Hope everyone had a great Saturday and was able to make some sawdust since I couldn’t. Today it was cool here with a cold rain later in the afternoon which has now switched over to snow. So I felt it appropriate to share this picture of Phil. They are promising us 6″ – 10″ of snow tonight with locally heavier spots of 14″. We don’t get that much all winter long and this will be 3x in a month….and it is now Spring! I’m thinking some groundhog stew may taste pretty good tomorrow!
By now you all know that I had eye surgery this past week and it has went really good. It is amazing how well I can see now. The family was laughing at me today as we were driving down the road and I was pointing things out….apparently those things have been there all along. (Tam tells me it will be the same way once I break down and get hearing aids)…what’s that you say? I have 7 different drops that I put in multiple times a day…good thing there is a sheet to fill out or I’d never remember which drop I was on. All joking aside….the difference really is amazing and I encourage any of you that have been putting it off….to go ahead. I really can’t wait to get back on the saw!
I also promised I share pictures of the bike bench. I love to ride bikes and by having the bench over the bike, I can ride and work at the same time. This bike is basically a warm-up for my primary morning workout and my cool down at the end of the day after my primary evening workout. So it’s not like the sweat is pouring out all over my laptop….basically seat time and junk miles. So every time you cut out a WWW pattern…..it was designed while I did a ride. Bet not many others can brag that fact….(or would want to) (the first time I walked into the bike store, they knew that I was crazy…..) 🙂
I ask this last week for suggestions and topics to talk about….and I got a few really good ones. One of the suggestions was to talk about creativity. This is a really big subject and could go in 10 different directions so I will see if I can do it justice. The first direction I’d like to take is….we as veterans of our discipline of scrolling really need to pass this on to the younger generation. Over the years I have been fortunate enough to be around and learn from some of the best…Pat Spillman, Bill Guimond, Ioji Iosif, Ira Anjoorian and of course Dad….only to mention a few. Once I was the young guy at the shows….the kid….but now there is a new younger crowd getting into fretwork. One of my most cherished memories at a show was several years back at the KC Woodworking Tool show and I had my laptop up designing mini clocks when a little boy came along and became very interested in what I was doing. He ended up coming into our booth and spending the afternoon helping me design mini clocks. Over the years I told this story many times and always hoped that I touched his life as much as he touched mine that day….this is truly what it is all about. I have recently been lucky enough to talk with his Dad and to catch up a bit. Sadly many times over the last few years I’ve talked to people who have talked about more and more schools that may have a woodworking class but no scroll saws. So this leaves it up to us to pass it along to the younger generation…..our Kids and Grand kids and where ever else we can. We can’t let fretwork die….!
Secondly I’d like to talk about being creative with your copy of the patterns you buy. Honestly some of the best versions I’ve seen of the different projects are the ones that the person took some creative liberties. I really encourage people to not take a pattern at face value and to get as much mileage out of it as they can. If there is a box portion to the project…make a box out of it! Take corner brackets and make some shelves using them. Get creative with your wood choices also. So many times over the years folks have ask exactly what woods we used….mix it up! There are so many incredible woods out there…use them to make your piece a one of a kind. (Check out our website for some great wood vendors that are approved by WWW).
And finally I’d like to just touch on the creating end of it from my point of view….even though I don’t even fully understand it myself. In everything I do I look at things as if I could use it for a design somehow. Every building I look at or thing I pick up…how can I turn that into something that can be cut out. Typically I open a new screen and just start putting down lines. I have a basic stating point….clock, box, shelf etc. There have been many times I start putting down those lines and even though they may be used for something….they don’t feel right and they get dumped onto this huge drawing of 10,000 pieces of nothing special. A fun thought….I should design the next web clock using only that stuff and see what I come up with….see how this happens? A new clock was just born. Some of my best Ideas have come during the middle of the night. In the beginning I would think of something and it would be gone by morning. Now there is a sketch pad close and if I dream of something…I get up and make a sketch. I have a folder with about a hundred sketches in it. So don’t worry….I won’t be running out of ideas any time soon.
I’d like to end by throwing in a couple of websites people shared with me this week. The first one is an incredible piece and it is beautiful music on a crazy looking wood instrument….I think some awesome graphics were involved here but still very worthy of sharing. http://www.youtube.com/embed/
Also this is maybe the best video I’ve ever seen on how to fold a band saw blade…yeah it isn’t as easy as it sounds. And the guy in the video does a great job and keeps it fun. There are some other video links there that look interesting as well that I haven’t had a chance to check out yet…but will.
And lastly….here are some pictures of some incredible pieces….sorry I don’t know anymore than the e-mail shared…
Wood Chips…This man takes wood chips, soaks them in water for many days. He uses (Red Cedar). Then he starts building his pieces which takes him about 6 months, 10 hours a day to finish it. He was offered a lot of money for one piece but won’t sell one.
And I was worried I couldn’t come up with enough to talk about….of course I have to thank everyone who helped me out by sharing some cool things this week. I have a couple for next week but if anyone has an idea…just let me know. Hope everyone has a great Sunday and next week is good for you. Don’t forget to check us out at www.wilckenswoodworking.net and catch us on facebook. And as always….keep the sawdust flyin…
