Totally Random

Kaz, your books are beautiful! The which craft side of stuff would put me off from having one personally, but the aesthetic quality is wonderful. Beautiful work!


this makes me sad, wish I could re-educate everyone,

Thank you guys I've been doing carpentry since I was 13, but took a hiatus from it through college and a couple years after. Since we purchased our first home and remodeled that, the bug sorta bit back and I've added in building furniture and the like to the mix of remodel work.

As far as access to that sort of wood, I actually use rough stock. Sometimes you can find specialty stores that get the rough cut boards in bulk so as long as you have access to the tools to finish them down with, they're manageble. Asking around, cabinet makers, door makers, looking up furniture builders... and you'd be surprised what you can get on the internet. Though I imagine getting wood in England is tough and expensive since it'd have to be imported The custom furniture gig is all about making connections. Getting to know the right guys who know about the wood industry in the area... that sort of thing. I know a guy that makes decoy ducks and furniture and he got several years worth of Pecan wood because he had a buddy that knew a guy that was cutting down a couple acres of old Pecan trees that were past production prime and were ready to replant. He knabbed a few trees for himself by just offering to to come cut what he wanted and haul it himself. It's a lot of extra leg work, but he got to pick the choicest trees and made some beautiful pieces out of them.

Interesting!

We of course have english oak over here, which is a beautiful hard wood. But it is very expensive.

Yeah... England and France are both wood master meccas... all the cool old school masters come from there. But US and Canada have all the sustainable wood... we've got some serious craftsmen here too, but Europe is like... going back to the roots of it all. Amazing stuff from ya'lls end of the world

Again, interesting! Hadn't thought about it that way. I suppose it is far easier to keep a raw material plentiful in a MASSIVE land!

Talking about prose, that reminds me of a proverb someone once told me: The difference between the English and the Americans is that to the English 100 miles is a long way, and to the Americans 100 years is a long time!

Culture is an awesome thing that I love exploring! This forum is a really cool place to meet folk from all over too!

LOL, I had never really thought about it like that... and yes 100 miles to me is nothing. Especially after living in Texas for a few years. I miss the ease of transportation in Europe...

Yeah it's funny isn't it!

There are buildings in my town that are older than the united states! I work in a college that opened 500 years ago! That's what makes me stay positive about people, the staggering diversity and splendour of different cultures. So interesting!

thomgirl - Kaz those look awesome! My husbands a carpenter and once we have a place with enough room for a little shop. I am hoping he can build what I want to do designs all over. Ha ha you've ignited the interest in it once more.

Domtopia wrote:

I work in a college that opened 500 years ago!

Wow, just how old are you, Dom! Here I was happy just getting my 30 yrs in last month!