back to school

 From the off I have to apologise for neglecting the Blog yet again. My only excuse is the one I always use - which is time.

Some years ago, when I scaled down my furniture making operation,  my grand plan was to write and teach. The writing side of things came together pretty well, with regular magazine copy rolling in. The teaching side of things proved a taller order. After completing a very enjoyable teacher training course at a local college I started to send out my C.V to any relevant school, college or university. Unfortunately my timing wasn't great. A combination of changes to the higher ed structure and major funding cuts meant very few institutions were recruiting. In fact, most were letting people go. So I shelved the teaching plan and focused instead on the writing.

Three weeks ago I had a call from an old friend telling me a temporary lecturing job had come up at one of the local universities and was I interested? Suddenly I was jolted back into the idea of teaching. The previous lecturer had left without warning two weeks before the start of a new year, which left me just two weeks to get timetables and lesson plans together, hence the lack of blogs.

A few hectic weeks in and I'm starting to feel a little more on top of things. I have two groups of fifty students on my course which is titled Profesional Practice, the aim of which is to prepare and equip craft and design students for the tough buisness world beyond university.

The staff and students have been both patient and welcoming to me, and I have to say the challenge and experience so far has been one of the highlights of my working life so far.

Hope to be back on track with the blog.   

market forces

  

I had to purchase three cubic meters of Cedar this week, and once again I was rendered speechless at the cost. I know its a common grumble from all woodworkers, but timber prices are increasingly becoming unaffordable. There was a time when I would over order by a few cube when getting timber for a project, just to have a  small surplus in stock. But now running a smaller workshop space is of a premium, and having a large wood pile is uneconomical. So I buy my timber as I need it, and in a quantity that just gets the job done. This works fine on the larger projects but when it comes to smaller jobs I'm forced to pay a premium for my wood. The larger wood yards aren't interested in the small end user, there's just isn't enough profit in it for them. So we get charged top dollar for the runt end of a timber stack, and we get clobbered with a delivery charge!

That's if you are lucky enough to get your timber in the first place, most yards carry such a small stock now, for the same reason I don't, that when ordering you may find you have to wait weeks for your timber to come in.

The last time I ordered Cedar I made the mistake of listing on the quote at the same cost as a average soft wood, as this is what I had been paying, only to get a call from my supplier informing me that due to a union dispute at the docks the timber was too be shipped from, the cost had now trebbled.....and there would be a four week delay.

It must be rememberd that timber is a commodity and as such it is affected by market forces, so it is important that we protect ourselves. One trick I've learned is to state on any clients quote that the price has a four week shelf life, so if they take three months to decide to have the table then they have to except the price may have to alter. Also I'm part of a group of local woodworkers who keep in touch on the orders we are making, and when possible order together. This way we can cut a better price and half the delivery charge.

Let me know how you are getting on.

you can't force it!

  Firstly appoligies for the lack of blogs for the last two weeks, this was not planned. After a full on year that left little time for me and my family, a decision was taken to head off to the east coast of  Italy for two weeks. The plan was to relax, get to know each other again and soak up enough sunshine to get us all through the winter. Not one to enjoy being too idle, I had taken along my IPad, and sketch pad with a mind to post two blogs and start outlining projects for the next book.

All these good intentions went out the window as I was once again seduced by the scenery and pace of life in Italy. Each time I went to pick up my sketch pad I was overcome with a unrelenting need to take a swim in the Adriatic sea, or go on a bike ride with my kids. 

If this is sounding like a travel blog I'm sorry, but my point is sometimes the brain just stops wanting to work. I think my mind was battling fatigue on one hand and then being bombarded by the beauty of its surroundings on the other. The last thing it wanted was to control a pencil around a blank sheet of paper, and who can blame it. There is a time and place for this stuff and we have to respect that.

One unexpected benefit of my uncreative holiday was to be witnessed at a meeting with my publishers this week, I was on fire! Ideas and schemes were comming thick and fast. And in the workshop, problems that had been on my mind for sometime were quickly found solutions.

So I appoligise again for the missing blogs, but believe me it was worth it.

woodworking for the weekend

 As of yesterday you can, if you wish, order a copy of 'Woodworking for the weekend' in the UK. The American edition with the slightly different title of 'Woodworking in a weekend', will be published by Chronicle in October of this year. By stripping away the need for a large tool kit, and suggesting an alternative to the daunting prospect of a visit to the timber yard, the hope is that the reader will be encoraged to tackle a woodworking project for the first time. I've attempted to write it in a style that feels a bit like an old friend dropping by to help you build that garden chair.  So far the reviews have been very positive, which is a huge relief. It's easy to lose sight of the fact that a project that has been absorbing all of your time and attention, will eventually be out there in the public domain. And these days when any event however small can achieve global exposure, and any person can write a reivew, good or bad, that has the potential of being read by thousands, putting your work out there is a little more daunting. This is the case for all creative works, from books to music to painting and of course furniture design.

Over the years I've received positive reviews along with the negative for my furniture, and its more than likely this new book will not meet approval of everybody. However the fear of a little criticism must never be allowed to steer you from a  course chosen.  Your individual design style or 'voice' will not be discovered if you concern yourself with the opinion of others. Nothing you create will ever meet with the publics unconditional love, but show a healthy disregard for critics and you may end up with something that meets with yours. 

"To avoid criticism say nothing, do nothing, be nothing".

Aristotle.

1. Please buy my book. And any positive criticism welcomed. 

review: Estwing, an American icon

 I always welcome an opportunity to review my tool box. Knowing I would soon be undertaking on a large timber building project, I took time to check through my equipment and see if anything needed up dating. All was looking fine until I came to my hammer, this veteran of many a years hard service was looking tired and beaten. And considering it had come free with a tub of nails, I think it had served well. 

So a new hammer was needed. I don't know why it is, but I hold hammers in such low esteem. I'm always happy to had over an unreasonabley large amount of money for a chisel, saw or bless them a new plane. But for some reason I've never felt the same excitement for the humble hammer. To be fair its not a tool that I reach for that often, and then it's only to tap home a wall fixing, or a packing wedge. However this new venture was going to call for some serious framing work, so I decided to treat myself to a hammer with a bit of credibility, that would hopefully ignite a new respect and passion for striking tools.

Part of the pleasure of purchasing a new tool for me is in the research that has to be done. I'm not someone who can just pop into a hardwear shop and pick up the first example I see, no I like to spend hours reading reviews and cross referenceing other opinions. Online woodworking forums and blogs (I would say that) are great for this sort of thing.

After much research one name stood out above all others, and that was Estwing, in particular the Estwing 16oz  leather handle framer. Not one to go againsted public opinion I promptly placed an order for this hammer, and I have to admit the new tool buzz was kicking in.

When it arrived my first impression was, how can I hit anything with this, and then casually throw it in my tool box after? For the Estwing is truly a thing of beauty. It has the grace and style of an object that has be engineered to preform its task with no pretentions. Pick up a new Estwing and compare with one from the sixty's, there is no difference. This is because this design works and needs no refinement.

Estwing was founded by Swedish immigrant Ernest O. Estwing in 1923. The family run business, which is still based in Rockford Illinois, produces a large range of specialist striking tools. 

Using the Estwing framer you soon become aware just why its the choice of many a woodworker. The leather handle, which covers the hammers body, cast from  single piece of tool steel, moulds to your grip and doesn't slip when wet from rain or when your working up a sweat. The hammers balance is perfect as it delivers all of its 16oz to the nail head. Turn up on site with this hanging from your belt and you will have the respect of all around. 

Now I must go and study the Estwing catalog, my eyes have been open to the beauty of striking tools.

"stay focused!"

 

 I remember when I first became self employed, and all I would hear from people was 'that's great, now you're free to take time off when ever you want'. And I have to admit the same thought had crossed my mind. But then the stark reality of running a small business soon became clear. Your boss is replaced by the bank manager and the landlord, who both 'encourage' you to work lots of long unsociable hours, with no mention of overtime.

And this is why on a day when a radiant sun set in clear blue sky has kept the temperature at a constant 81 degrees, when most of my frends are heading off to a free local music festival, my wife and kids have gone swimming, and my beautiful sea kayak is calling to me to take it out on the mirror flat ocean, to cool down, this is why I am working. And working on my own, trying to raise a framed wall on a structure I'm currently building, in the hope it will bring in a new revenue stream that will keep the aforementioned bosses happy.

Working for yourself is no easy ride, the personal sacrifices that a business demands are something you, and your loved ones have to be aware of before you head off along this path. 

However in a few weeks time I will spend an evening sharing a glass of wine with my friends, as I show them around this finished creation. And all those hot hard days, when all I wanted to do was down tools and head to the beach, will seem worth the commitment.

be inspired.

  

With the launch of 'Woodworking in a weekend' looming, I've been asked to give a few pre-review interviews. The questions put to me follow a similar line, "how long have you been working with wood, what do you like about working with wood, what is your favourite wood"? Some charmer asked "did you do the writing in the book too"? Obviously assuming the ability to use a hammer supplants the ability to use a pen. 

There is however one question I'm always asked either in interviews, at exhibitions, by clients or just at dinner party's, and that question is "where do you find your inspiration"? A simple enough question, but my answer is always an incoherent  ramble about street art, syfi books and films, films, books, music, talking to my kids, walking through my home town. As my list grows ever longer, I watch the eyes of my interigator glaze over, all they wanted to hear was "I'm inspired by nature". I know nature plays a big part in my designs, living out in the country and close to the sea as I do, mother nature will always get under your skin and covertly work her way into your creations. Personally I feel hitching a ride with her is an easy option, lets face it she has come up with some classic designs that when incorporated into any art form will rase its aesthetic value. 

It's something I fail at far more than succeed in, but my starting point on any idea will come from a man made astetic. It's a challenge, but there's a lot of beauty out there. These pictures are taken from my ideas board for a new book, I don't follow them in literal sence, but they help give me a feeling for where I want to go. 

As Philip Stark once said "why look for inspiration in an object, look for it in life".