Anne Briggs

Woodworking Resolutions for 2017 – Anne Briggs

Dec 262016
 
As another new year is upon us, I have so much to look back on and be thankful for. This past year I was able to travel the country visiting woodworking shops and was even able to squeeze in a few classes. I unexpectedly acquired some HUGE woodworking tools (and when I say huge, I mean a 3,000 lb 36″ antique bandsaw, and a full turn of the century blacksmithing shop). Our farm saw lots of growth and many finished projects. It also brought lots of unexpected interruptions and heartbreak, but we have learned SO much and the hard moments make the happier moments that much better.  The biggest thing I’ve learned this year is to live in the present and stay focused on future goals. As humans, the way we live today creates the world we will live in tomorrow. As woodworkers this is certainly true.
In 2016 I chose two words I wanted my actions within the year to reflect: Gratitude and Grace. Emphasizing those areas helped me grow in some huge ways as a person. It gave me new eyes for our farm, woodwork, and the many opportunities I have been given.
For 2017, I have chosen the word Focus. I want to work on being more focused in every area of my life. I’ve set short and longterm goals (some pretty big ones, about which I can’t WAIT to share), and I want to be working each day towards reaching those goals. I am extremely easily distracted. I love starting projects, and I really struggle finishing them. Between the farm, travel, my job managing the woodworking program at Pratt, the classes I’m taking, and my writing gigs, I cannot afford to continue to allow myself to juggle multiple projects at once in the shop too. So I’ve disallowed myself from starting any new projects, and have been making a concerted effort to cross off every project by the end of December 2016 so I can start January 2017 with an empty bench and a clear head.
I know I’m not the only woodworker who struggles with focus. With thousands of blogs, podcasts, books, videos, and Instagram posts crowding our inboxes and newsfeeds every day, it’s hard to know where to best place our energy. The constant inspiration, the constant exposure to new project ideas and new techniques make it very difficult to even know where to start. If you, like me, start projects based on instant inspiration, move on to other things when you’re stuck, and then struggle to know where or how to pick things back up, here are a few helpful hints on how to stay focused during your shop time in 2017:
1. Thoughtfully create reasonable, attainable short and longterm goals. Write them down somewhere you will see them every day.
2. Make a specific list of projects you’d like to tackle in 2017. Write them down somewhere you will see them every day.
3. Create a shopping list for tools you’d like to add to your kit in 2017, write it down, and don’t stray from it. This will not only help you keep your focus, but will also help your pocketbook.
4. Read those blogs, look at those Instagram posts, watch those videos, and be inspired, but channel that inspiration into the projects you’ve already got going
5. Ask for help- whether it’s needing accountability in how you spend your time in the shop or whether you’re stuck on a project and literally just need help on a specific problem in the shop- there are tons of resources available: online forums, Facebook groups, local classes, other woodworkers in your area.
6. Get a kitchen timer for your shop. Time certain tasks and activities and look for areas to improve timeliness and efficiency. If you have a goal to spend ten minutes sharpening tools, set the timer, and do not allow yourself distractions until it rings.
7. Leave your phone in the other room.
8. Turn off the music/TV in the shop and give your full attention to the task at hand.
9. Before you walk through the door of your shop, have in mind one thing- one small thing you KNOW you can accomplish. Walk through the door and accomplish it. Accomplishing that first thing will give you the confidence to tackle the next thing, and the next after that.
Best of luck and plenty of focus to you in 2017!!

Anne Briggs Bohnett is a 27 year old woodworker out of Seattle, Washington. She and her husband Adam own and operate a small farm aimed at teaching youngsters about animal husbandry, traditional woodwork, and it’s also where their food comes from! Anne has been seriously pursuing woodwork with a focus on handtool use for three years and is passionate about the preservation of traditional methods and skills and building community.

Anne can be reached directly via email at briggs.anne@gmail.com and you can check out her website at www.anneofalltrades.com.

My 2016 Woodworking Resolutions – Anne Briggs

Dec 292015
 

Welcome to our 2016 Woodworking Resolutions blogger series. Every year we invite our bloggers to share their resolutions specific to their woodworking goals for the new year. Click each link below to read our bloggers’ resolutions!

As the New Year approaches, it is really good to take a step back and look at your past year. Woodwork is not really a subject that can ever be “mastered.” There is always a new avenue to be taken, a new skill that can be learned, a different technique to be practiced. No two pieces of wood are the same, no two projects end with the exact same result. With that in mind, I never want my growth in this craft to become stagnant, so at the end of the year, I like to ask myself “what did I learn this year? Of what project am I most proud? What were my greatest successes and failures?” “How do I want to learn and grow next year? Is there a specific task I want to get better at? How can I get the most out of the time I have in the shop?” Goals and aspirations are great, but my favorite professor in business school once told me something that really stuck: Don’t just think and talk about the things you want to accomplish, or you won’t actually accomplish them. Write down measurable, achievable goals and put the paper somewhere you will see it every day. Then you’ll be constantly reminded about and motivated toward the accomplishment of those goals and will be able to hold yourself accountable.

To that end, I’ve written down my “new year’s shop resolutions” and posted them on the door that leads into our laundry room (aka my postage stamp sized handtool workshop in our house). I see it every time I walk into the bathroom, every time I check on my laundry, every time I go out the back door, and you guessed it, every time I walk into my shop. I chose 4 goals that are entirely achievable, but will still grow and challenge me as a woodworker in the coming year.
1. Spend 10 minutes sharpening every day
2. Build at least 1 major project per quarter in 2016
3. Create at least 1 tangible object every week
4. Spend at least 1 hour each week practicing joinery techniques

Anne Briggs Bohnett is a 26 year old woodworker out of Seattle, Washington. She and her husband Adam own and operate a small farm aimed at teaching youngsters about animal husbandry, traditional woodwork, and it’s also where their food comes from! Anne has been seriously pursuing woodwork with a focus on handtool use for three years and is passionate about the preservation of traditional methods and skills and building community.

Anne can be reached directly via email at briggs.anne@gmail.com and you can check out her website at www.anneofalltrades.com.

Woodworking Wish Lists for the Holiday Season – Anne Briggs

Nov 222015
 

As Christmas rolls around, woodworkers’ loved ones often worry about what to get their favorite woodworker. To help ease that struggle, here is a list of what I feel are the absolute essentials for any woodworker. You can confidently take this list into any woodworking store or website and leave with a gift any woodworker would covet. If you’re looking to buy new items, there are basically two main brands that put out a consistently quality product: Veritas and Lie-Nielsen. As you buy, remember, you get what you pay for. Some of these higher end tools have a steep entry point, but if you amortize out it’s initial cost over a lifetime of use (because these tools truly will last a lifetime) you are only spending pennies per day. And, if your favorite woodworker wants to resell quality tools, they hold their value and can be resold at near retail value. Buying cheaper tools upfront just means added costs and frustration in the long run.

Anne Briggs Bohnett is a 26 year old woodworker out of Seattle, Washington. She and her husband Adam own and operate a small farm aimed at teaching youngsters about animal husbandry, traditional woodwork, and it’s also where their food comes from! Anne has been seriously pursuing woodwork with a focus on handtool use for three years and is passionate about the preservation of traditional methods and skills and building community.

Anne can be reached directly via email at briggs.anne@gmail.com and you can check out her website at www.anneofalltrades.com.

Back to the Shop 2015 – Anne Briggs Bohnett

Sep 022015
 

Though Summer is far and away my favorite season, as fall approaches, I am getting really excited to transition from long days working outside on our farm back into the shop. My fall transition this year will be very different than it has been any year prior, however, as two pretty major life changes have come about since last fall: my husband and I sold our house with my shop and bought an old farm with an old shop that needs lots of work, and I’ve just been hired on as the Wood Studio Manager at Pratt Fine Arts Center here in downtown Seattle.

Last fall, I had just obtained my Washington State Business License. I’d quit my job and was ready to commit to learning more about woodwork and doing projects full time. I had a fully outfitted, “perfectly” set up shop that was ready to go to work. I’d just been invited to attend my first woodworking conference, Woodworking in America 2014, and I had no idea how my life was going to change in the coming months. I left WIA with a job writing for Furniture & Cabinetmaking Magazine and offers to write regularly for several other publications. I had been offered the opportunity to take my Community Tool Chest idea on the road to several other woodworking conferences around the country. Along the way we found out we had to sell our old house with my perfect shop and would have the opportunity to buy the farm I’d been dreaming of having since I was a little girl.

The farm has a 1000 sq ft shop, something that was originally a big selling point when we were buyers looking at the property. I had grand intentions of spending all my time and money fixing it up and turning it into the dream I have for it, but I’m beginning to realize there might just be too much there to bite off – at least to be ready for work this year. There are five pretty major projects on the docket in the shop to get it up and running: replacing the very leaky roof, adding a retaining wall to support the new roof, installing windows, adding a wood floor, and insulating/sealing off the hand tool area of the shop so it can be kept at a more consistent temperature and be sealed off from the dust from my power tools. Each one of these projects is a pretty huge undertaking in and of itself, but I’m confident that with the right group of helpers, everything will get done in due time.

Though the dream for the home shop has been put off, I am extremely fortunate to have ample workspace in the shop at Pratt. The opportunities for community, relationship, and gaining skill and confidence as a woodworker abound at Pratt. And I’m incredibly fortunate to be able to call something I love so much my “job.” So preparations for fall woodworking look like… I have no idea. But I’m really enjoying the ride.

Anne Briggs Bohnett is a 26 year old woodworker out of Seattle, Washington. She and her husband Adam own and operate a small farm aimed at teaching youngsters about animal husbandry, traditional woodwork, and it’s also where their food comes from! Anne has been seriously pursuing woodwork with a focus on handtool use for three years and is passionate about the preservation of traditional methods and skills and building community.

Anne can be reached directly via email at briggs.anne@gmail.com and you can check out her website at www.anneofalltrades.com.

Anne Briggs: My Summer Woodworking Reading List

Jul 202015
 

Who says you can’t read a good woodworking book on the beach? We asked our bloggers which books they are looking forward to reading this summer, and they provided us with some great answers. See below for Anne Briggs Bohnett’s summer reading list:

The Anarchist’s Tool Chest By Christopher Schwarz

Anarchist's Tool ChestIf you are a woodworker, or a human, and have not yet read the Anarchist’s Tool Chest, go buy it or borrow from a friend or the library right now. Never before has one book so strongly challenged, inspired or resonated with me the way the ATC has. In The Anarchist’s Tool Chest Chris encourages his readers to disobey our consumerist culture and to invest in a lifestyle and possessions that will last beyond our own years on this earth. He teaches that one simply cannot afford to buy cheap, disposable tools or furniture. His tool list is well rounded and expertly explained, and the tool chest project is one that will challenge you both as a woodworker and a human in ways you would never expect. Buy the book, get started with a few quality tools in your kit, and then buy and cross things off your ATC checklist slowly over time as you practice handtool woodwork and discover your own personal tool needs.

The Chairmaker’s Notebook by Peter Galbert

Chairmaker's NotebookI know I am not the first, and will certainly not be the last to say that Peter Galbert’s Chairmaker’s Notebook might just be the best woodworking how-to book published in this decade. It is said that true experts make even the most difficult of tasks look easy, and Pete is no exception. Simply flipping through the book, looking only at the beautifully drawn illustrations is enough to give anyone confidence to build a chair of their own. This book is extremely informative, is an incredible work of art and should definitely make it on your summer reading list.

The Joiner And Cabinet Maker – LAP Anonymous, Chris Schwarz & Joel Moskowitz

The joiner and cabinet makerI have often wished there were more books that could continue to fuel my passion for woodwork and yet also possess the ability to retain my attention for more than a few pages at a time. The first part of The Joiner and Cabinet Maker tells the fictional story of young Thomas’ apprenticeship in a cabinet shop in the 1800’s. The second part of the book was created as an addendum to the antiquated fictional text to teach the reader how to build each of the projects Thomas builds in the story. The genius of this book is that it allows woodworker’s the opportunity to envision themselves as Thomas the apprentice, to practice the skills he practiced, and to gain confidence as a woodworker all the while. This is a fantastic book for youngsters, people just getting into handtool woodwork, or seasoned woodworkers looking for a very interesting piece of fiction and a few more projects to add to their lists.

Woodworker’s Guide to Handplanes – Scott Wynn

Woodworker's Guide to HandplanesBeginners and experts alike will find all kinds of helpful information about both wood and steel planes in Woodworker’s Guide to Handplanes. Scott Wynn expertly explains the setup process, the intended purpose of different planes and their use. The photos and illustrations within the book make complex concepts very easy to understand. From choosing and buying the right planes to sharpening blades and using your tools properly, this is a must-have reference book for all handtool woodworkers.

Anne Briggs Bohnett is a 26 year old woodworker out of Seattle, Washington. She and her husband Adam own and operate a small farm aimed at teaching youngsters about animal husbandry, traditional woodwork, and it’s also where their food comes from! Anne has been seriously pursuing woodwork with a focus on handtool use for three years and is passionate about the preservation of traditional methods and skills and building community.

Anne can be reached directly via email at briggs.anne@gmail.com and you can check out her website at www.anneofalltrades.com.