Grr Ripper contest finalists

Vote for your favorite haiku!Thank you all for submitting your poems into the haiku challenge. I am astonished by how good they all are, and picking out the finalists was not an easy task. My crack team (wife and kid) and I read through them all and each chose some favorites. Then I combined those results, and using a complex algorithm came up with these seven.
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For all that you do,Grr-Ripper, to keep us from harm:haiku very much.At age fourteen INeed to stay safe so I wanta new Grr-Ripper nowGrr-Ripper straight and trueIt saves my fingers oh phewNow I am not blueSaw Teeth Make Hands CringeGrr-Ripper Appears, Danger WanesFingers Fing FreelyGrr-Ripper what a namePrevent kickbacks all the sameSafety is the gameFingers! Five each hand.Keep them there with Grr-Ripper, orUse toes for zipper.Lumber freshly cutKicking back into my gutAlas! No Grr-Ripper!*************Now its up to you!Take a moment to head over to the Mere Mortals Facebook Page and vote for your favorite. Ill keep the poll running until next Sunday. Whoever receives the most votes wins the Grr-Ripper. Good luck!

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Video contest finalists

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Contest entries

There is one week left to enter the Mere Mortals video contest. Lots of time to submit your video!
Take a look at the entries so far. If you see any you like, leave them a comment and "like" their videos. Everyone likes a little feedback!
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Mere Minutes

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Contest winner!

Congratulations Lee Minton for your winning entry in the haiku contest!Lees entry was very clever and funny:

Fingers! Five each hand. 

Keep them there with Grr-Ripper, or 

Use toes for zipper.Lee wins a brand new Grr-Ripper for his entry. Thank you all for participating. And thank you for voting for your favorite, too. I hope to run another contest soon. Oh, and thanks MicroJig for playing along.
I had someone on YouTube ask if I would buy the Grr-Ripper if it hadnt been given to me. Absolutely. Its a great safety tool, but most importantly for me, it ensures really tight cuts on my table saw and other tools. Check it out guys. Its kind of pricey, but most definitely worth the investment.

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Whirligig contest

Laney over at A Simple Design of Ocala was inspired enough by my whirligig project to set up a whirligig-making contest and asked me to help him out. Hes managed to secure some really cool prizes from Laguna Tools, Rockler, and others. All you have to do is make your own whirligig.
Heres a video we put together with more info. Visit A Simple Design of Ocala for all the details. Hurry...contest ends July 23!

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Whirligig And Contest winners!

Thought Id give a shot at building a whirligig for the yard. What fun to make! I discovered that there are tons and tons of incredible, beautifully intricate whirligigs people make. There are even a few books on Amazon devoted to making them!
Mine is certainly an entry-level whirligig. Its pretty easy to make. The trickiest part was figuring out what kinetic action I wanted it to do. I decided on a lumberjack; sort of a classic whirligig. Instead of the typical clothing, I decided to paint him as a character I envision from a Steinbeck novel. If you would like to try this one, heres a PDF  template you can use to cut out the pieces.