A long time ago, I lived in Prescott, Arizona and built new homes from the ground up. Being from California, the ground in Arizona was new to me. Through footings, framing, and finish, I struggled to bring those houses out of the rocks and trees without damaging the landscape—and still make a profit. Read the full article…
Up until a few years ago, nearly all the exterior entry doors I installed were made of wood. Every time I finished an install I packed up my tools and left the job knowing the door wouldn’t last long—especially if it was on the south side of a home. Read the full article…
Early last winter, after searching for more than two years, I finally found a new home in Oregon, outside of Medford, near the small town of Ruch. It took a long time to find this place because I couldn’t decide where I wanted to live and once I did, I had a hard time finding a place I could afford—a small, older home that hadn’t been remodeled. After the “big boom,” houses like that became pretty rare. Read the full article…
The most important thing I’ve learned about installing doors and windows—and of course I learned it the hard way—is this: Look at the Whole Picture, then always start at the bottom and get the sill perfectly level. That lesson paid off big time while setting a French door and sidelights in my own home. Read the full article…
In the not-too-distant past, all boats were made out of wood. It was a highly refined art that required proper materials, extensive knowledge, and patience. Today, this skill survives among an elite group of craftsmen. Read the full article…
A few years ago, I was riding on a plane to Columbus for JLC LIVE. I was working away on my laptop, oblivious to the fellow sitting beside me who was reading every word I wrote over my shoulder. When he asked if I was a carpenter, I may have exhaled audibly. I was sure that he’d start telling me about his most recent remodel, the molding he installed in his dining room, or the screen door he hung on the back porch. I couldn’t have been further off the mark. Read the full article…
Like a lot of guys I meet, I’ve spent years fighting to build cabinets and furniture, and mill custom moldings, in my garage shop—working around the 1951 Mack fire truck I restored, and the 1954 Harley I’m working on, and my newer bike—plus, I have to store all this crap for Gary and Mike’s Roadshows…well, you get the picture. I wanted a real shop, a place I could spread out and get some work done without having to move stuff every time I wanted to build something. Read the full article…
About two weeks before leaving for three days of Roadshows in New Jersey a while back, I got a call from a friend in North Carolina: “Hey,” he said, “I know this guy in New Jersey who turns 16-ft. columns and tall porch posts on a 19th-century lathe!” I couldn’t pass that up. Read the full article…
(With Keith Mathewson and Tom Brewer)
Last summer, while Tom Brewer and I were doing Roadshows in Washington state, we stopped by and visited with Keith Mathewson at his shop in Seattle. Keith specializes in custom woodworking, and he shares his shop with a few like-minded woodworkers. Everything that goes out the door of Seattle Fine Woodworking is a one-of-a-kind custom creation. Read the full article…
In the modern world, we value college degrees over trade-school know-how; and our educational system—and our country—pays the price. The Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades is a good example of effective education, education that actually works, where, truly, no child is left behind; and where success—both for educators and students—is easy to track: at Williamson, nearly every graduate who wants a job gets a job, and that is a great measure of success. Read the full article…
(with Gary Katz)
Not long ago, Gary Katz and I visited the William Thorsen House in Berkeley, CA. Built in 1909—one year after the Gamble House—the Thorsen House represents the “last of the large and elaborate wooden houses designed by Greene and Greene,” (Edward Bosley), for which Randall Makinson, in his book Greene & Greene: Architecture as a Fine Art, coined the term, “Ultimate Bungalows.” Read the full article…
Hull-Oakes Lumber may be the last steam-powered commercial saw mill in the country, and they’re one of the few mills capable of cutting large timbers up to 85 ft. long. The mill has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1996. Large long timbers are still used in railroad trestles, the restoration of historic structures, and for the spars and masts of ships. By coincidence, the day I arrived the mill was cutting an 80-ft. long timber for the restoration of the C.A. Thayer, an early 20th century three-masted schooner used to transport lumber along the West Coast. Read the full article…
I first visited the WindsorONE mill in Willits, CA about ten years ago. Don Dunkley, the events coordinator for JLC LIVE, arranged the tour for a group of show presenters. I remember driving up there in a van with Tom Carty, Mike Sloggatt, Don Dunkley, Tom Brewer, and a few other guys. The trip is still vivid, mostly because Tom Carty got carsick in the back of the van. Read the full article…
Not long ago, we visited Bill Bode in his garage shop on Long Island.
Mike Sloggatt had said about Bill: “Wait till you see this guy’s shop! He’s the exact opposite of me. You can eat off the floor of his garage.” Read the full article…