Bench for the Radial Arm Saw

Soon I will have the table mounted back on the Radial Arm Saw, which for now is the only stationary saw in my shop. Once it is mounted, I'm going to build a new bench for it that does not wobble and places it at the same hieght as the workbench it sits next to. I'm thinking I'll build it like the low cost benches being built by Robert Lang, at Popular Woodworking.

Portable Workbench

Just found a workbench that will be useful for woodworkers who have to set up on sites that are not their home shop. Check this out:

http://www.blumtool.com/pages/benchhorse.html

Chair Design and Champaigne Bottles

Design precedes the act of working wood. Even simple objects require some design: how big will it be? what wood will you use? how will it be joined?

Here's a competition that shows just how much a "little" design can accomplish. The aim is to design and build a chair using only parts of a champaigne bottle. I think you'll agree that these miniature chairs are incredible, especially considering what the makers have to use for materials.

I learned about this contest from Lindsey Staniforth's blog.

Contest sponsored by and photo courtesy of Design Within Reach

"New" Chisel Set on the Way

This set of chisels (most of them) were my grandfather's and handed down to me by my father. The box used to have metal clips to hold the chisels in, and it hurt my ears and and my heart every time I put one in or took it out of the box.

When they came to me, the chisels weren't in good shape and the box was held together with duct tape. They were somewhat rusted, poorly sharpened (if at all), and I have a strong feeling I might have opened a paint can with one of them when I was a teenager. A couple of the handles were unsalvagable. I wanted to have these available for use sooner rather than later and didn't have the time or equipment (lathe) to restore them. Those of you that know Scott out in Happy Camp: the case refit and the chisel refurishment was his work. He also had a chisel that completed the set and added in a scratch awl to fill the box.

Can't wait to get my hands on them. Thanks, Scott!