Review: Grandpa's Workshop by Maurice Pommier (Lost Art Press)
Review of "Grandpa's Workshop" by Maurice Pommier (Lost Art Press)
Grandpa's Workshop was originally written in French, with the author describing much of, perhaps, his own family's history, as described to him by his own Pépère (grandfather). Maurice Pommier, and the translators at Lost Art Press, have created a wonderful book for children in the English speaking world to understand about family history, and how the professions and experiences of our ancestors come down to us in various ways.
Describing a visit to his grandparents home when he was a child, the author shares the stories his grandpa gives him about the tools in his workshop, and the little elves that live there. First popular in the woodworking community, I think this would be a wonderful story to tell any child, particularly by any grandfather who likes to tinker. There's magic in these stories, and humor . . . but also hints of past tragedies and real darkness. It looks into the history as seen by a family in the French countryside, which we must realize has at times been filled with hardship and times of war.
Campaign Furniture Designs for Seasonal Storage
I was thinking. You know, with Chris Schwartz currently focusing on campaign furniture, it had me thinking about other, modern day uses for this kind of design ethos. My understanding of the style is that it is furniture designed of tough woods, but cut thinner than stationary furniture, so it won't be too heavy. It needs to be reinforced at the corners and the latches to withstand travel. It needs to provide compartments to efficiently store whatever the intended contents are.
Beginning to build cabinet web frame
Just sharing another update on the project to build my wife a jewelry cabinet.
First test fit of legs to case
This is an update on the 'jewelry armoire' project I'm doing for my wife. I finalized the design in September of 2011, and didn't really get started until January of last year. Now that my shop is up and working again, I'm making some good progress on it. As of last spring, I had managed to cut the top and sides, and fit them together, but the next critical piece is the case bottom. This single panel is probably the most complicated joined piece I've ever attempted to create with hand tools. (I did cut the panel to final dimensions using the table saw, but after that it was all hand tools.)
Added wings to chopsaw station
In my mid-December push to make progress on a bunch of different projects, I managed to finally add the two 3' wide 'wings' to the chopsaw station.
November update to Hanging Tool Cabinet
So, I'm back with another installment in my ongoing series: Adventures in Amateur Woodworking Mediocrity. It's been a while.
Laying out joinery on case sides
My projects proceed at a glacial pace these days.
First Attempt at Relief Carving
I've been meaning to try relief carving for a couple years now. I used Mike Henderson's vastly useful tutorials over at Mike's Woodwork. I decided to try to do the five petal flower, for a couple reasons. It seems easy enough for a first try, and the design has some personal significance to me.
Status of Ben's Mill after Hurricane Irene
Anyway, Ben's Mill sits right next to the Stevens River near Barnet, VT. A foundation was formed to restore the mill to working operation so it could be used as a teaching tool to show how woodworking and water based machinery worked in 18th and 19th century New England. The movie is fascinating. (A portion of it is available for streaming on the FolkStreams website (see attached).) They've done some good work cataloging all of the old machines and restoring the old penstock (wooden tube that feeds water to the turbine), as well as the blacksmith area and the foundations. They still have permitting issues to deal with before they can rebuild the dam that finally washed away in the late 80s.
Began design work on my Roubo Workbench
This is when I began to work on the design and hardware selection for my version of the Chris Schwartz hybrid Roubo workbench.