Madeline’s last batch of stickers sold out so fast it made her head spin. That batch is out in the mail now, and we have ordered a second batch (same designs) that will arrive shortly.
So if you would like a set of these stickers, order them now from her Etsy store. If you order this week, there’s a very good chance they will arrive before Christmas – though we have no sway over the USPS mail carriers.
The good news: She ships these things worldwide. The bad news: She had to increase the price of a set by $1 because Etsy has increased its listing fees. Sorry about that.
Maybe I’ll even get a set of these (that’s how fast they sold out).
Thanks to our new fulfillment service, we can offer two tiers of shipping to U.S. customers: Cheap-as-chips Media Mail and Sometimes-more-expensive Priority.
Here’s the difference so that you pick the right one for you.
Media Mail: Like First Class, Media Mail is the same price no matter where you are in the country. Sending a box Media Mail across the street is the same price as sending it across the country. The downside to Media Mail is it is slow, especially around Christmas. It can take 10 business days for you to get your books.
In our long experience with Media Mail, we have found it to be as fast as First Class during most of the year. About early November it slows to a crawl. But it is cheap and the way I prefer to send and receive books.
Priority Mail: Unlike Media mail, the distance you ship a package helps determine the cost. Sending a box across the street is cheap. Sending the same box to California might cost three times as much. Priority is much faster – usually two or three days – but that’s not a guarantee.
So if you are organized or patient and order your books well before you need them, Media Mail is going to be your best bet. If you need them fast or live in the Midwest near our warehouse in Indiana, Priority might be right for you.
Highland Woodworking has published my “Sharpen This – the Hand-tool Backlash” speech that I gave at the Lie-Nielsen Open House a couple years ago. You can read the whole thing in Highland’s newsletter here.
(Note: You can subscribe to the free newsletter here and also read all the back issues.)
Chris Bagby at Highland asked if I would tweak a few sentences of the speech to take it from an R rating to a solid PG. But he didn’t ask me to pull any punches. So now the speech is an article called “Sharpen Up or Shut Up.” It’s basically the same speech but without a few Bozo-no-no words and my Southern preacher imitation.
Check it out. And if you like it, you might like the short series I wrote for the blog (also free). You can check that out here.
Thanks to everyone who donated money to help toolmaker Rob Hanson recover after losing everything to the recent Camp Fire in California. Your donations to this raffle raised $4,040 that went directly to Rob – no middleman.
The winner was Wolfram Herzog, who was a student in my most recent class on building a staked stool in Munich, Germany.
I am always amazed at the generosity of the people in our craft. Thanks so much for helping a fellow woodworker and toolmaker recover from an unspeakable tragedy.
I will be one of the demonstrators at Fine Woodworking Live on April 26-28, 2019, along with four other Lost Art Press authors – Christian Becksvoort, Matt Bickford, Peter Galbert and Nancy Hiller.
As you would expect from FWW, the roster of teachers is top-notch – check it out here. I am honored, humbled and entirely nervous about the whole thing. Will I be able to make eye contact? Will I inadvertently rub my nipples during my demonstration? Will Steve Latta call me out as a fraud?
I’ll be happy to discuss the topic of my class when it is announced. For now, however, mum is the word.
Surprise, it’s Fine Woodworking
I’m sure that some readers will be surprised that I’m signing on with Fine Woodworking. But to be honest, most of the woodworking press has hung together during the last couple decades. We were not in competition with each other as much as we were in competition with extinction.
Plus, I’ve always admired Fine Woodworking. It was the first woodworking magazine that I read back in 1993. And, also out of respect, we always tried to take Popular Woodworking in its own direction.
So will you start seeing my byline in Fine? I can’t say. I’ve been approached by several magazines about contributing to their pages. And I have not said “yes” to any of them. What I have said is that I don’t want to jump in bed immediately after leaving Popular Woodworking as a contributing editor (my tenure ends on Dec. 31). Also, I don’t think that my writing these days would suit an advertising-based magazine.
Some magazines (not FWW) have pressed me a bit. One magazine said: We are ready to try something really different. What ideas do you have?
I sent them a proposal for seven-part series I have been working on for many months about setting up a workshop. It’s good enough to be a book, but I think it should start as a magazine series. Here was their response.
Crickets.
So I suspect that my series will end up as a serial on the blog (such as “Sharpen This”) or a book. Stay tuned.
