During the last 25 years, I’ve met dozens of professional woodworkers here in the Ohio River Valley. And – of course – I’ve met hundreds and hundreds of amateur woodworkers as well. And while there are many excellent woodworkers in this region, I honestly think Andy Brownell is at the top of my list. Andy’s…
Read moreWe decided to ask our Super Woobies to do two jobs: prevent rust and remind us of the value of our work. So we have contracted with a local embroidery firm to stitch “Don’t Despair: Nothing Without Labour” onto one corner, plus the image of a friendly bee – the long-time symbol of woodworkers and other trades.
Read moreWe all have a list such as this. Here’s mine. If One is Good, 12 is Better When you acquire a good tool, such as a block plane, and it really, really works, the tendency is to buy all its friends. After I bought my first No. 5 (about 1996-97), I fell in love with…
Read moreThere are so many things that I admire about my spouse, Lucy, that I could easily double the size of this blog by starting a list of them. We’ve been married 29 years, have raised two fiercely intelligent women and I still love spending every waking moment with her. One of the thousand bonds that…
Read moreJoe Heller True story, Word of Honor:Joseph Heller, an important and funny writernow dead,and I were at a party given by a billionaireon Shelter Island.I said, “Joe, how does it make you feelto know that our host only yesterdaymay have made more moneythan your novel ‘Catch-22’has earned in its entire history?”And Joe said, “I’ve got…
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