Vibration free camera stand

In order to take closeup videos of operations on the table saw, I purchased a clamp on camera mount, but found that the vibration of the saw affected the filming. So this isolated easy to make stand was the perfect solution. It's made with pocket screws and should be a thing easy enough for you to design and make for yourself.

A tilt lid box #woodworking #jewelrybox #diy

This shows the features of a tilt lid box, the making of which is illustrated here: https://youtu.be/5B8outOlH3c

Making a tilt lid box

A tilt lid box requires no hardware and is easy to make following the steps shown. My first was in Simply Beautiful Boxes, my second book published in 2000 and still available as a Kindle book. It is also included in 25 Beautiful Boxes, also available as a digital edition. Additional tilt lid boxes are in my new book Designing Boxes.

To paraphrase Dewey

What wise parents want for their own children, they also want for all children. And so why would that be? Certainly because we want the world in which our children grow up to be one in which they prosper and live without fear. 

Every child at risk places our own children at risk and the world itself at risk. Is that so difficult to understand?

And because we, as individuals, do not have the power to take care of the needs of all children, we, the wise, elect governments to act on our behalf. 

For some, that is difficult to understand. And so they make up horror stories to frighten folks to keep them from trusting schools, teachers, and even librarians. They do that to gain influence and power, perhaps because they were in some way injured themselves.

We are facing challenging times as hardliners take control. In the meantime, there's some good work to do, in small workshops, classrooms, studios, and kitchens to give to our own children and grandchildren what they need, for they, uninjured, will help in small ways to change the world, making it a better place despite the obstacles the hardliners throw in their  paths.

In my wood shop I'm making a couple small tilt-lid boxes to fit inside much larger jewelry chests, that will provide an interesting way to store necklaces. Details will emerge later, and by sharing the making of beautiful and useful things, I can find greater peace in challenging times.

Ordering my new book on Amazon has been confusing for some, due to delays in the distribution of it. It will get much better soon.

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.