Author name: Enthusiast

James Hamilton is the man behind the popular Stumpy Nubs web site, which offers a range of online videos dedicated to woodworking and to outfitting your shop with homemade woodworking machines, jigs and tools. Hamilton is constantly seeking ways to organize, streamline and improve workshops – and strives to help others do the same. He will be teaching at Popular Woodworking in America at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center, September 16-18. About this time last year […]

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The most challenging part of the built-in bookcase and desk I built for my study was the 135″-long countertop; most of that challenge was balancing my desire for beauty with my checkbook. A 1-1/2″-thick, 12″+ long,  25″ wide slab of walnut simply wasn’t in my budget. Nor was the butcher block I looked at. And the thought of gluing up my own butcher block, well, that seemed like more work […]

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Colm was one of the students at my Peters Valley live edge class and his table stood out both in terms of design and height. On the first day of class, he showed me an impressive looking walnut crotch slab and asked what I thought we could do with it. While discussing our options I showed him a recent live edge piece of mine, Mulberry Trio, and suggested that perhaps he […]

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Sharpening a misbehaving tool will almost always fix its wagon. But I always take an extra step when taking apart a handplane: I clean the interior of shavings and dust with a brush and an oily rag. It might seem like overkill, or like I am on the verge of compulsive, but I don’t think that’s the case. Little fragments of shavings or even dust can wreak havoc on a […]

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After a brief tenure in law school at Vanderbilt University, Alf Sharp decided the white collar world was not for him. His woodworking career began with some simple remodeling for a landlord in lieu of rent, which led to doing interior trim work and simple cabinetry, and teaching himself fine woodworking through books and experimentation. Now, Alf is recognized as one of America’s premier period furniture makers, and was honored […]

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OK, it’s a small thing, but I still get irritated when I see or hear shellac described as bug excretion. It’s not (think of the related word “excrement.”) It’s a resinous SEcretion (big difference) from a bug that feeds off of plum trees, which are native to South Asia. The bug secretes the resin to shelter and protect its offspring. The resin is then harvested and shipped around the world. […]

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