I want to take a moment to introduce what is a brand new feature, both for this re-energized website and for myself personally. I have been an active participant in woodworking for many years and along the way I have spoken with thousands of people on the subject. They have been variously, clients, suppliers, fellow strivers in our shared passion, instructors to me and students of mine. What I have not done is to try to express in writing why this is important to me. I was sheltered from that responsibility in my previous website by others doing that for me. It is important to me this time to personally express my love and respect for what I do . This is certainly not driven by any illusions of literary mastery on my part. I can promise to try to share my interests and observations with you and hope that you find them worthy of your attention.
Mike
Genesis: Rocking Horse
Years ago, while active in the operation of the General Contracting Company which engendered Willard Woodwrights, LLC, I had a lot of interesting clients. One of those was an architect who was a principal of an architectural firm of national and international repute....
The Rocking Horse: A Production Story
I have written previously describing the serendipitous process of finding the antique rocking horse which inspired our “Old Paint” production horse. Some of you may have read this previous story and if so, I hope that you enjoyed it. My focus this time is to talk...
Boxes: The Inside Story, Part 6
Axe Maintenance Gear I have a client who has caught the "Bushcrafting" bug, including having bought the requisite hand-forged Swedish axe for that purpose. As a matter of full disclosure, I have a hard time accepting this new "Bushcrafting" descriptor, maybe because I...
Boxes: The Inside Story, Part 5
Knife Presentation The title and photos kind of say it all; a fitted box always makes it more special.
Boxes: The Inside Story, Part 4
Screwdriver Presentation Who does this? Well, me. I have a friend with whom, even though he speaks a different language and resides in a parallel universe, I am close. He is an IT person. One day while visiting at my shop, he watched me use a Klein crank handle...
Bridging the Gap
BRIDGING THE GAP As people and sentient beings we like to rationalize things. To think that because some elements are in place, we can be pretty sure of a specific outcome. This can be construed as mere human vanity, but we like to think that we have some insight into...
Boxes: The Inside Story, Part 3
Stair Gauge Presentation My dad served in the U.S. Navy during WWII as a carpenters mate. That may seem odd in an era of steel ships, but the Navy listed this rating until 1948 when it was taken over by the recently created Navy Construction Battalion, or Seabees. In...
Why Do You Do That?
I have been asked how we decide to include any particular item as a standard production piece. The fact is that there is no single answer to that question. So, let's look at some different ways in which that could take place. Design driven selections happen when an...
Boxes: The Inside Story, Part 2
Card Caddy Perhaps you will remember when I wrote of a woodworker’s affliction which I referred to as a "packrat tendency"? This is accumulating small pieces of showy wood for a future and unknown project. Some sufferers claim to know what project they are saving this...
Live Edge Work and I
On the whole subject of live edge slabs, I have come late to the party. Having been steeped (exposed early) into traditional woodworking, I just did not see the point. I felt like the live edge work that I saw was naïve and minimalist and just kind of lazy somehow. I...
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