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Hello everyone,

Just thought I would introduce myself as I just registered for the forum today.  I was born and raised in Mississippi, still live here 34 years later.  Have a wife and two kids, two business, 12 goats, 11 chickens, 2 cats and a dog.  I don’t claim the cats, but they are here so I might as well throw them in the list.  As you could probably guess, I stay pretty busy.  But in my spare time, I love playing with wood.  I have never really done any fine work, just an amateur that’s exploring the realm of woodworking.  I have found myself lately gravitating away from modern power tools and finding an appreciation for not only the quality of the tools of yesteryear, but also how easy they can be to use.  I’ve mostly been carving, but I’ve been watching a lot of videos on joinery, and I love the idea of constructing things without the use of nails or fasteners.  I have plenty of modern tools but I am trying to build my collection of hand tools.  I’ve got some chisels and things, but need some good saws, hoping to find a good miter box, marking knives, things of that nature, and a good mortising chisel, etc.  I’m also interested in blacksmithing and really any other old crafts, so this seemed like an obvious place for me to reach out to others that like the same things.  So anyway, here I am…look forward to meeting you all.

I’ll leave you with a photo of my latest project.  This is my 5th spoon to carve.  I wish I could tell you what kind of wood it was.  My first was from cedar, second from water oak, 3rd from maple and the last 2, including this one, were from a block of wood that my brother gave me.  It’s supposed to be an exotic species but I can’t identify it.

-John

 

 

 

 

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[GMParticipant June 22, 2016 at 11:16 pm Post count: 11]

#2028981

Great pictures, John!  Welcome!

1 user thanked author for this post.

echo5

[Mike in TNParticipant June 23, 2016 at 10:25 pm Post count: 292]

#2028982

Hi John,

Welcome to the group. Sounds like you are off to a good start and we look forward to seeing more of your work. For the record, Nails and fasteners are traditional to woodworking and were used often, particularly for utilitarian work, when quality glues were not available, and/or they made sense in their application (such as in cross grain application). Many quality pieces feature hand made metal parts as major design features and perhaps you could combine your interest in metal working with woodworking. I remember one particular occasion where I was at a Shaker village where a young couple was exhibiting crafts and craft skills. One of the items they had was a striking medieval reproduction oak box featuring hand made hardware and a curved lid that I greatly admired. As we discussed craft, I observed at least a dozen groups come and go and nearly everyone was immediately drawn to that one box above all.

Have fun.

[echo5Participant June 24, 2016 at 12:00 am Post count: 2]

#2028984

Thanks for the replies.  I wasn’t trying to imply that nails and fasteners weren’t traditional…I should have maybe been more articulate.  One of the things I’ve been drawn to lately is Japanese woodworking and architecture.  They used a lot of joinery in their techniques. I’m not above nails, haha.  I also like the idea of crafting wood and metal into one project.  I’ve been on the lookout for an anvil ever since I priced a few holdfasts for my bench and realized for the price of the holdfasts, I could buy myself an anvil for not much more.  What type of work do you guys do mostly?

[Mike in TNParticipant June 24, 2016 at 8:23 am Post count: 292]

#2028990

Personally, I do some small furniture items, some crafts, a lot of general projects around the house for the immediate and extended family. Truthfully, most of my work during the last year has been for old tool restoration (lots of that lately) or with projects around the property. I have about twenty acres of woods and pasture that has turned into a playground for the five grandsons, extended family and some friends and neighbors that enjoy using the place for walks in the woods and playing in the creeks. I had pretty well neglected it all (except for the yard area) for the last thirty years and decided it was finally time to play catchup. I figured that I couldn’t wait another thirty years to take care of the many pending projects and even if I could the grandsons would have grown out it.

I have put most of the woodworking on temporary hold while I cut trees, haul rocks, shape up the road, clean up some old trash (not mine but historic) and cut some new trails. Lots of work but lots of fun too and the grandsons have spent a lot of time fishing, catching crawdads, and generally going native. I still have a concrete pad to pour, a treehouse to build, a couple of footbridges to put in, and several stone landscaping projects in the works. My wife also has a couple of trips scheduled for us this year. At some point, I want to put a small structure out near the larger creek so the kids can “camp out”, and they want a zip line. So with all of that my priorities are currently away from my woodworking and more toward other things. When the weather is wet I still find time in the shop and have a tool storage chest and a router table (from a used vanity) that I am doing as a gift. I really want to take up relief carving and have been accumulating tools, books, and preparing an area in the shop toward that. You can see some of the shop and tool photos in other posts in the forum.

Have fun

[James WrightParticipant June 26, 2016 at 10:58 am Post count: 108]

#2028994

Glad to have you here. his is a great group with an amazing amount of info!

[Author]

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