Archive | July, 2014

An Interview with Frank Strazza, Part 2

This interview was originally published in the SustainLife Journal. See the original article here. Q. Do you have any interesting stories from any of your classes that you could tell? A. There are always interesting stories, but I think about one student in particular. He was in his 70’s. He had signed up for a foundational class, several […]

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An Interview with Frank Strazza, Part 1

This interview was originally published in the SustainLife Journal of the Ploughshare Institute, our “parent” organization. See the original article here. Q. Ploughshare: How did you first get started with woodworking? A. Frank: My first recollection of woodworking was when my mom bought me an old eggbeater drill at a junk shop. I was seven years old at […]

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Course Intro: Log to Spoon

In the From a Log to a Spoon online lesson, Frank Strazza will show you how to make a Swedish-style Spoon starting with a log straight from the woods or from the firewood pile using green woodworking. You’ll learn how to select your log for best splitting and carving. Then, Frank shows you how to […]

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Trip To Lie-Nielsen Toolworks

Jonathan and I had a wonderful time in Maine. We packed a whole lot in just a few short days. We met and reconnected with so many great people at Lie-Nielsen. We even got a personal tour of the shop and were able to see all the tools being made. Wow–what incredible detail! A lot […]

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Setting Up Shop, Part 2: Power Tools

Many of our students ask what machines they should buy. Because I am building furniture for a living, I mill most of my wood using large machines, but I do most of my joinery and finish work by hand. I have given much thought to what machines the average woodworker, working in his home shop, […]

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Setting Up Shop, Part 1: Hand Tools

Setting up your woodworking shop can be a daunting task at first, with advertising ploys coming at you from every direction. If you have been to even one woodworking store and signed up for their e-mail newsletter, the next thing you know, your inbox is filled with advertisements for every imaginable gizmo and gadget, along […]

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New Online Courses

I am sure most of you know by now about our online woodworking series that we just launched. We are very excited about this new venture, as it really is a way to reach out to so many new people all across the country and even abroad. Not only that, but for all of you […]

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Trip To Maine, Lie-Nielsen Open House

  It seems that time has gone by way too fast as the last blog entry was on the April Lie-Nielsen hand-tool event in Dallas. This morning I find myself sitting in the mid-coast region of Maine. Today is the first day of Lie-Nielsen’s annual open house and Jonathan Schwennesen and I have had the […]

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