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Colin Knecht writes ... I had the good fortune to have a truly dedicated high school shop teacher. A person who not only had the foresight to be innovative in his lessons, but also the dedication to teaching teenage students not only the craft of woodworking but also the safety. His lessons and techniques have stuck with me my entire life and I am eternally grateful for his teachings and patience.

My first year with Mr. Whittaker was grade 10 and while most others in the class had the benefit of the previous year of wood working, this was my first year in actual school learning. When Mr. Whittaker found out I was new to woodworking he told me, and a couple of others, we would be given a “quiz” to see what we knew. I immediately thought “great, my first day of school and already I have a test to take”. The class carried on for a week or so, and still no test, so I asked Mr. Whittaker when the test would be, his reply was “Oh I gave you that the first day, remember our conversation? that was the quiz, you passed” and he just turned and walked away.

That first year was pretty amazing ......

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Magnets in the woodworking shop have become commonplace for me and it probably all started when I purchased my first pair of magswitches. I remember it vividly. It was at a wood show many years ago and they were brand new on the market at the time. The vendor was showing them off and how they worked, but most people had little interest as they saw little or no real use for them.

Watch it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/kzMbqO9OYB4

When I first looked at magswitches at the show, I was intrigued ... but gave them a pass. By the end of the day, I had in my mind 2 or 3 great ways of using them and I knew there would be more ... so back I went and purchased them ...  

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I think it's a good thing I have a few close-by neighbors because that is all that prevents me from making a full-size log milling machine for my back yard. I just love milling wood, and I can see why the people who collect logs and mill them, either full time or even just as a part-time job ... love their work. Every log you open up is a mystery until you see what's in it. I always liken it to opening a present ... you never really know what's inside until you open it and everyone is different.

Watch it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/pFF3vhdJ76Y

It's even more fun when you can find special logs that "might" contain special features like figure or spalting, and even if the longs are short, I still get that same thrill ... and the wood is every bit as useful, you just use it for smaller projects, or for feature wood on larger projects ....

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One of the nice things about wood is that it comes in so many different varieties and because it's organic, all of those varieties can be further modified in structure by heat, fungi, and various other elements. In this video, I took my electric bike into the forest to harvest, what I hoped would be some spalted wood.

Watch it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/BkjjVNQL7u4

The one thing I was counting on was that even if the wood was not fully spalted, it would still be modified in its coloration and therefore would be another interesting wood to work with ...

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Over time, some jigs need modifications and adjustments to give them more flexibility and to work better. Such is the case with my mini log mill for my bandsaw. I have made 3 of these mini-mills in the past few years and this one was made for another bandsaw, but it still works on the one I upgraded to, but I find the base of this one is a bit short because sometimes the logs I am getting recently, are a bit longer.

Watch it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/QEDeG4WpJTA

I also have a few other related things to do, like cut another plastic miter slot blank for the new base, then I also need to trim the slide on my shop-made ... 

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It's always fun finding new ideas and new ways of doing things to save time and frustration and sometimes even tips and ideas that seem the simplest are in fact the most valuable, so I never underestimate their value ...

 Thanks to everyone who submits these ideas to me. I am surprised how many are new ideas or modifications of ideas that we hadn't thought of and a few are just to complex for me to replicate so those are in a different file and I may be able to get to them someday too ... but they are all enlightening and fun ...

  1. Through Dovetail Joint Jig / How to Make Dovetails
  2. Wood Carving for Beginners / Basic Wood Carving Tutorial
  3. Bad Ideas in Woodworking Episode 5 / Workshop Fails
  4. Woodworking with Thin Plywood, like Baltic Birch Plywoods
  5. Wood Router Tips and Tricks

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