Collapsible castles

I love those castles!

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

That’s exactly right: I love those castles!
That is soooo uncanny; last night was our monthly WW club meeting and one of the guys from the club made a few for Show ‘N Tell. I’d never seen ‘em before then.
He told the same story of the fundraising.
Thanks for sharing.

Gary

-- Gary, Florida

Nice Castles Joel and Congratulations on setting a goal, working hard to achieve it and sticking it through to finally make the dream a reality. Good for you and I am impressed with your woodworking and musical talents. Sounds like you have some wonderful parents that are teaching you good values.

-- Bill - "Suit yourself and let the rest be pleased." http://www.cajunpen.com/

The castles are absolutely beautiful – nice work. And that sax is also a gorgeous specimen.

-- Chelle http://artsgranddaughter.blogspot.com

I’ve seen some simpler ones than the ones you’ve made. Very cool indeed.

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso -- http://blanchardcreative.etsy.com -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/

Awesome!

WONDERFUL story!! (and Dad woke you up with a surprise – brought tears to my eyes).
Sounds like you had a really good time with your first try. It will be a great story to tell your children and grandchildren as you get them hooked on woodworking :)

Your sax is gorgeous and must be extra special because of the work that went into the purchase process.

Bravo re: your exploration of musical instruments. Are you going to be following a music career path?
My daughter teaches high school music and her time at university (music major) was a fascinating journey for her.

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

I just watch that same seminar on their podcast. The castles are neat! Great story too!

-- Mike - Columbus, Ohio

Jordan is keeps himself fairly busy. He does find time for video games.

During the summer months he helps a lady with her daycare during the day. When she first opened our two boys were her first and they both have transitioned from being taken care of to helping with her business, Jordan the youngest is now 16.

He also works at a local steak house usually one or two nights a week plus every Friday and Saturday (except on football nights when he is marching) , get there early or you can wait over an hour for a seat. He cuts and breads all appetizers; their appetizers are made fresh every day, except cheese balls. Love it when he makes them at home especially sliced green peppers.

Jordan does play in marching band, concert band and musicals.

Debbie – The last couple of years Jordan has had two paths he is considering, music teacher at the middle school level or opening his own restaurant. He makes fabulous cinnamon rolls also (from scratch). The recipe is from my folks, they used it when they had a small cafe in our town years ago. He will be a junior this year and he is taking a band leadership class this summer, they (not sure teacher or fellow students) told him he could get a higher leader score if he brought cinnamon rolls for class. lol The rolls make it to school at least twice a year.

Thanks for the comments for Jordan, when he gets done with marching practice today we pull the blog up again.

-- Joel Tille

In this day and age it is so gratifying to see a young man that works hard for the things he wants. Great castles, great story, great parents, great young man…....Thanks for starting my day with a smile.

-- Bob, Carver Massachusetts, Sawdust Maker http://www.capecodbaychallenge.org

Great stuff Jordan … I’ve made the castles as well … but my wife won’t let me touch a thing in the kitchen … so you’ve got my beat hands down!

The weekend before my little brother came out this summer … I saw Doug do these over on their podcast … figured it was the perfect project for him to do in the shop … not too complicated … and he could stuff a bunch of them in his suit case for souvenirs … only I forgot the first rule of teaching … always practice first before you teach someone else. We got all set up and he was all excited … cut out the first castle … flipped it over and … whapppp … all the pieces came falling out … couldn’t figure out what was wrong cause I had tilted the table like he said … so I gather all the pieces up off the floor … put them back together … and stand there scratching my head for a minute … when my brother flips it over upside down and what do ya know … we were turning the castles the wrong way so instead of being popup castles … they were popdown caves!!! He just looked at me like I was an idiot … what can I say, I get that alot! lol

-- Lip's Dysfuncational Firewood Farm, South Bend, IN

OK Lip – wait until I quit laughing, when Jordan first started this I was messing around in the garage making one. I would cut the pieces, move them off to the side make another cut. I reassembled it, extended it and one section containing other pieces fell to the ground. I had cut one of the loops from the wrong direction. I think I got the same look from Jordan that you did from you brother. So much for being the intelligent one.

-- Joel Tille

lol too funny.

restaurant vs musician. Why does he have to choose? He can perform while people eat :)

There is a great restaurant in PEI (Canada) called Vittles and Fiddles. (or is it Fiddles and Vittles).. Anyway, not only did they have fiddle music going on, but people could go up to the piano and play if they wanted to and they taught the diners how to play the spoons and there was a mini concert every hour! We had a grand time.

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Well done, young man. don’t quit

-- Thos. Angle

Those castles are just awesome!

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

Wow a talented family indeed. Great Story. Keep up the good work, both of you.

-- Rob (A) Waxahachie,TX

The castles are great and I’ve seen a couple in person.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

This one just cruised by in “Roll the dice,” and I had to comment again. Very cool!

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

Great stuff here Joel. Now… where’s the recipe for those great Cinnamon Rolls?

-- Jojo, shopless in Kyoto · http://twitter.com/kagushokunin

Hey Jordan and Joel:
Good to see you guys are still involved with woodworking (and food, Jordan!). I really enjoyed that castle photo you’ve got up with the long bridge across it. Very creative. I’ll have to try one like it.
Hope you two can make some seminars this fall. Or catch our new show on Iowa Public Television, “Woodsmith Shop.” We’ll be on Fridays at 6:30pm and Saturdays at 1:30pm for 13 weeks starting October 5 and 6th.
-Doug

They look great! What angle did you set the table at?

-- The wood slayer - Yes dear I did plan to make more kindling out of that wood I have been drying for the last year - honest!

The angle would vary depending on the height of the wood and how protrusion you wanted. Typically Jordan would set the table between 2 to 5 degrees. the less the angle the taller you can make the pieces come out of the base.

-- Joel Tille