Magnets are everywhere these days, so why not in a pen? Penn State Industries has a new Magnetic Vertex Pen, that features an integrated magnet to hold the cap on. Available as rollerball or fountain in chrome, gunmetal, or satin.
If you’re in the area, check out the 2011 Wood Expo, a special exhibit at the New England Home Show. Guests include Allan Breed, Glen Guarino, Philip C. Lowe, Steve Brown and of course, the Expo’s host, Tommy McDonald.
Joshua Casper, a specialist in the U.S. Army, has been using his woodworking skills to improve the lives of those he’s serving with.
In the last six months, Casper has constructed shelves and stands for soldiers, framed and insulated the Afghan National Break area and an inspection cell used by female inspectors and worked on the volunteer fire station, among other projects.
Specialist Casper must be doing a great job, because he was just recognized with the “Warrior of the Week” award.
Woodworking has been around for thousands of years. Video games, about 30. That’s no reason you can’t mix the two, check out this beautiful custom joystick in walnut and zebrawood from souji5.
The most nervewracking part of building a shelf are drilling all of those holes for the shelf-pins, and you’ve got two options: fixed shelves, or finding a good jig. Greg Portland has a good review of the options on the market right now over at Sawmill Creek.
We both know there’s at least one bit rolling around, or lost in the shavings, in the back corner of your router table. So why not build it a nice little home? Check out this step-by-step plan over at Wood Magazine, and there’s a downloadable/printable version on the last page.
Kelly Dunton over at Fine Woodworking has a nice video that shows how easy it can be to turn a nice bowl. From rough-cut to finish in about an hour!
One of the most important parts of any project is selecting the wood you’ll use. While we usually go for a wood based on it’s properties or color or figure, sometimes it’s all about the story. I just ordered myself some Kauri wood from WoodCraft for this reason. It looks pretty plain, but it has some iridescence, and it’s textured like Basswood, but here’s the kicker, it’s 50,000 years old!
The kauri forests originate in the Northern Island of New Zealand, and it has been scientifically proven that they were around before the Ice Age. According to one theory, they were knocked down by a giant tsunami and buried in peat bogs for over 50,000 years, where they were perfectly preserved from the elements that would otherwise have rotted them away.
Not a bad story, and not a bad price either.
Alot of great discussion in the comments over at the Wood Whisperer about a possible move to require Saw-Stop like technology in tablesaws. He also points out a new competitor called Whirlwind that takes a different approach, using proximity sensors rather than conductivity. Seems like a great idea, and I can’t wait to see if this gets picked up by some of the manufacturers.
As shop classes continue to face cuts from tight school budgets, it’s always great to see masters like Hugh Buttrum reaching out to the next generation.
Hartman called the furniture and crafts the students are making from scratch a visual reminder of what they are capable of. “They can take this furniture home and look at it every day, and remember that they made it; that they can do anything,” he said.
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