The Blank Slate

One of the things I like most about being a woodworker is our ability to make something from nothing. As 2009 draws to a close it is inevitable to hear talk about new year’s resolutions popping up everywhere. I’ve never been one for making resolutions as I am much better at breaking them but I can’t help but be excited by the prospect of a new beginning. 2009 was a great year for my shop and my skills.

I discovered Chuck Bender’s school and partook of my first official hand tool training.

I attended both Woodworking in America events and got to rub elbows with woodworking celebrities and even to sing Happy Birthday to Christopher Schwarz.

I visited Winterthur, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Colonial Williamsburg where I was awed and inspired by the countless craftsman to come before me.

I experienced kickback on my table saw for the first and second times. I hope for it to be my last!

I poured countless hours into my Roubo workbench, by far the largest thing I have ever built, and finished the year with a fully functional french beast. Granted the bench is not technically finished but as far as Roubo’s initial designs, I have gone beyond that as I have a tail vise and lege vise and Roubo had no vises at all.

I completed my first large project incorporating hand cut dovetails. Video editing is underway on this one and will be in the podcast shortly.

Finally got around to building that little Shaker side table from Woodworking magazine and did it almost entirely by hand. I broke down and used the jointer and planer during stock prep.

I completed an enormous number of small keepsake projects from boxes to pens to the Ark of the Covenant of which more than 75% were actually paid commission projects!

I won my first award for my work on The Sawdust Chronicles 30 day build challenge! Congrats to Rick and company for putting together a tremendous contest and all the hours put in behind the scenes.

I amassed more hand tools and just plain tripped and fell down the slippery slope into galootdom. I also discovered that eBay may not be the best way to purchase these old tools having gotten a lot of junk that I just don’t have the patience to restore.

I lost count of the books and articles of 17th and 18th century woodworking esoterica that I read but I’m working on being able to carry on a conversation with Joel Moskowitz for more than a few minutes.

The Renaissance Woodworker podcast turned 1 year old and during the 52 weeks of the year I produced 62 episodes! Thank you to all of you who read, watch, and listen each week. And thank you to everyone who comments and emails. Y’all make it the hours of filming, editing, and writing very worthwhile and a heck of a lot of fun. I love the comments, hunger for the critiques, and am flattered every time my inbox icon lights up with a new message.

I’m sure I’m missing something but what strikes me is that other than the Roubo, none of these projects, escapades, etc were planned. They just sorta happened organically. Throughout the year I have let this wonderful craft take me where it will and through it I have really learned a lot about myself and the work I enjoy doing. Without question I discovered that the Queen Anne period is my favorite and you can expect much of the simplicity and clean lines from that style to show up in my work. I also discovered that sharing this experience is just as rewarding as living it. I can understand why Marc Spagnuolo does what he does despite the huge amount of time it takes instead of just building furniture.

So what is the title of this post all about anyway? I didn’t get much shop time while I was off work for Christmas. What time I did get was spent thoroughly cleaning my shop and doing some reorganization. What I’m left with is a blank slate, but one that is sharpened and honed to produce some amazing things. It is exactly these endless possibilities that enchant me most about this craft. I really must get my sliding leg vise complete on Roubo so I can officially call that project done. I need to make a tool cabinet for all my precious hand tools not only to protect them, but mainly for organization sake. I’m thinking of experimenting with the Hepplewhite style and building a kind of apprentice’s graduation cabinet for this tool cabinet. Other than that, I am free of “obligations” and looking forward to seeing where that takes me. I can clearly see a Queen Anne styled coffee table coming out of this freedom and I’m sure my wife will be glad to see that project finally make it into reality.

Most of all, I can see a lot more blog posts and podcasts. I am blessed to be so close to so much history here in the mid Atlantic and hope to share it with you all. I have 2 more visits to the Acanthus Workshop scheduled this year and a trip down to Berea to take a class with Glen Huey at Kelly Mehler’s school. So enough talk, lets get this year started already!