Category: craftsmanship

Eight Foot Terrapin

~ George Crawford ~ 3 Comments

Not terribly far from the Paleotool secret lair there toils a designer and builder of unique, hand-built, small campers.  Inspired by the lack of uniqueness and beauty in mass-produced campers, Peter Pavlowich put his Wood Construction and Design degree to work to create beautiful, minimalist campers for small pick-up trucks under the name Casual Turtle.  … Continue reading Eight Foot Terrapin

Campaign Desk

~ George Crawford ~ 1 Comment

Here's an interesting piece of "gone native" campaign furniture.  There was much bad about empire building (and still is) but the bringing together of foreign cultures often created new and interesting art and craft styles. While on the topic, if campaign furniture is of an interest, or if you want to even know what it … Continue reading Campaign Desk

The Status of the Apprentice

~ George Crawford ~ Leave a comment

Lost Art Press

chandler_barber_advert

Let the boy learn a trade. Watch him at his work and at his play; study his likes and dislikes; place him in a position where he can exercise his talent— if he has any—or his creative genius. Place him where he can learn a trade for which he is best adapted, mentally and physically, and if in after years, he chooses to follow any other line of endeavor, business, law, polities, literature, the stage, the lecture platform, or whatever he considers himself best adapted for, he may do so.

Then should his efforts prove a failure he has always a trade to fall back upon which will at least give him a chance to earn more than the pay of a day laborer. This argument was much in vogue years ago, and we sometimes hear it today, but the obstacles placed in the way make it impossible of achievement…

View original post 1,169 more words

A Fancier Base for a 6-board Chest

~ George Crawford ~ 2 Comments

Lost Art Press

6board_enclosed1_IMG_8550

While the six-board chest is a simple form, there are some variants that make the chest look more high-style, like it might have a fancy bracket-foot base.

Today I decided to convert the chest I built for the Alabama Woodworkers Guild into one of these fancier chests. I removed the moulding that returned down the sides of the chest (see the video here), and made some base pieces to fit under the moulding.

98-01I also removed the crappy hinges I installed in Alabama. One leaf of each hinge was entirely too long. Today I installed iron Lee Valley unequal strap hinges, which look better. Unfortunately, I have some work ahead of me to hide the screw holes from the earlier hinge set.

I also installed a vintage crab/grab lock, which I picked up on eBay for $30 (gloat).

So far, I like the enclosed base, but I don’t…

View original post 53 more words

Luigi Prina: The Ships That Sail Through the Clouds

~ George Crawford ~ Leave a comment

A story of a remarkable artist from The Blinking City. Mr. Prina has been an architect for over 50 years but his model building is a work of art and fantasy.  Building flying models from paper and balsa wood since he was very young shows his amazing and artistic genius. Many look like images from … Continue reading Luigi Prina: The Ships That Sail Through the Clouds