Ugh!! Another Forum!
Well, we finally bit the bullet. After debating it for the last year, we decided to open up a Wood Whisperer Forum. We call it The Wood Whisperer Town Square.
Why another forum? I will be the first to tell you that the world certainly doesn’t need another woodworking forum. In fact, I have resisted it for so long simply because a blog, by virtue of its commenting features, is very much like a forum. But there are a few specific things that the blog format lacks. First of all, I am the initiator of every conversation on a blog. Not so in a forum. Also, if you want to post pictures, which is very helpful when getting woodworking help or discussing projects, you can’t do that on the blog. And with more community builds coming down the line, its important for you folks to have the ability to talk amongst yourselves and share information. With the forum, you will be able to proactively interact on YOUR schedule. And the final factor is organization. A blog is only useful if you are comfortable maneuvering around it. But to be honest, statistics show that most people either don’t know how or just don’t bother. So let’s say I put up 15 posts pertaining to the Gadget Station build over the course of a couple months. Finding all those posts on the blog will be pretty tricky. But on the forum, you can find them all in one single thread. So you can see how the convenience factor goes up quite a bit.
We have no desire to compete with the big forums out there. Think of The Wood Whisperer Town Square as just another feature/extension of the Wood Whisperer website. In an effort to keep things simple, there are only three categories: “Town Square” for general talk and updates, “Project Showcase/Critique” for having others look at your work with a critical eye, and “Ouch” for sharing your injuries, close calls, and lessons learned.
So feel free to check it out here. And if you are one of the folks making a Gadget Station, please feel free to post your progress in the forum. Thanks everybody and enjoy!
Sharon - Shop of the Week
This week’s shop comes from Sharon. Check it out:
So this is far from being a “dream shop”, but I still dream about working in it all week long as this is the only “shop” I have to work in these days. Living with a single car garage and no street parking at night, doesn’t give one many options to use that garage for anything else, so everything has to be portable and moved in and out for every project I work on. I would love to have a dedicated shop space once we buy our own place, and I can set something up, but until then it’s at the “you gotta do what you gotta do” stage.
So this is my “shop”, 2 Stanley work horses that have flip-on table tops (these are actually pretty nice for what they are) a set of cordless Dewalt power tools which I used for the longest time, and recently added a table saw to the setup.
So it does take a bit longer to set up shop every morning, and takes a bit longer to cleanup and store everything at the end of the day - but in between, there is wood working that makes you forget about all of that, and I think that’s what it’s all about-creating something that wasn’t there before.
I know that there are many other people with space limitations, and just wanted to give a shout out to everyone that are in a similar situation to mine and say - it’s doable, you just need to find the best setup that works for you, and as long as you get to mold that wood to something new - it’s all good.
Sometimes it feels like we’re obsessed with Shop-building, but you’ve got to remember that it really is all about Woodworking at the end of the day. P.S. yes, I know there’s a gap in that sideboard - the floor is so crooked I’m surprised I was able to level the top on all three carcasses.
The Wood Whisperer Yak?!?!?!
A message from chat room regular, MuddlerMike:
What started out as typical stupid banter among the day chat room crew has turned into a long standing inside joke. One afternoon back in April, we experienced a pleasant chat room visit from a friendly Bosnian woodworker. In an effort to boost Marc’s ego and help him appreciate his world wide appeal, a few of us twisted sorts conspired to log in to the following Wednesday Chat Night as imposter international viewers. Being the upstanding citizens we are, we never went through with the joke, but it did give rise to my alter ego – “Chechu, the woodworking Sherpa from Nepal”.
For those who don’t know Chechu, he is a proud owner of a fine Nepalese woodworking yak. Woodworking yaks are special compared to typical yaks. They are the “shopsmith” of yaks, serving many purposes in any Nepalese wood shop. Here’s a top 10 list of Chechu’s yak uses in his own words:
Yak transport stationary tool easily
Yak make methane to power shop
Yak generate lots of heat to warm shop
Yak tail make great strop for sharpening
Yak horn make great slip stone to sharpen gouges
Yak wool better than steel wool
Yak tongue make great tack cloth
Yak hoof powder make great buffing compound
Yak eat wood scraps and make round MDF pieces for jigs
Yak make great dust collector – yak collect dust from EVERYTHING!
Chechu feels Marc’s site and videos are indispensible. So, to honor the Woodwhisperer, he has shaved “the woodwhisperer” logo into his prized woodworking yak’s hair. We have obtained a picture of the now famous “Woodwhisperer Yak” all the way from Nepal (see attached pic) and are honoring it and the Woodwhisperer Network with yak T-shirts and yak mugs.
I must mention that Chechu and the yak sprouted from my warped little psychy and the over embellishing from the day chat crew, but specific nods go to Jon_WI who came up with the “Yak Tools” logo, and LordLQQK who offered up at least 50% of the yak uses ideas, was the talent behind the Yak picture, and the technical advisor to help me with setting up the Cafepress shop graphics. I must also mention that the price for the shirts and mugs are at cost. I wanted no profit from the sale personally, and Marc felt the same. What you see is what you get!! I hope you enjoy them. To order a shirt or mug, head over to our Yak Store.
“Muddlermike” Marzullo
IWF Atlanta Meetup
The The International Woodworking Machinery & Furniture Supply Fair (aka IWF) is coming to Atlanta, GA August 20-23. Much like last year at AWFS, we will get lots of footage and if we have a solid internet connection, we will run the live webcam again. So where can you find us? On Wednesday and Thursday, we will be at the Festool booth, and on Friday we will be at the Powermatic booth. So if you plan on attending the show, stop by and say hello.
We also thought it would be fun to plan a little meetup. The show floor is a hectic place so its always nice to get together and hang out after the show. We haven’t picked a place yet, since that depends greatly on how many people plan on showing up. The planned day is Friday, August 22nd, after the convention hall closes. So if you think you might be able to show up, fill out the form below so we can plan accordingly. And why do we want to know your t-shirt size? Because everyone who shows up gets a free Wood Whisperer T-shirt! We hope to see you there!
Dates and details will be posted in the Woodworker’s Calendar, so be sure to check back for updates.
Gadget Station Ideas (Pt. 2)
Here are a few pictures from Ray. I know many of you expressed interest in a smaller station that might fit on a table or desk, and Ray has given us a great example of this. Here is what Ray had to say:
Its not a full gaget station but quite functional for the phones. It provides a convenient spot for two cell phones and the house phone. It has a power strip inside for the transformers to plug into and adequate room for the cords to be hidden. It also provides a paper slot and a stand alone pencil/pen holder. Made of cherry wood with a tung oil finish.
-
Happy Holidays!
-
Subscribe Now!
-
Support the Show
-
My Gaming System
