In January I had the enjoyment of watching wooden snowshoes being made! I took an early morning drive down to Ross Farm Museum, just over an hour away, and spent the morning in the Farm Workshop, being warmed by an old woodstove, watching as the instructor fashioned a traditional wooden snowshoe.

Lately, snowshoeing has become the number one winter sport, even surpassing snowboarding! That being said, unfortunately the snowshoes of choice today are the modern aluminum and plastic type. Since a pair of traditional snowshoes is another item on my long list of projects that I want to make I thought that this would be a great introduction, and it sure was! What was really unique, and rare, was that my wife and I were the only ones there for this session! It being a wintery morning we figured everyone else decided to stay home in bed so we got one-on-one instruction and answers to our many questions!

At the Ross Farm Museum you learn about what life was like on a Nova Scotian farm between 100 and 175 years ago and how the early settlers and their descendants lived and coped with the land around them. It is typical of the many small farms that existed throughout Nova Scotia when the province was still being settled.

The museum is located on 60 acres of the original 800 acre grant given to Captain William Ross. Five generations of the Ross family have lived and worked on Ross Farm between 1816 and 1970, when the New Ross District Museum Society purchased the property. Even today many of the people who work at Ross Farm are descendants of early settlers in the area!

Continue reading 'Making Snowshoes At Ross Farm'

I mentioned in a recent post that it was a long time since my son and I worked on a project together. A few years ago we decided to build a toolbox to house his growing collection of woodworking tools. He had just recently started in the construction trade and needed something to carry his tools around in. We found the plans for one in ShopNotes Vol. 12 Issue 70 that was suitable in shape and size and we began to build it.

It is approximately 28″ long, 13″ deep, 15″ high and made of Baltic Birch and finished with polyurethane. It has a sliding drawer in the bottom and a sliding tray in the main compartment. It is reinforced with aluminum edging for durability.

We had great fun working on this but shortly after starting it he headed out West to seek his fame and fortune. After a couple of years of the pieces sitting around waiting for his return it became apparent that he had found his ‘home’ and would not be returning any time soon. (Yes, I came to terms with this a long time ago. LOL!) A couple of years ago he was slated to come home for Christmas so I finished the project, tied a big bow around it and gave it to him on Christmas morning. It made for a few laughs. It also made a great case for shipping home his other gifts too.

Here’s a couple of more photos of the finished box:

Continue reading 'A Tale And A Trail Of Toolboxes'

I just got back last Friday from the ultimate winter vacation! Was it in the Caribbean?, Florida?, the Bahamas? Nope, it was in the West Kootenays of British Columbia! Yep, high up in the mountains with the snow, snow and more snow! Those who know me know that I don’t do snow very well so why was it the ultimate vacation? Well, my wife and I, along with our daughter and her boyfriend, spent a week visiting our son and his better half at their lovely new home in the Southeast corner of the province. It was a wonderful week with the whole ‘fam damily’ being together for the first time in a couple of years but what made the trip extra special for me was the chance to do some woodworking with my son. It was several years since we worked on a project together.

He showed an interest in the small boxes that I made and although he runs his own home construction company working on smaller projects is relatively new to him so happily, ‘dear ol’ Dad’ was there to give a ‘leg up’. We decided to make one out of Birds Eye Maple and Walnut.

It measures roughly 8″ X 4″ and is about 4″ high. It was finished with a few light coats of polyurethane.

The Walnut was from a couple of pieces of flooring cutoffs that he had and the Birds Eye Maple was from right here, from the forests of Nova Scotia. That is a story in itself.

He still had an acoustic guitar here at home and my wife decided to bring it out to him and since there was no case for it we wrapped it up in bubble wrap. We needed something to protect the neck of the guitar so what better than to use a 6″ X 1″ X 4 foot piece of down-home Birds Eye Maple running up the back as support? It worked great and got across the country all in one piece! (Sure wish we took a photo of the wrapped guitar. It was wrapped so well that if you dropped it from waist level it would bounce 6 inches off the floor!)

Here are a couple of more photos of the finished box:

Continue reading 'A Winter Woodworking Vacation'

You know that old saying that you can never get too much of a good thing? Well, it’s true! Last night’s meeting of the Atlantic Woodworkers Association featured Kevin Hurst from Lee Valley with his presentation on finishing and the variety of products available. Although I caught his ‘show’ at last month’s Nova Woodturners Guild meeting this one was appropriately adapted to woodworkers and their differing needs.

Kevin, in addition to being the Assistant Manager at Lee Valley and a home woodworker, was once a professional cabinet maker so the information that he imparts is based on his wide experience. His career as a cabinet maker allowed him the opportunity of working with finishing products on a commercial level, using equipment and products not readily available to the home woodworker. His employment with LV keeps him abreast of changing trends, new products and techniques, both from a corporate perspective and interacting with customers. Kevin says that real life results are the true test of a product and that by listening to woodworkers about their trials, tribulations and successes gives him an abundance of information beyond his own personal experiences. He, in turn, is freely able to share this information whether at the store or in presentations like this.

Kevin began his presentation with a short talk on safety (move over, Norm!) and the available safety products. This was a great beginning. We often overlook this important part of woodworking, especially with finishes and we can never be reminded enough. From here he continued through the Lee Valley product line, interjecting with recommendations and application suggestions.

Continue reading 'Finishing Your Project At The AWA'