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Our First Newsletter: August 2006
  | Woodworkers Resource Newsletter |  | | Where Information meets Inspiration! | August 2006 | | | Welcome Woodworkers of All Ages Welcome to the introductory issue of the Woodworkers Resource Newsletter! Thanks for letting us into your home. This issue will be a little different from others to come in that I would like to first tell you all a little about myself in the Featured Woodworker section below and why I decided to write a newsletter on woodworking. Also there are several places throughout the newsletter that I've asked for your feedback. In order for this to be a newsletter that really provides information you would like to see, I need to know what you need to improve your skills. So don't be shy here, voice what you want to see in addition to or instead of some of the things that are in this month's newsletter. Here are some ideas: Being in a woodworking related business I get information from manufactures on new tools and other products before they hit the market, would you like to know about these? How about a place to submit questions to be answered in a future newsletter? What about tool reviews, book reviews (these last two topics would be areas that I would definitely need your help with). Let me know your thoughts on these examples or come up with your own. E-mail me at woodworkersresource@comcast.net. Below there are places that I also am asking for your help in writing some of the articles. I don't profess to know it all and your knowledge can be extremely valuable. Don't think that you have nothing to contribute even if you're just starting to work with wood. Your questions about how to do something could help others that are having the same problem, or maybe just starting out you've found a way to overcome a problem on your own and you would like to share that to help others. So read on, and PLEASE, let me know how I can make this newsletter better! One way for me to better gauge where most people are in their woodworking skill and thereby tailor the newsletter better, is to go to the bottom of this newsletter and click on the "Update Profile/Email Address" hyperlink. There you will see different categories. Check as many as best describes you. Thanks! By doing this I will hopefully put out a better newsletter for you.
Craig Stevens | | The Website and What to Expect | | The website is coming, I promise. It's taking longer than I would like, though. But here are some things to look for when it does arrive. A place to view back issues of the newsletter. A separate place just for kids that will have topics and information related to them, along with information on our book, "Woodshop 101 for Kids", with a place to order it online, along with information on some future projects we're working on. There will also be information and products geared more to adults and their woodworking pursuits. We are also working on small "booklets" that will address one topic each such as: Setting up shop (what do you really need), Keeping tools working properly, Dust collecting, Hand-cut dovetails, Sharpening, and more. I will also recommend other books that have helped me in my woodworking. Plus much more as the website develops. | | Featured Woodworker (me) | |  I have been married to my best friend and love of my life for the past twelve years, her name is Kelley. God has richly blessed us with three wonderful children, Katie 10, Nick 7, and Jack 3. All three kids love to be in the shop with daddy, which is what started us on this journey in the first place. Well, that and the fact that I absolutely, positively love woodworking. I have been building furniture for 10 years. I like to build what I call country furniture reproductions. This is the kind of furniture you would find in homes that were built by local craftsmen that would copy styles of furniture like Chippendale, or Philadelphia and "simplify" them. Meaning they would not have the fancy carvings and turnings that the originals might have. This by no means took away from the furniture pieces. I feel like if anything this just makes the pieces less formal and more comfortable looking. I also love tools as any self respecting woodworker does. I use the normal power tools that you would find in most shops. But the longer that I work wood the more I find myself enjoying hands tools. This is a big reason for writing the book "Woodshop 101 for Kids", (see article below). It seems that we are a generation that has no idea how to use simple tools for normal repairs or improvements. And therefore, our kids are not learning this either. In educating our children we naturally want them to learn the three "Rs". But life skills should also play an important role. A good "handyman" can make a nice living just doing normal household repairs because most people don't know how to do themselves. They were never taught to be self sufficient like our grandparents were. I enjoy working with my hands, and in doing so, like to do most repair work or home improvements myself. This doesn't mean that I know how to do everything because trust me I don't. And for those things that I don't know I try to go to a source that can give me the answers I need whether that's in a book, a friend, the Internet, etc. That's what I have envisioned for this newsletter, a source to get information on woodworking and to be inspired by those that have done it before us. So that's a snap shot of me and my motivation for writing a newsletter and for writing the book, "Woodshop 101 for Kids". Now enough about me. I (and I'm sure everyone else at this point) want to hear from you. E-mail me a picture of yourself and/or your shop and tells us about yourself and what motivates you as a woodworker. If someone you know is too shy or humble, nominate them. Sneak a picture or two and tell me why you think they deserve to be the Featured Woodworker of the Month. Send them in to: woodworkersresource@comcast.net | | Tips and Techniques | |  Here's a category that I really need your help with. Send in your woodworking tips and techniques that you've found to be helpful to make something easier, safer, or more enjoyable. Here's one to kick things off with. Home improvement warehouses are good places to go for lumber if you need pine (white or southern yellow) and cedar, if you only need a small amount. Trust me your paying to be able to shop for your surfaced planed wood in air-conditioned comfort. But what if you need (or as my wife might say, "want", but I prefer "need") maple or cherry? Or what if you need a lot of white pine? You would go broke at one of the warehouse stores buying a lot of pine and forget finding maple or cherry. So where can you go? I'll suggest two places. First go to your phone book. Look up sawmills or lumber and call a few of them. Ask if they sell in small quantities. Most places will but some only like to sell in hundreds of board feet. Also ask if the lumber they have is dry, meaning it has been either air dried (usually a year for every inch in thickness) or kiln dried (in an oven). If the wood is still "wet" and you use it for a project, the wood will eventually dry on its own and probably twist and crack (not a good thing). Next, if you don't have a surface planer or a jointer, (or some hand planes and a lot of time) you're going to have to pay the lumberyard to do this for you. Sawmill lumber is what's called rough lumber. This means that it hasn't been surfaced or smoothed at all. Ask if they can do this for you and if so how much does it cost. Make sure you figure all this into the final price before you go rushing down to your neighborhood sawmill and faint from sticker shock! If you strike out in finding a sawmill that will do the things you need, here's another way. Go to www.woodmizer.com. They sell portable sawmills (no you don't have to buy your own, although that would be cool), and call them direct. They will find someone that's close to you who has a woodmizer and contact them. The owner of the sawmill will then contact you. This seems like a lot of work just to find someone to give your money to, but it's usually worth it. Most of these guys have a small operation and don't advertise in the phone book. Word of mouth is what keeps them busy. Because of this you might get some really nice wood at a great price. Some might be able to surface plane and joint the wood for you as well. But again this will cost you. All the more reason to get that planer or jointer you've been eyeballing. But that's another newsletter. | | A Picture Perfect Project, a Pencil Post Bed! | |  This is where you get to submit pictures of projects that you've built. If you're young or (not so young), a novice or an experienced pro, be proud and share with the rest of us! Send a picture (preferably in gif format) with some background information on how you built it, what kind of material you used, what kind of finish and anything else you would like to share. E-mail them to me at woodworkersresource@comcast.net Since this is the first issue and I haven't heard from anyone yet (hint, hint), here's one that my daughter Katie (10) did from start to finish. She wanted a pencil post bed for her 18" American Girl doll. She drew out what she wanted the bed to look like, measured her doll to get the correct dimensions, and then begged her daddy for scrap wood. She cut the pieces out herself, then glued and nailed it all together. She even wanted more detail on the posts, so I showed her how to make balls on top of the post by using a wood rasp to gently round over the edges. Katie chose the paint color as well. Katie has been in the shop with me learning woodworking since she was about 5 years old. And now she has the ability to dream up a project, draw it out, take the necessary measurements, cut the parts out (with hand tools), put it together, and then put a finish on it, all with very little help from me. As you can tell I'm pretty proud of the job she did! | | Woodshop 101 for Kids | |  Woodshop 101 for Kids is a book I wrote as a homeschool curriculum for kids to learn basic woodworking skills, although you don't have to homeschool in order to use it. It's geared toward kids around 7 years old and up. There's nothing magical about being 7 years old, I just felt that (judging from our son, and working with boys at church for several years) that good hand/eye coordination and attention span begins around 7. If your child is a little younger and you feel he's ready, jump right in! The book contains 21 lessons covering safe and correct hand tool usage. Hand tools are all you need to build all the projects; no power tools (next book, maybe :) ) so it's safer, and less costly. The first several lessons are on how to use the tools, an area that most books gloss over. There are also lessons on measuring (reinforces, or a great way to introduce fractions) one on the different kinds of trees (deciduous vs coniferous; hardwoods vs softwoods) and one on "finishing" with paints & stains, etc. Then there are the projects; 14 of them including a workbench, and directions on how to build it to your child's height, a peg game (think Cracker Barrell), a marshmallow catapult (a huge favorite), a media rack (which will hold up to 75 dvd type cases), a birdhouse (with a chart listing 23 different birds, the dimensions for their house, and the habitat they like to live in), a 2 for 1 bird feeder (using seed & suet), a doll cradle, a tool box / art caddy, a turning pencil holder, a battleship, a step stool, a cross cut box (helps kids to be able to cut a straight line, and cut more safely), a baseball rack (for holding & displaying their BB glove, bat & ball on the wall), and a planter box. The book is $23.95 and we take Paypal (you don't have to have a Paypal account to use), cash (money order) or checks. Right now, it is only available from us, but will soon be available on the website. If you want to ask me any further questions about the book, please feel free to contact me at woodworkersresource@comcast.net. And just as a reminder, as I stated in my first email to you, if you have signed up to receive this newsletter and you buy a copy of the book between now and September 12th we'll ship it for FREE! | |
| | That's it for this issue. Remember, send me those e- mails about what you want to see in future issues, nominate a fellow woodworker or yourself for the Featured Woodworker section, and send in any Tips and Techniques that you would like to share with us. The next issue will be out the second Tuesday of September. Hey, and by then we'll be into SEC Football! Life is good. Also, if you like what you see in this newsletter and you know of someone who would be interested in having it sent to them, simply click on the "Forward Email" button that's just below the newsletter. You can even add your own comments to the person before sending it. And last but not least, click on the "Update Profile" hyperlink below and check the boxes that apply. I would like to leave you with a quote from my favorite book. "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." Col. 3: 23-24 NIV | |
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