counting planes

if you’re starting as a woodworker in the west, you would be forgiven for assuming stanley didn’t just make planes but was actually aiming to give craftspeople a better...

all’s well that’s endgrain

there’s an elephant in the room. a sticky yellow one. i know you’ve seen it. the video about endgrain and glue. and i have lost count of...

getting your curve on

today is my mother’s birthday. she was my gateway to the world of wood — and nature in general. she’s an avid gardener and she and my...

you don’t need a computer

from the earliest i can remember until i was perhaps twenty, i was constantly trying to convince people (usually people older than me) they needed computers...

let’s begin

there is a traditional phrase in buddhist teaching that usually gets translated to english as “beginner’s mind” — an openness to new ideas and willingness to approach every moment...

stop, drop and scroll

you are living in evolutionary times. it might not feel like it and we’re not likely to sprout wings in our lifetimes but there is change all...

hard knocks and soft feels

if there was an alternative title to be a bit more descriptive, it would be “so i’m building a project — what wood should i use?”...

pare trees

i’ve recently written a couple of beginner guides to what you need to shift from armchair-consumer of internet-based woodworking-content to actually practicing the craft. you need a saw (well,...

creative translation

i’m so tired of people telling me translation is about accuracy. it’s not. not even a little. unless it’s done by a computer. and that’s not translation in the...

replacing shakespeare (part 1)

i have recently spoken and written quite extensively about why we should completely eliminate classic and traditional literature from our school and college english studies. but this...

looking at lumber

there’s a huge difference between art and craft, simply by definition. art is a search for beauty with no functional requirement. craft is the answer to a specific...

fuck up to level up

let’s talk about mistakes. not the kind you make when you go out and get high. those aren’t mistakes. those are predictable results. we’re talking about...