Derek Jones helping with a student glue-up in his summer 2023 Cricket Table class at the LAP shop.
I had a half-hour or so video chat with Derek Jones, the author of the new book “Cricket Tables,” to ask him about the form, what drew it to him in the first place, where the name came from, and where his online handle (lowfatroubo) originated. Grab a cup of coffee or tea and listen in.
Also, the book is now available for purchase in the store, and for 30 days, you’ll get a free pdf when you purchase the hardcover book. (By the way… I screwed up…and didn’t get that pdf up before we launched the book – so if you’ve already purchased the book, you’ll be getting a notification to download that free pdf sometime early next week. Sorry for my boneheadedness.)
And here’s Derek at my favorite local place to take all visiting cat lovers: Purrfect Day Cat Cafe. He did not take home a kitten.
Chris is already hard at work (shocking, I know) on a second LOTR-inspired chair, and I’m belaboring every word in my Dutch tool chest book manuscript. But we’re also here to answer your burning hand-tool woodworking questions. Or cat questions. Or late 19th- early 20th-century Russian literature questions (that’s Chris, not me; he contains multitudes). So post ’em in the comments below, and we’ll answer.
The Gibson chair that is the subject of a video Megan and I are working on. This week has been so busy that we have stalled on it. It will be finished next week.
Update: I am sad that no one asked about cat care. So I’ve closed the comments, and am going home to sulk with a cat on my lap. – Fitz
I’m teaching a class this weekend, so Megan has volunteered to staff the LAP Open Wire today. So in addition to woodworking questions, feel free ask about home renovation and cat care.
Here’s how it works: Type your question in the comment field. Megan will do her best to answer.
Before you ask a question, please read this.
If you could limit the number of questions you ask to one or two, that keeps the load manageable. And remember brevity is appreciated.
If your question is your first comment here, it will automatically be flagged for moderation. Your question will appear after she approves it.
So here we go…. Note that comments for this entry will close about 5 p.m. Eastern.
The “Shop Tails” audiobook cover, and Carol Russell’s delightful fiddleback Tasmanian blackwood cat carving.
One of Nancy Hiller’s last “jobs” (which she insisted on doing herself) was recording the audio version of her final book, “Shop Tails” (an often grueling job on a book that clocked in, after final editing, at almost 12 hours). We posted it on the LAP store just hours after we got the final files from her and Jacob Belser at Primary Sounds Studios; that was Aug. 4, 2022. We lost Nancy on Aug. 29, 2022.
Ten percent of net profits from “Shop Tails” – a tribute to the many four-legged friends (and one feathered friend) whose lives were intertwined with Nancy’s – go to The Ranch Cat Rescue, in Bloomington, Ind., a non-profit run by Alison Zook that is funded solely by donations. In a small effort to help Nancy’s favorite cat charity just a little more, we’re asking for $5 donations via this PayPal link (while the fundraiser is channeled through my personal account – all donations will of course go to The Ranch Cat Rescue).
Not only are you helping to support Alison’s work in Nancy’s name, with your $5 (or more) donation you’ll also be entered to win one of two fabulous prizes in a random drawing. First prize is the beautiful fiddleback Tasmanian blackwood cat carved by Australian wood artist and teacher Carol Russell for the book jacket. (She – I’m convinced it’s girl cat – has been keeping me company on my desk since last July. I will miss her, but am willing to let her go in support of such a good cause.) Second prize is the book we made into the audio book cover “Woof!! The Audiobook.” The fundraiser runs through March 13; I’ll the announce winners on March 14.
Here’s that donation link again – and below is an excerpt, Shadow the Turkey Vulture, from Nancy’s audiobook.
Comments are now closed. Join us again next Saturday!
Chris is out of town this weekend, but Wally and I are here and ready to answer your woodworking and cat-treat-related questions. But unlike Chris, I will not start responding at the buttocks-crack of dawn – I like to sleep in a bit on Saturdays. And every day. (And Wally sleeps about 18 hours per day.)
As you surely now by now, leave a question in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer. You can even ask me about the Dutch tool chest book (now that the manuscript is in Chris’s hands, I’m far less stressed about it).
