Monday, January 20, 2014

So, What's Your "Wood Wish"?

I have my own list of woodworking skill topics and projects that I hope to share with you, but why not get this blog started with a comment from you about what you'd like to see covered?  I get frustrated every year when the woodworking magazines that I subscribe to publish yet another article on "How to tune your bandsaw".  Not only because it seems like just a month or two before that that beat that topic to death, but also because once again they failed to mention that not all bandsaws are the same.  How so?

Well, first off I need to mention that currently I own 6 bandsaws, and only two of them have crowned wheels.  What's a crowned wheel?  We'll get to that in due time, but why this matters is that every article that you'll read about tuning your bandsaw will talk about how the wheels, or at least the top wheel will have a slight radius on the rubber tire, and yet that's not always the case.  So, I guess what I'm saying is we have time here to get into some of the "orphan tools" that follow their own path.

Do you own a Rockwell Uni-Plane?  How about Shopsmith tools?  What about a Parks planer?  All of these tools vary in their approach to performing their assigned tasks from the current "norm", yet they are all excellent tools that can give outstanding results. And don't you love those conversations with clerks in the tool section of your local big box when they ask you "What brand of saw do you own?" and then rather than telling you how to get the job done with what you own they turn-up the high-pressure sales knob to 11 as they try to sell you a replacement for the very tool that they once touted as a must-have?  Yeah, me too.  

We'll get into those and more, but back to your "wood wish".  What would you like to see featured here on the blog and on video on Youtube?

Scott 

 

Welcome to Wood Wishes.

Let's just get this out of the way right from the start: I am a HUGE fan of Chef John's "Food Wishes" blog and Youtube channel!  Though I've been blogging and vlogging for years on the subject of woodworking, I hadn't quite "found my voice".  I feel like I've been getting close and have been contemplating launching a new Youtube channel and blog when just the other night as I was typing the search "Food Wishes" into the search box on Youtube I accidentally mistyped "food" as "wood".  I immediately noticed the brilliant name for my new channel staring me in the face.

What I like about Food Wishes is that Chef John doesn't feel the need to be front and center.  In fact, he takes pains to ensure that the viewer feels like they are working right along side of him in the kitchen.  Like John I have a passion for sharing what makes woodworking such a joy in my life, and I have no deep-set need to be the star of my channel.

Opposing viewpoints and alternative methods are always welcome, and I'll admit right up front that I usually have at least three opinions about how to approach a task myself.  All I ask is that we keep the discourse positive and encouraging.  Questions from new woodworkers are always encouraged, and if you have limited access to tools, be sure to describe what you have available to tackle the task.

Be sure to visit and subscribe to our new Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/WoodWishes

More soon.  Scott