Monday, March 18, 2013

WoodTreks Videos

Keith Cruickshank is a very cool guy.  I met him some years ago at an event where us old guys were standing around talking about woodworking (what else?)  He asked me if he could shoot some video at my shop, and that he was posting these videos on the web.

I have had lots of different video shoots "on location" at my workshop over the years.  Once I even had a shoot for a famous men's clothing catalogue (like Peterman on Seinfield) and they paid me.  I had to wear a shirt and it took 4 hours and a team of 6 people to get "the right shot."  People think that professional models have it easy.  Take it from me, it's a pain in the asperger's syndrome.

Anyway, Keith has a Mercedes Sprinter van, like mine, so we had something in common, and I said "fine."  He explained that he did things differently.  He worked alone.  So we had that in common.

He showed up with the minimum amount of very professional equipment.  The camera was hand held, and there was no extra effort to light the place.  Since my workbench is in a very small room with terrible lighting, it actually was amazing how good the videos turned out.

These videos were all done in one day, and there was enough material to cover three different topics: my workbench, working with protein glues, and hammer veneering.

I haven't posted these here before, and it occurred to me that it was important to include them on my blog.

Here is the link to the videos:   WoodTreks Videos


Keith has many more videos and I am sure you will enjoy his approach.  Thanks, Keith!

2 comments:

JC said...

Oh wow. I just had one of those "smack yourself in the forehead" moments. I had seen these three videos months ago, when I came across "Wood Treks" (Which is an amazing site). I didn't put two and two together until I saw this post. Your videos were very helpful. I've had mixed success with hide glue (I try to use it as often as I can since I restore antique clocks), and I learned a lot from them. The main points I took away were the consistency. I was making my glue too thick. I plan to eventually do some hammer veneering as well.

W. Patrick Edwards said...

Thank you for the comment. One of the most difficult things about "preaching" the virtues of traditional protein glues is just getting people to try it.

My first effort at veneering was with white glue. It was a disaster. I immediately got some protein glue, since I wanted to be able to repair the problems next time. I have never had a reason to return to synthetic glues since.

If woodworkers would just get a glue pot, cook some glue and start gluing stuff together, they would have the same experience, I am sure.

Just try it. Give it a chance. Learn something old.