Last month I purchased a double-sided clock (which happens to match the one I had purchased earlier this year for my living room.) My intention was for it to hang outside so I could see it from almost anywhere in my yard.

With our LumberJocks’ picnic being this past weekend I wanted to have the clock put up, if only temporarily. And so we selected its hanging place, attached the bracket to the deck post and hung the clock.

The problem is that the clock is not meant for outdoor use. I have sprayed a clear coat of sealant over the surface but this will hardly prevent it from falling apart from being out in the elements. And so I want to box it in with plexiglas or something.

• needs protection from rain
• need to be able to see the clock from the front and from the back
• the deck roofing is just a tarp (at this point) over some trellis material
• the one clock slides to the side to provide access to the clock workings/batteries
• it hangs by two chains
• currently our box cooler and an old milk can sit in this corner but they can, of course, be moved
• it might be nice to create a “grandfather clock” appearance to whatever we build
• it might also be nice just to keep the protection “invisible” and not take away from the clock itself

Ideas and “warnings” are welcome.

LumberJocks/GardenTenders Picnic @ Debbie & Rick’s

Date: Sunday July 13, 2008
Time: 1 PM – 4 PM
Location: SW Ontario (Brantford region) I will provide detailed directions to those planning to attend

Join us for a chance to chat and share our woodworking and/or gardening experiences. Rick will have the fire roaring for a bonfire meal (probably hot dogs but we’ll see).

Let me know if you plan on stopping by. If nobody is coming I won’t have to clean the house up! :)

This past weekend there was an Artist Studio Tour in the Listowel, Ontario area. One of the artists participating was John, our “Extreme Birdhouse” guy!

After Rick was done work on Saturday, feeling that the rain was going to stay away for the afternoon, we took the drive north to see his work first hand.

As we turned onto the road that we thought was the right one, it wasn’t long before I saw a building in the distance that looked like the playhouse that he has posted here at LJ. I knew we were almost there!

(the playhouse that resembles the shed we saw from down the road)

The building we saw was indeed the shed that John is building. (Oops, no picture, sorry).

Turning into the driveway we knew we had the right place because there in the sky were too large birdhouses and sitting on display in the yard were his extreme creations as show in his recent blog.

Rick and I got a personal tour around the yard, seeing not only his birdhouse creations but the deck area that he has built and the pond that is in the process of creation.

The birdhouses are SO much more impressive in person. You really can’t get the true sense of size until you are standing beside one.

Here, I’m looking up to the peak of one of his monster creations.

This one, (not the best picture, sorry) took John over two years to build, primarily because he didn’t like it. Didn’t like it?? It’s amazing!! I still haven’t figured out how it could get the “don’t like” label.

While we were there John has a few visitors stop by as they took the tour to the various artists in the region.

Rick got some tips for building his next “extreme birdhouse”

And then John gave us a tour of his work areas
He has one space set up for cutting the boards. This keeps the sawdust in one spot (great idea) and gathers the bedding material for his… (ready for this?) 45 cats!!! All are adorable, I might add.

John has a second space for the actual woodworking, with the tools all organized and ready to build, build, build.

And then, in this old barn is where his supply of reclaimed lumber is stored. It seems that his source of unwanted wood is endless and he has enough wood to make thousands of birdhouses – or at least hundreds of birdhouses in the size that he likes them!

I didn’t get any pictures of the inside of the barn, with all the wood, because one look inside took me back to my childhood memories, of the days when I spent hours in our old barn, with similar stonework, beams, and old stairs to the second floor. You will just have to envision the stall after stall after stall of piles of wood!

All in all, it was a glorious afternoon—a nice drive (although it was starting to get to be a LONG one), getting to meet John (what a wonderful man and an inspiration!!!) and getting to see these pieces of art in person.

Rick and I wish John lots of luck with his plans for the future—more plans for sale, more birdhouse requests, and more promotion of his amazing talent.

In March of this year I attended a wood show in Toronto and had the privilege of not only speaking with Rob Cosman but creating a ribbon of wood.

Today I had the honour of interviewing Rob and learning about his woodworking history and plans for the future.

The History

Rob was born and raised into the woodworking world. His father, a shop teacher at the time of Rob’s birth, became a contractor when Rob was about two years of age. Rob’s earliest memory is woodworking-related and tells of making paddle boats at the age of 3 1/2.

In Grade 1, he built a boat that he could sit in and it floated although there is more to this story. The boat wasn’t quite water tight and his father wrapped it in plastic for the maiden voyage. Rob sat in his boat and (this part he just recently learned) Grandpa gave it a kick for the official launch. The “gentle kick” flipped the boat and sent Rob into the river.

By the age of 12, Rob had built many boats, forts, and carved gun handles. Rob says that he was obsessed with precision and remembers a pair of handgrips that took three tries to get right. He still has them to this day and says that he could not make them any better now than he did then.

Rob says that he was raised in a family that taught the children to seek and develop their talents and he says that he has been working on developing his talent ever since.

In 1987 Rob worked at an Arts Centre and had the privilege of being an assistant to some of the best woodworkers in the world. Rob says that this was a big advantage over a traditional apprenticeship. Rather than simply learning one way of doing things, he has been able to combine the best of each to create his own style and techniques. For example, many people are taught to make the pins first when creating dovetail joints. Why? Because that is how they, themselves, were taught and the tradition is passed along. Making the tails first, says Rob, is much easier.

In his recent years, with a family of eleven and a half (his tenth child is due in July), the financial needs were not being met by building and he needed to rethink his career. He realized that the only people who would truly appreciate his skills and talents were fellow woodworkers. The old masters used to take their secrets to the grave but Rob decided that there was potential in sharing his skills and so his recent journey is in “working on developing” his teaching talents.

On a leap of faith, Rob made a major investment in developing a DVD. One week before it was to be release he spoke with a company representative who said that with their experience they only sell about 100 copies of an instructional video each year. I can only imagine the panic that must have set in at that point. However, in just seven days after the release of his DVD the demand covered his investment and the rest is history!

His entire family is actively involved in the business. The younger children help put stickers on the products and clean the shop and office. All are paid for their work. Rob hopes that some day the business will be passed down to at least one of his children who will have an interest to continue the path.

The Future
At this point in time, Rob is focusing on the DVD’s, with two new ones coming out in May and three more in September. He also has his first book of a series published, with nine more planned and one currently in the works.

Rob also conducts workshops and store demonstrations as well as appearances at wood shows. He currently has a teaching engagement booked for every week between June 30 and August 15.

Also, in the works is a “Rob Cosman” signature line of tools. He has been actively involved with the development of the tools, which include saws, marking tools, and chisels, because he doesn’t want to put his name on anything that he wouldn’t use himself.

Rob says that his formula for woodworking “success” is 70% the tools, 20% information, and 10% practice. Only 10% practice, you say? From his experience, he says that with a typical group of twelve people in a four hour workshop, three of four students are able to make dovetails as good as his so the practice part isn’t they key to the ability. If you have the knowledge and put the time and effort into something, you can do anything.

What Makes His Business Unique
When asked what makes his business unique, Rob replied that customers deal with him personally. So if you bought a DVD, for example, and had a question, you find his contact information and email or call. Who helps you? Rob Cosman, not someone who has interpreted his work and his techniques, but the woodworker himself.

Tips for the LumberJocks
Education; education; education. Rob advises that woodworkers take a class, read a book, watch a DVD—educate themselves on tools and on techniques. This is the most important part of the process.

Testing the Dovetail Joint
Now, for those of you who were not LumberJocks yet, last year, our very own Bob#2 and Mot also had the honour of meeting Rob Cosman at a wood show. During the presentation Rob asked for a volunteer to come up and step on the dovetail joint. Our Bob volunteered, misinterpreted the instructions, and “jumped” on the wood. Yes, the result was a resounding crack as the wood broke. Without pause, according to Mot’s rendition of the event, Rob picked up the two pieces of wood and said something to the effect of, “See folks? The joint did not fail. The wood failed.”

I asked Rob if he remembered this and with a chuckle and a sigh (I’m sure I could feel him shaking his head in disbelief) he replied, “Oh yes. I remember.. I remember. The bull in the china shop.” And then he said that Bob is not the only one who has ever challenged the presentation but it turned out well as it proved his point. The dovetail joint is very strong!

Thank you
I’d like to thank Rob for taking the time to speak with me (and for helping me create a ribbon of wood at the wood show.)
I truly enjoyed our conversation and look forward to seeing you at a wood show in the future!

~MsDebbieP

Goal:
I wanted to design a place where I could sit and read and have ready access to books for researching. I also wanted it to be just desk level so I could tuck it under a window.

• A central table top area for reading is flanked on both sides by two book storage areas
• The top half of each book storage area is for horizontal storage with vertical storage below.
• The table top is a flip-top with a shallow storage area underneath providing room for highlighters, stickie notes, notepads and pens (see adaptation drawing in comments section. Thanks to Lip for the idea)

• table top is 24” high and 15” deep
• horizontal storage areas are 12” deep and 8” wide and sit 2” from top of table
• vertical storage areas (lower sections) are 10” in the areas closest to the table and 8” for the outside areas (and 8” wide)

This week I posted “Rick’s Extreme Birdhouse” here at LumberJocks and then I wanted to show it at GardenTenders as well.. I wasn’t sure what the best way to do this without repeating the projects etc.

So – thanks to Martin – a strategy showed itself this weekend!!

By clicking on the EMBED THIS PROJECT CODE in the left column of the project page (see Rick’s project) and copying the code, I just pasted the code into my blog over at GardenTenders and the project photos were shown along with the link to the original project posting.
Did that make sense??

Here is what is included in my GardenTender blog

With a little practice this will be a great way to unite the three sites without too much work. It will also make posting a project on my own website easy as well!

Thanks Martin.

I think it’s Martin’s birthday today… Oh Martin… is it your birthday today?

Have a good one .. and if it’s not your birthday , have a good one anyway :)

Yes, it’s true!! Today’s my birthday and I’m 50.

Someone asked me what it’s like to hit the 50 mark and I thought, hm.. well, if I live to be 100 then half of my life is over so I’d better make the most of the next 50. So I guess this is the start of some pretty exciting times!!! Woo hoo… look out world. And I thought that first 50 was pretty exciting!! :)

To celebrate this milestone, we had bonfire breakfast on Saturday morning when the big snowfall started. That was fun! And then Saturday night we went to my brother’s for hot dog night. That was fun. .. well the drive there wasn’t the best but it was an adventure: with the snow so thick in the skies and on the roads, you couldn’t tell where the road ended and the ditches began. “Just keep it between the trees!”

And yesterday we had a potluck with all the family. (My son & family were even there via video chat!!)
And.. my brother wrote a song for me… yah.. Kleenex time!! As soon as sang “Little Sister”.. that was it for me!

Anyway.. it was a busy, busy weekend, with lots or preparation work and moving stuff.. and today I ache all over and feel like I’m 50 or something! HA

Today, Rick and I went to the Canadian Home Workshop Show in Toronto.

When we first arrived we were allowed to go in early because I had the Awards Winners poster to be put on display at the Steel City Tool Works booth.

Next, we made our way to the Master’s Workshop where I found Ryan Servill preparing for his day.

Ryan, over the duration of the show was building a duplicate to this cabinet.

The quote from the Show Magazine says, ” Watch a master craftsman at work! Canadian Home Workshop magazine
showcases the knowledge and passion of top Canadian woodworkers. Come watch custom-furniture desiger and builder Ryan Shervill at work. Drop by the master’s Workshop and watch as Shervill transforms rough stock into a stunning project over the course of the three-day show.”

After chatting briefly, Rick and I went on our way to check out the rest of the show.
Our first stop was at Logosol where they were slicing up a log with one of their portable milling machines. This was really fascinating and we watched him square up the log and then take his first plank. Later on in the morning we talked to one of the representatives about their company and about LumberJocks.com. The gentleman was quite excited to hear that Martin is in Slovakia and, with his noticeable accent, asked which city Martin was from… a small world!

Most of the displays were the same as seen at other shows. We did see one new display: Proxxon Now this was interesting to me since I could see the usefulness for small boxes etc. There products include a small table saw, router table, plunge router, drill press, bandsaw, scroll saw, lathe… and more. All of the products were small.. small as in “let’s make some doll furniture small”. I did try out the little router table and it made a great little edging on the piece of wood I had. Unlike my Dremel in a router table base, this seemed to have enough power to do some serious work. I hinted that it was my birthday next week (ok, it wasn’t really a hint – I just said that this would be a perfect gift”) but it didn’t happen. I’m am left to dream about my little workspace.. Maybe someday I’ll add one of these pieces to my tool bench.

Next we stopped by Rob Cosman’s display and watched him sweep his block of wood creating ribbons of wood that flew out of his plane like pieces of silk. He overheard me say something about trying that and next thing you know I’m up there with this GIANT plane in my hands. And, unlike Mr. Cosman, I didn’t make it look like running a hot knife through butter!

But… I did make a ribbon of wood, with a little help from the expert.

He gave me my creation to take home but it didn’t survive the trip very well. Ha.

We spoke briefly about what he’s up to. Did you know that he has 10 children?? And his wife home schools them? She’s my hero!! As for woodworking, this is Mr. Cosman’s last show with Lie Nielson and he will be focusing on his DVD’s etc. I hope to have a more formal interview with him to learn more about his new focus.

Somewhere in our travels, as i was heading to the washroom, I heard a voice say, “Now that’s a nice t-shirt”. I turned around and there was Gord Graff. (Thank goodness I knew he was going to be there or I would have been stuck in the position of him knowing who I was and me not knowing which LumberJock he was! Ha.)
Anyway, we had a wonderful conversation that was cut short because I wasn’t the only one who was on the way to the washroom :) Oh, did this fall into “too much information”????

(Unfortunately, the camera didn’t get the lighting right on this photo.)

Although in many ways was similar to all the other wood shows, what made this show special was the number of demonstrations and hands-on opportunities. This, in my opinion, set it apart from other shows we’ve attended.

Another jaunt around a couple of displays and then we headed home. A great day – I got to meet two famous LumberJocks!!!

This weekend is the Canadian Home Workshop Show in Toronto and Rick and I will be attending to check out the tools, watch some of the presentations, meet two Lumberjocks (yah, I’m excited!!) and to take a poster announcing our Winter Awards Winners for 2008, which will be on display at the Steel City Tool Works area.

Great job with the poster, Martin!! Well done

At the show, Ryan Shervill (who is pictured on the home page for the show, stacking wood) will be at a demonstration area and Gord Graff is also presenting.

I look forward to meeting Ryan and Gord, chatting with Jim from Steel City Tool Works and hearing the “ooh ahhs” from people checking out the Awards poster!

Congratulations once again to Gary, our “Top Overall Woodworker”.