New Video: Torsion Box

Not a detailed how-to tutorial, just a quick check. We've heard they're rigid, and they FEEL rigid, but can we measure it?

https://youtu.be/2JkNi7jIkRE
I compared a very simple torsion box to a pine 2x10 by putting them across a 30" span (one at a time) with a dial indicator underneath, and stood right above the indicator.

Results? Torsion box deflected .03 inch, 2x10 deflected .1 inch. So yes, torsion box is nice & rigid.

In case it matters, the skin of the box is 1/2" plywood and the core grid is 3/4" plywood on 8" centers. The box was assembled with glue, plenty of clamps, and 16 gauge brads shot in with a pneumatic nailer.

I like torsion boxes.

Maple and Birch

I tend to think of maple and birch as the same color, but here they are side by side, red maple and white birch, unretouched, no filters, side by side in the light of a July afternoon in Wisconsin.

It's Satire, Folks

I have posted a new video on YouTube. It is a joke (literally), but there's a serious point behind it. Lately I've seen a lot in the social media woodworking world about whether somebody's work is "art" or "craft" and even some stuff about what art is.

Here's the link: https://youtu.be/rclk1Sqbbt8

And almost always, the person making the pronouncements as though they're deep original thoughts has never read anything on the subject, let alone spoken with anyone halfway informed.

It bugs me, so I made this video.

Here is the description I put on the video:

What I Did over Summer Vacation 2018 (Part 1)

In July, I used most of my vacation time to go to Wisconsin and hang out in the woods at my shack. I also got in some visits with family and friends, including Mark Duginske, my woodworking mentor and good friend. One result of the day I spent with Mark in Wausau and at his shop near Merrill is this video. We had a good time making it.

https://youtu.be/k1TsaSuWR-M

Splitting Wood into Thirds

Oh, yes you can!

There are three points to this post:

Bench Risers Video

A revised video about the bench risers is on YouTube:

Four-plus minutes of pure joy. Watch it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQY5q00EsW8

Video: Roughing out Spoons at the Bench

I made a video showing my vise, chisel, hammer method of roughing out spoon blanks. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XT7PdrXYYOI

Seal the Ends of Green Lumber

When you get lucky and score a bunch of nice fresh wood like this black cherry, seal the end grain before it starts drying out.

Moisture leaves wood most easily through the end grain, less easily through the long grain, and least easily through

More Adventures in Workholding

I've been working on a change to my spoon-carving process, scooping out the bowl earlier in the process with the blank held by a clamp rather than in my hand. 

I tried it out with this tiny salt spoon, made from

Spoon Blanks by Hammer and Chisel (Without a Hatchet!)

Unrefined spoons, just captured in the wilds of northern Wisconsin!

Let's say you have

Video Worth Watching: Wille Sundqvist on YouTube

My teacher Drew Langsner has posted a video I love on YouTube. On several of my visits to Country Workshops, I have watched this on a VHS copy Drew has in the shop's video library. 

This is basically raw, unedited footage made in 1982 by Rick Mastelli for a projected video by Taunton Press. For reasons I don't know, the project wasn't completed. I believe several black and white stills from these sessions were used in a Fine Woodworking article on the basic knife grasps.

I assume this was Wille's second trip to the U.S., when he taught the first spoon and bowl course at Country Workshops. Here you see a craftsman at the height of his powers, working in a new environment and explaining what he's doing and why in his second (third?) language. Clearly he's a master of both the work and teaching it.

Along with Wille's book, Swedish Carving Techniques, and the later Taunton video by his son Jögge, this video will give anyone interested in carving with hand tools, beginner or more advanced, plenty of food for thought. I still have new "aha" moments every time I look these over. Wonderful "ahas" I feel not just in the brain, but in the hands: one of life's great pleasures!