My Project

I was having a conversation yesterday with a friend I hadnt seen for a while and he asked me what new stuff I was doing in my business. He was particularly curious how the CNC router we bought 3 years ago was working out and What were we doing with it?. Which led me to think, what were we doing with it? Coincidentally, as you can see in the posts below, along with our own work, we were doing work for other woodworkers. (See Trevors CNC projects).
I started making custom furniture for a living full time Jaunary 1st, 1980. Seems like a long time ago and at the time there werent many other people I knew making a living that way. There was, however, Fine Woodworking Magazine, a reader written magazine that showed the few of us there were in the area that there was a larger community of people like us out there, struggling and succeeding at what we were trying to do. And not only were they succeeding, but they were also sharing their hard earned knowledge with the rest of us (and, getting a little cash and recognition to do it). Amazing. From the Fine Woodworking Design Book Series, to the Techniques series and the Readers Gallery the magazine has continuously raised the design and execution bar and encouraged dialog and cooperation among its many readers. I am a member of the Guild of Vermont Furniture Makers, an association of 28 master furniture makers, and know of many other organizations both national and regional that have sprung up in recent years to unite and encourage woodworkers to share their resources and knowledge. Through their coverage of the various groups meetings and conferences, I know Fine Woodworking has been a force in that process as well. While many other woodworking magazines have arrived on the scene in recent years, Fine Woodworking is now (once again) leading the way in widening the woodworking community through their extensive website and online searchable articles database, blog list and Knots Forum to encourage dialog, discussion and progress. I commend Paul Roman and his family and the editors and staff that have worked throughout the years to make custom woodworking (and home building and sewing and gardening) a viable, enjoyable and deeply satisfying career choice. Im not sure we all would have made it without them. I leave you with a mission quote from their website, thank them for their efforts and encourage them ever onward.

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Enough said there ...