I‘m trying to build a community of woodworkers who are focused on helping each other add hand tools to their skill set. But “community“ is one of those words that can mean something different to everyone. So in the long term the definition will be to be up to you.
In the short term, I‘m going to be focused on the skill side of the equation. So let’s take a look at what’s happening in October.
During the coming month I’ll only be publishing videos to the Foundations Feed. If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you’ve signed up. But if you‘re only subscribed to the blog, you’ll need to jump over to the Join In page and sign up.
Posting 5 Days a week means I’ll be making a lot of videos. I won’t list them all, but here’s an idea of what you can expect.
What Do I REALLY Need to Get Started with Hand Tools? (Could you please just tell me what to buy?) - This will be a fast paced listing of all the tools I would personally recommend if someone asked me this question. It‘s not meant to be a complete Hand Tool Collection. This is what I think of as the bare minimum set of hand tools and the extra things you need to set them up and use them on a regular basis.
The first video will lay the ground work for the many of the videos that follow.
In depth explanations of why I chose each tool I recommended.
What are the other options I considered and why I rejected them.
How to properly set up and use each tool from the list.
Reading Wood Grain - Orientation and Direction
After we’ve gotten a small collection of tools set up and ready to use, I’ll begin to introduce some simple projects to get a little practice and make some useful jigs for your shop.
This will easily take us through October and into November. And November will mark the beginning of the second phase of this project. More on that soon.
Chris Bosh...
on what he thinks makes an effective coach.
Being prepared. Being ready. Having a game plan. And being prepared to deviate from that game plan... if it's not working.
I could say that Chris Bosh and I went to school together. But it would be more accurate to say that we were both attending the same college at the same time. The basketball fans on campus were heart broken when he left for the NBA after his freshman season. But after a brilliant career that was cut short by illness, I'm happy to see this fellow alum beginning a new chapter in his life as an author. His book "Letters to a Young Athlete" is available now.
This one really resonated with me because it's a good description of what I've had to do in my own life in the last ten years.
I never thought of myself as a "coach" until on one my workbench students (a hockey goalie in his spare time) called me by that name for the entire week. But if you have children, students, employees, or lead a group of any kind, what are you if not a coach.
And now I've embraced this role in starting up the Joint Effort. So I want you to know that I come prepared. I have a plan. But I want you to be sure to let me know whether it's working or not.
The mention of Chris Bosh's book is #NeverSponsored
If you're struggling with using a panel saw...
...(as I often do) you might benefit from this article that Lost Art Press published on its blog earlier this summer.
I just filmed the first video mentioned above and I noticed that Hayward and I disagree about choosing between a cross-cut or rip as your first saw. But I use power tools to break down my rough stock. So I'm looking at the problem from the point of view of cutting joinery with a back saw. I don't think the finer teeth of a carcass saw provide as stark a difference in cut quality as a panel saw would. So maybe we're both right. I guess I'll have to dig into his writing on back saws to find out where he stands on that point.
The first video in the Foundations Feed will be ready for release on Friday.
Have a great week in the shop!
See you next week.
Mark
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