Since my son was born ~two months ago, my reading has shifted away from physical books into audiobooks and ebooks. I’m spending 90% of my time with one or both hands occupied, which is a bad strategy for reading physical books. It is much easier to hold and turn pages on the Kindle than a … Continue reading Currently reading
Author Chuck Grimmett
Assorted Links, 16Aug2021
SuperMemo, a tool for learning and not forgetting. 2008 Wired magazine article on the founder, the other Woz. Discussion on Hacker News. Woz’s wiki/digital garden is cool, too. (h/t Hacker News) The Query Loop block introduced in WordPress 5.8 is one of the most underrated new features of WordPress Core. It opens up a lot … Continue reading Assorted Links, 16Aug2021
Meet Charlie
Amanda and I had a baby boy who came four weeks early. His name is Charlie. He is wonderful and we are so glad for the extra time with him.
Wineberry Flaugnarde
New post over at Cook Like Chuck:
Finished the Skin-on-frame Adirondack Guideboat
I’m thrilled with how it turned out. Detailed build post coming soon. Until then, I’ll be out rowing on the Hudson.
Two wildflowers from a walk: Mullein and Ghost Pipe
I never remember the name of Mullein, Latin name Verbascum thapsus (left/first photo), so I thought I’d blog it in an attempt to remember. Fun facts about the Mullein: It does not flower until the second year, and an individual flower is only open for a single day. The second I saw for the first … Continue reading Two wildflowers from a walk: Mullein and Ghost Pipe
Calm morning on the Hudson
Spoon Carving
Some spoons, scoops, and spatulas I’ve carved in the past two years: My Process Roughing: I tend to cut out most of my blanks on the bandsaw, though sometimes I axe out my blanks. Occasionally I’ll use a drawknife on my shavehorse. Shaping: I shape with both a Foredom rotary tool and a standard Mora … Continue reading Spoon Carving
What I’m Currently Reading
Looking for a Ship by John McPhee – Reading this with my friend Jon Richer, with whom I build boats. Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson – Just for fun. (By the way, Stephenson has a new book coming out this fall.) Cræft by Alexander Langlands – I focused a lot in the last year on improving … Continue reading What I’m Currently Reading
Making kitchen tools from a log
A friend gave me some nice cherry logs that I sealed the ends of and let dry for the past year. I haven’t done much of my own milling, but I decided to get one of the logs out and see how much I could make out of it. What I ended up getting out … Continue reading Making kitchen tools from a log
How my relationship to technology has changed in the past decade
I used to want every new device and cool gadget. I watched keynotes, preordered things, scouted Kickstarter for the latest and greatest. Now my iPhone is 3 generations behind and I have no intention of upgrading until it dies. I’ve lost count of how many generation behind the iPad I’m writing this on is. I … Continue reading How my relationship to technology has changed in the past decade
Bread Lames
Like a lot of folks, I’ve been baking sourdough bread this year, and I wanted a bread lame to score the top. While making a few other projects, namely spoons, I split two small pieces of cherry with a natural curve that I thought would be perfect for a bread lame, so I got to … Continue reading Bread Lames
Currently reading
Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler Oranges by John McPhee Code of the Woosters by P. G. Wodehouse Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell Analogia by George Dyson Up next: The Book of Eels by Patrik Svensson Looking for a Ship by John McPhee My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante Paris in the Present Tense by Mark Helprin
Turning Candlesticks on the Lathe
Back in September I made a serious effort to learn how to turn wood on the lathe. I turned a few tenons on the stool legs earlier this year, but that is it. I was on the hunt for a good beginner project and Amanda asked for some candlesticks, so I got to work. As … Continue reading Turning Candlesticks on the Lathe
Dad has a blog!
My Dad now has his own blog: clgrimmett.com He is using the Seedlet theme and is hosted at Pressable. His first post is about firewood. Go check it out!
Turning Christmas Ornaments
We decided to change up our Christmas decor this year and go with an all natural aesthetic. Dried orange and cranberry garland, a basket instead of the tree stand, and wooden ornaments. I’ve been learning how to do lathe work this year, so after Thanksgiving I started turning ornaments. I’m still pretty new to turning … Continue reading Turning Christmas Ornaments
Two Staked Wooden Stools from The Anarchist’s Design Book
I love staked wooden chairs and I want to learn how to make them, so I picked up The Anarchist’s Design Book from Lost Art Press. All of their books are top-notch and I highly recommend them. Christopher Schwarz’s introduction on what he means by “anarchist” resonates deeply with me. I figured I’d start small … Continue reading Two Staked Wooden Stools from The Anarchist’s Design Book
Wooden Joiner’s Mallets
I made three wooden joiners mallets this year, following the Paul Sellers videos (1, 2, 3). The first has a head of laminated Beech and an Ash handle. Mostly because that is what I had around! There are no nails or screws in these, just wooden joinery. The handle and mortise in the head are … Continue reading Wooden Joiner’s Mallets
Malloreddus Boards
Amanda was watching a video about different types of handmade pasta (we had a lot of time on our hands during the pandemic and finally got some flour!) and asked if I might be able to make a malloreddus board. I decided to give it a try! I started with sawing and planing down a … Continue reading Malloreddus Boards
Coffee Filter Holder
Amanda and I wanted to hang our coffee filters in a little nook above our coffee grinder, and I happened to have a lot of free time on my hands back in April, so I decided to make one. This one by Yoshitaka Nakaya that inspired me: I didn’t really have much of a side … Continue reading Coffee Filter Holder