Here are the facts. First of all it is free. Google offers a basic version free in hopes you will buy the more robust professional version later (for $495). You can buy the pro version if you want, but the free one will do 99% of woodworking stuff. Just go to Google and type SketchUp in the search box. That will take you to the download area and it is painless to get loaded and running. Just open it up and go to work. Once you learn probably four basic tools in the program, you can design most things you will want to do in your shop. If you draw all the joints in detail, it is just like building them in the shop. Plus you can get a really good sense of the scale of any project by adding people, trees, furniture, cabinets and anything else which might be helpful. You can look at your piece from any angle, turn it 360, put it in x-ray mode to see inside (if you drew the joints), add texture and color, and pretty much anything else you may have ever wished you could do when drawing plans on paper. If you are careful with the scale of everything as you draw, you can pull any dimension directly off the drawing. Plus you can take a file of your drawing to a blue print/engineering printer company and they can plot it for you at full scale. When you have that, tape it to the floor and build the project on top of it like lofting a boat.

Sean Headrick writes a very good monthly column in Wood News Online published every month by Highland Woodworking. Follow his detailed instructions to get a good start and get an idea of what this thing can do. Another site I found on the internet is sketchupforwoodworkers which has excellent tutorials for rank beginners. Spend a little time with these tutorials and the ones inside the program and you will be up to speed very quickly.

When I narrow the field to woodworking, I met Norm Abram once, and I've taken a class at Highland from Roy Underhill and another one from Mike Mahoney. I read several books by James Krenov and bought one of the planes he made, and once I sat in that Sam Maloof chair at Highland.

I picked one up and the weight and feel is such that you just know they are the best. The finish is outstanding and the blades are honed to perfection. After I picked out the one I wanted, a No. 102 low angle block plane, Thomas autographed it for me with one of those electric engraving pens right on the spot. I suppose I will have to decide whether to frame this one or actually use it like I do with my Fuller hammer.

Given enough time and energy, I can pretty much make anything I want out of wood. But when I look at one of these planes, I cannot even imagine how to begin. The scope of the metal work, the foundry work, the machining, the fitting, not to mention the actual design to make it beautiful, is just beyond me. Then on top of all that, it has to cut wood perfectly. Oh, and by the way, the Lie-Nielsen factory makes a hundred planes a day, which to me is amazing!

I really enjoyed talking to Thomas and I admire his work, but I feel like he did leave all of us short on one thing. Go look at Chris Schwartz, the editor over at Popular Woodworking magazine and see the clip of him throwing double bit axes at a target. Thomas taught him how to throw this week when Chris went to visit the Lie-Nielsen factory. (By the way, we've got plenty of those kinds of axes at Highland. You'll need one of the double bit ones.)

It just occurred to me to wonder: Will Thomas ever be back down here to show the rest of us how to throw an axe?

I must admit that grandfather laziness is high in my gene list, but father stupid works quicker for me than the other two. Fifteen years ago, in the very first two minutes I had my brand new table saw in the shop, I stuck a scrap of 1/4 inch plywood in the blade free hand. It kicked back into my midsection and the palm of my hand and I learned a good lesson very early. I instantly gained an immense respect for the tool with thankfully little damage. Good lesson not soon forgotten.

Then yesterday when I put a new piece of old wood on the lathe, I failed to note sufficiently the crack across the top of the wood. Ever stand out in the yard and watch a vee formation of geese fly over (never do that with your mouth open) heading away for winter vacation? I remember standing there and watching that chunk of wood fly across the top of the shop like a flock of geese. Seemed like it took a week. I have learned instinctively to stand out of the line of fire and I always wear a full face shield and thank goodness for that.

Boy, were we wrong! Kreg's new Beaded Face Frame System has taken off like you cannot imagine. Simply put, it easily produces cabinet face frames that feature attractive professional-looking beads that connect flawlessly around the entire frame. It's either doing the work of a specialized machine that would otherwise cost thousands of dollars, or it quickly and efficiently replaces a long and laborious tablesaw project plus tedious assembly.

John Lucas has provided a detailed illustrated tutorial on using the jig on his website Wood Shop Demos.

We also have a 3-minute video demo of the tool in action.

Thomas will also be giving free hand plane and hand tool demonstrations throughout the day at our Winter One Day Sale on Saturday, January 23.

In his class on Sunday, January 24, entitled "Sharpening and Using Hand Planes," he will be teaching students how to properly sharpen plane irons and other edge tools, tune and adjust a plane to achieve optimum performance, and practice developing the skills needed to use hand planes in a woodworking shop. Students are invited to bring their own hand planes (any brand: Record, Stanley, Anant, ECE, Clifton, etc. and of course Lie-Nielsen) and their own sharpening stones to use in the class. Thomas and his assistant will provide detailed instruction as well as one-on-one coaching so each student who attends will come away able to remove wispy-thin shavings that leave exquisitely smooth surfaces, and much more.

The hands-on class on Sunday is limited to 16 students, so it is important to register early to ensure getting a space for yourself. CLICK HERE for info on how to sign up for the class. You may also call 800-241-6748.

For those attending the free hand plane and hand tool demonstrations at the One Day Sale on Saturday, no advance registration is necessary.

The first place you might try is Dave and Sandy's house and get some of what is left of that cherry tree they cut down last week. They are two of my church friends and they took down a large cherry tree next to their driveway. I went by with my chainsaw and chopped out some wet pieces of beautiful native cherry and lugged it home. I dropped it by the back door of the shop and put the bark side up so it could dry for a few weeks. It has some beautiful crotch wood but lots of soft sap wood and I can't wait to get it turned out.

The next step up is a raw wood dealer. I have a dealer I use on a regular basis that used to be a tree surgeon and he has a warehouse full to the ceiling with wood and wood blanks. The wood spills out into the parking lot and when you go to his place, he's got a better chain saw than you do and you better bring your pickup truck.

Last week I bought several bowl blanks from the High. Highland sells woodturning blanks which are either eight inches or ten inches in diameter and three or four inches thick. They are coated in a waxy preservative to keep them from drying out and they are already made round, something which Dave and Sandy will not do for you. Blanks are cherry, pecan, walnut, sycamore and maple amongst others and range in price from about $15 upwards to $30 or so. They are round and flat and ready to turn, though they are green wood and will need to be dried after they are roughed out. Sometimes a flat round piece ready to turn is a real pleasure compared to a piece of a green stump and a chain saw. Unfortunately they don't mail order the wood. You have to drop by the store and browse through the blanks in stock to find the ones you want to buy.

Wood is everywhere and if you pay attention, you can have plenty of it.

We're going to build a Gingerbread House. Trust me, it's easier then you think and I will guide you through the process complete with pictures. You will need to set aside portions of about three days because if you do it all at once, you will get tired of it and mess it up. Course if you mess it up, have it for dessert, one of the other joys of working with this stuff. OK, here we go.

Make up a cardboard pattern for all the pieces. You will need a pattern for the sides 9 ½ by 5 inches. You need a pattern for the ends, 6 inches wide and the side of the end is 5 inches to match the side. The gable goes up another 2 inches to the peak. That makes an 8 pitch if I calculate correctly on my handy construction calculator. (Pitch is 33.69 degrees - I love that calculator.). Uncomfortable to stand on an 8 pitch, but if you put the house on the kitchen table and sit in a chair, you will be fine. Also make a pattern for a chimney. Cut a notch in the bottom of the chimney ends (8 pitch, remember) and make it about 2 ½ inches tall and then make sides for the chimney tall enough to reach the roof, about 3 inches. Save the pattern for next year.

You will need a recipe for gingerbread. All the magazines at the grocery will have recipes this time of the year. Roll it out (using that rolling pin you made for your wife last year) fairly thin, just under an eighth of an inch, and then cook it pretty hard. Watch it closely in the oven and when the edges start to turn a little brown and crispy, it should be done. If it is cooked too soft the roof will sag. You will need two sides, a front and a back, and two roof panels plus four pieces for the chimney. The smell of gingerbread cooking is wonderful and will linger for days. Your grandchildren will tell their grandchildren about it and the wonderful houses you built for them.

Run down to your shop and get a piece of eighth inch plywood about 12 by 18 inches and wrap it in foil for the base to build your house.

Go to the big box store (not the grocery) and get a can of "Meringue Powder." It is made by the Wilton Company and will be in the cake decorating section. Get a cake decorating squeeze bag and a couple of pretty wide mouth tips while you are there. You will need to make one batch of "Butter Creme Icing" and one batch of "Royal Icing" based on the recipes on the insert inside the meringue powder can.

We wondered if it could handle some heavy duty cutting like resawing, so we installed one of our 1/2" Wood Slicers on the new demo Rikon 10" bandsaw that we set up in our showroom the day after our shipment was delivered. After squaring up a piece of 4x4 poplar, we were able to resaw full-length slices from it that were uniformly 1/64" thick along the entire length! Can your bandsaw do that? That convinced us this little machine can perform precision work despite its low price tag.

While it's obvious the Rikon 10" benchtop bandsaw will make an excellent starter saw for someone just getting into woodworking on a limited budget, it can also be a valuable time-saver even to woodworkers who already own a larger bandsaw but don't want the inconvenience of having to constantly change different width blades back and forth for different operations. For instance, put a 1/8" blade on this little beast and you'll always have an excellent, powerful scroll cutting machine that's ready to go. Ditto if you wanted a dedicated small resawing and ripping machine on material up to 4-5/8" thick.

We're pleased to offer this exceptional Rikon benchtop band saw at a very affordable price.

As I got more skilled at turning though, I felt like my attire was holding me back. Perhaps I could be a better artist if I were wearing a better turning outfit. So I bought the red turning smock from Highland and whether or not my work is better, I sure do look better when I'm working.

Well the answer to that sanding problem is one of the new leather aprons as found on the front cover of the new Highland Woodworking catalog. These leather aprons are beautiful! I went by the store today to look at them and I suppose I am just partial to leather, but when you walk in the front door of the store, there are at least 40 aprons on display all over the place. (You really need to come see the store at Christmas.) They are made of four basic pieces of leather stitched together with four pockets added to the front. The two larger lower pockets have riveted flaps over them to keep chips out and the other two are made for pencils, calculators and this time of the year, candy canes. The back of the apron is the naturally rough leather and the front is smooth and finished. I looked at a bunch of them before picking the one I wanted and the naturally occurring marks on the leather really add to the appeal.

Some aprons are slightly thicker than others and have more marks, and some are lighter or darker in overall color and appearance. I was also very surprised when I picked one up and found how lightweight they actually are. This thing will not weigh you down. I bet if you call the store and ask them to pick out some particular feature for you, they will do it. With the light and strong flat straps across the back, and a quick snap connection, the whole thing is supported by your shoulders and still easy to get on and off. Beautiful!

If by some very small chance you don't want this one, you could get one of the others that Highland carries, such as the ballistic cloth turner's apron, the leather turner's apron, the belt apron, or a regular cloth apron. But the really good leather ones are on sale, and come on people, this is Christmas. Get the good one!

I had one very dull twelve inch sixty tooth carbide tipped saw blade, and five each half inch carbide patternmaker router bits, the ones with the bearing on the bottom. And no, they did not know it was me giving them a test for the blog, as if that would have made a difference. It was a Wednesday afternoon when I took the whole package to my local retail shipping outlet and asked them to pack the stuff up for me and ship it to the service in New Jersey. I live in Atlanta so they checked all three shipping options and decided on UPS to get it there on the following Friday afternoon. They charged me $12.80 for the minimum five pounds plus $2.00 for the box. Both the other shipping options were within a dollar or so. (If I'd shipped it myself via Priority Mail using one of the Post Office's free Flat Rate boxes, It would've cost around $5.00 to ship.)

The finished tools came back Thursday a week later. They are all sharpened perfectly as nearly as I can tell so far. I used one of the router bits all day yesterday routing the window openings for a new house and it performed very well.

The charge for sharpening the saw was $22.00 for 60 teeth and the return shipping was $12.00. Total cost for shipping everything and sharpening the blade was $47.00. The router bits were additional cost. Was it worth it?


The actual sharpening cost is right in line with other services I have checked. Of course I could take my blades to a local guy working out of his backyard (no offense here people) but two problems come to mind. If I pay $135 for a top of the line Forrest blade, I darn well am not going to take it to "Ralph's Pretty Good Saw Shop" and take a chance on getting it completely messed up. Plus if a tooth needs to be replaced, I don't think I want Ralph doing it for me. One definition of a bullet is a carbide tip coming off a table saw blade.

The shipping is what adds to the cost. There happen to be two professional sharpening firms within about forty minutes of my house. If I deliver my blades to one of them, it will cost me four one way trips plus the time. On the other hand, my time is pretty cheap these days.

I conclude that even in an urban area with professional shops fairly close, if I need high end blades sharpened, I will accumulate as many as I can and ship them all together to save on shipping costs. (And if you send them at least five carbide sawblades to sharpen at one time, the return shipping is free.) I think the service is well worth it under that circumstance. On the other hand, if all I have is one $35 blade, then I'll probably let Ralph do it.

For an idea about what this is really all about, consider this image of a lovely little 12" x 18" storage box that appeared in an out-of-print book. The King of Sweden collected little ceramic pieces and needed a box to store them. This one works just fine, thank you very much.

The scale of his pieces is what is amazing. Should you buy the books still in print, look carefully at the size of the pieces and you will realize that bigger is not necessarily better.

Last year I was surfing the net and happened on Krenov's web site. At the time he had stopped making his iconic pieces because of failing eyesight, but continued to offer planes for sale. I bought one. I think I paid $300 for it after several e-mails back and forth with his wife. After they shipped it to me, I looked at it briefly but needed to set it aside because of some illness in my family.

After hearing of his death, I looked for and found the plane I had bought from him last year. Look at his initials on the front of it. I thought he had put the blue masking tape around the throat and blade simply to keep the pieces in place for shipping, and I debated whether to take the tape off. Finally I did take it off and lo and behold, the throat was full of the most beautifully delicate shavings. Shavings put there by the master. I left them there and I don't know if I will ever take them out...

I buy books for three reasons. First is to find out how to do something, the most basic reason. When there are few people to ask about some arcane little bit of work, then books are the way to go. Sometimes I buy the book after a class because it keeps me from having to take notes in the class, and it is good for reviewing something I may have missed.

The second reason is vicarious enjoyment of the hobby. There are times when I think I want to start a new phase in my woodworking career by trying something totally new. My standard practice is to buy a book on the subject and after I read the book I can decide if I really want to go buy the tools and devote the time it takes to learn something new. Most of the time, I let the book make up my mind and decide that the vicarious lift from the book will serve my purposes. You may even be able to save a lot of money on tools that way. Best examples so far are the books on violin making and boat building, though I must say the boat dream endures.

My favorite book in all this: Well, how can you beat Krenov? The details in his work are amazing and then all of a sudden you grasp the scale of those beautiful pieces and it kind of makes you wonder if you should just give up the hobby because you think you will never get there.

The other best one has got to be Tage Frid's series on woodworking. Volume one is the book lying open on my workbench whenever I am trying something new. And not to put myself in the same class as those guys, how can I pass up my own book on nail pulling?

You will enjoy all of these books. Click over to the High and look at their collection of over a thousand books for sale.

I realized after I took the pictures that I had left out one of my favorite woodworking books. I have a copy of the original non-Disney "Pinocchio" by Carlo Collodi. How can you beat that for high skill wood working?

Feel free to post a comment on this blog entry and let me know some of your favorites.

Both Festool drill models still include two high-efficiency lithium-ion batteries, smart charger, advanced electronic clutch, 3-year warranty and stackable Festool Systainer. The Festool T12+3 sells for $400. The Festool T15+3 sells for $450.

• The Festool drill's extreme light weight (thanks to the lithium battery) means less operator fatigue.

• The exclusive Fastfix chucking system allows each drill to perform the function of several different drills.

• The Festool drill's second generation brushless motor is electronically protected against burnout and maintains constant power regardless of load or speed.

• Tests have shown the Festool T+3 drills outperform the competitions' 15 and 18 volt drills. You can literally drive more than 1,000,000 screws with one of these drills. Built to last a lifetime, it is literally the last drill you will ever need to buy.

My wife and I used to ask each other what gifts we wanted for special occasions since we finally figured out that surprise gifts more likely than not were a waste of money. For several years, my stock answer was "One of everything in the Highland Woodworking catalog." Though I was never able to swing that deal for real, the fantasy endures.

It's a long slow rainy afternoon in Atlanta, so I sat down and added up the price of one of everything in the catalog. I did add in a couple of hundred dollars of Spax screws because I love those things and use them all the time. I also managed to exclude duplicates of many things and if there was a boxed set, I passed on buying the individual pieces and included just the set. I also left out spare parts for repairing tools.

Before placing my order I intend to get by the store and pick one each of every woodworking book as long as we're talking fantasy here. (They didn't list their books in this edition of the catalog, but they list more than a thousand woodworking books on their website.)

My order came to $53,737.94, plus the books, tax and shipping. Of course, I will have to expand my shop to hold all this stuff and I estimate about forty grand would do that. Wonder if American Express means it when they say no preset credit limit? Maybe I can get a discount on the shipping.

Request a catalog online if you want a copy and they'll add you to the mailing list.