Shop Chronicles | ||
Site News
May 23, 2007- Finally getting around to posting some long overdue updates to the site.
December 18, 2006- This post marks the return of a link which I mistakenly removed some time ago. I give you, GinaFish.com. November 22, 2006- Its been almost 4 months since my last post here. Since then, some life changing events have taken place for me and, as a result, I'm moving to a new house. Despite the down side of these events, there is a bright spot: a new, larger workshop. The new workshop will be a basement area, much like my current shop. However, there will be a host of new and exciting differences in the new shop. These include:
July 24, 2006
April 25, 2006 - It has been quite a while since I managed to post some new content here. Rest assured, this is not due to a lack of content, just time! I have a long list of new items to add to the Rust Hunting page, a new play-by-play of the construction of my new shop cabinets and workbench, as well as pictures of a whole shop rearrangement and revamp. Stay tuned! You may notice that I've eliminated a few links and pages from the navigation. I came to a realization that some of my content was simply a rehash and reformatting of existing info on the web. Its pretty silly to reinvent the wheel all the time, so instead I'm going to start adding relavent links at the end of my in-shop exploits. This way, the primary content of the site continues to be about things I actually do in the shop myself and suppliments those conclusions with links to similar information from other sources. January 16, 2006 - I've finally managed to put a bit of time into the site recently.
December 20, 2005 - I just read a quote on the Old Tools List today which I thought was very, very insightful and encouraging: "Many years ago, in the early years of the porch, I made the comment that every man was born with a certain number of bad dovetails in his blood. For some it is fewer, for some it is more. The only way to get them out is to just keep making them till all the bad ones are gone." (Anthony Seo) And here's another handy tip from the Tim Collins on the Old Tools List: Someone asked: "1 in 6, and 1 in 8; this is the same as pitch on a roof, yes? for every 1 inch/foot/micron/ of length there is 6 i/f/m of width, yes? To a certain extent, this need not be a hard and fast rule?" December 13, 2005 - I have lots of new stuff to post here, but not a great deal of time to post it! This mostly because I'm trying to spend my spare time in the shop and not online reading *about* the shop. :-) I did, however, add quite a few new items to the Rust Hunting page. September 22, 2005 - I've now posted a huge update to the site, per the two news items below. You'll notice that most pages reflect the orange asterisk beside their links, indicating they've been newly updated. The pages under the shop remodel section only contain formatting changes, not new content. However, many of the other pages are either new altogether or have updated or new content. Enjoy. Meanwhile, I'm still working on some pages, getting their formatting inline with the redesign. I should have this finished in a day or two. September 21, 2005 - Its true, its true. I can't leave well enough alone. The site has been once again redesigned. This time, it was warranted. Firstly, I've finally figured out how to display thumbnail galleries using CSS and without nested tables. This is big news for me and will allow me to trim down the page code significantly. So, while I'm at it, I'm reworking the site content. You might also notice that I've moved some navigation to the right and added a cool little 'Random Shop Link' script. This link comes from all links currently on the links page. So, if the Random Shop Link has caught your eye, you might like the other links found there. In addition, you'll now see a new link to the left devoted to this year's Central States Woodworker's BBQ, held by Terry Hatfield. You'll find my account of the event detailed on this page. Plus, lots of other subtle little changes around the site, including some spiffy little vintage tool graphics sprinkled throughout. September 20, 2005 - You might notice that I have removed the "Power Tools" page. This should give you an adequate hunch about the direction my work is taking in the shop. I still use my power tools, but my focus is moving to hand tools more and more. The 'tailed apprentice' just doesn't hold the same emphasis for me anymore. Also of note, I've added a few other pages:
August 16, 2005 - I'm reading up on backyard metal casting and related topics these days. Here are some excellent links to check out if you're as intrigued by the idea as I am: On another note, here's one of the better links I've dug up about shops, hand tools and such: The Galoot's Progress. August 4, 2005 - Thanks to my wife, I made a major rust find on Monday. See the rust hunting page for an update. I've also made some great progress on the bench, thanks to my recent acquisition of an MK.II sharpener. July 29, 2005 - I've now added some PHP logic to the navigation bar on the left. The links contained there will now reflect an orange asterisk beside any page which has been updated in the past 2 weeks. Cool. July 27, 2005 - I've revised the site's color scheme to be a bit less drab and dark, revised the navigation links to the left and updated various pages (Rust Hunting, workbench, etc.) Enjoy. July 20, 2005 - New page added ("Recommended Stimuli"). On this page, you'll find links to the music I listen to most often while in the workshop. I plan to add short descriptions to each of them at some point. In additiion, I'll be posting links to books I've read that I think have particular relevancy to my work in the shop. [Although I've become intensely interested in woodworking and antique hand tools, this site is leaning more and more in the direction of tinkering notebook.] I've also updated the workbench project page. Soon, I'll be taking good pictures of my hand tool collection/arsenal, posting those, adding content to the sharpener project page, and adding a new rust hunting page to document my search for and occasional discovery of old tools. |