Junk is stuff you have no use for.
Naughty Fun Making a rubber band gun is a bit of a dilemma. Is it an encouragement for naughty behaviour? Is it a precursor for violent solutions to problems? As a child, the rubber band guns I made were delicious! Mum didn’t like them; that made them more fun! I didn’t shoot dogs or people;…
A woodwork project with children led me to revisit Sam’s basket as an Easter project. Here it is with a bit of upholstery and a few eggs in side. Modifications Making this with dexterous children allowed a few modifications to the original method.The skewers that we laboriously drilled for and hammered in could be simple…
New Experiences Never Stop Happening in the Classroom For teaching to happen, a teacher must believe that they have something to offer. But no amount of self belief can surmount a brick wall cemented with the rubble of self doubt. Self doubt compacted under decades of hammering. Regular children in regular schools are frequently open…
I Broke a Promise… …but I also made a discovery. When I began doing wood projects among my disabled friends I made some promises to myself. The promises were a personal, but unwritten, statement of policy. I promise to: do work that is engaging because the thing we make is interesting, never to do all…
These little tables are remarkably strong. Birch ply give access to lovely graphic lines. It is a happy design exercise to make a toggle that matches the legs. I like the birch ply, but should have avoided the circle of the body!
Whose work is it? Each project with my friends is really a joint effort. An amount of work belongs to my batch production and an amount to my friends. The components of this project were complex. Sides of the tray were all cut individually on the bandsaw. Each handle involved angles that needed to be…