prototype cabinet...

In preparation for a class in Portland, I've made this new cabinet design. I have yet to apply the Danish oil finish, but I am also wondering whether I should apply some lighter finish than that or apply a wash in a lighter color that would maintain the grain but also keep the light color in tact. Knobs could be added, or ignored, as the doors can be opened easily by the lip underneath. I am hoping my students find it to be an elegant design, worthy of their making and placement in their homes when complete.

A number of years ago, my students were discussing how nearly all the things in their lives came from China. I asked if they had anything that they knew was made in the US. "Yes," they answered. "The things they'd made in wood shop." And so at one time, the objects in our lives described a close relationship between family and community, as those things you owned came from those persons you knew and likely cared a great deal for. Now connections are made externally through wireless networks, but are they truly taken to heart?

At the Clear Spring School, my students are making progress on their box guitars, and I'm in the process of finishing 4 of them myself, adding tuners, bridges, nuts and strings to my demonstration guitars.

My wife remarked at the cover of this month's Fine Woodworking, asking the question, "why are all the woodworkers on the cover always so old?" And the truth is that many of us have gotten to be of a certain age. I hope that in time, we can build a whole army of younger woodworkers to take our places and  change all that.

Make, fix, create, and extend to others the pleasure of learning likewise.