Splinters with Gary Rogowski

What tools do you always carry to work? Is it all in one sector or another? There is a middle ground for woodworkers who both seek quiet at the bench and results at the end of the day.

The ease with which you produce work depends upon how smooth your flow is at the bench. The distractions you allow, the interruptions you permit or block, all contribute to your success. Achieving flow is the key to successful work.

An episode in which we discuss the idea of purpose vs. intent in a design. This difference is that between the absolute basic functional requirements of a piece and its plan to entice, soothe, or beguile a viewer.

Glue changes everything in an assembly. An assembly that has gone together dry several times with no mishaps, no errant angles, no parts stuck in odd places, now, with the introduction of glue, can be difficult, anxiety producing, and vocabulary building. Why is that?

Here are some gift ideas certain to please every woodworker. Or ones that will make a great list to place where your gift giver can see and seize the Aha! moment.

Which tools are the most necessary at the bench? There are so many choices and limiting it to just ten of them makes for hard decisions. Learn what makes the cut in this episode.

Come with us to observe the Woodworker in Captivity. They are a shy proud and circumspect beast. Approach with caution, perhaps with beer, but always with a healthy respect as we spy on their unusual behavior at the bench.

Learn about the methods for sharpening. Sharp tools cut better and cleaner. And if you cut yourself with one you heal up faster too.

Everyone has standards of accuracy. What are the ones that you can adopt that won’t drive you crazy trying to be perfect? Give a listen to this podcast on being accurate and how it can affect your time at the bench.

A furniture maker needs several machines to build their work. But a table saw isn’t one of them.

Splinters are a sad and pointed part of a woodworker’s life. Reminders of several truths to be found at the bench. There are the attractions of wood, its beauty, its luster, and its grain. And then there are the moments when we forget how sharp wood can be and how direct. Listen to tales from the bench on memorable splinters and their removal as well as a short chapter from the new book: Han...

Your choice of wood can make a difference to your happiness in the shop. Learn about the differences between hardwoods, ring porous vs. diffuse and semi-ring porous woods, and how grain will affect the look but also how a piece moves over time. These little bits of information can help you choose the right wood for you and the job.

Our very first podcast opens with a chat about the new book by Gary Rogowski called Handmade: Creative Focus in the Age of Distraction. www.handmadecreativefocus.com. Gary is a furniture maker, author, former contributing editor at Fine Woodworking Magazine, and the Director of The Northwest Woodworking Studio, A School for Woodworkers, in Portland, Oregon. This maiden podcast is a short practical...