Help plan the 2010 Woodworking in America conference – *your* help is requested!

January 28, 2010 by Al Navas (Sandal Woods) · Leave a Comment 

The conference is scheduled for October 1-3 in Cincinnati, OH. And the Editors of Popular Woodworking request and need your help to plan this one – heck, they are considering including sessions on the use of power tools and techniques, too. But *you* must provide input by answering questions to a survey; doing so will [...]

Looking back on 2009

December 30, 2009 by Al Navas (Sandal Woods) · Leave a Comment 

With 2009 done, I look back at the most-read and popular articles of the year, and find an interesting mix: Building, machine setup and use, techniques, and how-to articles topped the list. Videos, too, were extremely popular; not quite viral in 2008, the 1-minute video about the Schwarz Dances continued to be extremely popular.
And now, [...]

Woodworking in America at Valley Forge: Making and fitting drawers, with Mario Rodriguez

October 23, 2009 by Al Navas (Sandal Woods) · 6 Comments 

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Duration: 19:34 minutes

You can read a short description of the work by Mario Rodriguez at the Philadelphia Furniture Workshop web page, and at FineWoodworking.com.
Making drawers, and fitting them well, separates a good piece from a great workpiece. As a [...]

WIA St Charles: Keynote address by Tom Moser – Artistry in Wood

September 27, 2009 by Al Navas (Sandal Woods) · 2 Comments 

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Duration: 17:39 minutes

From the abstract provided as a hand-out during the Woodworking in America Furniture Construction and Design Conference in St Charles, Ill.:
…In this slide-filled lecture, Tom Moser relates the process of discovery that led him to furniture design, and how the Shaker [...]

SketchUp 7 to design furniture, and TechSmith’s Camtasia Studio 6 for screen capture

September 8, 2009 by Al Navas (Sandal Woods) · 2 Comments 

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Duration: 3 mins., 4 sec.

Baby steps.
As I write this I am reminded of Zoe Maria, our #6 granddaughter. She will have her first birthday in two weeks. But two weeks ago she started walking, one step at a time, then two, and now will go all the way across the [...]

WIA St Charles: Composing with wood grain

September 3, 2009 by Al Navas (Sandal Woods) · 2 Comments 

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Duration: 14 min., 55 sec.

Grain. Direction. Ebonizing and grain texture. Change of direction. Sculpted curves and flow. Building process. Flow. Chatoyance. Sam Maloof and inspiration… Woodworking in America, St Charles, Ill.
Brian Boggs uses “…the wood’s grain…to complement the overall piece…”  And he makes [...]

WIA St Charles: Arts & Crafts style: The unadorned truth

August 31, 2009 by Al Navas (Sandal Woods) · Leave a Comment 

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Duration: 20 min., 34 sec.

Arts & Crafts, Mission, and Craftsman.
Do you know the differences? I did not. But after this session, I am now able to tell apart them apart on my own – somewhat, as many of the nuances escape me. Bob Lang [...]

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