Woodworkers talk all the time about the risk of table saw injuries. I had one of those back in the 1980s. Fortunately, it didn't cost me a finger. Neither did this one; but this one didn't come from a table saw. It came from a chisel... a really sharp chisel. I was paring the end of a dowel rod and the chisel slipped. Unfortunately, my left hand was in the line of fire, even though I thought it was clear. The chisel went in about 3/8, making a very clean cut. It missed the bone, but nicked an artery, so there was a lot more blood than you'd expect. Had to get sewn back together. We've got to stay aware of what we're doing, every minute we have tools in our hands. They can all hurt us; just ask someone who's hit their thumb with a hammer. Fortunately, this didn't end up being all that serious and I'll get the stitches out in a couple of weeks. In the mean time, I'll still be woodworking, albeit a bit more carefully.

I should have had this picture last month, for everyone to guess what it is. This is some rather unusual wood I bought yesterday; Thermally Treated Ash. They put the lumber in a kiln and somehow remove all the oxygen. Then they raise the temperature high enough to normally cause the wood to burn; much higher than is normally used for kiln drying wood. Because there's no oxygen in the kiln, it can't burn. But the wood changes color to something similar to walnut, almost like it's charred. This coloration is all the way through the wood. Ash is a hardwood, with a Janka hardness of 1320, a bit higher than red oak. so, it's a great wood for building furniture. This Modified Ash is supposedly good for outdoor furniture and decks too, as it is resistant to rot. Going to make an end table with it, to see what it's like to work with.

Amazingly none of the wood in this house was not rotten, made this dog kennel from some of the wood

Congratulations to the winners of the National Woodworking Month Challenge! 1st Place: Dustin McCann 2nd Place: John Doe 3rd Place: Jason WalkerHuge thanks to everyone who joined and built something—you made this challenge incredible. I loved seeing all the creativity, craftsmanship, and personal touches in your projects. It's clear this community is full of passionate woodworkers who know how to make sawdust and make it count.Our winners will receive gift cards that can be used to grab tools and gear at Sawinery.net. We'll be reaching out to you directly to send over your prizes!And to everyone else—don’t worry, we’ve got more challenges and events ahead. Stay sharp, and keep making sawdust!

A number of years ago my oldest daughter brought a home with some pretty ugly Teak countertops and asked if I wanted the wood and of course I didn’t say no.A couple of years ago I saw an article in a woodworking magazine for this garden bench, I thought what a great idea for some of the Teak. In the pictures you can see not only the bench, but a shower seat that I made for another daughter and a shower shelf that I made for one my granddaughters. Sometimes all I get is a picture of something that someone would like me to build and I have to figure out how to make it. I will post on how I accomplish this in another post.