Will Rees - A Journal of Craft and Inspiration.

Wrapping up 3 guitars.

2012-01-08T19:39:00.002-05:00

Building up a slurry pore fill with danish oil and oak dust to create a smooth finish and prevent the pencil from tracking into the wood pores.

Ready to do some drawing

Poor neglected guitars, all three very close to completion. The 000, the CEC electric, and the circa 1910-1915 Weymann super jumbo that has been modernized with a graphite neck support and x-bracing.

Temporary home for the drafting table.

Gluing up a scarf joint for the 000 neck, thinking to myself how to build a better neck gluing jig. This gets the job done but it's clumsy and uglt.

My neck routing jig i made from a recycled table top.

Finally getting around to putting some bench dog holes in the bench. Some benches are covered in dog holes and but i'm only adding stops where i need them so as to avoid messing up my work surface.

Back from craft study in Europe, A hand full of pics from some shop updates

2011-12-10T00:23:00.009-05:00

custom design drafting trable, with timberframe inspired base. Made mostly with b grade cupboard oak, piss oak, and white oak, also has some white walnut and poplar, trying to get some of the usefull but non furniture grade oak out of the way.

features 10 vertical and 10 horizontal positions on a 39" by 63" top.

low vertical position is not all that practial but could be necessary at times.

high vertical position, i figure once the layout and center lines are drawn this would be great for freehand work and for standing back and contemplating the design at the end of the day.

bring it back down to mid vertical to use a straighedge or drafting tools

flips back to horizontal fairly quickly, bolt the carrier to the frame, unsrew the hinges and brace bolts and give it a twirl.

made a stop pin out of 1/2 " steel rod, polished and tapered it in the drill press with sandpaper and then made and octagonal walnut handle, works pretty well i think.

low horizontal position will probably be one of the most used positions.

the bench i made a few years back kicks butt. well worth the time investment, as will be the drafting table.

love sharp blades

? don't know yet

cherry burl measuring spoon

You can see the finished shop stool i made at the bottom of the picture, works great and i've had a few request for reproductions

good for the bicepts

working out the design, also check out the one piece mortiseing / sculpting hammer i made from a burl end limb i found while walking. works great, puts the SMACK down

oak miters tounge and grove to the 2 ply poplar to make a bomber seat top. allows the leg mortise to be close to the edge without the risk of splitting.

Put a few clips together and set them to the Bach Tocatta and Fuge

2011-01-03T11:11:00.010-05:00

My first go round with the you tube video editor.

Summer Stuff

2010-07-17T11:57:00.010-04:00

Little Grass Frog Fall Flood of 2010
Spadefoot Toad

Custom design OOO coming together, i believe this shape is very sexy - inspired by an old Weymann but not an exact copy.

Tomatos in the summer lettuce in the fall.

Roping the Binding

Routing End Graft

I've been exploring some interesting free-dive spots. here is a good haul of stone crab from late september this year.

Flounder Sashimi

It seems like these guitars will never end. I work on them when i can and since i am a new builder i am constantly designing and building tools and forms necessary to be a true custom guitar maker. Had i made a martin copy and simply ordered the forms and blueprints i could have made many guitars during the same period of time, but all the same i would have contributed nothing to woodworking, and gained no knowledge for myself.

The Barking Treefrog

Ceviche

The instrument that inspired this take-off was a ladder braced dobro from the 30's. I hope this bracing works out, it is scalloped and foward shifted over the bridge. Also the neck is a 12th fret joint so the bridge can sit more towards the center of the lower bout. The top is arched in a 50ft sphere, this will allow for better break angles over the nut and saddle and also will ensure i can put plenty of bone in the bridge to transfer the tone. Red Spruce and Super hard Curly Ambrosia Red Maple Body with a walnut and maple laminated neck. It will be french Polished and i HOPE a monster instrument for pure acoustic playing.

Spring Adventures- Surry & Pender County NC

2010-06-10T10:58:00.011-04:00

Healthy box turtle in the trumpeteer swamp
Pitcher Plant Flower

Full Moon over the Pine Trees

Purty

Flower of a Purple Pitcher Plant

Farm Pond Sunrise, Surry NC

Pre-Sunrise & crescent moon over Pilot Mountain

Pound a Piece bream from a spring fed pond, one of the tastiest fish i've ever eaten

Ararrat River on its way to the Yadkin then the Pee-Dee and then the Atlantic.

Worm snakes everywhere in NC.

Apple Blossom

Anyone who fishes for bream knows this is a "nice one".

Migratory Bird- i believe a cormorant

This bird stopped in for a snack and underestimated the size of its prey. This warrants a new saying i suppose:

"Them shellcrackers are big enough to drown a Cormorant."

Iris

Ferns unrolling

Worm Snake

Mud Turtle out looking for leaches

leach

A giant burl that is half colonized by some small mammal.

Beautiful Cypress in the Trumpeteer Swamp

Very interesting mud abode of some unknown- to- me swamp critter.

Whatever it is, it has a sense of style and beauty.

With its flower at the doorstep.

Path laid down by a big ol poplar tree.

Be Sure To Visit www.stoptitan.org. Stand up For Your Wetlands

2010-04-08T09:25:00.007-04:00

The skeleton of a massive Alligator, Probably 12 feet long
Honeysuckle Flower

Black Swallowtail

Barking Treefrog

Another Glass Lizard

A chorus of Barking Treefrogs are a natural delight

The Eastern Kingsnake thinks it's hiding

This was a very gentle snake

Hey Buddy!

Early Spring in Holly Shelter

2010-04-02T00:21:00.008-04:00

Sundews

An Eastern Garter Snake with bold colors makes an April Fools appearance.

The Garter Snake Doesn't Care what day it is, it just wants to slither in peace.

Wildflowers have begun to make their appearance, with a heavy rain the fungi shoul bloom and the summer colors will be out.

Snakes use their tounges to flick the Humans off, he's giving you the fork. Fork Off.

I wish i knew more about wildflowers, i'll have to learn more about them.

I believe this is a southeastern 5 lined skink.

These are cute guys, kind of like salamanders.

I stayed in the woods late to watch the full moonrise. It was one of the best i can recall. It had rained that morning and then been a warm day so, water vapor was rising from the warm ground and fog was falling from the cooling air. There were cricket frogs, peepers and leopard frogs calling. The moonlight illuminated the water vapor and night was as clear as day.

Some Interesting Versions of the Red Bellied Snake

Red Bellied Snake

Carnivorous Sundew

Venus FlyTrap

Sub-Adult Lime Back Phase Pine Woods Tree Frog. Looks alot like a Pine Barrens Tree Frog.

Spring Peeper

2010-03-24T20:10:00.010-04:00

American Alligator NC

Chained Pickerel from the gator pond

Brown Snake

The Brown Snake escapes into its maze of leaf litter

Pine Woods Tree Frog

They Should begin calling with the next few heavy rains

One of the larger Cypress I've ever seen, Unlike Most Cypress This tree did not taper much after the stump.

A very large Glass Lizard that allowed me to get unusually close.

A beautiful Worm Snake i found under a pine stump

Friendly Snake

2010-03-20T00:25:00.006-04:00

"Trees proud as we tossed their heads in the wind and flung good seed away" W.Guthrie

2010-03-14T20:29:00.010-04:00

Different types and colors of freshly shed pollen collect on the surface of Ashe Creek Swamp
A Common Mud Turtle in the early stages of Spring rejuvination, just like me.

Also called Musk Turtle

Words fall short of describing the experiance of standing in a wetland that has been painted by the wind and the trees.

I found 4 more Altantic Slimy Salamanders which i believe were mating pairs while log flipping.

Another gorgeuos phase of the Turkey Tail

Medication

2010-03-11T19:55:00.004-05:00

An Atlantic Coast Slimy Salamander

Mini Fungus world underneath overturned log

Saved by the Shelter

2010-03-08T20:22:00.004-05:00

The gates have closed and Holly Shelter is once again for biking and hiking only. A breath of spring has arrived and, as if on the cue of a conducter, sap is flowing and butterflies are fluttering. The ground is still laid flat from snow; it appears as though the tide of verdure has receded to expose the bed of the forest. Paths of the animals are unmistakeable, worn ; evidence of our mutual habits cannot be erased in the absence of daily renewel.

All communications are series of patterns.

The Slogans Have Clogged The Airwaves

2010-02-03T21:43:00.012-05:00

Corruption and Politics as usual. Our State Capitol's newspaper has finally acknowledged the corruption surrounding Titan Cement Plant, former Gov. Mike "sleezy" Easley, and the devastating impacts it will have on the state's #1 coastal city. Still, it seems the proper passageways have been lubricated and nobody of any significance representing the state of NC will take any serious steps to prevent it, much less act concerned. See link below for more.

http://www.newsobserver.com/politics/story/291644.html

This was back in July I believe. Listen for Cricket Frogs, Narrowmouth Toads, Oak Toads & Pine Woods Tree Frogs that can all be heard here. Also Note the Colorful Wildflowers and general pleasantness.

This was a perfect day and i eventually came upon a lagoon of little grass frogs that hardly noticed i was around.

These are just a handful of the custom forms and templates needed to custom make a guitar. This is my 000 Weymann Copy. In the background can be see a blueprint of the most copied guitar in the world - the martin dreadnought. I don't plan on being a dreadnought builder, built there are many universal measurements use full for reference on any martin blueprint. Eventually i will install an expanding turnbuckles so i won't have to work around the cam clamps.

Gluing the neck and heel tomorrow on both guitars

The complete side form with bent sides.

A practice bend red birch side that will probably get cut into bindings.

Finish drying some 8/4 and 12/4 oak

Tools and patterns.

2010-01-28T18:45:00.007-05:00

After a 12 week interlude, i've picked up on the double build custom 000 & 00 project. Here the curly ambrosia red maple sides can be seen after bending in the side forms of the 000. This is the first set of sides i've bent on the side bender i made, i'm pleased with results. The sides are flat and fit perfect in the molds i made, there are no cracks, burns or twists in the sides so they will make a fine guitar.

If anyone has wondered what i've been doing since i finished the footstools, i've been building tools and forms to bend the sides of my 000 & 00 designs.

Looks good

My jalopy copy of a fox side bender - it works. I'll build a nicer side bender one day, first i'll need to learn what i don't like about this one before i can design a better one.

After building an outside pattern 1/4 oversized with a template wheel,i used the outside pattern with a 3/8 wheel to trace an inside bending form that is exactly 1/8 smaller than the actual 000 design. This gives me a bending form that will accomadate the thickness of the side in relation to the outside line of the design.

The inside of one of my footstools with a pair of safety glasses for size reference

I spent a considerable amount of time shaping the machined edges of the finger joints to soften the lines.
.

I've been practicing with one of these footstools and they are exellent. The wormy chestnut sides are endlessly intriguing .

Perfect Oak Tops. I spent 9 days quatersawing a GIANT Oak tree my dad and donnie salvaged off of a neighbors land in pilot mountain. The tree displayed many types of figure and is some of the finest wood i've ever worked.

Looking down on the footstools, appreciating the unique medullary rays of the old growth oak.

8 Guitarist Footstools

2010-01-12T01:25:00.006-05:00

To prepare for an art fair coming late april this year, on 1/2/2010 I started reproducing batches of 8 each from 4 of my musician's furniture designs starting with 8 guitarist footstools as seen in progress above. I plan to take 32 pieces of musicians furniture and 4 instruments + who knows whatelse?

I've "basically" completed the 8 footstools in 8 days. The footstool has a folding top lid with rabbeted drawer bottom making this footstool a small cabinet; a place to keep strings, picks, capos, beer huggies, whatever.....

How snug should your joints be?

You can faintly see the rabbeted in bottom.

On the bottom left can be seen the prototype footstool i made last year, and above right the first 8 reproductions made with wormy chestnut casing, attractive quartersawn oak tops, and bottoms from 3/16" cherry, australian blackwood, and red birch. The prototype is joined with miter joints, but the reproductions are done with- log cabin influenced- overlapping finger joints which i feel are more attractive with the antique wormy chestnut as well as a more trustworthy a joint.

A good way to start the New Year. Next: 8 adjustable height musicians stools.

Movies from Willy's Acrhive

2009-12-19T23:00:00.010-05:00

I've started to use YouTube for my movies because they are easier to share and upload. So to get through the long winteri will try to share some of my summer memories in the coming months. This was a cottonmouth video from Rock Flipping Day.

On long nights i take to crooning sad songs to pass the time. Here is -Bird On A Wire- by Leonard Cohen

Getting good pictures sometimes involves following a Rattlesnake into the thicket. This is the the Canebrake pictured at the beginning of my blog.

I was recording a practice session to study my right hand technique for improvements and decided the video was worth sharing, though there are a number of mistakes.

Afternoon in the Marsh

2009-12-16T16:26:00.006-05:00

Are you sneaky like the flounder?
What luck! I was wading in the creek, coming home from oystering and i had been seeing lots of flounder but only as they were swimming away. Then i began to focus my eyes on the bottom, hoping to be able to photograph one in the clear winter water as it was basking on the sandbar. Though this is normal for a flounder, sneaking up on one on a warm afternoon with clear water is something i've never done.

It

It lurks

sister allison

clawed shrimp..... i forget what they're called

Patrick

I go out in public like this

Over The Weekend.

2009-12-08T00:39:00.006-05:00

I intended to use these two rotten cedar boards to make a storage cabinet next to the drill press for all the bit sets i have. Half way through the project, the boards began to tell me they were not meant for being a lowly shop cabinet, they were meant to be a rustic cedar display hutch. I have no idea if there is such a thing as rustic cedar display hutch ,but it's not for me to decide - the wood already knew what it was.

I had some of my photos blown up by Sean at Environmental Digital Art. These are weatherproof and meant for outdoor display

The crumbling edges of the boards are interesting to look at and frustrating to work with.

Organizing some hand power tools

Filling up a few more places on the main toolboard

Thanksgiving -

2009-12-01T22:21:00.014-05:00

Pilot Mountain in the Distance

Had a good Thanksgiving Trip Home. Saw lots of the Family, ate good food, slept and drank.

This is how it starts. A tree, in this case a white pine, has fallen over

White pine stand.

Red Birch and Oak Logs. After a tree falls over the trunks usually lie around for awhile in a log pile awaiting to be sawn. Late Winter/early spring is the best time to saw wood because the wood dries slowly in the cooler weather, giving the wood cells a chance to stretch rather than crack. After the wood has lost the majority of moisture in spring, then the heat of summer will push out the remaining water. When the wood come down to the mostly dry phase after 8 months it can then be brought inside to continue drying to an indoor moisture content which takes at least another 6-12 months for 4/4 lumber.

Often the wood will develop spalting in the sapwood while it waits to be cut. I encourage and await the outcome of spalted logs.

Crazy Cedar logs.

Many would think an amateur such as myself doesn't deserve access to such amazing woods.

Stacking wood is the most important aspect of the drying process. I definately have more to learn in this area. However, we have managed to get by and salvage some incredible lumber from mostly dead and fallen trees.

This pile is "The Good Stuff"

This is the destiny of all that wood, to be made into Furniture and Music Instruments. The lineage of this table's concept goes back to Alan Peters, with the elliptical top and arched base; though this was designed and made based on a photo and has no dimensions or wood orientations in common with any other tables that i know of.

Moving in Again

2009-11-18T23:51:00.015-05:00

I built the tool board beside my bench what seems like months ago, and i am using the time between projects to finally put order to the chaos of tools that are in my house by selecting and organizing the essentials. The tools on this board are some of the most universally used small hand tools in any shop. Also it is wise to hang and separate any edge tool such as scrapers, files, chisels, and saws. When edge tools are keep in a drawer they will dull themselves through metal on metal contact. Also tool handles will receive premature wear; unnecessary wear and damage is something to avoid religiously.

Also i built another larger poplar tool board to keep an awkward array of bigger hand tools and any overflow. To the right can be seen my card catalog i purchased for $60- probably one of the best purchases i've ever made. It makes an excellent tool chest and parts organizer. In the middle can be seen my stew-mac floor vise, not a day passes where this isn't in use.

Random shot of the bench dust collection. Though I'm very happy with the concept, i have some engineering improvements for mounting the flexible dust hose on the ceiling so that it doesn't lay across the bench.

Time to go around and de-resin the router bits and table saw blades, order drum sanding sleeves, replace a few band saw blades, put new rollers on the planer, sharpen and adjust the jointer, fix air leaks in the dust collection system, build a clamp storage system, bring in more lumber to finish drying, take the dust collection bags out and empty the shop vacuum, clean the air filters in the air purifier, empty water from the dehumidifer, take pictures and write about them. Really though, they are small tasks and well worth the reward of being a woodworker.

This filter has sucked its last particle, when i vacuum it out i can see the interior filter. 12 months is alot to ask of a primary filter, it really helps control dust in the machine room.

A slab i'll mount in the corner for my new kitchen table. I'll put shelves in the location of my current table.

A little while longer and this will fill up too,.

A traveller should always know where their towel is. A woodworker should always know where their pencil is... and the square, safety glasses, earmuffs, and 6" ruler are nifty to have around too. I keep them all together in my little apron, though i never know where my apron is....?

Some of the last few tools to clutter my bench, soon each and every tool will have a private home and clearing the bench will be a breeze.

What can i say about my workbench, it rocks! The veritas twin screw vise is like having an employee. Soon i'll be making more improvements to the bench and i'll share what i come up with.

With each day another stone rolls in place and my own style/method of woodwork becomes a little closer to realization.

Ahhh.... did i upload this? Boringggggg

Most of these tools recently arrived in my shop. I have no idea how i got along with out some of them, but i sure do appreciate them now and sing the praises of veritas and lee valley. When you consider that most of what they sell will last lifetimes, i consider it one of the wiser purchases a person can make. The jointer's plane should have been the 1st thing i acquired.

Alot of cutoffs end up in the fireplace, but anything of substantial dimension gets put aside. These odds and ends are indispensable and having a stash of scraps like this really stimulates your creative imagination. Also the scraps comprise alot of memories of past projects, when you use them down the line, you are able to reflect on how you've changed since you built that table from the tree that fell over in a tropical storm years ago. And even though many of the things you believed then have been ravaged- like the tree was ravaged in the storm- you are still the same person and the wood you are using is from that same tree, though its meaning may have been re-written, life is re-written in the same way-according to unforeseeable events and not our own desires.

Fall Art Fair at The Art Exposure Gallery in Surf City

2009-11-09T09:51:00.009-05:00

8 Pieces i displayed at an art fair in Hampstead/Surf City area

The table and bowls will remain on display at the Art Exposure Gallery

Wendy Kowalski sit and sketches next to some of her work.

Great baskets by Wanda Harris in jacksonville.

Display Table with 1 Coat of Finish

2009-11-04T00:50:00.007-05:00

A table i made to display bowls and various works in an art gallery

This wood is from the stump of a Walnut tree we salvaged from the ararrat river bottomland, it displays many different types of figure and is memorizing to look at in person. Stump sawing is awkward and guaranteed to ruin a new blade on the sawmill( due to encased rocks and mud) making average stump lumber go for around $20-30 per board foot.

This bowl knot was off of another dead walnut that was a few miles down river. I believe the wood charachteristics in those two trees were similar, and that wood character within a species varies depending on the region, climate and growing conditions.

rippled like the surface of moving water

Here, some of the "marble-cake" figure can be seen. Purple, black, golden brown and honey brown are a few of the shades.

Hard to appreciate with the glare

In progress

October Spearfish Roundup - Doormat Flounder & Lots of Sheepshead

2009-10-24T16:15:00.011-04:00

Shakori Hills, Cool Nights & Oysters - must be October!

2009-10-15T20:34:00.008-04:00

The 1st bushel of Topsail oysters for the fall/winter season! I like to take my kayak out at lowish tide to gather oysters. I look for clear glassy water so i can see the big oysters down in the channel and at the bottoms of the beds. I use rubber thigh boots, leather gloves, a hammer, polarized sunglasses and my large basket. The boots of course keep you dryish, the gloves protect the hands from nasty cuts, the hammer is to break apart large clusters so that the smaller oysters and dead shell can be left behind, and the glasses help with the most important part-seeing the oysters. The big salty singles that are the best to eat, are almost always underwater a few feet, even at low tide. Locating a big cluster of oysters before you muck the water up is key and you will pass over 100 oysters for every couple that get thrown in the basket. If you go out and buy a bushel of oysters like this its called "single select", meaning they are broken apart and easy to handle, as well as being the large and meaty, a bushel of selects can be $60-80 so i'm fortunate to be able to go out back and pick them for free!

Not only does a bushel give you plenty to eat, it also gives you exercise and chance to walk around in the estuary. I've spent thousands of hours exploring the marsh and always manage to see something new and beautiful every time i go. In the wintertime birds from all over the world stop in to rest, so its not unusual to see a species of bird that you've never seen before.

Grove Stage

Arts and Crafts Vendors

gnome garden

Main stage. This was my first time a the Shakori hills music festival which has been going on since 2003. I have to say i was amazed on every level. The music went on probably 18 hours a day for 4 days and nights, from tent sites to the 5 or 6 venue stages. Top notch musicians from every genre were booked, and ususually some first class headliners went on from sundown to 2 or 3 am. Another amazing aspect was that most of the event staff were volunteers who put on this 5 star camping festival. Not a detail was missed. Top notch food, restrooms, hand wash stations, campsites all the things you would think to need they had planned for. The best part had to be the energy and feel of the people there. The volunteers were there for the music, the food vendors made great usually organic (whatever that means) food, the crafters and artisans sold affordable hand made products, the campers stayed pretty messed up and happy and i never saw any fights. There were lots of families camped out next to partying kids, everyone seemed to stay happy and go with the positive energy of the weekend. Of course the perfect weather helped. A great birthday weekend, i think next year i'll get a vendors booth.

Caberet Tent. Like a dork i didn't take pictures till right before i was leaving, so i didn't get to capture any of the bands and or the late night dances or the after hours jams around the performer's campsites. I was really just trying to enjoy myself and not worry about my blog or workshop or my dozen unfinished projects.

, I stopped at a soap vendor tent and watched how lye soap is made. Pork lard, Goat's milk, Lye, scents and herbs, and borax are all it takes to make soap. Though the method of mixing these ingredients to make good soap is something that takes alot of practice.

A Thousand Thousand Slimy Things lived On - And So Did I S.T.C

2009-10-06T02:38:00.013-04:00

Still incomplete, though all the design and parts have come together, there is still a great deal of joining, shaping, sanding and finishing to do.

I'm adding a sliding display drawer where literature about the work can be easily accesible. Also if this were converted to a writing/computer desk it would be a good place for the keyboard.

Also i restored an antique farm table. Fixing hinge mounts, removing existing paint and sandpaper marks with a card scraper, re-glueing the mortise and tenon frame and adding a orane oil wax finish. Though i didn't like the orange oil because it stayed tacky. it is more period correct than a laquer wood be.

The screws from the drop leaf hinges were destroying the soft wood and the leaf would not stay attatched. So i mortised cherry to the undersid of the table where the hinges attach.

The was the crookedest piece of furniture i've come across . Not a square joint or even leg on it. Though it still has its charm and serves a purpose.

An unrelated paragraph of nonsense i wrote for some reason.

A hypocrite is a person who acts in contradiction to their beliefs. If you are alive, there is a high probability that at this moment you(and I of course) are hopelessly tangled in hypocricy. The quickest way to rid yourself of guilt brought on by not doing as you say, is to ignore it: get inebriated on anything you can find, pray for forgivness, chant a mantra, go on a walk, have some coffee and get back to work. Whatever purpose it is that drives you has nothing to do with the ends you are achieving. This is the classic sapien quandry that drives people like Beethoven mad enough to go around writing 9th symphonies(that and hearing loss). Most of the events in historty that we consider as blunderingly stupid, were instigated by frustrated men & women who couln't, and can't, stand the fact that there is no chance of ever rationalizing any of the sensory proceses that are ceaselessly manipulating the imagination.

Consider the butterfly-a precise ballet, a fluttering whose chaos is as charming as a distant mountain ridge, wings beating with the rythm of a running cougars heart. Consider the moth- wings beating with the rythm of fornicating mice; flying as suffiently as crabs swim, which is to say, it is amazing they are able to move at all. The butterfly, for unknown reasons, has 4 wings; the moth just has two. It is reasonable to suppose that we, unknowingly, suffer from this same sort of handicap. We of course are like the moth, our two winged brains just barely get us from dusk to dawn, rarely is this daily journey beautiful to behold. It is an awkward, clumsy, thumping melodrama in which we are just able to get a bite to eat, reproduce, and gurgle a few opinions about how butterflies are terrible flyers - taking all those unneccessary loops and turns, random flower landings and so on. Of course it is obvious where this is all leading. Oh, it's not obvious? For starters i'm opposing a cement plant but live in a house made with limestone products in the foundation. I speak up for the preservation of forest and how decaying plants and trees are the foundation of a mature forest and then i use decaying trees as my main source of lumber. The question is what to do about it? Catching on to your own misgivings is the 1st step, making gradual changes in your life is the next. If this sort of thing doesn't become an everday part of more people's lives then there won't be people with everday lives to live- we'll disappear. It would appear that we are so good at living with our own misgivings and so bad at making self improvements on a large scale that disappearing may be something we're meant to do. Maybe i should just go with it. I'll put out a magazine called " -Extinction Weekly- Going out in Sytle".

Masters

2009-09-30T02:00:00.011-04:00

This is just a snippet of the prolific James Burke. In my opinion, the greatest maker of educational documentaries of our time. Beginning in the early 70's with this 10 hour/10 part series -"The Day the Universe Changed" to the present day, Burke is still travelling the world connecting seemingly unrelated events in order to shed more light on the evolution and future of human behavior

Sam i

Douglas Adams' Legacy

2009-09-27T20:35:00.019-04:00

Brown tannic water flows out of a flooded creek over a white sandy road. The sun reflecting off of the sand illuminates through the water creating a pink hue similar to that seen in post storm sunsets.

Douglas Adams was born in Cambridge England march 1952 and died tragiclly of a heart attack, shortly after giving this guest lecture where he resided in Santa Barbara California in 2001. Adams' talents and accomplishments are too numerable to mention. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Adams offers a decent short bio. His death left a huge void in the creative world. This lecture is a last glimpse into the humor, intellect and talent that sheds a critically important light on the modern world. Take the time to watch the entire lecture and prepare to be amazed as his relaxed comedic stories fall of out the sky and land with the weight of the world in your lap. Truly amazing.

Southern Toad with a cool eyestripe

What do you see? Just a bunch of twigs?

What about this Eastern Ribbon Snake? Can you see it now?

If you want to witness flora such as this, you must first find an impenetrable bog where nobody in their right mind would consider going. You will know you have found this area when you find yourself waist deep in a flooded forest and the mosquitos are trying to drain your fluids as if they were morticians attempting to embalm you. If you find yourself in this situation go ahead and turn on your camera and look down; your probably standing in front of the most beautiful wildflowers you've ever seen.

Tadpoles

Good Light

Finish building up on my most recent scultped bowl

This shower head has two modes- dump or pour

A very rough mockup of the display table. At this stage i visualize brace location, brace shaping, leg spacing and other aesthetic decisions before moving ahead with shaping, joining, & finishing.

One coat of Tung Oil

International Rock Flipping Day 2009

2009-09-20T20:30:00.021-04:00

I consider Woodpeckers to be a type of incidental artist. This large tree was thoroughly sculpted by Redheaded Woodpeckers.

This was cottonmouth #2 for the day. The more i encounter these snakes the more i wonder about their reputation. They're actually kind of cute.

It was a great day for field herping. I saw 2 Black Racers, 2 Brown Watersnakes, 2 Cottonmouths, and a Redbelly snake. Also saw anoles, skinks, and lots of frogs. I haven't figured out a way to sneak up on frogs for pictures unless its raining and they are interested in mating and nothing else.

A Brown Watersnake easing out to warm up on the gravel. The snake seemed exhausted.

The brown watersnake is easily confused with the cottonmouth. In fact another person came down the road to do some biking and saw me with this snake and turned around. I told them it was a harmless brown watersnake but they were convinced it was either a moccasin or a copperhead, clearly they were upset when i refused to kill the snake. If you are squeemish about reptiles, DON'T RIDE YOUR BIKE AROUND THE SWAMP KILLING THE THINGS THAT ARE !SUPPOSE! TO BE THERE!!!!! It makes me very upset. Labor day, when we had 10" of rain, i drove behind some folks who were riding around drinking, throwing their beer cans out of the window, travelling at high speeds on curvy, one lane roads, stopping only to blast the snakes they had just run over with 12 gauge shotguns and shoot at some of their beer cans. I found many dead snakes,including a mama banded watersnake with 10 babies squashed on a muddy dirt road where you couldn't go faster than 10 MPH, why do people do this? As for importance, snakes are as important as honey bees in providing the food we eat. They protect the crops the bees have pollenated. WE EAT THE CROPS! IF SNAKES AND HONEY BEES DISAPPEAR, SO DO WE!

I love big spiders; their features are much easier to photograph and enjoy.

A Redbelly Snake. Today is International Rock Flipping Day. During the spring and fall months reptiles are more active during the day time for different reasons. They are actively seeking a place to spend the winter, like a log or stone pile, as well as using the enery of the sun to thermoregulate their body temperature for digestion. Thats what makes it a good time to get out and look for basking snakes as well as flip stones and logs to find snakes that are setting up a winter home or-even basking underneath the stone where they will hibernate. Always rememeber to gently and cautiously roll the log or stone your examing, if you see nothing roll the log or stone gently back in place. If a log is completely rotten don't destroy it trying to flip it, it is a home to many creatures and the snake your looking for may be deep underground underneath the log or inside of it, moving or destroying the log without returning it to its position will expose any burrows created and the creatures may have to abandon their log.

At first i thought this to be a ringneck snake but the stripes and head color led me to examine the belly and changed my conclusion that this was a redbelly snake, though do not confuse this with a red belly watersnake which grows much larger, tanner, and is more aquatic. The carolina swamp snake is another dark bodied red bellied snake, though much larger, blacker and more secretive.

Tiny fungus i've never noticed before.

Sweet!

The first snake of the day. 10 minutes into the trip i came upon this cottonmouth in a classic ambush position underneath a fallen log. Never step over a log, always step on top of a log and look down to your next step. If i hadn't of followed this rule, i would have stepped on this snake. For all the thousands of logs of i've crossed by stepping up and looking down this is the first venemous snake to fall under my next step. This proves to me that the careless hiker is destined for trouble. WATCH YOUR STEP!!

I didn't mean to drop this snake so hard on the ground. When i picked it up to turn it over it started to crawl so a wanted to set it down and get a better position, unfortunately with a camera in one hand, setting it down turned into flopping it over like a pancake. The snake was not injured, though i generally try to be gentle with them and they will usually return the favor and let you take some close up pics, the snake didn't seemed distressed, though it didn't seem especially alert either, maybe the cool weather is getting to it.

I see cottonmouths on almost every trip. Keep a safe distance of about 3 ft and don't touch them and you are very unlikely to have any trouble with this snake.

Sculpted Bowl Collection With Display Table

2009-09-15T22:11:00.006-04:00

I WON'T !! Great Advice from the writer Douglas Adams.

Walnut stump planks in the rough stage that will be used as the top for my Bowl display table. These are butterfly bookmatched and will be gorgeous when finished.

The interior shape of the bathing bowl nearing completion and ready for sanding.

A rough idea of the bowl display, basically 4 -6 bowls will be displayed on the approximately 8'x 2' simple walnut stump table.

Two Oak Ladles, the large one is nearing completion

the interior beginning to take on its hand shaped form.

The chunk getting smaller and starting to look like an implement

A mess of bowls

The natural drain on the stew ladle will have a removeable plug

Spadefoot Toads, Glossy Crayfish snake & More

2009-09-10T21:08:00.013-04:00

Spadefoot Toads. The spadefoot toad is a rarely seen amphibian that spends most of its life underground. They emerge after heavy rains a few times a year to mate, then return to their burrows.

Like they do it on the discovery channel. I few weeks back i posted an explicit photo of narrowmouth toads amplexus(mating) and it was one of the most viewed photos i've posted to date. Sex of all genres sells apparently so, back by popular demand-froggy porn!

I've never encountered an amphibian as relaxed as these. Most Frogs and Toads are defensive but this Spadefoot was quite friendly.

Another unique fungus

A very rare/rarely seen Glossy Crawfish Snake. I would be lucky to see another one of these in my life.

This female apprears to be close to giving birth to her live young

The belly scale pattern can help resolve confusion when identifying a snake.

This too was a very sweet and docile snake, truly a blessed encounter.

I have no idea what this is, it got wrapped in my fishing line while trying to eat my bait. No, its not a lobster though i'm sure its closely related.

Spoil island foilage

The guitars are still moving along, here the main x-brace is ready to be glued on the 000. Progress has slowed because i have been polishing up some sculpted wood bowls and ladles to display in a local art gallery. Bowl carving is a good change of pace because their are no measurements or numbers just woodchips and satisfaction. Also, interest in music instruments is low right now and other wood projects will help me to promote myself as a craftsman.

The rains were torrential, close to 10" of rain fell on Labor Day. In order not to ruin my camera i had to bring this snake to the truck to do a short vid.& some pics and then take it exactly back to the location where i found it, which was in a nearby impoundment.

Early Fall Sunsets

2009-09-03T23:40:00.006-04:00

Finished and "in progress" projects

2009-08-31T21:01:00.015-04:00

The arched base for my elliptical top dining table.

The whelk said to me, "you should have been a pair of ragged claws." I put it down to finish its clam supper and scuttled away.

Original design music stand

Carved walnut knot/burl bowl. This bowl could be displayed in your living room or used in your kitchen to serve gourmet dry snacks.

Working with Sasha Radicic at the European Luthiery School, i learned to design and build using the medium of wood, in the context of musical instruments.

Hand carved white oak and walnut burl bowl set. Though made for display, this would be traditionaly used for serving food and could still perform this function with some minor changes in color and texture to the wood. This set now comes with a firgured white oak platter instead of the silver platter.

Tools are only as good as their operator.

I Messed around with some stamp carving to make business cards. Though it's impossible to mass produce these cards, the stamp is still handy to have around, and people are interested in the look of these stamped cards. Though i don't give them out carelessly.

The restoration on this C.A. 1918-20 Weymann super jumbo is nearly complete. This instrument's construction was modernized, converting from ladder to x-bracing and adding a graphite support rod in the neck.

Practice chip carving a key chain.

An ORIGINAL & FULLY restored C.F. Martin & Co. New York 3-17. C.A. 1876-1888 very similar to Mark Twain's Martin Guitar which is on display at the Museum of Musical Instruments. Mark Twain's Martin guitar appraised as the most valuable guitar in the world(for reasons of provenance) and renewed collectors interest in these smaller less sought after 19th century Martin Guitars.

A custom classical guitar I made based on Antonio De Torres designs.

Sawmilling a dead sycamore.

This excellent classical electric guitar that i designed and built based on some Kirk Sand ideas, is half finished and just needs an interested buyer to see the project through.

A small chest that holds 4 wine bottles.

My custom design dining table 8'L x 4'W x 29"H approximately .

A burl "winter bathing bowl" in progress/incomplete. Traditionally used for a drenching rinse to wash the lye soap off when it is to cold to bath in the creek or river. More photos in the future

A giant brunswick stew ladle that is in the very beginning stages of conception.

You can faintly see black marks where i used fire to hollow out the knot.

Speak Up for Cape Fear Wetlands!

2009-08-23T21:31:00.017-04:00

A Divine Moment After the Rain. The sun was brief between the storm clouds, energizing the water vapor for a unique natural light in the understory

The smallest frog in North America- The Little Grass Frog

This adult wasn't much larger than my fingertip.

I revisited a fungus and found these guys were still at work.

Green Anoles are very common, but i'm always glad to see one.

I find different types of yellow mushrooms on the fringes of swamps

Turkey Tail

I love this!

Another gorgeous moment between clouds

I haven't figured this toad out yet, it's either a Fowler's or Southern Toad with colors that are uncommon to me.

A master of ropes and knots! Now you know why Spiders have 8 legs, observe all limbs are occupied on the single intricate task of web-making.

Green Treefrog hiding on my door

A Copperhead a friend and i rode by while biking, i didn't have boots so i couldn't pursue the snake for more video.

Walk through some flooded forest

The only snake i saw today?? Was this cottonmouth. Still a welcome treat.

Stop Titan

2009-08-16T21:21:00.020-04:00

This is the way America ends- one deal at a time. Visit http://www.stoptitan.org/ and sign the petition to save whats left of the Cape Fear River!

This Canebrake Rattlesnake was pretty old

This yearling cottonmouth had its spine broken- i assume in some sort of fight for its life. I doubt it will survive, but i let it go on.

carnivorus beetle eating an earthworm

I asked this guy where i could find some snakes but he just smiled and said, "'you're a snake."

A juvenile cottonmouth.

A few minutes after i saw this yellow mushroom that was the size of my head, a black bear made its presence known by shaking a tree(a big tree). I didn't exactly run but i changed my plans very quickly.

The wildlife was on display this afternoon, i saw 20+turkeys, 3 rabbit, 2 owls, 1 hawk, 1 bear,1 deer, lots of frogs, and a few snakes i couldn't photograph. Can't wait to go back.

"DON'T TRUST THE MAYOR!" said the rattlesnake

STOP TITAN!!!

A Cool Rainy Afternoon in The Swamp

2009-08-14T21:21:00.017-04:00

Last light on a muddy road

Swallowtail Moth

More amazing Moths, though i'm not sure what kind

This giant rotten oak was full of life

Amazing Fungi from the same Standing dead Oak Tree

Finally I found a Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon Piscivorus)

This snake was territorial but even tempered, it didn't move or strike, just waited for me to piss off

Coral Fungi

Looks like a a Sunburst

An awesome mushroom

This is my Favorite one to date, look at that yellow!

Not a fungi but a lichen

Definately a fungus from a moist environment

I followed this deer trail along a blackwater tributary

Walking through such thick vegation makes for slow progress but it also leads you to take notice of whats around you.

Thought i'd show some of gear i use: thigh boots, dark clothing, ballcap, backpack w/dry socks and clothes & towel, wallet, cellphone, leather gloves, snacks, water, BUG SPRAY, and a Mountain bike

An American Alligator, This was the most exiting part of the day! To bad the video is practically worthless. After i saw this 3ft young gatot, i was exited and standing on the bank hoping it would surface. Then an 9 ft gator surfaced about 2o yards out and i decided it was getting dark. Time to Leave!

This video shows the typical calm reaction of any snake. It is when people freak out that the snakes freak out and start acting erratic and threatening.

The most unique favorite find of the Day was this Redbelly Watersnake. I saw it about 20ft from where i saw the cottonmouth. This snake appeared docile, but all watersnakes are agressive so don't pick them up unless you plan on being bitten.

Amphibian Love In Ephemeral Ponds

2009-08-12T21:09:00.021-04:00

I found an ephemeral pond that was full of Oak Toads

This afternoon most of pender county had 2-4" of rain

The Frogs and Toads came out for an epic night of singing and love making before the Fall

A Squirrel Treefrog that was crossing the road to find its mate.

This frog wasn't interested in having its picture taken, finally i snapped a shot between hops

A pair of Eastern Narrowmouth Toads hold their embrace despite the interruption

An absolutlely beautiful pair of Toads!

Oak Toads are listed as a signifcantly rare by the NC Heritage Program

Another narrowmouth toad in a flooded ditch

Note the short legs and pointed snout that charachterizes most toads. However, i'm learning that though the Narrowmouth is terrestrial with toad like features, it is actually a microhylid frog.

This movie and all of my photos are taken with a Pentax Optio pocket digital camera. The sound quality of a pocket camera digital movie is poor but here you are able to imagine the symphony of the frogs.

This afternoon severe showers and thunderstorms moved through the southeast leaving full ditches in suburbia and full ephemeral ponds in the slow draining pocosin forest. Because the pocossin is so low in elevation it is usually saturated with water, and when heavy rains fall, vast Pine-Forest ponds form for a few days creating a perfect environment for amphibian breeding. The chorus of the multitudes and the variety of melody from various species creates one of the most pleasing natural sounds i've experianced in my life. Generally, a handful of species will dominate with volume but if you happen to be biking or walking, pairs of individual unique songs can be heard within the masterpiece coming from specialized sections of habitat, so as you move the sound of the chorus changes. When the rains started i had a dreadful feeling because i knew the frogs would be out. The dread came from the fact that during the last couple of field photography trips, I've experianced every type of insect bite and plant rash that i can think of: poison ivy, fire ant, tick, mosquito, no-see-um, yellow flies, horse flies and over 100 chigger bites were eating up my ankles and body and i didn't really feel like walking through the damp woods taking patient photos as mosquites bit into my chigger bites. What can you do? Life is short! Pain and irritation heightens the intensity of emotion and invigorates the soul! A helpful trick i learned from a Russian taxi driver in St. Louis was that scolding hot water will alleviate rashes and bites, so i've been getting up in the middle of the night to take scolding hot showers so i can get a few hours sleep. People say that chiggers and flies are a plauge on humanity, but what else do you know that will get you out of bed at 4:00am trying to burn yourself with hot water. Now that's motivation! Thank You God for insects and the awareness they bring to my existence! Displeasure passes but experiance last forever.

Field photos from Holly Shelter

2009-08-09T22:27:00.019-04:00

I found a leapord frog that wasn't afraid of the flash, or me

A Yellow Rat Snake

Cypress Knee

The earth here was carpeted with centipede

The air here was thick with mosquitos

The canopy was shady, the air was cool and the ground was mossy by this cypress creek

A shallow impoundment

Near Duplin County the Cape Fear starts to look more like a stream

draining swamps like these flow into the river

A slug noms down

If moths flew as gracefully as butterflies they would be more coveted

This fungus remined me of an Orchid

A graceful stand of mushrooms

This mushroom leaned out to greet passers

LUSH GREENS!

This hungry snail ate 2 mushrooms while i was taking his picture

A beautiful fungi cluster catches some natural light

This yellow rat snake was in shed

I believe this is a southern cricket frog

and this looks like a pine woods treefrog but i could be wrong, maybe a cricket frog

Check out the little green lynx spider

Who needs words-just look! I think this is an Oakworm Moth

Back to the bench.

2009-07-15T00:03:00.005-04:00

It's time to make sawdust and watch the nice weather from inside the shop. I finished up the rosettes, changing my plan on the redwood top to concentric wood rings, figured walnut with 2 ply purfling inside and outside the circle. I'm pleased with it. Since a step was completed i took the time to thoroughly clear the bench and make room for a new set of tools needed for the bracing of the tops. I also went through my red spruce billets and pulled out some nice pieces and seperated them according to their stiffness, then decided what billets would be best suited for the different particular braces and started cutting them down and labeling them. Also i joined the maple and walnut backs, and thickness sanded the sides in preperation preperation for bending as well as did some work on my side bending machine, and spent some time cleaning up the brace gluing and side bending area that has been neglected for recent non guitar projects. Tomorrow i'll be cutting and gluing the braces i selected today and maybe bend some sides. So long. Willy

Holy crap fishing & sinker redwood top

2009-07-11T01:21:00.005-04:00

Still working on the redwood top rosette, i haven't decided on the center ring for the three ring rosette, my original plan had to much rope purfling, maybe i'll go with a wooden ring? Since i take plenty of sheepshead spearfishing trips for the table i've changed my approach to inshore fishing. I only fish big baits for big fish. So far it's been hit or miss, most days i strike out with the big baits but days like today make it worth while. I fished through 20 large 6-8 " pogie baits in 3 hours this evening from my kayak. Most of the bites were blues, some were big 20lbs rays that i eventually landed, but i hooked into and lost 3 fish that smoked my light tackle. These fish were taking lightning fast- not a chance you're gonna catch me- runs.....Cobia?King?Big Drum? Big Shark? I've caught them all in the ICW- Awesome fun! I wish i could've landed one but thats light tackle for big fish circumstances. Ciou

More rosette pictures

2009-07-09T01:19:00.005-04:00

Here are some more photos of the circular inlay process. The 3 ring rosette is more time consuming but has a great effect adding traditional looks to an instrument, though the herringbone is not very original...... it sells hopefully.

Rosette channel

2009-07-08T11:32:00.004-04:00

The holiday weekend was very pleasant, i managed to avoid most of the madness by working in the shop until saturday evening, then i headed to wrightsville for some fireworks and refreshments. A very large and red Mars rose in the clear sky under the Gibous Moon. The wind was light off of the ocean and the air was very cool down by the beach. I've heard but cannot confirm that mars will orbiting as close as its ever been to the earth this summer, i know i've never seen mars as clearly as i saw it Sat. night; it looked like a baby sun. In the shop i've been cutting rosette channels and working on the guitar tops in general. Its coming together nicely.

top joining, tool making & mixed bag spearfishing

2009-07-03T17:08:00.008-04:00

The molds are joined, so i traced out the full shape onto some thicker paper to lay out the bridge and braces. These old weymann shapes were ladder braced so the x-bracing is based on some martin ideas, though the double x is not as often used. After the designs are drawn on poster paper i then scibe the patterns and brace locations onto plexiglas patterns that will be used for layout & reference for present & subsequent builds. The plexiglas tools are immediately used to layout the guitar workboards which serve as personalized work stations for an individual project. They can be easily moved out of the way while glue dries etc. With the work stations assembled and the design layed out on plexi, it is finally time to start assembling the parts of the guitar body. I like to start with the top. The fish numbers are looking good, i went out last quarter moon on the rising neap tide and had clean slow water all night with a kayak following and had 12 sheepshead and 1 nice flounder, also saw some spadefish but couldn't get a shot with the sling pole.

OOO & OO guitar molds& sunsets

2009-06-25T21:22:00.007-04:00

I thinks these 2 shapes look cute together. The lines for these guitars are inspired by Weymann music instrument company that went out of business in the mid 30's. & in my opinion they are more attractice than the lines of the OOO & OO used by Martin guitar CO. The process was to trace the shapes onto 1/2" MDF and cut out 12 pieces for each mold, route them clean with the router and glue them all together for 6 ply MDF Molds. That sounds easy but it is a tedious and repetitive task which must be done accuratley. I should finish up with these by noon tomorrow and begin the bending templates and brace pattern template. I've been striking out with the fish lately, not that i haven't gotten some good opportunities with drum but they've been breaking me off on this particular oyster head. Can't catch em' all! Ciou

building 2 guitars steps 1,2 & 3

2009-06-23T21:45:00.005-04:00

The reason i ventured into woodworking 6 odd years ago was to build musical instruments. At the time i had a naive romanticism agout the whole craft of woodworking- i still do- but i have been humbled greatly the past 2 years working alone, by the attention to detail needed to build anything, whether it is a sawhorse or fine furinture. By detail i'm not speaking of pearl inlay or hand made purfling-thats actually fun!- i'm talking about cleaning up sawdust and scrap wood, sharpening blades, putting tools away, creating a system where every tool you use has a place to be stored, making the most efficient use of the space available, making sure you have the tools to build your own designs, estimating if you have enough lumber for a given project.........the list goes on. Thats the frustrating part because i'm always so anxious to build my ideas . I'm going through a 2 guitar project starting from the very beginning. 2 different hand drawn guitar shapes, patterns, molds, workbords, bending templates etc. The first step is transferring the guitar shape to a master router template so that an outside mold can be made. The outside mold is an important and necessary tool needed to build any guitar. Also at this same time the woods being used for the guitar should be selected to make sure the patterns fit on the materials. When the router templates are perfected the they can be used to trace out the pieces that will be used to stack the mold. This is long process with lots of routing and will take up most of tommorow. So steps 1,2,3 are Draw the design, select materials, make the tools needed to begin construction. Ciou

Dust Collection, Guitar Neck

2009-06-20T14:28:00.002-04:00

Finally, i got around to installing the bench dust collection. As of now there are 2 ports for the dust collector, 1 for the the overhead hose and one for the benchtop downdraft sanding block. I used 4" pvc with duct tape to make things air tight but i didn't ground this system because it doesn't have but a few feet of pipe. It will be used mainly for clean up and doesn't service a machine that creates alot of dust so there shouldn't be enough static to be dangerous, maybe a fingershock every now and then. I have to say the bench top dust port was a pain and i had my doubts about whether or not it was worth while. Now that it is installed i have to say that having a built in downdraft sanding is awesome, with the dust collector just a few feet below the bench the suction a the top of the bench is great, no dust escapes on the entire end of the bench. Likewise with the overhead dust hose, it is an indispensable tool that saves LOTS of time with clean up and cleaning up is a HUGE time consumer. In fact i was so happy with the bench that i decided start building a steel string guitar and put together a walnut and maple neck to get the project started.

Lumber, Ocean Fish

2009-06-17T00:14:00.002-04:00

Between Projects, Got the cord reel carrier sanded and finsished and hung on the wall, starting to hang up some of the hanging tools. .... thought i'd mention some of the lumber i use and have in storage. I'm very lucky to for my family to have some land in western NC with beautiful timber and a small sawmill. Using some ideas i picked up while working shortly as a logger, i've salvaged many of the fallen and dead trees and came up with exellent materials for woodworking. The wood pictured is in indoor storage and is finish drying to correct moisture content, i also have a larger stash air drying in an outdoor shed that can be brought in as necessary. Species include: Black Locust, Black Walnut, Black Tupelo, Black Cherry, Apple, Hickory / heartwood and sapwood, White oak, Red Oak, Wormy Chestnut, Wormy Butternut, Ambrosia Sycamore, Red Birch, Poplar/Spalted, Curly Ambrosia Red Maple, Bald Bypress/from Wilm., White Pine, Yellow P. Also, i have small quantities of imports for musical insturment construction such as Braz. Rosewood, Hond. Rosewood, Mahogany, Blackwood, ebony, and various spruce, cedar, & redwood soundboards. Other than that, i've been cleaning up, organizing for the next project and enjoying the early summer before it gets to hot to spend an afternoon on the water. Lately i've been trying to work weekends and kayak during the week when all is peaceful and quiet, the fishing and weather are changing into their summer patterns. For the first time in a few years went out deep water fishing, it was refreshing to be on the ocean though kayak fishing nearshore remains to be my passion. We caught a good number of these Mahi, some bigger but most smaller.

Bench Accessories

2009-06-13T09:54:00.002-04:00

Two much needed accessories come to life. First, the overhead swivel carrier will be mounted on the wall about 10ft over the bench. The main function of this is to have a wall mounted 25' retractable extention cord reel, that means NO MORE F#$#*$G POWER CORDS WRAPPED AROUND MY FEET!!!!! The carrier swivels 180 degrees and is capable of holding a hell of a lot more than a extention cord so, since it is mounted over the bench i have a feeling it will have a multitude of uses that are not yet revealed; it's kind of like a 3rd arm floating over my head. The mysterious panel hanging on the wall is my solution to pegboard. Pegboard sucks, its floppy and if you bump it tools start falling like a rockslide, a toolslide if you will. AS OF YET THERE ARE NO TOOLS MOUNTED so that is why it is blank. This is an example of how i visualize projects. It's sort of backwards to hang something unfinished right? Not really I will hang the tools, brackets and shelves with dowel rods, so i can add only the tools i use most, as i decide that they worthy of being at hands reach. Things like the 36" straitedge or the bench sweep are guaranteed a spot, but i haven't completely made up my mind about all of the tools i want to hang. Needless to say, changing benches has changed everything about how i work and how i organize my projects. In hindsight i'm amazed i got along so well without a quality work area, spent alot of time on my knees when working on large pieces. Ciou

Finishing and sunsets

2009-06-11T02:03:00.002-04:00

Just throwing in some pics. Here is the bench with a good coat of shellac. Looks pretty good for a workbench. Also there are some kayak

photos of sunsets etc.

applying finish, hanging tool cabinet, big bluefish

2009-06-06T21:22:00.003-04:00

I've finally started wiping down the bench with shellac and will be officially done by monday. I still have some outside projects such as a hanging tool cabinet for frequently used and oversized tools. To add to the happiness of wiping on finish and seeing the wood come to life, i went out this afternoon and had good fishing. First i caught a small slot drum, then drifted around the corner and wham a 31" chopper blue nails my mullet in a shallow creek. Was not expecting that at all. The fish put up a good 20 min fight on my spinning tackle and kayak and took me for a good ride. I went back to the spot and caught 2 flounder right a 14" and threw em back then had a keeper flounder on that spit the hook. Usually Bluefish are a pest that eat my bait and steel my hooks. I can't believe this fish didn't bite my line off ....but what a blast to catch! Big blues are a different story, i don't land many because i fish with 20lb fluro. leader. Until next time.

Fitting the drawers with tooboxes & tool trays

2009-06-03T16:57:00.002-04:00

Still making progess on the work bench, though i've been using it like its finished, i'm still adding details and small luxuries. I'm ready to be done and build something a little more creative. These large drawers get cluttered up pretty fast because you have a tendency to just keep throwing tools in there and it becomes a dangerous mess with knife/ chisel blades in the mix. Not to mention the damage done to your tools from them banging against eachother. Okay i know the bench is getting a little snooty with its cherry toolboxes in the cherry drawers but just wait to see some things built on the bench before you call it overdone, this is an heirloom quality bench, i hope that is used to its full capability for generations and i hope to produce my finest work here in the coming decades.

Afternoon Kayak Cart

2009-05-23T14:58:00.002-04:00

Thougt i'd mention a few small projects that i build on weekends and evenings. One dilemma is that i live about 250 yards from the ICW in pender county where i put in for kayak fishing, oystering, bird watching, relaxing...... A lot of times i go overnight camping or stay out till the a.m hours when the moon is right so i don't like leaving my truck sitting by the salt marsh all night where it gets in other peoples way and where someone could easily mess with it. I looked at carts online and they're asking $150-$200 for pvc junk. Well, i'm a craftman so i put in 6 hrs 1 sunday afternoon and made this wood cart from, red birch, hickory, and poplar; scrap wood pieces mostly. Other parts include: 2 inflatable cart tires, 2' of galvanized chain, 1 brass lock, 1 ratchett strap. The chain goes around a 4x4 on the dock so the wind, or curious people, don't knock it in the water. It is actually less hassle to use the cart than my truck because i have to drag my boat down a dock with lots of protruding nail heads that were destroying the bottom of my boat. I've had it loaded down with fish & camping gear probably to 120+ lbs and when properly balanced the cart goes effortlessly in grass, rocks, pavement and some types of sand.

downdraft sanding/ poplar trash bin / drawer handles

2009-05-19T22:07:00.002-04:00

Been starting to follow up on some details like , the 9" x 12" downdraft sanding port in my benchtop. This allows for a granite sanding block for precision sanding , or a regular open port for more agressive sanding planing or rasping. Should get about 450 cfm to the benchtop. There will also be and overhead dust hose tied into the bench dust collection system. I also made a bad ass trash bin to stay with my bench. It is made of spalted poplar and has a peculiar contrast to the cherry and oak. I may need to use some stain, it has some shellac on it for a test coat and the shellac seems to bring out the yellow. Next steps will be adding some bench dogs, overhead lights, overhead extention cord reel, plumbing air lines, and some minor electrical like a remote swith for the dust collecor and some swithes for the halogen flood lights.

Veritas Twin Screw Vise

2009-05-19T21:22:00.003-04:00

After a week out of town sawmilling i've gotten a few days back in the shop to take some photos. The Veritas vise has worked out exellently. I admit i modifed the instructions but the designers seem to have planned on people doing it that way. The idea of bolting the rear jaw to the bench as suggested seems pretty lame, and drilling 4x 5" deep holes that perfectly line up into end grain just sucks, not to mention in the end, no matter how tight, the jaw would squeek and wobble. The answer is a 20"x11" floating mortise made out of quartered black locust. 1.75" of the mortise is dadoed into the back of the jaw vise between the screws, the rest is glued and bolted to the underside of the bench so the bench and jaw are part of eachother. The top of the rear jaw will recieve inlayed dovetails so there will be connecting joints both under and over. You couldn't bust the rear jaw off this bench with a sledgehammer so there will be minimal to none as far as sagging and screw racking

2009-04-23T00:29:00.002-04:00

I just realized the vise is upside down in the top pictures. Imagine it right side up. The front vise is 2" thick x 36 wide x 7 5/8 tall. The rear jaw is the same but 3.5" thick. The nuts will be mortised about 1" in the rear jaw to add to capacity. The rear jaw will not be joined with bolts but wood & glue joints that i will detail tomorrow. It is a pleasure to finish building the bench on my new bench. Can't wait to start the dust collection, lighting, and interior drawer fitting.

Apron, face vise and end vise

2009-04-23T00:00:00.002-04:00

With the edges prepared i clamped the butternut apron 2.5 x 1.75 around the perimeter of the bench. I chose butternut for many reasons: 1 it was dry and ready, 2 it's beautiful and i can look at it while work, 3 it is softer than most hardwoods so it aborbs knocks and won't damage the work i'm trying to sell. The face vise is a simple shop fox quick release. The end vise is a heavy duty veritas twin screw that i'm currently installing.

2009-04-22T23:08:00.002-04:00

After the bench frame is roughed in with basic accesories, i started with the bench top. The bench core is sort of rotten and beatle eaten sycamore of about 1.825" with a a black cherry top that has fewer defects and more suitable as a work surface of about .625" so the bench top is about 2.5. While the bench was being constructed i tested the stability by carving on a cherry burl i recently found on a lead limb.

2009-04-22T22:45:00.002-04:00

There is Alot of work between rough sawn lumber to the mortise and tenon frame stage. After that the frame is fitted with drawers and decking and any useful thing one can imagine. In the background my old beater bench can be seen jealously eyeing its big brother.

2009-04-22T22:38:00.002-04:00

Here are some more recent photos of the project. i'll try to fill in the gaps with info and photos.

First Post

2009-04-22T22:08:00.002-04:00

My workbench continues..... Sometime Late january 2009, after a few thousand hours of working at my rickety, screw together particle board and 2x4 workbench that i made with a jigsaw back in 2005, i began drawing plans and selecting materials for my solid hardwood 132"Long x 36 Deep x 35 high professional workbench. So far, it is luxurious to say the least, and it still has many of its best features to be added. I salvaged milled and dried all of the materials with the help of my dad from dead trees in Pilot mountain NC. The woods in the photo are American Sycamore and cherry used to build the frame and bench core. Today 4/22 earth day, i guess i finished constructing the vise jaws on my Veritas 24" center twin screw vise. Stay tuned for daily updates and past woodworking and fishing photos.