A longtime green woodworker and instructor at his North Carolina Country Workshop, Langsner was a teacher by choice, electing not to build chairs for profit on a continuing basis. His long experience in instructing students in chairmaking makes him well-qualified to provide expert instruction on a wide range of Post and Rung and Windsor chairs.
This thorough guide takes the woodworker from harvesting and processing green timber through the steps needed to craft their choice of chairs.
No Southern-fried Southern boy wants to be called a Yankee, but we share the characteristics of shrewdness and thrift. Thus, each month we include a money-saving tip from Sticks in the Mud woodworker, Jim Randolph. It’s OK if you call him “cheap.”
There are a million uses for the zippered plastic bags that electric blankets and throws are packaged in.
Did you buy a new electric blanket this winter? The zippered bag can store the blanket when not in use. Unless, of course, you live near Steve Johnson, where it’s -38 Fahrenheit in the summertime and you need your electric blanket in July! Seriously, save the bag for a million uses.
We store infrequently-worn clothes in them, but they are also handy in the woodshop.
I caught blue jeans on sale in 2003 and must have thought they would never go on sale again. If this last pair were not protected, they’d be buried in dust by now.
Their greatest benefit is keeping their contents dust-free. A rag you need for finishing or polishing is useless, even damaging, if it isn’t clean. Pop it inside one of these pouches and, like Delta Airlines, it is ready when you are.
Some faraway day I might get to retire. When I do, I expect to be in the woodshop one-third of the week, fish one-third of the week, write one-third of the week, and bird every day. That will give me plenty of opportunity to use up all of these rags I’m stockpiling. Mostly old T-shirts, underwear (Hey! That cotton is soft! Don’t throw them away!) and washcloths.
Jim Randolph is a veterinarian in Long Beach, Mississippi. His earlier careers as lawn mower, dairy farmer, automobile mechanic, microwave communications electronics instructor and journeyman carpenter all influence his approach to woodworking. His favorite projects are furniture built for his wife, Brenda, and for their children and grandchildren. His and Brenda’s home, nicknamed Sticks-In-The-Mud, is built on pilings (sticks) near the wetlands (mud) on a bayou off Jourdan River. His shop is in the lower level of their home.Questions and comments on woodworking may be written below in the comments section. Questions about pet care should be directed to his blog on pet care, www.MyPetsDoctor.com. We regret that, because of high volume, not all inquiries can be answered personally.
Welcome to “Tips From Sticks-In-The-Mud Woodshop.” I am a hobbyist who loves woodworking and writing for those who also love the craft. I have found some ways to accomplish tasks in the workshop that might be helpful to you, and I enjoy hearing your own problem-solving ideas. Please share them in the COMMENTS section of each tip. If, in the process, I can also make you laugh, I have achieved 100% of my goals.
There are dozens of ways you can make your environment safer while working in the shop.
Recently, I was sanding on the table saw outfeed table, and needed to plug in the Festool Dust Extractor at the workbench instead of using the overhead power drop nearby. That I had created a hazard didn’t occur to me at the time, but, the next time I went to the light switch, and stepped over the cord, it hit me. Fortunately, that happened before I hit the floor. The fix was as simple as spreading a fatigue mat over the cord, eliminating the danger.
Voila! Catastrophe averted. Fortunately, I have another of these mats to stand on while I sand. Foot and leg savers!
Cutoffs are a common trip hazard. I keep a few free 5-gallon buckets strategically located so that small blocks are not on the floor, but go directly into the container as they are generated. If that’s inconvenient, I make a point to gather them up as soon as I’m at a stopping point. Any that are suitable for safe burning, I save in an old, clean garbage cart.
Too much rock music, combined with using fireworks and firearms without hearing protection has left me with tinnitus and hearing loss. I can’t afford for that to get any worse, so I’m never far from a safety headset. In my shop, the worst offender is the 12″ blade on the radial arm saw. It’s no problem when it’s cutting, but when freewheeling it makes a scream that rivals a banshee. No human can stay in the room with it. Banshees would probably leave, too. That’s why the muffs found a permanent home just above where one stands to operate the saw, which is convenient because the spot is centrally located and can be quickly accessed from any power tool.
Hearing protection that isn’t convenient won’t get used. These are always close by.
I wouldn’t call myself a fanatic, but, I wear protection whenever I use any tool that makes much noise: sanders, big saws and hammers when hitting an anvil.
While DB Meter Pro registered a peak of 85 decibels on the aircraft, I find trips to be more comfortable and less tiring when the wind noise and engine roar are muted.
I’m writing this in an airport with a whining air conditioner, and I’m glad to have Bose noise-cancelling headphones in my laptop case. I frequently use them in the shop when I have mind-numbing work like sanding and I want to enhance the experience with music or a podcast. They will be handy on the plane later, too.
Some woodworkers might think of having two eyes as indicating that one is a spare. However, depth perception is impossible without stereoscopic vision, and the pirate look of a black patch over one eye is rather cliché. Besides, I despise pain. To avoid the pitfalls of eye injury, I keep prescription safety glasses next to the table saw, and over-the-counter eye protection next to the bench grinders. When the risk is scattershot, I reach for the face shield. I’ve had enough close calls that I don’t pause when it’s time to protect those corneas.
Oh, and one last thing. When you’re on your way to the hardware store, wear your seat belt.
Jim Randolph is a veterinarian in Long Beach, Mississippi. His earlier careers as lawn mower, dairy farmer, automobile mechanic, microwave communications electronics instructor and journeyman carpenter all influence his approach to woodworking. His favorite projects are furniture built for his wife, Brenda, and for their children and grandchildren. His and Brenda’s home, nicknamed Sticks-In-The-Mud, is built on pilings (sticks) near the wetlands (mud) on a bayou off Jourdan River. His shop is in the lower level of their home.Questions and comments on woodworking may be written below in the comments section. Questions about pet care should be directed to his blog on pet care, www.MyPetsDoctor.com. We regret that, because of high volume, not all inquiries can be answered personally.
These days, you can avoid just about any woodworking job you don’t like, yet still have a beautiful end product.
Don’t like making drawers? You have options. You can order some stock sizes and design your furniture or cabinet around those sizes. You can have a local cabinet shop make them for you to your specifications. You can even have an online service make custom drawers.
Maybe you don’t mind making the drawers, but you want dovetails and don’t want to cut them yourself. Yep, there’s a guy for that.
If your handcut dovetails are no better than mine, you might want to have someone else do your drawers for you.
Don’t like finishing? Want a sprayed look but don’t want to invest in a sprayer? You can send your completed item out to someone who does nothing else but finishing. Like to have your components finished before assembly? There are specialists who do that, too. Then you can glue up after the finishing is completed.
Maybe you hate sanding. Who doesn’t? The cabinet shop across town has a 48″ belt sander, and they’ll let you use it by the hour, or do the sanding for you, and they won’t even make you wind the sandpaper onto the drum.
Now, that’s an offer that will appeal to almost everyone.
Jim Randolph is a veterinarian in Long Beach, Mississippi. His earlier careers as lawn mower, dairy farmer, automobile mechanic, microwave communications electronics instructor and journeyman carpenter all influence his approach to woodworking. His favorite projects are furniture built for his wife, Brenda, and for their children and grandchildren. His and Brenda’s home, nicknamed Sticks-In-The-Mud, is built on pilings (sticks) near the wetlands (mud) on a bayou off Jourdan River. His shop is in the lower level of their home.Questions and comments on woodworking may be written below in the comments section. Questions about pet care should be directed to his blog on pet care, www.MyPetsDoctor.com. We regret that, because of high volume, not all inquiries can be answered personally.
In another back issue of Wood News Online, Jeff Fleisher tries out the Barron Magnetic Dovetail Saw Guides. Walking us step-by-step through a quick dovetailing project, Jeff details each aspect of cutting dovetails using this guide and demonstrates how the guide will assist anyone nervous about attempting hand cut dovetails.
In an older issue of Wood News Online, Jeff Fleisher installed a Wood Slicer Resaw Bandsaw Blade in his shop and tested it out. In particular Jeff was looking for a resaw blade that would minimize waste as he often works with highly figured woods and wants to get as many pieces as possible out of a single board.
Fast, simple and accurate mortising is now possible with the Festool Domino Joiners, and the XL DF 700 Joiner will help you create joinery strong enough for large projects such as entryway doors, gates, rock solid tables & beds, and post & beam garden arbors.
Mike Morton takes a closer look at the Festool Domino XL in the video below:
