Wow! LumberJocks has done it again! Not only is this one of the best online woodworking forums around but now they have just upped the ante with the LumberJocks Woodworking Awards for 2008!

This is your chance to show the woodworking world your latest project and compete for the coveted title of, get this – The Best Overall LumberJock! Woohoo! Imagine the bragging rights that comes with this one! There’ll be no denying your skills after winning this one!

Seriously, this is a very prestigious award because of the fact that the winner is chosen by our peers – other LumberJocks! Yep, there is no fancy, schmancy convoluted mechanism in place. There are no hoops to jump through, no mountains to climb or songs to sing. We simply do what we do best by doing our best and the winner will be determined by how many LumberJocks believe which project is the best. How simple is that?!

There are two categories, One Man’s Junk, where you create a project using old hardware, reclaimed wood and/or recycled junk and the Serve It Up With Class category where you build a serving tray out of at least two different varieties of wood.

And the prizes… boy, are there prizes! Get a load of this, here’s what’s up for grabs:

Continue reading 'LumberJocks Woodworking Awards 2008'

In keeping with the garden and patio theme here are two small garden benches that I built a couple of years ago. I (my wife) had to give them a new coat of paint this year to ‘spruce’ them up a little. Each of them are just over 3 feet long, 12 inches wide and about 18 inches tall.

They are just a couple of pieces of 2 X 10′s and a bit of 1 X 4 that my son brought home from a construction site that I slapped together. However, simple as they are they make great useful, accent pieces. I cut a couple of notches out of the skirt to add a bit of Southwest style.

Here you can see them in the garden and on the patio:

Continue reading 'Simple Garden Benches Add Accent'

Well, my wife and I finally got around to getting the patio ready for summer. As you can likely tell by the recent posts, we have been travelling quite a bit so getting the chance to stay at home and putter around the yard is a real treat!

I came across a gang of little fellows who reside in the gardens around the house and was lucky to catch them all together having a bit of a confab:

These guys were carved 3 or 4 years ago out of either Birch or Poplar logs. There was no finish applied so they are showing wear.

After I snapped the above shot it startled them and they ran off to hide. I was able to spot them again throughout the gardens. Here’s some more photos I captured of them:

Continue reading 'Grinning Garden Gods In The Green'

1. Make your own bench dogs using 3/4″ hardwood dowels and rubber chair leg tips. The rubber tip gives a cushioned grip on your work piece as well as well as keeps the dog from sliding down the bench hole.

2. Using alcohol on a glue line is a great way to clean up excess epoxy, if you do it before it cures.

3. If you find that your chalk line is smudging and becoming unreadable try spraying it with hairspray.

4. A plywood block with a saw kerf in the top edge makes a handy scraper rack.

5. Need to copy something but out of transfer paper? Use a soft lead pencil to shade over the lines of your drawing on the back of the paper. Then tape your pattern to your workpiece and retrace.

These are just a few tips that I picked up over this past week. They come from a variety of sources including books, magazines, newsletters, online and some from personal experience.

There are more Woodworking Tips and Tidbits located here.

Got a woodworking tip that you want to share? Let me know and I’ll add it in a future issue of Tips and Tidbits!

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