2012 Resolutions

I am still away from home and my tools until next week. Therefore, aside from lots of reading, I have been thinking about the New Year ahead and how it relates to my personal wood working aspirations...

So ... My wood working New Years Resolutions, Aspirations, Hopes & Goals for 2012.

• Take my quality of working to the next level.
• Attend at least one (1 week)  wood working course.
• Improve my finishing skills (including patience).
• Work with more hard woods.
• Have the confidence to try more complicated & challenging joinery.
• Work on longer term larger projects.
• Sell some of the things I make.

Id be really interested in other peoples goals for the year ahead especially those beginners like myself.

Happy New Year Everyone!..

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2012 One year in a minute

Since I wont have any new woodworking projects until January, I thought Id post this video today. Ive been working on it for almost a year.
I thought it would be interesting to shoot a photo of myself in my shop every day and make a time-lapse video. The main thing I learned is that it is very difficult to stay dedicated to taking a picture every day. It might have been easier if I had a dedicated camera set-up. Instead, I marked off three circles on the floor where my tripod would go each day.
Another problem was maintaining a consistent exposure each day with my Sony Cybershot camera. I shot each picture at different times of the day and used the flash on all of them. It didnt take me long to decide I wasnt going to worry about it and let the exposures vary. I didnt want to spend more than a few seconds each day on this.
Shortly into the year I decided to make reference to each weekly woodworking project I was building. Again, I didnt always remember to do that, but you should be able to see some of them. I also tried to use an expression that reflected how I was feeling on each day.
What I find the most interesting about this video is watching my tools move around on the pegboard behind me. I find it hypnotic!

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2012 wrap up

Some of the highlights of 2012. This has been a very productive year and Im happy with most of the woodworking projects I completed. The best part about woodworking is that it just never gets monotonous; we are always learning and growing. I hope that in a year I will look back on projects I made this year with fondness, yet knowing that "I could do that much better now."
Thank you for all your support this year. The web site and my You Tube channel have grown immensely. And if you arent already liking my Facebook page, take a moment to sign on. There are about 6500 of us and it has become a very special community. I really enjoy seeing everyones contributions there.
The most satisfying part about producing a woodworking show is seeing the projects you have made based on my videos. All people are inherently creative. Sometimes we just need a nudge to get started. Keep sending pictures of your projects!

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Shop tour 2012

I decided to do an updated shop tour this week. After looking at my original shop tour, I was surprised at how little I have changed my shop. I guess when you find a system that works, there is no need.
I have also had a few people ask how some of my old projects are holding up, so I thought I would shoot a second video showing some of those.

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