Monthly Archives: March 2010

Design Critique

Posted on March 31, 2010 by walkerg

Putting your work up for review takes a bit of courage. After all, you know every small mistake you made or where you had to do some color matching because you ran short on your stash of flame birch. Sometimes … Continue reading →

Posted in design critique | 20 Comments

Get the proportions right

Posted on March 29, 2010 by walkerg

Weekend before last Barbie and I went up to Lake Erie in hopes of seeing the waterfowl migration. Starting in late Feb through March, large flocks of ducks, geese, and swans congregate in the wetlands between Sandusky and Toledo Ohio. … Continue reading →

Posted in Design Basics, proportions, The Classic Orders | 9 Comments

Disappearing chair

Posted on March 26, 2010 by walkerg

Two years ago I visited Mount Vernon, home of George Washington. It was a weekday in late September and I thought we might sidestep the crowds. Boy was I wrong. The line to see the mansion snaked the length of a football … Continue reading →

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The satisfaction of a finished project

Posted on March 24, 2010 by walkerg

It doesn’t matter whether you use hand tools or machines, work in modern style or rococo. We all get a flood of satisfaction when the last coat of finish dries and recall that raw pile of lumber we started with. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 10 Comments

Wood movement

Posted on March 22, 2010 by walkerg

Saturday was the astronomical arrival of spring but here in Ohio we don’t put the snow blower away until the second week of April. Instead of cleaning the garage or raking my dead grass, I headed south to Lancaster Ohio … Continue reading →

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Most amazing woodworking tool

Posted on March 19, 2010 by walkerg

I have a good friend whose has spent a lifetime collecting arrowheads. He’s got scores of display cases with wonderfully colored flint tools, and many more boxes of broken cutting tools, stone hammers, axes, and various tools for grinding corn. … Continue reading →

Posted in Design Basics, proportions, tools | 10 Comments

USS Delta Unisaw

Posted on March 17, 2010 by walkerg

My wife Barb says I’m pretty territorial about guarding my workshop space. She jokes that I pee in the corners to warn other wolves and miscreants not to touch anything. Most of the space in the house is shared but … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 7 Comments

Classic order, entablatures

Posted on March 15, 2010 by walkerg

I don’t often look for direct correlation between the classic orders and a furniture design but if you understand the wellspring that feeds western design it can be very helpful. Part of it is actually learning the nomenclature which takes … Continue reading →

Posted in proportions, The Classic Orders | 2 Comments

Get to the fun part

Posted on March 12, 2010 by walkerg

Every time I buy a new tool there is a progression that takes place. A good example would be this Lie-Nielsen bronze beading tool. There’s usually a break in period, not the tool, but me. I have to teach my hands and … Continue reading →

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A rose in the Woodshop

Posted on March 10, 2010 by walkerg

Bonner Hall stooped down and flicked a Japanese beetle off the barely open rose blossom. He paused to relish the fragrance and take in the beauty unfolding before him. Bonner was sixty years my senior, quiet, spent most of his … Continue reading →

Posted in Design Basics, Uncategorized | 4 Comments