recipe boxes

In my woodshop I'm working on recipe boxes at the request of the Historic Arkansas Museum Gift Store. They are made to hold 4 x 6 in. recipe cards and are made from Arkansas hardwoods. They are now nearly complete but for the application of finish.

I used surface mounted hinges that open to a 90 degree stop.

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

Woodcarving Illustrated and sled runners

Today I received copies of the latest edition of Woodcarving Illustrated, containing my article about making hook knives. 

Beyond that, there is a great deal of information that points to the significant role of the hands in learning. Anyone who has paid a modicum of attention to observing his or her own learning experience, would know that “hands-on” is the key and won't need experts to tell what you can see for yourself. But for those who don’t know their hands from a hole in the ground, there are some important things happening that tell us that we have it ALL wrong in most modern classrooms. Some of the research being done in a variety of areas tells us that we have grossly misunderstood the role of the hands in thinking and the development of intelligence.

One significant item I’ll point to is the research that concludes that the playing of instrumental music in school has a significant effect on the development of math proficiency. I think it is particularly interesting to consider the role of the hands in the playing of music. It was Frank Wilson’s involvement in music that lead to his book, The Hand: How its use shapes the brain, language and human culture, and while this particular research doesn’t specifically address the hand’s role in learning, instrumental music is clearly hands-on. Was it the music that made the difference, or the use of the hands in playing the music? It would take more extensive research to prove one way or the other. I strongly suspect that both have effect, the music and the hands that play it. The book describing the research can be found for download at the  Government Information website "Critical Links: Learning in the Arts and Student Social and Academic Development," was sponsored by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the United States Department of Education and was written by James Catterall, Karen Bradley, Larry Scripp, Terry Baker and Rob Horowitz. It is truly astounding how rarely the United States Government is able to take its own advice. It is a clear case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing.

In the meantime, I enjoy making jigs and sleds and for the table saw, most of my sleds have involved wooden runners. Because I make them myself, they're cheap and because they are wood, it is easy to mount them with screws. But I'm always open to new things. The plastic runner shown is high density polyethylene that is cut from a common plastic cutting board I purchased on Amazon here. The advantage is that it is stable material, can be machined with common woodworking tools, and mounted with screws just as I would one made of wood.

Make, fix and create. Help others get the point.

April 17 delivery of Designing Boxes

My new book Designing Boxes is now listed on Amazon for delivery on April 17.

A pen and ink box

A pen and ink box I made for a lawyer in Massachusetts is featured in the current issue of Popular Woodworking.

It is made of ash and walnut, and also serves as an example of interior design in my new book, Designing Boxes.  The lift out tray is to hold pens and the space under is useful for accessories.

I was listening to a report on how the rich play a disproportionate role in climate change. Over 900 private jets converged in Las Vegas for the Super Bowl, and that's just the tip of the melting iceberg. 

If more folks were involved in crafting beautiful and useful things within their own communities, they'd find greater satisfaction in the use of their own hands and would not have to go rushing off toward the destruction of life for the rest of us.

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

John Amos Comenius

John Amos Comenius was born March 28, 1592, and as father of modern pedagogy (the science of learning and teaching) said the following.

"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.” 

"Theory," says Vives,"is easy and short, but has no result other than the gratification that it affords. Practice on the other hand, is difficult and prolix, but is of immense utility." Since this is so, we should diligently seek out a method by which the young may be easily led to the practical application of natural forces, which is to be found in the arts."

"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.” 

Is it not time that we learned from an expert observer and changed the foundation of America education? More doing and less reading would be a good start, so that when kids are reading or writing they have a firm foundation for it.

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

A torsion table.

Over the last five days a team of volunteers and I built 5 tables for ESSA. Four are yet to be assembled and all require finish. The table shown in the photo is a torsion table similar in structure to one I have coming out in an article in Popular Woodworking.

I was interviewed last week for an article in the New Republic on the subject of education. I was asked about the problem of cell phones in school. I noted that when kids (and adults) are busy doing real things, cell phones (and their distraction) are of little interest. If we get kids busy in schools doing real things instead of the usual BS, the boredom that drives kids to their phones will be decreased.

My own cell phone use fell dramatically during the last week (over 40%). 

Yes, it can be demanding. Planning for kids to do real things instead of sitting at desks while teachers drone on and on is not an easy thing. But well worth it, as it allows students to have real outcomes to demonstrate and measure their success. When things are real, no standardized tests are required to prove evidence of learning.

On Friday I had a good zoom conversation with Dale Dougherty from Make Magazine about the state of American education and how to turn things around. The torsion table shown in the photo is made from white oak and spalted sycamore. It will serve as the reception table for the Windgate Building, greeting students to the wood and metals studios.
 

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

cutting dovetails at ESSA!

Volunteers have been building a display cabinet for the wood shop at ESSA. Practicing dovetails is a notable and noble adventure, sure to grab interest. 

In the meantime, I've been sent the pdf's of my new book, Designing Boxes, to review and got a nice note from a craft collector in Little Rock to tell me that one of my reliquaries of wood will be on display at the Windgate Center for Art and Design at UALR until March 3. The opening reception will be held Thursday, February 15, 2024 from 5 to 7 PM.

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

volunteer days

At ESSA this week, a team of volunteers is helping me to make 5 tables. Four are for our commons house where we will hold board meetings and receptions, and one is to go in the lobby that connects the wood and metals studios.

In the photo folks are using cabinet scrapers to finish columns that will become parts of pedestal style bases on white oak tables.

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

Designing Boxes Cover

Taunton Press has finalized the cover of my new book that's scheduled to come out in April.

This is my 15th book, not counting 3 translated and published in German.
 

A discussion of the need for hands-on learning

Dale Dougherty publisher of Make Magazine asked me what direct steps we can take to improve American education, and he printed my response in this link.

router mortise jig

I've made this relatively simple new jig for routing mortises using the plunge router and guide bushings. The first step is to cut a piece from the middle of a board equal in size to the selected guide bushing.

Then the base must be glued with an opening to allow for the guide bushing to move a distance equal to the length of the planned mortise, plus an allowance for the different sizse of the router bit and guide bushing.

A guide is added to the underside to position the jig in the right place so that the cut will be centered in the stock. In my jig, I used spacers to adjust the position so I can use the same jig for different thicknesses of wood. The jig can either be clamped in a vise or can be clamped directly to the stock.

Make, fix and create.

ready to sell

My basswood cabinet, milk painted and carved is ready to sell at the annual Clear Spring School fundraising auction. It hangs with a french cleat, so installation is easy. 

You position the cleat on the wall, level it and attach it with screws, and then simply lift the cabinet in place. It is sized to hold a large array of spices. Other small collectables could also be displayed inside.

Make, fix and create.

quick carving

I've done a quick carving on the front of a basswood spice cabinet. Left and right are not perfectly symmetrical... a thing that might bother some. On the other hand, the carving is spontaneous, taking only a few minutes to do. You get to choose how you would do this to fit your own expectations of results.

Make, fix and create...

designing boxes update.

My new book with Taunton Press, Designing Boxes, has now passed through the editorial process and has been moved to layout and design. My next part of the process will be the final review before it goes to press. I'm reminded of what it means to be a part of a good team.

At ESSA we're preparing parts for making tables. The start of a pedestal is shown.

Make, fix and create...

Milk paint

At this point the spice cabinet is painted, ready for clear coating (which will darken the color) and carving which will reveal the color of wood underneath.

A reader, Connie Goddard, who is working on a book about the history of manual arts training for University of Illinois Press sent this interesting comment from 1901 regarding the North Dakota Normal and Industrial School. Thank you Connie. 

Make, fix and create...

 

Milk painted spice cabinet.

I'm applying milk paint to a small cabinet featured in a recent article in Popular Woodworking and as an alternate design in my book Building Small Cabinets. This cabinet when finished will be offered in the annual Spring Fling benefit to support the Clear Spring School. After finishing with the milk paint I'll do some simple carving to the front using a v gouge.

The cabinet is sized to fit spice jars and mounts to the wall using a "french cleat."

Want it? You'll be able to bid on it when the auction goes live.

Make, fix and create...

AI, Kindergarten and the need for universal manual arts training.

I have an essay in this month's Front Porch Republic https://www.frontporchrepublic.com/2024/01/ai-misinformation-and-manual-arts-training/

In the essay, 

Doug Stowe reflects on the importance of educating students to work with their hands: "With the rise of Artificial Intelligence, it is more important than ever that we develop a common framework of understanding rooted in the senses—sight, sound, and touch—offline, in the real world."

box maker's plow plane

Lee Valley suggests that with weather being what it is throughout the US and  Canada, this time to head for the shop and do a bit of woodworking. 

The weather here is cold, and we have 3 or 4 inches of snow. But shop time is a near everyday thing for me.

Yesterday I decided to give my new Veritas Box Maker's plow planes a test, while also rethinking my simple clamping system that uses a common wood bodied hand screw.

With the plow plane I'd wondered whether I might use plane irons from my old Record Multi Plane, and learned that I could.  I used a 1/8 in radius beading cutter to make a practice run on a piece of western cedar and got perfect results. 

Turning a hand screw into an effective clamp for holding stock is relatively easy. For schools interested in converting desks to work benches, it can offer a cost effective alternative to woodworking vises that are expensive to buy and difficult to install.

Make, fix and create...

hidden spline joint

Fine Woodworking sent out an email link this morning to my video on making the hidden spline joint. 

You can also find this video and more on my youtube channel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xlz9ekl3JE&list=PLCe5BXfmi4bMW5oIg_iF9kMjZO2iPL3tZ

My friend Paul

My friend Paul Harvel died yesterday. He was a major advocate for my adopted home state, Arkansas, and his life can serve as a model for the positive effects we can have on each other. I first met Paul when I was selling my work at the Arkansas Craft Guild's Christmas Showcase. He was director of the Little Rock Area Chamber of Commerce and bought some of my boxes to give his staff. He did the same the next year, the year after and for years after that.

His wife Barbara called one day as she was looking for someone to design the Governor's Award for Quality. As she asked about my work I mentioned that I made small inlaid boxes, at which point she picked up a box from her desk that Paul had given her, and noted my signature underneath. That led to my making the Governor's Award for Quality for the next twenty years.

When Paul was involved in building the new Chamber of Commerce offices in downtown Little Rock, he asked me to design and build the furniture for his office. That furniture was recently a gift from Paul and Barbara to the collection of the Museum of Eureka Springs Art. https://www.facebook.com/museumofeurekaspringsart/

My point in mentioning Paul, is to point out that an artisan's work is dependent on the support of his community. Paul's particular art was to encourage others, and my own work and development as a craftsman holds me in Paul's debt. If others have been encouraged by my work, they are also at least a bit in Paul's debt.

An illusion that we humans suffer from is that we are separate from each other, and that we come and go from this life. Perhaps a clearer view would be to witness the interconnections between us, noting the fabric of life. In simple terms, Paul is gone, and Paul is not gone,

My love to Barbara, to the state of Arkansas and all the small towns that benefitted from  Paul's attentions as he promoted their growth.

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

white oak

Yesterday I picked up a small load of white oak... enough to make many boxes or several pieces of small furniture. It has the potential of different interesting things. It must be dried first though some folks do work with green wood. Wood shrinks significantly when it dries, and can warp. So for my use, I'll stack it with strips of wood between layers, allowing air to flow around it on all sides. 

In about a year it will be ready to use. The common understanding suggests one year of drying for each inch of thickness, though that may vary dependent on the amount of air flow around the stack, and how dry the air is in the environment.

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

Music box revisited

The small box in the photo is a music box left over unfinished from the production of my book Simply Beautiful Boxes. That book and its projects were compiled in my book Build 25 Beautiful Boxes. While out of print, it's available in a Kindle edition.

I've installed a small movement that plays Johann Pachelbel's Canon in D and it's being finished for my Granddaughter Sylvie.

The box is made of elm and inlaid with walnut and curly maple. The inlay techniques are demonstrated in the book.

fathers of...

There were two men credited as the fathers of the manual arts training movement in the US. Both had attended the 1876 American Centennial World Exposition in Philadelphia celebrating the founding of the United States. Among the exhibits were a huge (the world's largest) steam engine that powered 11 acres of machinery along with an exhibit of the "Russian system" of manual arts training. Calvin Woodward taught mathematics at Washington University, and John Runkle taught math at MIT. Both had observed that as fewer of their students came from the farm where direct from real life learning had built a foundation for abstract studies, students were having greater difficulty understanding concepts in math. 

The answer of course was for them to do real things in school where necessary foundations for abstract studies might be purposely built. The American manual and industrial training movement was thus launched from that exposition and the return of Woodward and Runkle to their respective institutions.

Sorry to be preachy on this subject, but isn't it obvious that children need to be doing real things?

Less noticed at the same exposition was the Swedish School house that featured an exhibit of hand-crafted wooden models representing Educational Sloyd, a system of education bringing the hands, eyes and mind into partnership in developing the whole child. The Swedish School house was moved to New York City's Central Park following the exposition. It currently serves as the Marionette Theater, as it has since that time.

Along with the introduction of manual arts training, Americans were also introduced to Kindergarten at that exposition and the movement to bring Kindergartens to American children and Educational Sloyd to American youth were closely connected and sponsored by some of the same enlightened folks.

You can follow along through this blog and use the search function at upper left to gain more information. The photo shows my visit to the Swedish School House in Central Park.

Make, fix and create...

odd but true

Happy New Year. It's odd but true that every small thing we do has what the bankers call "serial effect."  You bounce one check putting your account into overdraft and the next follows. We make very small choices going this way or that, and the course of our lives is forever changed by each choice we make. 

Unfortunately we are not given clear maps, and the shortest distance between two points is almost never a straight line. Also, it seems that very small decisive moments can make all the difference in the world, while at the same time, we may feel and seem powerless in response to catastrophic world events.

But what is the power that we have, and what can we do with it?

A number of years ago friends brought me a slender volume published at Naropa Institute in Boulder Colorado where they had attended classes in meditation. The thin volume is called the Tsin Tsin Ming, translated from the writings of the third Zen Patriarch. 

The volume suggests a path forward. When we make the slightest distinction, heaven and earth are set infinitely apart, but by refusing to fall into judgement of things, this vs. that, everything becomes clear and undisguised.

In that is a simple path forward. The world we face is profoundly complex. There are people trying to divide us from each other, and they are well practiced in their ways, using buzz words and ready anger to gain power and control. We see it in every event, and yet we are each presented even in this new year with a path of peace that starts from this moment.

The hands have a clear and distinct role to play in this transformation. They demand your (and my) presence in the now, in this moment, and in the real world.

Again, Happy New Year.

Make, fix and create...

Two gift articles

Today I offer two gift articles from the New York Times related to the hands and the wonders they bring. One involves knitting and the other blacksmithing. Both, while one is noisy and the other not, offer solace to the soul.

Make, fix and create...

beyond troubled times

We seem to live in troubled times, and yet when we take matters into our own creative hands, things seem to fall into a better place. It might be easy to fall into despair, but it's also easy to surrender to the help and companionship of friends.  Lacking friends at hand, your own hands can be your friends, luring you into a meditative state. 

I have found that I've been given a great gift in that I'm given the opportunities to teach, both through my books and articles and through classes. When we empower others to discover their own creativity, expressed in the making useful beauty we are helping to create the world of peace and joy that all long for. 

Along with season’s greetings and holiday cheer, I’m imagining all the wonderful things students have made as Christmas gifts this year, as well as all the wonderful things my students have helped others to make. Perhaps there are a few boxes among those lovely things.

I was sent this lovely photo of things a member of the Oregon Woodworking Guild had made from "scrap". The box holding the kitchen utensils is as lovely as the beautifully figured wood within.

Merry Christmas. May we each find moments of creative joy in the coming year.

Make, fix and create...

tables and birdmouths

In the wood shop at ESSA I'm beginning a table making project. What I hope will be the end results are shown in the drawing. There will be four that will go in our Commons house that is used for meetings and for guest teachers to gather after hours. They can be arranged individually or assembled as a group for board meetings, and it's all part of the steady growth of our school.

The four columns supporting the table tops are made using birdmouth joints commonly used in boat building to make hollow spars and masts. They are 6 sided and hollow so that steel rods can pass through, and so that lighter material can be used. The feet will rest on pads made from high density plastic that will keep moving them from marring the floor. 

To start, I've been jointing and planing stock. Sometime in February I'll call together a team of volunteers to help. 

I quote from a personal email I received from David Henry Feldman on the state of American education and its problems. 

My own point of view about education is that it has gone lopsided, understandably, because of the number of kids who are unprepared for school and who don’t know how to do school work. So the system puts most of its resources into trying to get all kids at least well enough prepared to do the work up to a minimum standard.

The other, in many respects more important, purpose of education is to help each child find his or her true path. The goal tends to be relegated to after school or out of school activities. The preoccupation with ‘standards’ also has a dampening effect on this second, more sacred, purpose.

Without denigrating the very real challenges of insuring at least a minimum of competence in all of our students, if we don’t also celebrate the uniqueness and distinct potential of each student, and if we don’t guide each one toward a life well lived, we may win the battle but lose the war.

When shop classes were first started in American schools, (and as I've explained before) there were two compelling reasons. One was that we were becoming an industrialized nation and were in need of skilled hands. The second was that it was then realized that making beautiful and useful things bound the child to higher purpose, in the same manner as would engagement in the arts. I can describe (and often do describe) the many non-economic benefits of doing real things and most specifically working with wood.

For example, in 2016 I had my upper elementary school students turning wood on the lathe. Lily had done a beautiful handle for her small hammer. It was smooth. There were no tool markings and the shape was well conceived. She looked at me and stated, "I am very proud of this." But she did not need my guidance in her self-assessment. She knew precisely why it was good work. Moments later I heard her complimenting a younger student. "That's very good Ana." 

And so what I'm describing is not just quality of work. I'm describing qualities fostered in the person doing the work. In less than a minute, Lily had self-assessed, expressed pride, and from the stand-point of her own success had encouraged another in her work. This is what happens when students are encouraged to do real things instead of laboring senselessly on abstraction as they do in most schools.

Make, fix and create.

the need to do real things.

My essay in the Front Porch Republic will be published in mid January, so in the meantime I'm reviewing material for a second essay that I hope will find a home in another publication.

It is interesting how deep the resources are that promote hands-on learning over the lecture style teaching that we normally subject students to. It is shameful what we put students through in school. That such boredom is acceptable illustrates how little we value human culture and our kids and the development of their minds.  Lecture based learning is proven to be strikingly ineffective, and yet, in schools teachers and administrations persist for they are given little opportunity to  make the changes that are most necessary.

This snippet from an article by Korwin and Jones tells a great deal:

Jerome Bruner, a supporter of varied learning experiences, stated that "...increasing the manipulability of a body of knowledge" creates both a physical and mental optimum learning structure and con-tended that physical operations create feed-back of learning that allow children to seeit happen. 

 Lipson and Fischer sustained this reasoning, stating "Experiences without words are difficult to integrate, describe, and retrieve. Yet, words without experience tend to have limited meaning. The two reinforce each other and are defined by one another". 

Martinez, further explains this in saying that a student who is introduced to a concept such as walnutwood will grasp a different meaning than a student who actually uses walnut and experiences its properties firsthand.

https://ideas.time.com/2012/10/02/why-lectures-are-ineffective/

It was proposed that we actually have four different memories involved in learning:  auditory, visual, tactile, and body motor functions. This implies that information that more fully utilizing all four memories would be stronger and more easily retrieved. Hence, the need for students to do real things.

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

sliding book rack

This simple sliding book rack is made of white oak. Years ago I'd done an article about making them in Woodwork Magazine, and some of my students from the Clear Spring School will remember having made some similar in class. In fact some students may still have them.

I'd started work on these years ago, having cut out the parts, and rather than letting the wood go to waste, I decided to finish them. Making them would be a good two day class, introducing students to a variety of tools and woodworking strategies.

We are down to just a few woodworking days before Christmas. At this time next year I'lll be making grandfatherly toys for Sylvie. In the meantime, let's all remember that we learn best hands on, and that reading (acquisition of knowledge 2nd or 3rd hand) is far less meaningful and effective than learning by doing real things. In schools extreme emphasis is placed on reading. Greater emphasis must be placed instead on doing real things.

Make, fix and create...

a reliquary of wood

 With the addition of a plexiglass box to keep the innards safe, my reliquary of wood has been added to the Museum of Eureka Springs Art museum display. 

The reliquary was inspired by a reliquary in the Nelson Atkins Museum in Kansas City and by my participation in  a shrine show (sponsored by ESSA) in which artists were invited to create shrines celebrating the things important in their own lives. 

The idea of a reliquary is to lift as important things that should be treasured. The reliquary in the Nelson Atkins Museum once held the bones of a saint. My reliquary has 25 turned samples of American (Arkansas) hardwoods, each in their natural color. It is a statement of value. The box itself is made of sugar maple.

Some may remember a simple children's finger game that goes, "Here's the church, Here's the steeple. Open the doors and see all the people." The people in my small chapel are the woods of Arkansas, each deserving admiration and respect. The way the doors open is designed to represent hands opening to the wonders of all life.

This small box has been honored before. It was featured in my book, Simply Beautiful Boxes, as best of show winner in a show at the Springfield Art Museum and on the pages of UU World Magazine.

The museum will be open to the public on Saturday, December 23, 2023 from 1 PM until 5.

Make, fix and create...

Veritas Box Maker's Plow Plane

I received two planes from Lee Valley today, left and right plow planes of a smaller size suggested for box making. Like other Veritas planes made by Lee Valley, they are works of art. The crafting of them is exquisite.

Plow planes are used for cutting grooves in wood but can also form beads and coves. In box making you can imagine using them to cut grooves for inlay, or for bottoms to fit. With other cutters installed, beaded edges or panels could add interest to a lovely box.

The tight curls of walnut behind the plane in the photo below were formed in my first test use of the right handed plane.

These are lovely in their design and perfect in their manufacture. They can be ordered here.

Make, fix and create...

saws

 I frequently evaluate tools that might be useful for woodworking with kids, and I ran across a folding Japanese style Kataba saw that would likely be a good replacement for the Vaughan Bear Saws we've used for years at the Clear Spring School. The Hardtwerk Zen Saw has 13 precision ground hardened teeth per inch and like the Bear Saws and other Japanese designed saws, cuts on the pull stroke. It's not as fine toothed as a Dozuki so would not be a replacement for a dovetail saw, but would cut quickly in softwoods.

While I'm waiting for mine to arrive, you might try it also, as it would provide an excellent opportunity to get some valuable sawing time with children or grandchildren over the holidays, and it folds closed when not in use. The Hardtwerk Zen Saw is of German and Japanese design and only a fraction of the price of the Bear Saw. 

If you are a woodworker, a saw I recommend for your own Christmas stocking is a small flush cut saw, also of Japanese design. I use this saw to trim miter keys flush at the corners of boxes, and with careful use, it will do so without marking the surrounding wood. It cuts quick. I bought two that have kept sharp through several classes and multiple student uses. 

I prefer the Tamatori single edge flush cut saw  over the version with two cutting edges as it allows me to guide the back edge of the saw flush against the work without scraping my fingers with the teeth on the back edge.

Make, fix and create...

Holiday gift idea

If you have a child or grandchild in the 4 year old and up range, a hand drill and a bit of time using it under the guidance of an adult (and that adult could be you!) would make an excellent gift... one that would last at least a generation or longer. 

I suggest a bit of parental supervision to prevent holes showing up at unexpected locations. You can occasionally find antique hand drills on eBay, but for just in time delivery before Christmas, Amazon can deliver.

 This drill from Amazon  has storage for bits in the handle, and unlike some antiques, has a chuck key and the chuck is locked in place with a screw, requiring just a bit of assembly before use. That assembly time gives a bit of one on one with the younger children and a chance to talk about appropriate tool use and storage. It comes with two brad point bits, excellent for drilling in wood or plastic.

At the Clear Spring School I mounted hand drills in blocks of wood so they could be held in vises and used to decorate tops with colored pencils and markers. https://youtu.be/TDJYFR5COHU

If you want your children to become curious about mechanics and the way things work, the gears will be a subject for fascination from an earlier time.

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

Mentored Residency in Woodworking at ESSA

ESSA has announced a mentored residency program in woodworking at ESSA. I'll be the primary mentor, joined by Larry Copas, an excellent woodworker and instructor from the Springdale area and frequent participant in ESSA classes. 

The details and application form can be found here:

https://essa-art.org/instructors/residency-program/

The program is designed to help woodworkers take their work to the next level. Both the wood turning and flat work studios will be available. With on site lodging, we expect lots of collaboration and fellowship among participants. 

The display cabinet shown above is some of my earlier work.

Make, fix and create...

wooden ties

I finished making my wooden ties. They are made of walnut, inlaid with cherry, maple, walnut and sycamore.To wear them you simply tie the strings in a bow at the back of the neck.

No, you won't find them at Dillards.

Make, fix and create...

Woodworking with Kids

During the worst of the pandemic I began using emailed woodworking with kids emails in an attempt to keep my students and parents engaged. It met with limited success. Due to the inactivity of my mail chimp account, I was informed that unless it received further attention from me, it would be disabled. I'll try to keep it going because the need for children working with wood has not diminished. If anything, it is more important than ever before as more stuff moves online and a hunger develops for meaningful engagement in the real world.

Adults and children learn in the same manner, direct from the real world and by doing real things. You need not have children or grand children to find value in the newsletters.

You can view old copies or the latest through this link. https://mailchi.mp/8ea7eadc567e/children-and-hammers The browser page makes it easy to subscribe or cancel at will.

I will attempt in the coming months to add more content.

glue spreaders

I began using simple plastic glue spreaders while teaching kids at the Clear Spring School. One of the things you'll soon notice when kids use glue is the mess.  

So I would have the kids make a small puddle of glue on a plastic lid from a box of screws from which dried glue could be easily removed, and then use plastic glue sticks to spread just the amount of glue needed and in just the right place. Glue bottles offer an immediate mess.

These glue spreaders work great. Just as advertised, the dried glue comes right off, and they're cheap enough that you can give them to all your woodworking friends and thereby improve the quality of their own work. These are perfect for applying just the right amount of glue in tight places or for gluing linings in small boxes. 

I've used them for years and at $9.95 for 70 of them you'll get a lifetime supply. The ring around the working end is useful. It holds the messy end up off the workbench.

If you buy through this link I get a small commission as an amazon associate... a bargain for each of us.

Cubitron discs

I was introduced to these excellent sanding discs from Taylor Tool Company taytools.com. They do an excellent job of dust removal and last far longer than other sanding discs. The placement of the dust extraction holes removes the concern with aligning them just right on the sanding pad. And they are hard to wear out. As an amazon affilliate This link to Amazon.com provides a small commission when you buy a set.

Make, fix and create... 

My top selling book this gifting season

I learned that supplies are low on my book The Guide to Woodworking with Kids but was assured by my publisher that when supplies run out it goes automatically to print on demand so orders will be filled. A larger print run will be available after the first of the year.

It is currently my top selling book. And that's good as it suggests more children will become engaged in the joys of working with wood.

In the meantime, I've fabricated the top knots for my wooden ties, and after further sanding they will be finished with Danish oil, bringing the colors of wood to life, and assembled with string.

Hinged to fit

In this photo you can see how the wooden tie is hinged to bend at the bottom of the rib cage, allowing it to conform to the body, at least a bit.

The photo was taken by John Rankine for a series of artist portraits commissioned by Marty and Elise Reonigk. The series of photos is now part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Eureka Springs Art, opening in the spring.

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

tie one on

Years ago I'd made and sold wooden ties. As I was cleaning up in the shop, I found a few walnut blanks that I'd not used. I also had made some inlay that was not being used, so I put them to work. I now have 8 wooden ties almost ready to finish and assemble.

The woods used to make the inlay are walnut, maple, cherry and sycamore.

Wooden ties are goofy to wear. I've stood in conversation with friends for long minutes before my wood tie was noticed and met with howls of laughter and delight.

Friends of mine won one in a charity auction and when I visited their house for a party I found it framed as though it was art. That's not something you'll do with a Chinese made tie from Dillards. And when you're done with it, it can be composted or used as kindling.

Make, fix and create...

 

a stash box

Medical marijuana is legal in many states, and a friend of my wife asked if I could make a stash box to hold various paraphernalia. In the old days I know many of my boxes were used for objects associated with the use of marijuana. But that was never discussed. The advantage of this box is that it has two levels of storage, under the lid and in the drawer and we can talk about it.

The top is frame and panel construction, and the drawer is made with a mortise and tenon technique that I always use on small drawers. The wood used is walnut except for the bottom panels (Baltic birch) and the drawer sides (maple.) 

Plans for a similar box can be found in my book Beautiful Boxes: Design and Technique  

With the stash box finished, it will be shipped today. 

Make, fix and create...

Things to love about walnut

One of the things to love about walnut is the  rich shift in color and tone that results when a penetrating finish is applied. Compare the box shown with the unfinished box earlier in the day and you can see the richness that results. I have one or two more coats of finish to apply, but must wait hours between coats

Another reason to prize walnut is shown in the top panel, selected for the curly figure that results from the wood having grown close to a major limb.  The straight grained walnut surrounding it frame it nicely.

Make, fix and create. 

My 7 year old website

 In 2016 Cat Templeton designed my current website. I've been trying to get better at keeping up with it. It looks as fresh and lovely, I think, as the day it was launched. Dougstowe.com Normally websites are out of date in a year or so. This one may last a decade or more.

One thing I'll not change on it is the photo on the publications paget showing my books arranged on the top of my work bench. It shows 8 books. In the intervening years I've written several more that you can find on Amazon at this link: 

 Just in time for holiday shopping. A book can be a great gift. As a gift to yourself it might guide you in making gifts for others.

Shown on the same workbench today is a walnut stash box ready for final sanding and finish.

Make, fix and create...

Making Classic Toys that Teach

At one time Froebel's classic gifts consisting of numbered sets of blocks, tiles and other interesting learning objects were made by artisans in small villages throughout Europe. Predating Maria Montessori by about 75 years, Froebel's gifts were among the earliest toys developed for early childhood developmental learning.

While you can buy Froebel's gifts in a manufactured form, that they were also made by individual village craftsmen, suggested that I write a book, Making Classic Toys that Teach to guide you in making them yourself. That you can make them yourself, for your own children or grandchildren is really, for me, a big deal. You learn some basic woodworking. Your children or grandchildren learn also, and you receive greater pleasure in watching them learn, because you've made the instruments used for their learning.

You can order the book for your holiday giving and enjoyment through Amazon here. Or from my Etsy store, here. 

A good description of Froebel's gifts can be found here: https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/froebels-gifts/ You have about 25 making days before Christmas. Other holidays are more closely upon us.

Make, fix and create...