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Home > Newsletter Archive
September 2006
  | Woodworkers Resource Newsletter |  | | Where Information meets Inspiration! | September 2006 | | | Welcome Woodworkers of All Ages Welcome to all the new subscribers who have joined our newsletter. Thanks so much for letting us into your homes! Sorry this issue is coming out late. We've had so many new people join lately that we sent out our first newsletter again just so everybody is up to speed on what we're doing here. Keep sending those suggestions on how I can make this newsletter better. We would also like to hear any questions you have about this newsletter or questions on woodworking in general. If you are having questions about something, then chances are several people have the same question, so speak up! Remember 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. By doing this I will hopefully put out a better newsletter for you.
Craig Stevens | | Building the Perfect Project? | |  I'm going to make a confession here. I'm a bit of a perfectionist. That by no means is a statement that anything I do is perfect, I just wish it were. There are times when I'm thinking about my next woodworking project that I get so excited I can't wait to get in the shop to start. Everything is going just as planned, then it happens, as it always does, that first mistake. The excitement is gone and frustration sets in. I can almost lose complete interest in a project that just a few hours ago I couldn't wait to start. Does this sound like anybody you know? So how do I ever get anything finished if mistakes always happen you may be asking yourself? I've somewhat came to terms with the fact that I'm never going to build that perfect piece. It doesn't mean that I won't do my very best, I just try and not let mistakes take the joy out of woodworking for me. I've heard it said that the test of a good woodworker is to be able to fix mistakes and move on. We can sometimes transfer this perfectionism onto our kids. We want them to do their very best. If we see them struggling with something, our first instinct is to jump in and "help". That's not always the best thing for our kids though. They need to make their own mistakes and learn from them. So, the next time you find yourself building a project with your kids don't be quick to jump in and help out. You may be able to do it faster but you'll steal away the satisfaction of your child doing it his or herself. | | Featured Woodworker | |  In this months featured woodworker I am pleased to introduce you to Mr. Al Hudson. Mr. Hudson is an incredible woodworker and an even more incredible person. I had the privilege to sit down with Mr. Hudson in his home and in his shop to talk life and woodworking. Mr. Hudson lives in Knoxville, TN where he builds some of the most beautiful pieces of period furniture that you will see anywhere. Mr. Hudson is 87 years young and has been building furniture for 73 years! He gives a great perspective on the craft and what it takes to continually "push the envelope" and grow your skill level.
This newsletter excerpt is only a small portion of the total interview. The entire interview will be posted on our website in just a few weeks. Stay tuned for the launch date of the website, but in the mean time enjoy Mr. Hudson's insight into the craft of woodworking.
When did you first start woodworking?
Al- I was 14 years old, a sophomore in High School and I built a table out of cherry, I can show it to you later, (a picture of this piece will be on the website).
Was this in a shop class?
Al- Yes. Back then they had classes called manual training. I took 4 years of shop in high school. That's where I got interested in woodworking. My father was a superintendent of a large planing mill in Chattanooga. His father, my grandfather was the master cabinetmaker there. At 15 (my father) put me to work sweeping the floors, and when I was done with that I'd say now what do I do and he said go over there and help your granddad. So for 4 summers I apprenticed under my grandfather. I probably learned what it would have taken (me) years to learn in school. (If we were all so fortunate).
What has kept you interested in woodworking all these years?
Al- Learning. I have a sign on my shop cabinet door that says, "The life so short, the craft so long to learn". I never spend a day in the shop that I don't learn something. No one in woodworking knows in all. Wood has a perverse nature. It will reach up and bite you when you're not looking. It's just a challenge to learn about (wood) and how to handle it expertly. It's just a everyday process of learning. That's what I love about it, plus I love to use my hands. It's satisfying to make something and be able to say I did that.
Do you have any tips or advise for beginners to woodworking?
Al- A person, regardless of age, who wants learn to work with wood, number one, needs to find somebody that can teach them. You have to start with the elementary process first. You need a good experienced teacher to start you out learning the basics. Anyone that's starting woodworking, and seriously want to get into it, number one you have to have some tools. Don't go to Sears and buy a bunch of junk. If you're going to invest in it and you have a limited budget, buy a few of the necessary things first, but buy good stuff. You can't put a sharp edge on a chisel if the steel is no good. That would be my word of caution to everyone serious about starting out as a hobbyist. Use your budget wisely. If you can only buy one chisel, buy a good chisel. If you can only buy one plane, buy a good one. There's a reason one plane cost $49.00 and the other cost $249.00
Stay tuned for the rest of the interview with Al Hudson to be posted on our website, WoodworkersResource.com | | Just for Kids! | |  Here's a fun project for fall and useful too! You can make a wooden trivet (a place to sit hot pots and pans) for your mom to help with all the fall cooking. This can also help take care of some of that scrap wood you're beginning to accumulate.
Find a piece of scrap wood that's about 3/4" x 6" x 6" (remember that the first number is the thickness of the wood, the second number is the width, and the third number is the length). Next, find a shape that you would like to cut the wood into. A round shape like a pumpkin or apple would work great as well as tracing a leaf onto the wood. (Here's a tip on transferring a shape onto your piece of wood. If you have a picture of something that you want to trace onto your wood simply lay a piece of carbon paper between the picture and the wood. Using a pencil or pen trace the outline of your shape. The carbon on the paper will transfer the pencil mark onto the wood. All you have to do now is use your coping saw to cut out the shape (see our book, "Woodshop 101 for Kids", for more information on using a coping saw.) Next, you need to drill some holes into the trivet to allow heat to dissipate (to spread out). You can incorporate the holes into your design such as worm holes in a apple etc. However you decide to use the holes in your design, you need to have 4-6 holes that are about 1/4".
There's one more thing to do so that the heat of a pot won't damage your Mom's countertop (not a good thing). You need to raise the trivet up off the countertop with some small blocks of wood. Four square pieces that are 3/4" x 3/4" x 3/4" glued to each corner would work great.
Finish the trivet with stain, don't use paint unless it's made for high temperatures or the paint will start peeling off after a couple of uses. If you want to brighten it up, use color dyes (food dyes will work great also). | | Tips and Techniques | |  The longer you work with wood the more scrap wood can become a problem if you don't find away to organize it. Some pieces of wood are just to good to throw away but to small to be used for most projects. The first thing you need to do is to have a cut off point. No piece of wood smaller than (you fill in the blank) makes it into the scrap bin. This size will depend a lot on the projects that you normally build. If you build mostly large pieces you probably won't have a use for many small pieces of scrap.
There are numerous ways to organize scrap but one of the best systems keeps same size pieces stored together. This way when you need a piece a certain size, you can just go to that section to look for your piece. You also need to be able to scrounge around to find just the right piece and some type of shelving unit works great for this.
Long skinny pieces that won't fit onto a shelf, are best stored standing upright. A large bucket works great for this.
Last but not least, a good rule to follow is after a year if you've not used a piece of scrap wood, burn it in the fireplace, especially if you start running out of room. (This is not a easy thing to do for those of us that love wood!) | | Woodshop 101 for Kids | |  Because of so many new people joining the newsletter over the past serveral weeks, we are going to extend our free shipping promotion. If you have signed up to receive our newsletter and you purchase our book, "Woodshop 101 for Kids", we will ship it to you for free! This offer is good only through October 31st. 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 (you can send these to the address at the very bottom of this newsletter.) If you want to ask me any further questions about the book, please feel free to contact me at woodworkersresource@comcast.net. | |
| | 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 October (I'll try to do better about getting it out on time.) 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 so we can put out a better newsletter that has the information that you want to see. "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." - 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18 | | |  |  |
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