Highland Staff

Pay It Forward This Holiday Season

Dec 092016
 

A few weeks ago we got an email from a customer who wanted to share his “Pay It Forward” story for the holidays, but wanted to remain anonymous. Here is his story about how he sold all of the tools in his shop to a military veteran for just $1:

It would be an honor to me for you to share my story of my experience (with this fine young man and my soldier friend) of talking for several hours with a returned soldier and then selling my woodworking shop’s tools, machinery, and all contents/everything to him for a dollar and a handshake.

If you don’t mind, please don’t share my name or contact information. I share my story with you to let everyone know that for me paying a little back to a young man who fought for me, and for all of us, was much better than the money I could have made by selling my shop’s contents to someone who wouldn’t have appreciated either this young man’s sacrifice and service or the tools themselves. I could have made a lot of needed cash selling everything I had (it was several truck loads, but it was worth much more to me to have made a new friend and to help a soldier whom I had never met, but will never forget.

My wife didn’t understand at first my decision to sell everything I had for so little because she knew how much time and money I had put into this shop. After she met him and got to know him, she understood my decision completely.

-Anonymous

Good Clean Fun: An Interview with (and a store visit from) Nick Offerman!

Oct 262016
 

img_4062We were very excited to listen to Popular Woodworking’s Megan Fitzpatrick interviewing Nick Offerman last week. Among the many topics they discussed were Peter Galbert’s mean turkey stew, the similarities between building boats and building acoustic instruments, Nick’s shop in Los Angeles, and of course, his new book: Good Clean Fun, on sale now at Highland Woodworking.

 

On the topic of why he is a woodworker, Nick said:

I can feel the health coursing through my soul by getting to my bench and saying “Okay, how can I mess up this piece of walnut.”

And Megan is right – his chuckle is absolutely infectious. Well worth a listen.

The original article

Not long after the Popular Woodworking article came out, we were excited to receive an in-person visit from Nick at our store in Atlanta. Like many of our visitors, Nick described visiting Highland Woodworking “like being a kid in a candy store” after he took a tour of the store including our woodworking classroom.

Thank you for making our day with your visit, Nick. And for representing our craft in such an entertaining way.

 

Chris Pye Visits Highland!

Oct 192016
 

We were honored to have a visit from renowned carver Chris Pye a few weeks ago. Chris taught a 3-hour sharpening seminar in the morning to a roomful of enthusiastic carvers, and the demonstration was filled with entertaining anecdotes and carving references. We were very impressed with Chris’s ability to make good fun out of a sharpening demo.

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In the afternoon, Chris opened up the classroom and welcomed all carvers to come in to discuss all things woodcarving in an open house forum. Attendees were urged to bring in their own work to show off or ask technique questions, and a wonderful afternoon was had by all.

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Thank you to Chris and Carrie Pye for making the journey to Highland – sharing talent like yours to our woodworking community is a very special opportunity for us and we always appreciate it.

Keep an eye out for our in-depth interview with Chris Pye, coming to this blog very soon!

In the meantime, you can learn more about Chris Pye and even sign up for online carving lessons at his website: www.chrispye-woodcarving.com

New Video Product Tour: Benchcrafted Vises

Oct 182016
 

Benchcrafted is well-known for their exceptional vise hardware. In this video, Matt Cremona offers a tour of the Glide Leg Vise and the Tail Vise, showing off this extremely well machined hardware: how to install it and how smoothly it operates. Check out all the work holding capabilities with his bench and why these vises are superb.

Find more information and buy yours from Highland Woodworking:
Benchcrafted Leg Vise
Benchcrafted Tail Vise

Tools You Should Buy First: Bench Vise

Oct 172016
 

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We recently featured an article by new contributor Justin Moon about the Eclipse Bench Vise, and Bench Vises in general.

Justin take a look at different options of bench vise and elaborates on the vise he chose for his own workshop, the Eclipse Quick Release Bench Vise. If you are new to woodworking and trying to decide which tools to purchase first, take a look at Justin’s article:

The bench vise sees constant use throughout every stage of the process from dimensioning to finishing. It is difficult to name a tool that is used more often or one that has a greater impact on the efficiency of other tools in a hand tool shop than the vise.

Read the full Bench Vise article here.

How to Sharpen Woodworking Tools: A Step-by-Step Guide

Sep 132016
 

Justin Moon offers his method for sharpening the hand tools in his woodworking shop in this in-depth article. Starting with details of examining the tools and working through each step all the way to using a strop to finish the tool, Justin provides detailed analysis for what you are looking for in the sharpening process, as well as a step-by-step example for how to sharpen a chisel. This method of sharpening applies to just about every edge tool in your shop, from plane irons to draw knives to carving gouges.

Read the article to learn more about sharpening the tools in your shop.

Tools You Should Buy First: Veritas Dual Marking Gauge

Aug 182016
 

In this month’s issue of Wood News, we featured an article by new contributor Justin Moon about the Veritas Dual Marking Gauge.

If you are new to woodworking and struggling to decide which tools to purchase first, take a look at Justin’s article. He offers some compelling thoughts about his philosophy for buying tools in general, using a story about buying dress shoes as an example:

The first time I bought dress shoes, I bought the cheapest pair I could find. My father, ever the impeccably dressed, took one look at them and told me “Buying cheap shoes is the most expensive thing you can do.” In no time at all, my blisters and I were paying for a well made pair of shoes, plus the cost of the cheap pair.

Read the full Veritas Dual Marking Gauge review here.