Yellow Pencil;Carpenter Couture

Policeman have badges. Doctors have stethoscopes.  Yuppies have blackberries.  Carpenters have pencils.

Of course there are many writing & marking implements to choose from, but none quite as a versatile or as wearable as the yellow graphite pencil that sheaths so neatly above the ear.  

Always at the ready, it is an essential for measurement dictation, plan-sketching & creating an easily removable mark on wood being milled for fabrication.

The first American wood pencils were made in 1812 by William Monroe, a cabinetmaker from Concord Massachusetts.  In the 1800's the best graphite in the world was found in China. Pencil manufacturers began painting pencils yellow to identify the Chinese graphite.  The color, which then symbolized Chinese royalty, has since become synonymous with wooden pencils.

Although the flat and chunky "carpenter's" pencil is a top choice for many, the yellow no. 2 is sleeker, looks smart and proves useful for many things beyond carpentry such as artistic sketching, crossword puzzles and all brands of standardized testing like the SAT's.  That's right kids, it's not just a cool looking earpiece that resembles a school bus dangling on the edge of a cliff, the pencil is a tool and a fashion.  (Another plus, it usually comes with its own eraser).

Golfer in Paint Pants

Next Stop...Central Illinois.

I spent over 2 weeks right in the middle of cornfields, bean fields and stories of Abraham Lincoln. While there, I took a job as a painter. Donning the required white paint pants and white t-shirt, I reported to work at 6:30AM & clocked out at 4:00PM for a week. I spent my days touching up dorm rooms at Illinois College in preparation for the fall semester. After work, I spent time on my newest athletic pursuit-Golf. I would tee up in my newly marked paint pants. My hair would be speckled with little white dots & the paint was still dripping from my hands as I gripped my 7 wood. Working on my swing at the driving range was a great way to relax & let the paint dry.

I'd never played golf before, minus the windmill...mini-castle...putt-putt variety. Driving on a course, pitching with an iron and putting on the alien surface of green was a recreational revelation. Who knew you could have so much fun carrying around a big heavy bag of tools. Swinging a club is a bit like swinging a hammer-nice & smooth with the follow through, staying square with your target & keeping focus on a single point. And like it is for any carpenter, it is also true for any golfer: know your tools & know what they do.

I loved being outside exploring the contours of the course, choosing the right clubs & swinging away- sending my little white dimpled ball on a scouting flight as we mapped our journey together. I loved hitting balls in the afternoon and I loved my time in Central Illinois as a golfer in paint pants.

I Dig This T-Shirt

I picked up this shirt in Pierre South Dakota at Runnings Farm and Fleet Store.

I love the all-purpose farm and feed store!

One stop shopping for bunny rabbits, beef jerky, anti-freeze and cool t-shirts.

If I were Andy Rooney

I wanted to do a simple posting about an Internet tool vendor called Amazon Tool Crib. It saved me the time of wandering from store to store asking for information on specific tools I was interested in. Like all of Amazon's available products-the tools came with a vast array of reviews. I liked this and felt it was helpful.
In my attempt to get a link for you, the readers, I learned that Amazon Tool Crib is no longer tool crib (Now Just Amazon Tools) and tool crib is no longer one but many many cribs, like a hospital nursery where none of the babies are labeled.



Legal actions (at least what I am supposing are legal) have now given us The Real Tool Crib-tool crib alternatives-Tool Crib of the North. North of what exactly? www Tool Crib South?
What was a simple referral service has become a trademark that is claimed by everyone and owned by no one.
The exhausting search for "tool crib" made me think I should go and get the domain names for-
The Very Sensitive Carpenter, The Real Sensitive Carpenter, The Wicked Sensitive Carpenter of the East, The Only Sensitive Carpenter....

Pixie Dust: A Woodworking Phenomena

The first time I ever experienced Pixie Dust I was ripping a piece of birch plywood on sight with a jigsaw. Halfway through cutting the large vibrating veneer something very strange began to happen. The pattern of the wood grain began to move. Swirling wood lines were like a moving psychedelic backdrop at a Grateful Dead show. The flowing river of wood continued streaming as I tried to keep on cutting and tell my mind "This isn't really happening man". Even when I stopped sawing, the wood continued it's slow dance for at least another 15 seconds. I was afraid that I was trapped in a world of wood hallucinations. Would the wood begin talking? Would it begin spelling out secret messages? Was I going to become one of those people who write sonnets to world leaders or chase UFO's through Utah?
After I caught my breath and thought about it a minute, I realized that I hadn't been having hallucinations. I was both the magician and gullible audience of a magic trick. By sawing a board in half, I created smoke and sawdust mirrors that moved and swirled the lights to create a great psychedelic "Saw Dust Illusion".
Weeks later, I discussed this phenomena with a carpenter friend of mine. He looked at me mysteriously and said in a knowing voice,
"Ah, you've had the Pixie Dust".

Piece on Earth

Wood comes in so many colors: red, yellow, white, purple, green, brown, black and even zebra.
I love using these woods as if they are paints on a palette. I combine diversely colored hardwood scraps to make one of kind cutting boards.
Little pieces of maple, walnut, birch, cherry, purpleheart, wenge and padauk can become a beautiful composition with the help of glue, clamps and some imagination.
The woods of North America, Africa, Asia, Europe and South America look so good together-almost as if they were meant to be one piece- an international mosaic-a little piece of the world.

What Wood You Do?

People ask me frequently "Where do you get your wood?"

As a freelance carpenter/cabinet maker I take on a variety jobs that require a variety of woods-from high quality domestic and hardwoods (Cherry, Walnut & Wenge) to industrial low grade composites (MDF, CDX & Masonite).

When taking on a job, a major consideration is "What material is best for this job?"

Unfortunately, there is no single vendor who supplies every type of construction material at the highest grade for the best price. There are lumber yards that supply quality hardwoods exclusively. As far as I'm concerned, that's your best bet for getting the best material at the best price. The price of all lumber fluctuates-much like oil or other natural resources-in accordance to demand and availability. Wood has its own trends-example: the price of plywood goes up in hurricane season.

So, when pricing for a job, I need to check with my vendor for current wood prices in order to give a responsible estimate.

I like Adriatic lumber for hardwoods like Cherry, Maple, Purple heart, Walnut, Padauk, Mahogany, etc . As far as standard lumber, any lumber yard or home improvement store is comparable in price and quality- especially when talking about composites like particle board & MDF.

In conclusion, buy your hardwood from a specialist-the highest quality at the best price. Don't think you're getting the same stuff from a home improvement store at a better price-when it comes to wood you pay for what it's worth.

The Job Will Take 200 Years

It can take a hundred or more years for a seedling to grow into a large, mature, and harvest-able tree. A lot happens in a hundred years. Countries rise and fall-generations of people live full lives-so much history happens around a growing tree. Hurricanes, blizzards, drought, corrosive bacteria, parasites, woodpeckers, beavers and the vast array of human interferences like pollution, war, and most directly clear cutting have an impact on the life of a tree. It is very hard for trees to protect themselves and in turn do their natural job of protecting us.

Forests have always provided food and shelter. They protect from flood and landslides. They provide us with shade and oxygen for hundreds of years. Then when a tree is done doing that job, it is harvested and provides fire wood, pulp for paper and lumber (perhaps the highest purpose designated to a felled tree). A craftsman, carpenter, or artist can re-purpose this already fully realized natural wonder and through skill, personal will and imagination create a new life intended for a hundred years beyond his own.

A bowl- an axe handle- a ship-a house- an airplane.

Through respect and skillful manipulation the bounties of a single tree could last 200-300-1000 years. Fulfilling basic needs like air, fertilizer, shade-then ascending into the transcendent realm of art and invention. Wood provides the flesh of a living home. Those early American colonial antique tables of yours were probably born before Christopher Columbus. Wood is a natural element that deserves respect and attention. It deserves to be expensive.

So when you think a job is taking too long or costs too much-think of your great grandchildren enjoying the same tree your great-great grandparents sat under.

100 years of growth-100 years of furnishing-a couple months of inconvenience.