Blogs

I've gotten a lot out of UnpluggedShop.com over the years. I've learned more than I could have ever dreamed about traditional crafts. I've gotten to know some wonderful people in a virtual sort of way. And I'd like to think I've helped people find a hobby or even business that suits their situation and interests.

One of the things I haven't received has been cash. I doubt the site has made over $10 in revenue. I'm nearly positive it hasn't made more than $20. That works out to something like twenty-five cents a month.

Given that my financial situation right now is extremely tight, I've added a Donate button on the home page of UnpluggedShop.com near the top of the page. (It's through PayPal, but you don't have to have a PayPal account to donate.)

I have been blessed already to receive several times in donations what the site has made through advertising or affiliate links up until now.

Let me be clear. I'm not threatening to wallpaper the site with ads and affiliate links or shut it down if I don't make "enough" from donations. I just know there are some of you who would appreciate the opportunity to give back right now, and, frankly, I can really use it.

What I am considering as far as growing the site is along the lines of writing a guide to getting started in hand tools, a store to sell tools and or supplies, or other services that will complement the blog aggregator.

I have contemplated offering the site for sale to a hand tool retailer with some sort of support agreement that would let me keep working the site, but I'm really not sure I want to let go. It would have to be the right person or company with the right agreement.

The good news is that UnpluggedShop.com is now big enough that it really is time to think about taking it to the next level.

I really appreciate your encouragement and support. It has been a fun four years.

Luke Townsley
UnpluggedShop.com

I've been doing a bit of reading on design blogs. I'm talking about things like interior design, and office and home decor.

One of the things I've noticed is that a lot of the items that caught my interest would require separate and distinct skill for me to create.

I'm talking about things like a weathered wood table top with a curvy brushed metal base, chairs incorporating steel and wood, a chair that was made from a single piece of wood for the back and seat with a leather cushion and metal swivel.

What would it take to start producing stuff like this for sale? Is it possible (or reasonably) for a one man shop?

Could the non-wood items be provided for sale to individual woodworkers to finish the item and ship it?

Could it be done by a guild of three or four craftspeople working in close geographic proximity?

Are there other possibilities?

Does it really require a full blown factory with a design department, shipping department, production department, sales department, regular meetings, and so on?

What do you think it would take to make and market high end, mixed materials, custom made stuff?

Clearly there are more people interested in doing hand tool woodworking. This trend is evident from the increase in sales by tool makers and book publishers, increased web traffic to hand tool blogs, and the sharp uptick in blogs detailing hand tool work.

I imagine there are also a lot more knuckle dragging neanderthals standing around an open drawer this Christmas season pointing out the hand cut dovetails to uninterested family and friends. Unfortunately, Google analytics doesn't yet track open drawers or family yawns, so I can't say for sure.

I wish I could also say there was more hand built stuff being sold, but the reality is that I don't see much evidence of that with the possible exception of the Windsor chair market. Of course, those trends are difficult to track, so maybe it is happening under my radar.

Speaking of doing work you love, I have spent many, many hours lately listening to Dan Miller's "48 Days to the Work You Love" podcast. I downloaded all of the old episodes and am just finishing working my way through them. I think my white earbuds make a fashionable addition to my double cartridge dust mask and face shield while I turn on my lathe. When you add a glove to the left hand and a heavy dusting of shavings, it really makes for a unique look... Anyway, there is a book(affiliate link) out by the same title as the podcast. I really want to read it, but haven't gotten around to it yet. The podcast is very inspirational and uplifting. If you are unhappy in your current job, going through a major life change, or in business, I wish you would check it out. I think you will be glad you did.

I have been working on starting a new blog, business and website dedicated to helping parents promote after school activities that promote basic skills that are usable in real life. In particular, I will be talking about woodworking (I agree with Paul Sellers that properly supervised hand tool work is a wonderful way for children to learn basic skills), gardening and animal husbandry, small engine repair, primitive skills and so forth. If you want to put a bug in my ear about something in this line, I would love to hear from you. You can see the site as it develops at SaltMakers.com. It will be separate and different from UnpluggedShop.com and yet share a certain energy and will fall under the same legal entity.

UnpluggedShop.com continues to grow as Google Analytics reports over 9,000 visitors to the site in the last three months. It also reports that the site continues to be wildly unpopular on the African continent.

Here are some of the more popular articles among the 90,000 outgoing clicks these last three months. All of these received at least 100 clicks from UnpluggedShop.com. Speaking of clicks, if you have a blog that is at least 50% hand tool woodworking or is of particular interested to hand tool users and haven't submitted it, what are you waiting for? You are missing out on a lot of traffic.

WIA report
Kari's blog is one of the most popular non-professional blogs we follow.

The ‘51’ Shooter Chute Board
Check out Rob's reference library and store too.

Traveling with the Traveling Tool Chest
Chris Schwarz.

The Great Roubo Workbench Ruse Revealed
Workbench in miniature.

The Consumerist's Tool Chest
I wish my tool chest was this nice.

My minimalist tool list – the woodworker’s knife I don’t use
Because apparently Mr. Sellers marches to a different drummer than just about everyone else. That's ok, I'm starting to be able to hear his drummer too.

Now go make a shaving of your own.

Luke Townsley
UnpluggedShop.com

I want to talk about how I use UnpluggedShop.com and discuss a possible upcoming change in how the links work.

For several years, I read or at least scanned nearly every article that came up on the aggregator. For me, that has become impractical now as there are so many blogs.

I still read it regularly, but now, I cherry pick based on the website and title. Some days, I read most of the articles, but more often, I will only read my favorites.

Typically, I will do a middle mouse button click on all of the links I think are interesting opening them in a new tab in my Firefox browser, and then start reading with the ones that are loaded while I am waiting for the others to load.

What are my favorites? That changes depending on what I am involved in at the time, but I read a lot of the articles from Wisdom of the hands, Paul Sellers, Lost Art Press, Full Chisel, Joel's blog at Tools for Working Wood, and others. There are blogs that I followed more in the past, but not as much now because of a change in focus of either myself or the blogger, or perhaps for other reasons.

I used to follow Chris Schwarz blog at Popular Woodworking, but detest the popup they use, so stopped reading as my personal form of protest. I still follow Chris at Lost Art Press.

Now, one of these days when I get a day free, I'm going to be doing a site upgrade. I don't expect it will change much, but I haven't got it all worked out yet.

In the meantime, I want to ask a few questions:
1. How do you use the site?
2. How would you like to use the site, or what changes would you like to see?
3. What about the outgoing links? I have had several people comment they would like for the links on the front page to open in a separate tab when they click on them. This is non-standard behavior, but seems to make sense for this site. What do you think?

Thanks for reading! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!

Luke Townsley

PS I want to change the plane picture at the top of the home page. If you have a picture or pictures of tools, processes, shavings, work or whatever that you would like to send me for consideration in the new site design, I would love to hear from you. I'm not sure what shape or format the new design will be, so don't think it has to fit into the format of the current picture.

Want to get ahead on Christmas or birthday gifts this year?

Check out the 25% off sale through Monday, November 28, 2012!

Use the coupon code "GIVETHANKS2012" at my Etsy shop for a discount on everything in the shop!

Luke Townsley

Yesterday, my wife and I visited the Spiva Art Museum in Joplin, MO. Featured on display was artwork by local artists memorializing the May 22, 2011 EF5 multiple-vortex tornado that killed more than 160 people and wiped out a large section of the city.

When it hit, I was home (about 15 minutes away) with my family watching KOAM TV news as Meteorologist Doug Heady announced a tornado was on the ground in Joplin and pleaded with people to take cover. Even though he had a tower camera looking almost directly into the tornado, it couldn't be seen because of the heavy rain "wrapping" it.

We knew it would be bad, but had no idea how bad. It was so bad, it wasn't really clear until the following days exactly what had happened. For days, search and rescue was a major focus, but even that was dangerous, not only because of the wreckage, but because of the rain and heavy lightning that followed in the days afterward.

Frankly, the shocking thing about the tornado is that there weren't more people killed. Had it happened during the work week and not on Sunday, surely many more would have been killed. Apparently a lot of people headed the warnings and listened to the tornado sirens.

There were numerous stories of people who rode it out in a metal bathtub or inner closet on the floor only to look up after it passed and find nothing left of their home or their neighbors homes. In many cases, there was absolutely nothing left that was over knee-high.

I could go on about the tragedy, but back to the artwork.

I don't know the artists who were featured, but they were local, and I'm guessing a lot of them were amateurs and yet I felt the art was very good.

Much of it included bits of the wreckage from the tornado, splinters of glass and wood, street signs, obituaries of the deceased, headlines from newspapers, an iron bench twisted beyond recognition, and so on. It ranged from the whimsical, to hopeful, to serious, and conveyed many other emotions, but it all carried emotion, feeling, heart, and soul. In many cases, it was a simple unmasked expression of personal and corporate grief.

As I went through the exhibits and pondered them, I wondered just what it was that made them so touching. The one that got me the most was just a blank canvas with the number "22" in the lower right hand corner. It still brings a tear to my eye as I think about it.

Perhaps I appreciated it because of my own emotion and saw it in a special way through that shared connection with the artists. Perhaps they really were special creations because of the deep feeling of the artists and desire to express and memorialize their pain and hope.

I'm not quite sure what it takes to make good art or even what good art is. I'm pretty sure there has to be something going on with both the artist and the viewer to make it really work.

All this leads me to ponder how my woodworking can have meaning and what it takes for others to appreciate that meaning. Is it something that I create from the beginning and implant into the piece or is it developed through years of appreciation and memories, the patina of life, if you will?

Experience and intuition tell me that the cheap mass market stuff almost certainly won't speak to anyone. Likewise, not all hand made stuff will be properly appreciated.

It seems to me there has to be a human connection. A story, a friendship, a shared moment. Objects don't truly have soul, but they can inspire the human soul and they can convey the human soul whether the soul of the creator or the souls of the users.

I see two things woodworkers can do. One is to make stuff that inspires. The second is to make stuff that will be appreciated over many years. This can take longer to develop "soul", but over time, with wear and memories, it can still happen.

Luke Townsley

There are several power tools that have wandered into my shop over the last year that are needing to be relocated.

I generally don't like to sell tools, but I have several motivations including an upcoming move, refinement in focus towards lathe and hand tool work, a Powermatic lathe on order, and I will soon be sharing a shop with my Dad, so some things would just be redundant. I also need the cash...

I live in southwest Missouri, in Carl Junction.

For sale are a nice Craftsman contractors saw (probably the biggest contractor saws Sears ever made), a Rockwell radial drill press on a nice stand, a Rockwell wood lathe that I beefed up with a lot of MDF, a nice Jet 15" planer. I also have a heavy duty antique electric craftsman scroll saw that I have never turned on.

I would like to hold on to the lathe and planer for a week or so to finish up a few things. I am also considering selling my Lumber Smith sawmill and a low end 14" wood bandsaw, but haven't decided for sure, yet.

Also for sale is a 1986 F-250 diesel truck with a nice heavy duty ladder rack and bed winch, and a clean Missouri title. It needs painted, but runs good. I changed the injector pump last summer after it started leaking. I drive it regularly. I'm still working out a price on it.

Pictures and model numbers are available. I can post prices here if anyone is interested. Local pickup, please.

Thanks,
Luke Townsley

417-423-8015

Am I the only one who is having trouble keeping up with all of the latest posts? There has been an immense uptick in volume of posts appearing on the UnpluggedShop.com home page these last few months.

The main reason is there are so many more people blogging as well as a the fact that a few of the bloggers have been very prolific including Doug Stowe and Paul Sellers among several others

As to the "problem" of keeping up with the posts, I would like to hear any suggestions or ideas you may have concerning that issue. I have an idea or two rolling around in my head, but I would like to hear from you.

There is a continued growing interest in all things hand tools (as I think there should be). Even though my site is relatively "mature", my site traffic is up well over 40% over last year, and I suspect a lot of other sites have done even better.

The latest big thing is Paul Sellers' Artisan course consisting of seven-series set of interactive DVDs and accompanying 320-page book. I have seen the demo DVD and the video shorts online, but I haven't seen the DVD and book set yet. I spoke with him at length on the phone about it, and I'm hoping to be able to use it to teach my three oldest kids (ages 4, 7, and 8) the basics of woodworking. Of course, it isn't just for kids, but it seems to be unique in that it can be used for kids.

In the interest of full disclure, Mr. Sellers is sending me a set to review for something we are working on. I'm pretty excited about the whole thing, and well, if you have ever seen me really excited, you have seen something that very few people have ever seen...

I have sorted through the stats of the 55,000 outgoing clicks these last two months. Here are some of the most popular articles. The popularity of several of these surprised me.

Tools for Sale
One encouraging omen for our craft is that the Hyperkitten blog made the top ten. Twice!

What's Wrong With the "Standard"; Set of Chisels?
Aparently there is a lot of chisel unhappiness (or maybe it is the opposite) in this world.

2 planes I don't use
Aparently there is a lot of plane unhappiness (or maybe it is the opposite) in this world too.

The Moxon Vise Aftermarket
Gossiping about other people's vises is as old as the Garden of Eden.

Chisel Backs, Stop Lapping
I told you there are a lot of chisel issues out there.

Now go make a shaving of your own.

Luke Townsley
UnpluggedShop.com
Find a gift at my new Etsy shop

One of the reasons I started this site was to showcase what can be done with hand tools. As anyone who has followed this site for any time realizes, there are a LOT of things that are being built without electrical tools.

However, one of the things I didn't realize when I started out was just how basic and valuable hand tool skills could be even in a powered shop.

In my case, I recently got turned on to lathe turning. I had done it when I was a teenager, but with poor results. If the results were poor, the process used to get them was much worse. Fortunately, I'm still around to tell the story.

Even though I was a fairly good power tool woodworker, there were a lot of things I didn't really understand including sharpening, bevel angles, entry angles, scrapers, optimal glue-ups, safety equipment, and so on.

This year, I bought an old lathe and started turning bowls. I have made fewer than 20 so far, but am rapidly getting better and faster. In stark contrast with my prior experience, it just sort of came naturally for the most part. I don't mean I was turning out museum quality stuff on the first try, but even my first bowl was nice, and when I have problems, I now have a pretty good idea how to figure out what is going wrong.

What is the difference? Well, age might play a role. Perhaps the biggest thing is that a wood lathe is basically a hand tool on steroids. Everything I had learned, read about, and practiced on hand tools came back to bless me.

Granted, my work isn't the absolute finest around, and I don't work as fast as I would like yet, but there really aren't any projects that I look at and think I won't be capable of completing should I choose to keep turning. And I know I'm getting a lot faster. And even though I'm a bit of a perfectionist, I'm starting to turn out some stuff that even I think is pretty good.

That's a long way from the boy in the basement twenty years ago who dodged wood shrapnel while he scraped away with dull tools.

I really believe Paul Sellers is on to something with his basic woodworking course. When you learn the basics, the doors are opened to you to go in any direction you choose.

So in that spirit, even though this site isn't about powered wood turning, below are some pictures of what my journey into hand tools has helped produce.

I plan to list these items on Etsy later today at a nice 75% discount with free US shipping in order to get my account going with some feedback and sales.

I don't mind that some of my friends might get a great gift for someone special! As I get them added, you can find them here: www.etsy.com/shop/LukeTownsley

Luke Townsley
Owner of UnpluggedShop.com

This announcement was submitted by Pete Chast.

Mid-Hudson Woodworkers - Fifth Annual Showcase
The Hurley Reformed Church, Hurley, NY 12443

The Mid-Hudson Chapter Fifth Annual Show is just around the corner on
Saturday, October 22 from 10AM to 5PM. All NWA Members are invited to
display their work.

The Show:
Plans are finalizing for the show day. Indoor activities will include
demonstrations with both Lathe and Scroll Saw. A workbench for hand tool
demonstration is planned. Some Bird Houses, toy cars and airplanes will be
available for children attending the show.. A woodmiser cutting
demonstration is planned. And of course our displays of members work.

Cost:
All volunteers, exhibitors and uniformed scouts entry to the show is free.
There is a $3.00 charge for all others, including volunteers' and
exhibitors' guests. Children under 12 free.

We will have a sale of donated items, a raffle of other donations and door
prizes.
Please consider supporting this effort with donations.

Web site:
http://www.midhudsonwoodworkers.org/Midhudsonshow.htm