Red Headed Merganser

Welcome aboard

-- Dick Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1

I didn’t plan to create dangerous website for you, Ethan.. The good thing is that you mean that in a positive way ;)

-- Martin, http://lumberjocks.com | My Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/people/Martin_Sojka/1357216976

I certainly do, Martin! Your hard work and efforts are not unappreciated!

-- Ethan, http://www.merganserwoodworks.com, http://greystonegreen.blogspot.com/

“Good enough” is just another way of politely saying that it sucks. (Well, in most cases)
Welcome to Lumberjocks

-- http://ye-olde-cabinet-shoppe.com/

Welcome I think you will like it here. The people are very nice and helpful!

-- Kathy, Kersey Colorado, kh1@hughes.net

Ethan, from one newby to another, welcome!

Thanks for sharing your web site with us – a nice clean 2.0 look.

Now since you want constructive criticism, how about making it possible to click on the pic’s in your web site for larger views?

-- CanuckDon "I just love small wooden boxes!" http://www.canterburybaptist.org/

Yep, that is something we’re working on, Don. It is a slow and painful process, sometimes. I’m trying to learn as much about the programming of my site as I can while Chris works on it, but there is a lot that is also beyond me, and I know that.

The way he puts it, he gets paid a lot of money by Enterprise to be able to do this. If just anyone could do it, then there wouldn’t be any reason to pay HIM a lot of money! Ok, I can accept that. :)

Right now, Chris is in the throws of moving most of the belongings from his house into his parents’ house so he can put it on the market for a fast sale. He and his wife and his two children have quickly out-grown it. There is a house in the area they want, at the price they want, but the seller won’t take a contingency of sale in the offer, so they must first sell their own house.

In light of that situation, I feel it best to just let them complete that process and settle in to their new house before we worry about website construction for a while!

But he does do top notch work, doesn’t he? I can take credit for nothing other than the things in the pictures (except for having taken the pictures, as well…).

In the mean time, I do have a gallery of work on my Shutterfly account. It is a bit of a misuse of the shutterfly system, but it works well for me! I’ll post the web address on my profile, but here it is, too:
www.merganserwoodworks.shutterfly.com

It doesn’t give as much writing room as a writer might want… but that is something Chris also makes me do – limit my writing for descriptions and the introduction paragraphs! He tortures me!

I’m surprised he didn’t see it before, though… a blog would have been JUST the thing I needed to have set up first! But no matter. I’ve already told him that we should just link up my website to lumberjocks.com and put a little badge on there and such and we’re done with that part of the website. Actually, I need to check my email for his response on that…

-- Ethan, http://www.merganserwoodworks.com, http://greystonegreen.blogspot.com/

Ethan, I re-read your Profile and was struck with your phrase ”ok, that’s good.”... I take pride in every project I do, no matter how big or small. Because of that pride, “good enough” no longer makes the cut. ..(but) I don’t waste time with perfection..

I’ve used this phrase in my business and personal life for years, ”Excellence is expected, perfection is a waste of time.”

-- CanuckDon "I just love small wooden boxes!" http://www.canterburybaptist.org/

Unfortunately, I’ve found more often in the business world that perfection is expected, but when it really comes down to it you only need to just get by, especially when the bottom line is concerned.

Very frustrating.

And probably why I try to reverse that in my non-corporate life.

-- Ethan, http://www.merganserwoodworks.com, http://greystonegreen.blogspot.com/

I enjoyed reading your introduction. I am working on overcoming the “good enough” perception of my work, so thanks for the reminder!! :)
My goal, when starting my woodworking journey ( a few months ago) was to make boxes – beautiful pieces of art that are really functional. I have yet to make a box. I am interested in your journals that you have created. I have been doing leatherwork for the past year and am in love with the process. As I am also a hobby-writer I I have wanted to make a leatherbound book but haven’t known how to do it. Now, I have a picture of what it will look like, thank you very much! I’m really looking forward to this, as I can bring my writing, my leatherwork, and my woodworking all into one project!! :)

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

That was my goal, as well, Debbie. When trying to figure out what size to make your books, remember to keep in mind what kind of paper you want to use and in what sizes you can order the paper. I use 80lb parchment paper in mine; I have to buy it in bulk sizes (something like 36”x 60”? It was huge…) and then have another place cut them down to size for me.

Also, if you try a technique similar to mine, you’ll need to find a place to order the brass screw posts I use for binding. The best place I’ve found, for quality, solid brass posts, is Lee Valley (www.leevalley.com). When on their site, search for “Chicago Bolt” or “Chicago Screw” (it is listed as one of those and I can’t remember which one off the top of my head).

Let me know if you come across any other problems along your journey; I’m always happy to share information on resources and techniques!

-- Ethan, http://www.merganserwoodworks.com, http://greystonegreen.blogspot.com/

thank you Ethan. I’ll definitely keep you posted.

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

http://www.zelikovitz.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=486 would this be the screw posts? (This is from the leather supply company that I use).

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Well… they are similar.

I’ve tried several different kinds over the past two years, and all other brands have left me with concerns. Some of them were not really the solid brass they claimed. A lot of them only came in 3/8” size (like the one you showed me) – once you add up the thickness for the wood spine and the leather, that doesn’t leave you much room in the middle for paper!

I really prefer the Chicago Screws I get from Lee Valley. They are well-made, solid brass, and they come in many different sizes. I usually have a good supply of 3/4” and 1” spans on hand.

It all goes back to quality in/quality out. If you don’t use quality pieces in your works, you will have a much harder time trying to achieve a quality product.

Unfortunately, it is going to be the same way when it comes to hinges for your small jewelry boxes. You can probably get away with using the inexpensive hinges from Lowes or Home Depot, but if you want to build an heirloom box that will last and get passed down for generations, you’ll want to go wtih something like Brusso hinges…

http://www.vandykes.com/product/02015511/

It seems like an awful lot of money (and, to be honest, it is) but the difference in quality will be absolutely noticeable by you and everyone else.

That isn’t to say you can’t use the Home Depot brass hinges when applicable… I made a router bit box for my little brother for Christmas this past year. There isn’t any use in throwing away $25 on Brusso hinges for a simple router bit box; in that case, I think it would be perfectly acceptable to go with the less-expensive materials.

-- Ethan, http://www.merganserwoodworks.com, http://greystonegreen.blogspot.com/

Ethan, feel free to change your display name to “Ethan” to prevent the problems with spacing in the Most Active LJs block ;)

-- Martin, http://lumberjocks.com | My Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/people/Martin_Sojka/1357216976

Ha! Would you mind if I kept it the way it is, Martin? Its a bit of a “theme” thing for me…

-- Ethan, http://www.merganserwoodworks.com, http://greystonegreen.blogspot.com/

No problem, Ethan.. I will think about some kind of most active jocks box workaround later.

-- Martin, http://lumberjocks.com | My Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/people/Martin_Sojka/1357216976

Just an idea.. you can also use “Red Headed Merganser” as your display name. With spaces it will wrap nicely. But if you want to keep it without spaces, forget it ;)

-- Martin, http://lumberjocks.com | My Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/people/Martin_Sojka/1357216976

How do I change that, Martin? When I look at my Account screen, it isn’t really a changeable field…

-- Ethan, http://www.merganserwoodworks.com, http://greystonegreen.blogspot.com/

Use Real name field for it and then change Name display drop down from Nickname to Real name.

-- Martin, http://lumberjocks.com | My Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/people/Martin_Sojka/1357216976

:) Worked. Thanks, Martin!

-- Ethan, http://www.merganserwoodworks.com, http://greystonegreen.blogspot.com/

perfect. it looks good on the home page too ;)

-- Martin, http://lumberjocks.com | My Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/people/Martin_Sojka/1357216976

You must have just changed it. I looked at it two minutes ago, and then again 30 seconds ago and it was different. BY-THE-WAY, very stylish. Nice layout, sharp images. now i think I’ll have to change me whole website.

-- http://ye-olde-cabinet-shoppe.com/

My friend, Chris, is my web designer. He is a web developer/designer for Enterprise Rent-A-Car, here in St. Louis. It’s what he does for a living, so… he’s pretty good at it.

Unfortunately, that means it is difficult for me to work on it; at the moment, I’m at the fate of his whim and time for updates. Eventually, we will have it set up with a database, where I can change screens and add projects and gallery pictures and products by modifying access tables.

For the moment, it is slow work.

-- Ethan, http://www.merganserwoodworks.com, http://greystonegreen.blogspot.com/

Thanks so much all of you guys, Great friends, good info, tremendious talent you all have.
Real glad I found this site on the Woodwhisper’s web site. Still amazed at the talent and display of friendship I have found here!
thanks again all of you.
bud

Ethan, thanks for all the information on hinges etc. I don’t know how I missed this before.
NOW I am really looking forward to our trip to Lee Valley tomorrow.. Yipppppppeeee

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Hey, wait! No fair gloating about how close you live to the Lee Valley store!

I’m jealous.

All I have to look forward to is the brown bag sale at Woodcraft tomorrow. :) Anything you can get into the brown bag (at least 1/2 the item must fit in the bag) is 15% off. I was going to head down there and do a little shopping some time in the next week or two, anyway, so… I think I’ll start up a small list! :)

-- Ethan, http://www.merganserwoodworks.com, http://greystonegreen.blogspot.com/

that sounds EXCITING !!!

it’s like Christmas, isn’t it?? (or a birthday, or some other special day that you look forward to).

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Welcome to LumberJocks.

Ethan I used to live in Florisant Mo, and Webster Groves. That seems like a lifetime ago. Got transferred to New York to AT&T from Southwestern Bell (the old name)

We enjoyed our time there.

When we bought our home in Webster Groves, it was a facuilty home for a seminary. The homes were built in 1905 from materials taken from the disassembly of the 1904 St. Louis Worlds Fair. One of the homes in the neighbourhood had St Louis Worlds Fair written on one of the beams in the basement.

It turn out that the house was built in the Craftsman style or Arts and Crafts. All of the woodwork in our house had been painted, but our neighbours home still had the dark fumed oak finish on the walls on the first floor.

Very nice home. I didn’t know what Arts and Crafts was at the time or I would have appreciated it more.

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com

Ethan.. go back to work! Everybody is now expecting our cool new guide LOL

-- Martin, http://lumberjocks.com | My Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/people/Martin_Sojka/1357216976

Will do, Martin!

Nothing like being in demand, eh?

Guides, pictures of me with famous woodworkers, tools I’m restoring… whew

-- Ethan, http://www.merganserwoodworks.com, http://greystonegreen.blogspot.com/

I think I saw the whip coming out Ethan.. you’d better hurry.
Put down that pix of your “buddy” Mr. what’s his name ;)

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Ethan,
Here’s a picture of what must be your favorite bird.

I took this from my deck. They hang around our beach in the late afternoon.

-- Dick Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1

Are these at your place Dick?

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

Sorry about your login name. I had a fit of laziness. I know i spelled it wrong. and didn’t go to find your name. I apologize, it won’t happen again because of laziness, but maybe from mistyping.

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com

Yup!
Check these out.

-- Dick Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1

No problem, Karson! :)

I thought it was funny that you called me a “Messenger”, anyway…

Dick, great pictures! They are funny little ducks – they make different noises from what you would expect in that it almost sounds like a grunting noise.

Or is that the hooded merganser? It might be the hooded. (Where’s my wife when I have a birding question?)

-- Ethan, http://www.merganserwoodworks.com, http://greystonegreen.blogspot.com/