. The boring set up and finished set of chisels is shown. 

A distinct advantage of this handle style is that it will not roll off the workbench. The flat sides assure of that.

The Narex set of 6 unhandled chisels is available from Taytools.com

Make, fix and create...

Making Nääs style chisels

Today I've made a set of Nääs style chisels like those featured in Otto Salomon's book, The Teacher's Hand-book of Slöjd:

V. –– Chisels, Gouges, Carving Tools etc.

These terms include a whole group of tools which are used in wood-slöjd for the removal of small pieces of wood, in cases where the knife, the saw, or the plane could not advantageously be used.

They consist of a flat or concave blade made of steel, the cutting end of which is cut straight across and sharpened to an edge, and the other wrought into a four-sided tang, which is set into a wooden handle. The tool in working is driven into the wood either by the pressure of the hand, or by blows from a mallet. In order that the handle may not slip or twist round when grasped, it is generally made with four sides, greater in breadth and in thickness, and with the broader sides rounded. To keep the handle from splitting under violent pressure, the base of the tang is furnished with a shoulder, on which the handle rests.

These tools vary greatly in size both as regards length and breadth. The latter dimensions determined by the dimensions of the edge. The broadest tools are generally also the longest. In order to be able to execute all the different kinds of exercises which occur, it is necessary to have a complete set of each description of tools. There are usually 12 to a set, all of different breadths.

The photo at left shows an original Nääs chisel that a friend of mine gave me in 2016. His dad had found it in a flea market in Sweden and he passed it along to me. I rehandled it in the Nääs style.

Woodworkers often spend a great deal of time honing the beveled side to perfection, but the actual sharpness of the cutting edge will only be as good as the surface developed on both sides of it. Once the face side of an old chisel has been honed to a mirror like finish and if it is stored under proper conditions, keeping the edge sharp will be easy, and accomplished by honing the beveled side with only minor attention to the face.

While the handles are made in my own shop according in the Nääs design, the steel is made by Narex and available as a set from taytools.com.

Make, fix, create, and suggest by your example that others learn likewise.

Links: Making Classic Toys that Teach

BeaverCraft Detail carving knife.
 

AI

Elon Musk is claiming that AI will take all our jobs, thus allowing us to twiddle our thumbs and order up from computers all that we want or need (if anyone can afford it)... this while the world is overrun with meaningless stuff and while social media sucks the lifeblood from our mental health and the lives or our kids.

He also warns that social media is addicting our kids to algorithm supplied dopamines, likely turning them to dopes.

The one remaining occupation that's not a hobby will likely be that of psychological therapist who will be needed for our children as well as for ourselves.

In the meantime, if just one job is lost to AI, perhaps it should be his own.

Yesterday I finished assembly of a third toddler sized rocking chair. I can assure you that it was not made by AI, and the wood used actually grew as a tree. The carving, although simple, was done by hand, with far less perfection than Elon Musk's vision of the world could offer, and with more joy.

My essay on AI, Misinformation and Manual Arts Training can still be found and read free on Front Porch Republic.

Make, fix and create. Our very lives depend upon it.

If you haven't done it, how will you know?

An interesting graph from WorkTour.com shows what students consider to be the important factors in choosing a career. You'll note that the two largest factors "I'm good at this" (22%) and "I enjoy doing this"(28%) require  students  to have actually done something. You will not know if you're good at something or that you enjoy doing it, without the reality of having done it. 

I remember an experience in junior high woodshop in which I noticed that I was having difficulty keeping my coping saw cut on the marked like. For just a brief second I looked over at my neighbor's work and realized that perhaps my own work was not so bad after all. His saw cut had wandered far from the line and his work was very much worse.

The very simple graph should illuminate the failure of American education. While it might be focused on students doing real things, it is focused on keeping kids at desks instead.

Make, fix and create.

The way it works

Everything that can be taught, can be taught to deeper effect if taught hands-on. For instance various aspects of history and culture that are normally taught only through books and lecture can be examined by using various tools from various countries and that tool use can offer insight into human history and cultural development from different nations.

The Japanese woodworking tools can serve as examples. While western handsaws made stiff and heavy through an abundance of steel, Japanese saws were made thin and light because steel was a more precious commodity. Japanese hand saws, because they are made so thin and light are operated in the pull rather than the push stroke. Trying to push  a Japanese saw through a cut will cause the blade to bind and bend, whereas on the pull stroke they work fast and efficiently, so the way of working is shifted by such a simple thing. Even a simple, subtle thing can have broad implications on all aspects of development.

We've used Japanese style saws at the Clear Spring School for many years as they are light enough for kids to use, and still effective as the child grows toward high school age. Working on the pull rather than push gives a different slant to Asian culture and history, and the examination and use of Japanese saws offers a simple way to begin a deeper exploration. Use of real tools and their history and effects provides an opportunity for all students to become more deeply engaged, even those who are choosing to go to college, or may be in college at the present time.  This is just one small example of how crafts can be useful to deepen an understanding of a particular subject.

Taytools.com has excellently crafted Japanese saws on sale right now at 30% off. The dozuki saw is the one I use for cutting dovetails.

Another example of the more sparing use of steel can be found in the typical Japanese rasp. Instead of having a heavy steel body with raised cutting edges, the Japanese rasp is made of much thinner materials, reflecting again the reduced availability of steel. Both the Japanese saws and rasps surprise western users with how easy and effective they are to use. Taytools.com also has these on sale. 

If you teach a subject normally taught by reading or lecture alone, use your imagination. Look for opportunities to bring the hands into learning.

Make, fix and create...

getting real

The greatest problems in modern education can be summarized as the 3 Ds: Disengagement, disinterest and disruption. Schools often fail to engage children's innate capacities for learning. In worst cases, students become disruptive of the educational interests and needs of others. At a very early age, children are instructed, "don't touch!" "Keep your hands to yourself!” 

But the hands and brain comprise an integrated learning/creating system that must be engaged in order to secure the passions and "heart" of our youth. It is the opportunity to be engaged through the hands that brings the seen and known to concrete reality in human experience. Without the opportunity to learn through the hands, the world remains abstract, and distant, and the passions for learning will not be engaged. 

When the passions ARE engaged and supportive systems (teachers, community resources, technology etc) are in place, students find no mountain is too high, and no concept too complex to withstand the assault of their sustained interest and attention. You don’t have to take my word for this. You can see it in action, and while I can describe my own observations, I know that you, the reader of this material can reflect on times when your passions have been engaged in your own lives and your own learning has been at its height. So what is the answer to the challenge of engaging the heart in education? a

Get real. Real life engages the intellect and the imagination. Crafts are an excellent way to bring the real world into the classroom. Real tools, real materials, real work, making real objects with real use. The purpose of the woodshop at Clear Spring is to help all the other subjects become real and engage the hearts and the passions or our students in education. You know what? It really works.

When the hands are engaged...

When one's hands are engaged in seemingly repetitive tasks, the mind is neither numbed nor silent. Folks at work with their hands are often engaged in thought and thoughtfulness unapparent to the observer. Just as students in a lecture hall can be surreptitiously engaged in checking their face book pages and the professor will not know whether they're listening, the casual observer of a craftsman at work will know nothing of the inner workings of a craftsman's mind, unless he or she has taken time to make an investment in the development of skill, and knows by extension the depths and complexities of a craftsman's thoughts. Make, fix and create...

An onslaught

Artificial intelligence is going to take most of the fun out of the internet if there's any left. I became (without my permission) subscribed to a substack on artificial intelligence due to my having used the term in an article and post and its use of an AI tool for mining the internet for email advertising targets. The subscription was not voluntary. The substack about AI was promoting a subscription service to greatly multiply your number of sales contacts, which it had used to vastly increase its subscriber base. It bragged about how they'd greatly increased their subscriber base using a tool called Scop. Give Scop a keyword and it will scan the whole of the internet for related contacts, and put them in a format that you can use to blast others without their permission.

The powers of AI may bring a few good things in medical research, but to casual use of the internet, forget it. We'll soon be overwhelmed by junk if that's not already the case.

All that reminds me that there is a real world to attend to in which people do real things... attempting to create useful beauty in service to family, community and self. 

Today I'm getting ready for the White St. Art Walk here in Eureka. It is an annual event and I'll have a few pieces of work set up for sales.

Make, fix and create.

better off?

 

After a wonderful three day class at ESSA, and with a five day class coming up in just over 2 weeks, and while we're in the midst of a presidential election campaign, I'm reminded of the question asked every four years, "Are we better off now than we were four years ago?"

Four years ago, Clear Spring School where I taught woodworking K-12 had been closed down but for on-line classes. ESSA was trying to move its classes online as well. My class making Viking Chests with forged hardware had been cancelled.

At home we'd buy groceries to be picked up and then would carefully wash the outsides of packages before things would be put away, as we were all fearful of catching and passing it on to family or friends. My daughter, soon to be son-in-law, his brother, his cat and their dog had joined us here in Arkansas, as Covid had run amuck in New York City and their healthcare system was on the brink of collapse. Unemployment was spiking out of control as folks could no longer work.  

A bipartisan economic rescue plan was put in place to prevent a total economic collapse. We knew people in our own community that were dying or on the edge of death.

We had a president that claimed that Covid would just magically disappear and that maybe just injecting a disinfectant like bleach in our veins would provide a cure. Some folks tried and died.

That president won twice in Arkansas and will likely do so again in our state. 

Have folks become so tribal in world view that they're willing to put themselves, our communities, and others at risk of death? In my home state of Arkansas this presidential election that will likely be the case. Candidate Trump claimed that one or the first things he'll do if elected will be to eliminate the CDC Office of Preparedness and Response. And if he's not elected, he'll claim fraud and proceed to take over by force.

In the meantime, I received a near final full cover design for my new book Designing Boxes, showing both the front and back and a review PDF for an article in Popular Woodworking that goes to print today... their next issue.

box making jigs

Today we finished a 3 day class at ESSA making various jigs for box making. We made sleds for crosscut and miter cuts, keyed miter sleds, finger joint sleds and router setups, and  a few other miscellaneous devices to make box making safer and more accurate.

It was great to hang out with friends.

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

uguisu no tani watari

In response to my article, "Maybe Even Build A Boat" in the Hedgehog Review, Douglas Brooks, builder of Japanese boats, sent me this article about a boat he and students built at Harvard.

 https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2023/02/first-lesson-in-japanese-boatbuilding-dont-speak/

Brooks describes a feature that sets apart Japanese boatbuilding: edge nailing. In the West, “we tend to send the plank of the fastening through the planking into a frame or rib. There are no frames or ribs in Japanese boats. We’re ‘edge nailing’ the skin of the boat to itself.”

The percussive hammering method “has a very evocative name,” said Brooks. “It is called uguisu no tani watari, which means ‘the bush warbler flits back and forth across the valley.’ There’s a great risk of splitting the plank. It’s a really frightening way to drive a nail into a plank … It injects a kind of playfulness into the workshop.”

The article is well worth sharing.

you can help

We are facing a crisis in American education. Students are disinterested. If it were not the quelling effect of neurohormones provided through their addiction to social media and gaming, they would be disruptive. At the university level, some are. 

Many schools that serve the poor in rural America are suffering from a lack of teaching staff, as professional teachers are driven from the profession. Instead of teaching, they're faced with challenges of "classroom management." And while teaching has always been a noble enterprise, administrations attempting to comply with right wing political whims have diminished the respect that teachers traditionally received in our communities. Even librarians have been the targets of foolishness.

In the midst of all this, I think I have a grip on things... a handle that could be used to shift things back in the right direction. I keep writing in the hopes of having effect. 

In the Front Porch Republic I wrote a lengthy piece about AI, Misinformation and the Forgotten Value of Manual Arts Training. 

 In the Hedgehog Review, I have a just released essay, "Maybe Even Build a Boat Rediscovering the lessons of craft."  Both the Hedgehog Review and Front Porch Republic are small media with limited reach. Because this is true, you can help by sharing these articles and this blog with your contacts.

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

A grand opening

Yesterday we held the grand opening of the Museum of Eureka Springs Art, attended by over 200. Many were old friends. If you were unable to attend, you may get a glimpse of our new museum through a drone fly through on our museum website. https://museumofeurekaspringsart.net/ 

While many museums host works from places far flung, our museum hosts works from artists deeply connected with each other, and whose works  and work were influential in each others lives. Many visitors are impressed by the diversity, and quantity of museum quality works.

As a founder and first president of the Eureka Springs Guild of Artists and Craftspeople, many of the artists featured in the museum were friends of mine, and it gives me great pleasure to see their works honored.

Yesterday I was quoted in an article about digital technologies in school in the New Republic. 

Unplug the Classroom. Or Reboot It. Just Don’t Do Nothing, by Antón Barba-Kay

Today I have an article coming out online at Hedgehog Review.  Check for it after 10 AM. The Hedgehog Review is published by the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia. 

Make, fix and create...

kids and technology in schools.

 I  and the Clear Spring School are mentioned in this article in the New Republic.

 https://newrepublic.com/article/180497/school-screens-classroom-crisis-solutions?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=SF_TNR&utm_source=Twitter

Welcome to the Museum of Eureka Springs Art

We are celebrating our grand opening today with refreshments and a showing of art from the Eureka Springs High School. You are more than welcome to attend. 3-5 PM May 5 in the Eureka Springs Community Center complex. The museum houses over 400 works by 150 local artists from the late 1800's to the present day.

I'll be there and hope you will also.  In case you can't make it, this link to the museum offers a drone fly through. It's worth watching as a preview of what you'll see if you are able to attend.

 https://museumofeurekaspringsart.net/

The Museum of Eureka Springs Art is a bit different from most art museums in that it illustrates the interrelationships between artists that provides a foundation for the development of community. Go to most museums and you'll find great works from far-flung places. Come to the Museum of Eureka Springs Art and you'll find great works that local artists created that were then influential in the development of one of the most vibrant art colonies in the US. While here you'll find a few examples of my own best work.

The video is one from the 1990's in which various artists discuss their work.

Make, fix and create...

assembled and ready for touchup sanding and finish

With just a bit more work these will be ready to sell.

Make, fix and create...
 

rocker mortises and box latches

 In my woodshop I drilled the last of the many mortises for toddler sized rocking chairs that I'll display (and perhaps sell) at this year's White Street Art Fair. For these mortises, I used a drill press to drill holes and then used a chisel to finish them. 

I've also added small latches to the sewing machine box I've nearly finished for my granddaughter Sylvie. My daughter Lucy sews at her machine with Sylvie in her lap. In about 5 or 6 years they'll be able to sew side by side with this machine that's older than I am.

The small latches are available from Amazon. They operate with ease and appear to be robust enough to last. These are the second latches I applied as the first were not of sufficient strength.

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

Happy National Teachers Day

Happy National Teacher's Day. We teach by a variety of means... By instruction, but also by example, so those who "teach" are not alone in the enterprise.

The photo shows boxes receiving their second application of Danish oil. I'll let them dry for a few minutes before wiping them down with a lint free cloth. The point is not to dry them and remove the finish but to rub it in, bringing the boxes to a uniform sheen. Timing is critical. Wait too long and the rubbing is difficult.

I have an essay coming out in the Hedgehog Review on Monday at about 10 AM. I'll share a link when it comes out.

Make, fix and create... Share with others.

today boxes

Yesterday I took portable workbenches  and various clamping devices to the Clear Spring School wood shop so that middle school students could test them and provide feedback. They decided that the most recent designed by Mike Taylor was best and noted that it could be mounted to tables of different heights. They liked the way the flipper handles worked and were amazed at how strong the front vise was for holding wood. 

They were most impressed when I pulled some Veritas planes out from storage, as they'd never planed wood before. So I set up additional stock in other benches for them to practice on.

Next week while they are off camping I plan to spend a day with their teacher, giving him lessons on how to keep them sharp. It felt great to be back on the Clear Spring School campus with a few kids.

Today I signed sixteen inlaid boxes, and began applying a Danish oil finish consisting of two parts polyurethane, one part linseed oil and one part mineral spirits. I set up a table under the protection of our front porch so Rosie and I could sit outside and observe a gentle rain. 

An essay I've written for the Hedgehog Review is being edited for publication online and I'll post a link when it's available to read.

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