A Scratch Awl from Scratch

Here is the answer to the Chrismas Puzzle!

Here are all the fixings to make another one!

It may be a bit, Cutting down aluminum bronze takes a bit of work.

O1 Steel, the tip has been tempered and left quite hard.  The rest has not been hardened.  The aluminum bronze is quite tough and solid stuff.  Work [...]

A Christmas Puzzle

Here is a tool I made as a gift.  Not the hardest puzzle to solve, but a puzzle.

No fair guessing, Skip, you saw the sketches!

My goal here was to make a tool that would appeal to both my love of the simple rustic line and to those who desire bling.  It is made of mesquite, [...]

Planting Trees

I have over the years killed an amazing number of trees.  This is entirely excluding the trees send by  a few companies that make their living by sending people dead trees.  The ration of dead to living has started to change quite a bit in the last few years.  No magic to the difference, simply [...]

Gnomons Multiplying

Kari Hultman, has just made a Gnomon over on the Village Carpenter.

Stephen Shepherd has been using them in pictures to show scale for a very long time too. You will have to do some clicking to get there as Stephen’s site does not direct link to entries, but it is probably worth your while.

Gnomon (γνώμων) [...]

Soil Considerations for Bonsai or Killin' Bonsais

Bonsai are small trees grown in a pot rather than in the ground. You may have seen bonsai trees on display or for sale at sometime in the past. The purpose of preparing – or purchasing ready-made – special “bonsai mix” soils is to promote the survival of the small tree being potted. Note that [...]