Beginners Mind
Everyone starts at the beginning. Yet our expectations rarely match our skills then. The hardest thing is to be patient as we learn.
The Total Body Work-out
This April Fool’s Day lecture is on the value of working out with your woodworking.
Brian Boggs, Master Craftsman
Brian Boggs is a chairmaker, artist, designer, and engineer extraordinaire. He is also quite a philosopher on the nature of work and workmanship, the value of excellent work, and how tooling affects design.
Discipline and Practice
Practice is what brings us first to competency and then to mastery. Listen to some stories of discipline that allowed practitioners to work through their own limitations. Quality doesn’t have a shortcut to it.
The Lowly Scraper
The scraper is a small wonder. It is capable of cutting in most any direction without tear-out. How to get one sharp can be frustrating. Listen to one simple tip that will change your method and make sharpening a scraper a snap.
Hock Irons
An interview with Ron Hock of Hock Tools, maker of plane irons and knives. This is a fascinating discussion about starting a business, metallurgy, and the rise of civilizations.
Drilled and Screwed
Drilling and screwing a box together. What could be simpler? But it often turns out to be a test of your patience, your dexterity, and your ability to forgive yourself.
The Block Plane
All block planes are not created equal, even ones with sentimental value.
Thomas Lie-Nielsen Interview
Thomas Lie-Nielsen and Gary chat about tools and hand tools specifically. What drives his company to build quality tools in a throw-away society? And what is the value of Quality?
Hand Tools vs. Power Tools
What tools do you always carry to work? Is it all in one sector or another? There is a middle ground for woodworkers who both seek quiet at the bench and results at the end of the day.