The Dogs of War
A solemn but humorous appreciation of Veterans Day… “A few years back there were two kids in my shop class acting up during the minute of silence at 11 o’clock on Remembrance Day. So I assigned them each a five hundred word research essay.”

Read the first line of the essay carefully – I had to read it twice before I smiled ;)

Chop, Drop and Roll

“This week, reader Phil Donehower of North Carolina sent me photos of the mobile base he installed in the legs of his French-style workbench. I think his idea has real merit and might help spark some neurons in your own noggin.”

Tilde Table Created by John Fry

“This commissioned project is a coffee table ensemble that is designed to sit in a seating alcove created by a very large “L” shaped couch on two sides and a large chair on the third. It is made from selected white maple solids and veneers on Baltic birch plywood substrates and it is definitely on the artsy side. It stands 18” tall and with any of the two round tables nested in the “tilde”, it fills a zone of 26” by 52”.” AMAZING WORK. AMAZING BUILD NOTES. Go check them out at WoodWorkersZone and then go visit John Fry’s site: ChiselandBit.com ==>

Best New Tools of 2009: The Runners Up
“…we thought we’d share the list of tools that were finalists but didn’t quite make the cut. These are all great tools, and if we had room in the magazine, I bet they would have also been on our list of “The Best New Tools of 2009.”"

When Arts and Crafts Joinery Becomes Decoration

“A large part of the appeal of Arts and Crafts style furniture is the apparent lack of decoration. The project currently on my bench, a reproduction of a Gustav Stickley No. 70 music cabinet and a detail I’ve borrowed from similar pieces is the reason for using the word “apparent”. I’ve always liked this little cabinet, it’s just under four feet high, and only 20 inches wide. The detail I borrowed, mitered mullions on the door, and the idea of plain, unadorned furniture is hard to reconcile. As I worked on the door last week, I came to realize that there isn’t any practical reason to put a glass door on a cabinet to store sheet music, and joining the parts of the door this way is just showing off.”

La. educators turn to trades to cut dropout rate
“Beginning next year, a lot of Louisiana high school classrooms could look like Wes Sebren’s: equipped with welding gear, safety goggles and circular saws.”

Devin’s Knife Block – Viewer Project
“This week, we have another set of “themed” posts. I recently created the Popular Woodworking knife block as a Guild project, and I received a few emails from folks who either made knife blocks before or were inspired by the project. This particular one was submitted by Devin.”

A Fascination With Old Tools
“Antique woodworking tools, machines, and methods hold a real fascination for many woodworkers. Viewing or collecting these old pieces can be an interesting hobby, or a great way to understand earlier methods for the craft you practice today. This lens is not meant to be a teaching tool, but simply a reference page to point you to some of the many resources where you can learn about the older tools and ways of woodworking.”

Seriously, I Can’t Believe I Watched it Either, But…
“So I clicked on the link and it took me to a video episode of a Canadian HGTV design show, The Decorating Adventures of Ambrose Price (yeah I know). Apparently Ambrose is on a mission to become a designer without the formal training, simply learning as he goes. In this episode he tackled the world of furniture design.”

Previous Roundups:
Woodworking Roundup: Pumpkin Scroll Saw Pattern, Speaker Plans, Denim Pine??!!
Woodworking Roundup: Favorite Shop Sounds, New Old-Growth Mahogany, Concrete Jigs and MORE

I’m not sure if this means you can trade your Black and Decker tools for 1.275 Stanley tools… I will have to get back to you on that one.


image via GadgetGrid.com

This article is an overview of all the most interesting Stanley/Black and Decker tidbits I could find from around the web… In order of how interesting I think they are :)

1) As far as we can now tell (according to this article from 247Wallst and comments from this post at fine home building and comments from this post at ToolMonger and this thread at SawmillCreek.org), here are all the tool brands now owned by one company:
Stanley
StanleyWorks
FatMax
Bostitch
Facom
Proto
Mac Tools
Sonitrol
Stanley Security Solutions
Best
Vidmar
New Britain
Blackhawk
Wilde
Black & Decker
Delta
DeWalt
Porter-Cable
Emhart Teknologies
Kwikset
Baldwin
Price Pfister
Weiser
DeVilbiss
Oldham
Viper
Hickory
Firestorm

2) “You sure don’t see much B&D gear on jobsites, except for the coffee maker.” via comment.

3) meackerman at WoodNet said: “you think they’ll buy festool?”

4) According to our pals at ToolSnob, who paid for WSJ access so we don’t have to, there are some anti-trust concerns that may slow the deal down: “The deal does raise issues about limiting competition, said David Balto, former policy director at the Federal Trade Commission under President Bill Clinton. “There are very straightforward antitrust concerns,” Balto said. “These are clearly the two major American handtool makers and they compete quite directly on a wide variety of products. The merger “would hit every handyman in the wallet,” said Balto, who isn’t connected with the deal.”

5) LumberJock jussdandy says: “truthfully it scares me a lot, Ive worked in the cabinet supply business for over 20 years now, delta-porter cable is one of my big lines, Ive used the selling point for a long time that I can gets ya parts fast and Even when it gets older, I can still get you the parts ya need,NOT the case anymore since B&D bought them out, more and more parts not avable any more, I couldn’t get a part for a couple year old shaper a month or so ago. this has happened to me twice in the last month”

6) NCWoodworker jmauldin says “Well, I hate to be the “gloom and doom” person, but I hate to see the merger. B&D, IMHP was at the bottom, merged with DeWalt, which IMHP was much better. Both went to the bottom!”

7) RocketRod at Woodnet said: “Maybe Stanley will make it easier to get replacement parts — I was told by a dealer that B&D was only interested in selling new tools — not repairing old ones”

8) Apparently it was strong security sales that helped Stanley pull off the deal: “But Stanley’s growing security systems and services business – now its largest division – has given it the financial strength to pull off the deal.”

9) The deal will result in “savings of $350 million a year and to add to earnings by the third year.” (via 3rd UPDATE:Stanley Works To Buy Black & Decker For $4.5B In Stk) Through “cuts in corporate overhead and consolidation of some business units, including manufacturing, distribution and purchasing operations… …total job cuts would amount to less than 4,000…”

10) Analysts are buzzing about what color the new organization might be: “What color will the company be? Nothing is announced yet. But Stanley, founded in 1843 is famous for its yellow and black, and the 99-year-old Black & Decker uses orange along with, of course, black. The colors on the PowerPoint presentation today: black, yellow and orange.”

11) The official website: http://www.stanleyblackanddecker.com/ It’s very obviously for shareholders, but still vaguely interesting.

More coverage:
Change is a coming for B&D, Delta and the like
Stanley Works – Black & Decker merge!
Stanley and Black & Decker to Merge
Stanley buys Black & Decker in $4.5 bln deal
Stanley Works and Black & Decker: The First Mega-Tool Company
Stanley Works to Acquire Black & Decker
Stanley Acquiring Black & Decker

I got an exciting email from KnotScott the other day with some updates and some BONUS forum finds! He took some time off from working on his fireplace to send us some FORUM FINDS! Thank you Scott!

1) Freud Premier P410 Fusion Blade:
“It’s different than most 40T general purpose blades, and does some things better, but there’s also a price to pay to get that performance.”

2) Adding rip capacity to a table saw:
“There are several recent threads on TS rip capacity. I’ve read comments about “shifting” or “moving” the rails to the right to increase rip cap blade-right. I’m hoping someone here has tried this on the Griz G0690 saw and can tell me from actual experience what is involved.”

3) Lumber Storage Tips:
“Is it ok to store wood, in the unheated garage? what does this do to the moisture content?”

4) If I could tell the manufacturers what I want
“What would you wish for if you had the tool manufacturers ears? It’s very possible that this thread could even catch their attention!”

5) Changes are in the wind…be aware of what you’re buying.
“I was in HD recently and noticed a two-pack of Freud blades for around $30. I picked them up to look at them and noticed they didn’t appear to be the same quality as my Freud blades. Rough around the brazing, etc. Turned the package over and noted “Made in China.”"

6) Biscuits….do you or don’t you?
“Do most of you use biscuits when edge gluing boards for top a case sides? I have been, but seems as if it gets mis-aligned rather than helping align the boards. Even cut them on my table saw top to make sure everything is flat.”

More Forum Finds by KnotScott:
10 KnotScott Forum Finds: Are $100 Blades Worth $100 + Best Band Saw + Best Cordless Drill + More

10 KnotScott Forum Finds: Shop Organization Tips, Free Cad Program, Reduce Table Saw Vibration + 7 More!

KnotScott Forum Finds: Woodworking Bargains at Wal-Mart? + Dust Collection + Dovetails and MORE!

6 KnotScott Forum Finds: Your Monthly Woodworking Spend + Kid Proofing the Shop and more!

KnotScott’s Forum Finds: Flag Case with One Board, Router vs. Shaper, Jointer Advice and More!

KnotScott’s Wide World of Woodworking: Bandsaws, Glues, Jawdropping Projects and MORE!

KnotScott’s Wide World of Woodworking: Saw Stop Blades, Hot Router Deals, Classic Table Saw Debate and MORE!

Knotscott’s Forum Thread Picks: Maloof’s Passing, Common Woodworking Errors, Planers and More!

Low-cost, high-performance Transmission-line Speakers

“I designed these speakers and I’m happy to share the design. This site is designed to let you build a pair of very nice speakers for very little money. I designed and built these speakers in the summer of 2002 and finished them in time to demonstrate them at the annual Shopsmith Users Group Weekend in Dayton, Ohio.”

Tom’s Workbench Link of the Week: Denim Pine

So, you have a stand of lodgepole or ponderosa pine trees that have been infected by the mountain pine beetle, and now the wood you have harvested is a pale shade of blue. What can you do about it? Well, if you are an association of foresters in British Columbia, Canada, you harvest the timber and sell it as Denim Pine.

WIA – A behind the scenes account

“I dealt with stringing, compass inlay, edge banding and sulphur inlay. That’s still a lot to cram into an hour and a half lecture or a two hour hands on workshop.”

Customer Project Gallery: The Table That Ran Away

“One of my favorites is shown here: Running Table by David T. from Cypress, California. How fun is this? Check out the gallery to read the story of how David made this console table and turned it in for his college English project, and find out why the table ran away! Incredibly creative!”

A catalog of great furniture design

The auction includes works by well-known furniture makers Wendell Castle, George Nakashima, Wharton Esherick and Judy McKie, among many others. There are even a couple of plywood chairs by Frank Lloyd Wright. Also featured are works by Mid-Century designers like Charles Eames and Hans Wegner, along with less familiar contemporaries like Paul McCobb, Phillip Lloyd Powell and Harvey Probber.

Wave Goodbye: An Amazing Design!

“This table combines several design concerns of continuing personal interest: motion, asymmetry, and plasticity. Many people enjoy its graceful humor, and it resides in several prominent collections.”

103 – Flush Trim Bits
“Flush trim bits come in all shapes and sizes, but they all share the same basic anatomy. After watching this video, you’ll have a much better idea of which ones to buy and when to use them.”

Wood Magazine ProductionForums: If I could tell the manufacturers…
“If you could change one of your existing power tools – and have all the manufacturers follow that change, what would it be?”

Wood’n Bits Workshop » Working with Thin Wood Stock
“I cut a lot of thin strips from standard lumber stock using a table saw. I know there are those who believe their table saw provides .001? accuracy. Mine does not and often I’ll need to fine-tune the thickness of the results. It’s also the case that the surface itself is simply not smooth enough for miniatures work. I fix both of these problems using a heavy card scraper in a simple handle I made.”

Router Trammel
“The router trammel (also know as a circle cutting jig) is an jig that allows you to route a controled arc or circle. There are several manufactured models available to purchase. However they are quite easy to make in the shop.”

In Defense of An Old Friend
I’ll be honest with you: I’ve got several different routers on the shelf. But what did I reach for first? My good old Porter-Cable 690LRVS with a fixed base.

Domino Butt-Joint to a line
This is a post I made on The Woodwhisperer Community forum about how to butt-joint a member into the middle of another with a Domino joiner. Normally you use registration surfaces to create Domino’d joints, but here you have a line.

Yonkers man loses four fingers in woodworking business accident
A 50-year-old city man cut off four of his fingers in an accident Monday in the woodworking shop where he is employed, police said.

Shop made grooving planes – Fine Woodworking
“Smart construction. Beech sides sandwich a rosewood core that serves both as the “frog” and as the skate. Shop-made satisfaction. Using a tool you’ve made yourself is pleasing, especially when it works as well as these grooving planes.”

Previous Roundups:
Woodworking Roundup: Favorite Shop Sounds, New Old-Growth Mahogany, Concrete Jigs and MORE

“After 21 seasons, “The New Yankee Workshop” is closing its doors, and its much-beloved host, Norm Abram, is going to focus on his personal projects and PBS’s “This Old House,” according to Russ Morash, executive producer and director of “The New Yankee Workshop.”"

update: More Research Shows His Leaving was No Surprise to Observant Fans…
While digging into the woodworking forums to gather reactions to the news of Norm’s retirement I came across several posts that indicated remarkably early assumptions that he was retiring this year. In short – his retirement was not a surprise to many observant woodworking forum goers.

Here’s some early observations:

02/02/09 in Woodnet:
“Maybe they’re going to stop taping all together after this “season” & are breaking down the shop, selling everything off?”
What’s up with Norm?

09/08/09 in LumberJocks
“The Yankee Cam archives show that in past years, Norm would have filmed half or more of the upcoming season by now. But there is nothing listed so far this year. It’s possible he’s filming new shows or something for 2010 and just not using the Yankee Cam anymore, but I don’t know why that would have changed. So I’m assuming that they haven’t filmed anything for 2010. I know the economy is tough; is it possible that no one is willing to underwrite NYW anymore? Or is Norm just sliding into retirement?”
Any News on “New Yankee Workshop”?

10/09/09 in Woodnet:
“I just finished checking out the NYW site. Here it is—well into October and they don’t have word one about any new season starting in January—heck, by this time, they usually have some of the new projects posted on their web site. Has anyone heard anything?”
Where’s Norm???

Update 2: Norm Abram Retirement Reactions from Around the Web
Blogs and forums errupted with discussion, most of it nice, about Norm’s departure from the New Yankee Workshop. Here’s some of it…

Norm Abram Closes Up Shop (Woodworking Magazine)
“The other question is what’s going to happen to the shop itself, which is stocked with all manner of machines and hand tools. Morash said he’s personally looking forward to some free time so he can build a few things in the shop. As for the long-term plans for the shop, Morash suggested that the shop could be put on display at the Smithsonian.”

Goodbye to the New Yankee Workshop (53 Comments! Farewell from Marc Spagnuolo)
“Regardless of how you feel about his work methods and tool choices, you can’t deny the influence he has had on the woodworking community. I used to even watch Norm before I knew the difference between a pin and a tail. And its guys like Norm that paved the way for a goober like me to create our show.”

New Yankee Workshop Series Ends (221 Comments Here!! FineWoodworking Blog)
“The Fine Woodworking audience has a long relationship with the television host. Many credit him as the inspiration for getting started in the craft. In Norm Stories, a former editor at Fine Woodworking, recounts how Abram got him into woodworking after an appearance at Good Morning America.”

Norm Abram Closes ‘Yankee Workshop’
“Yes it’s true… Norm, “any shirt as long as it’s plaid” Abrams is hanging up the hammer on the “New Yankee Workshop”. The man who made me believe “I could with wood” and “No stain, no gain”.”

Forum Farewells to New Yankee Workshop:
Messge from WGBH regarding Norm
“I am excited to see who will take the place of Norm. I think some young blood with a good sense of humor to liven things up would be great. Let’s see if we can get someone like Marc Spagnulo to do the next show.”

New Yankee Workshop Series Ends
“i have to say even tho my skills have gone much further past using brads to hold everything together if it wasn’t for TNYW and Norm i may have never picked up the hobby.”

Norm retires from NYW?
“he’s the reason I’m a woodworker. I also never built any of the projects, but I watched most of the episodes. I wish him well.”

Goodbye New Yankee Workshop
“I met Norm a couple times. He is a genuine nice guy that he seemed to be on TV. I remember when he first started on Bob VILA TOH. He has no beard and a terrible mustache. The show had gotten stale the last couple years but I still watched and enjoyed. He will be missed.”

NYW ending production
“I’ve met Norm and Tom Silva several times. One of my customers in Massachusetts has them as customers and I’ve bumped into them in their showroom while they were buying tools and fasteners. Norm is as genuine and down to earth as he seems on TV. Tom not quite as much.”

Interesting, Non-retirement Coverage of Norm Abram
Interview with Norm Abram, Master Carpenter of This Old House
“Anytime I get an invitation to go to someone’s workshop whether it be a commercial woodworking shop or a private woodworking shop, I’m ready to go. Because I want to see how other people are setting up and how they do their work.”

VIDEO – Interview with Norm Abram

Norm gets arrested?

Norm Abram’s Big Break and Continuing Wood Working Education

1) There’s a staff review of scholarship applications
2) Staff looks at needs of the woodworkers
3) Staff looks for some sense of appreciation of the spirit of what Krenov promoted
4) Staff looks for a sensitivity to the craft, tools and materials

If you’d like to donate more, visit the Krenov Scholarship Donations Page on the College of the Redwoods site for instructions. Mr. Welter asked that we make checks payable to the College of the Redwoods, and put “JK Scholarship” in the memo section.

Thank you again to our new subscribers, and thanks to ToolSnob and Tom’s Workbench for getting the word out.

Top 3 Woodworking Posts:
Favorite Shop Sounds – by Scott

“So, I was in the shop the other night sqaring up a few boards on the jointer and my brother was commenting on how he liked the sound of of it running and when you ran boards through it.”

Old-growth Mahogany Discovered

“In 2007, a group of scuba divers, wood experts and businessmen formed a company in Belize to salvage exotic tropical logs from the country’s waterways. That company is Greener Logs Limited. The logs being salvaged have been on the bottom of the waterways for up to 200 years and the supply is quite large. How large? In the day, trees were felled and held in the bends of the waterway to wait until a shipper, at the river’s end, was ready for a load. Then, the chains used to hold back the logs would be released and the logs traveled down the river to the shippers.”

Concrete Miter Jig – Viewer Jig

“I once thought of patenting this thing, instead, I leave it to you to air it if you wish. It’s also an expose’ on making tools out of concrete! This miter jig consists of concrete with polypropylene fibers for added strength. It describes a perfect 45 angle and the ‘table’ (piece of Corian on top) is at a dead 90 to the work.”

More You May Enjoy:
Make It Fit: Drawing Parts in Place During Design
“When you are working in the shop on a project, there comes a point where you need to shift from working off the plans to working off what you’ve already built. Doing so helps to avoid making parts that don’t fit.”

Water-Based Dyes and Pinned Tenons
“Ray has a couple of questions about water-based dyes and pinned tenons: I am building maple morris chairs and I am thinking of using water based dyes from General Finishes.”

Special Effects (Custom Video Game Controllers)
“I acquired some highly figured maple that could only be described as tiger maple. Next I formed the case. Using some of the off cuts I made a test piece with the colors he was looking at including a combination that I had come up with. Adam went with the custom color.”

101 – Low Entertainment Center Pt. 5
“This project was an incredible learning experience, and not in the way you might think. I actually found it incredibly challenging to step back from my primary shop tools, and focus only on the portable power tools.”

In Woodworking Circles and Beyond, Sam Maloof Still Draws a Crowd
“Nearly six months after his death, Sam Maloof will be among the most prominent headliners at one of the country’s largest annual craft expositions.”

Woodworking Tool Review – Dremel Plunge Router Base
“In one of my posts I jokingly chided Norm Abram, the host of the New Yankee workshop for having too many routers. As a viewer of his show, it appears that Norm has so many routers that he doesn’t have to stop and change bits, instead he changes routers.”

Bench Cookie Giveaway – Fine Woodworking
“Get a chance to win some of these. Change your FineWoodworking.com avatar, post a comment, and you could be one of five lucky winners chosen at random to take home a set of Rockler Bench Cookies.”

Woodworking Industry Conference to be held
“Information on the cabinet industry, cabinetmaking and woodworking Organizers recently announced that the 2010 Woodworking Industry Conference will be held April 21-24 at the Hyatt Regency Monterey, Monterey, Calif.”

I selected twitter-using woodworkers such as my pal Tom from Tom’s Workbench and the editors of Woodworker’s Journal. By looking at who THEY follow, HourlyPress discovers some great woodworking stories that otherwise would get lost in the Tweet Stream…

Here’s some great stuff that “floated by” today:
The Village Carpenter: Sauer & Steiner Planes
Wood Talk Online #60 | The Wood Whisperer Woodworking Video Podcast and Blog
My interpretation of old woodworking mallet
Marketing Your Woodworking Online
Where to Get Laminate / Formica

I’m still dialing in the calibration, but it’s worth a peek: Woodworking News and Notes from Twitter >>

I’ll be using the feed myself to find new story ideas, and cool stuff to mention here on the ToolCrib.com blog!

Thanks to the guys at HourlyPress.com for the opportunity to experiment with their software! Next I hope to be able to embed this feed on ToolCrib.com someplace ;)

update: according to a guy who called Ridgid and then posted on a forum, it was only saws produced during a certain run. Though you should be cautious about what you read on the internet, especially when it involves the potential for serious injury or even death, you should at least call Ridgid to learn whether or not your saw is affected.

randyk over at the Ridgid Forums sums it up nicely:
“I called about the repair and was told that none of their repair sites were willing to come and do the repair. They told me my only option was to package up the saw and return it to Home Depot for another one. Package up a 600 lb. beast?

This is a nightmare to me. My saw was set up to use and now I can’t use it or get it repaired.”

This PSA courtesy of Brian Penning over at Sawmill Creek: Recall on the Ridgid R4511. The thread sums things up pretty well.

More discussion:
R4511 On Site Recall Repair: Ridgid Forum
R4511 RECALL NOTICE!!: LumberJocks
Ridgid R4511 Table Saw Recall: Canadian Woodworking
Ridgid R4511 Table Saw Recall!: Router Forums
Rigid R4511 tablesaw recall!!!: Woodworking Talk

Here’s what it does do (for the iPhone junkies out there…). I.D. Wood puts a reference guide on your iPhone. In their words: “I.D. Wood allows a user to quickly browse by Wood Samples, Species Names or Other Names to aide in quick identification.”

It has categories for woodworking properties and durability, which would make it great for folks selecting woods on the fly, at the store and/or without internet access.

It has a handfull of fans over at Woodnet in this thread: Iphone App available for Wood Lovers I.D. Wood. Here are some observations:

“seems like a waste of 3 bucks……. till I looked at the app. man it gives a lot of details. brother you just cost me 3 bucks! thanks pal!”

“Nice job on this – thanks! There is a lot of useful info for sure.”

“When you develop the app to the point that I take a picture and it presents the most likely matches, you will have a winner!”

I found this via Mr. Gaippe of ShopNotes, who blogs over at Woodworking Extras: iphone app for id’ing wood