Hi! I'm Anthony, the WoodWorking Chemist. I'm a New Orleans-based woodworker and furniture maker, specializing in boxes, chess boards, cabinetry, and tables/countertops in my garage wood shop.
great video. sorry I didn't find this video earlier. I try to view every shop video possible and laugh/cry at creators who post about their "small shop" that is a 2 car garage and larger. you made great use of a 1 car garage with a well organized layout and remarkably dust free. would like to see projects you've made in your small shop. p.s. saw your video about wood sustainability. you made great points.
For a not really large space, you have a lot of useful space. Love the beautiful hardwood collection. Can't imagine how much you have invested in all of it.
You sir have expensive taste in wood! Just a suggestion take some if that expensive taste and put towards your tools. also if you're not goona use a tool i.e "mitter saw " then sell it!!! shop is nice but you carry on way too much about your love of "wood". nice video,nice shop good luck. Oh would you care to explain what a wood chemist is?
I definitely understand that. This was a commission and the client was specific about the look they wanted. I’ve built many other chess boards (feel free to check my IG or website) that are more “traditional”
That would be interesting! This was a specific commission and the client had really intentional design aesthetics, which led to the outcome you’re seeing. But making a dual burl board would be really cool!
Anthony, I will not be able to address all your points as I am a very poor typist. Sustainability, I know you are primarily talking about hardwood , rather than softwoods. I started woodworking in 1981, that's right I have been woodworking long enough to harvest trees I planted when I was your age. The demand for hardwoods and it's availability is reflected in the price. As a species becomes less available the price rises. Take Poplar for instance, I recently purchased a unit of Polar for less than pine, because Poplar has been planted as a farmed product. Walnut on the other hand has risen three fold in the last twenty years. Wood quality, I do not know where the company you worked for purchased their wood, but hardwood is sold by a grading standard and it sounds like the company you worked was try to cut their costs by buying cheaper grades as I can buy perfectly clear lumber of the woods you mentioned, it will just cost more than a cheaper grade. I have a deal with a local reforestation company to plant ten trees for ever thousand board feet I use. I purchase by lumber from a person that went into business in 1981 and I was one of his first customers. He buys from managed forests only, as anyone that is in this business should be a concerned about supply as the sale. We can't have one without the other. Harvey Firestone, yes the tire guy, planted rubber trees that he would not live long enough to see them usable, as well as Daniel K. Ludwig of Burlington Industries, he was still planting forests when he was 83. Anthony I was younger than you when I had these same concerns, but Ii can still buy wood to make things out of expect Oak, I do not purchase Oak as it is the only wood I do not like to work with. As one other commenter mentioned, videos like this are to deep in the weeds for most folks to be entertained by. I recently saw an item on Ebay for sale that I made in 1983, just poor your heart into what you love to do. The rest will sort itself out.
Great video and nice shop! Just found your channel and will be watching more. A quick note on the radial arm saw, not my favorite, I just think they're really dangerous. I cut my finger off on one 20 years ago. The saw rolled forward instead of recoiled. Most people give them away nowadays. I just don't like the idea of dragging the blade across the wood towards you, but that's just my opinion. That's wonderful that you remember your grandpa in your woodworking. I'm sure he is looking down smiling. like that old radio! I too enjoy various woods. That tablesaw is way better than mine. I love Delta and would be happy to find a nice older one. Again great shop and super video. Have a great day! Marty from Minnesota.🙂
There are three trillion MATURE trees in the world. 1.9 BILLION trees are planted each year. That’s 7000 trees planted EVERY minute. By the year 2030 the world will have planted 1 TRILLION trees! You’ll be okay as a woodworker! The future is bright! By the year 2050 there will be 2.5 trillion trees in the world. All the global warming crap is just that … CRAP!
Just found your channel! Are you a woodworker or a chemist or both? It’s not wrong to use wood because we have more trees in the world today than ever before. The tree huggers are going to lie but it’s because they are pushing an agenda and not living in fact.
Subscribed. Put a story with each project to come. I've noticed that holds ones attention span to a great extent. Overdub your work and don't talk it will distract you from your work but, maybe not. Camera movements more purposeful and less jerky I think would be an improvement but what do I know, it's just the way my neck felt my eyes wanted to push me around. I'm old you see and have worked in woodworking at various levels and degrees since my twenties in the 1970s so I know the romance of the wood. Advice only: Just be very fond of wood as it will break your heart if you value it too highly but you don't have to let any else know. It makes for great romance and passion for story of your work. I'm excited for you, go get em tiger!
You are very discerning. Thoughtful, deep! Japanese woodworkers have a sense for the wood and its thoughtful use. My inventory of South American and African rain forest woods is similar to yours. Long story short I have recently relocated from Oregon to Montana. Brought my exotic wood collection with me. Sapele, Wenge Bobbinga (12"x1-1/2"x 8.5' ) etc. Along the way windstorms and rain brought down a few nice Ash and Oaks which I harvested and used in my shop for many years. Brought an 8' Oak slab along too. I also acquired, like you, 3 ea 3"x3'x5' slabs of irregularly shaped black walnut from an old farmer down the road a ways which also is in my inventory. I built a nice shop in Oregon when I was 66 and I had fun just doing that and it is a great hobby. But after relocating and aging a bit I choose to embrace downsizing to less than a one car garage type space. Your shop tour provoked a lot of great options to plan my own new space. :-)) PS. I am not in to Instagram and other social sites but will chat on email? Thank you for your candid approach, I respect that.
I love the ingenuity and getting it done mentality...I don't love sharp chisels pushing towards your body on a slippery marble top. Not trying to be the safety police and I love the new channels popping up, but maybe using a counter along the wall with a cutting board against the back splash serving as a stop would be a good practice to all the fledgling kitchen woodworkers...
The good news is, you don’t have to use your chisels in the same way that I do :) As a professional woodworker and furniture maker whose been doing this for many years, I know my strengths, weaknesses, and how to work within my limits to stay safe
Honestly learned a few things from you, already subbed. I may get some of those higher grit Mirka pads too. And radial arm saws scare the shit out of me props to you for using one 😂
Microjig has a kit that lets you add a removeable splitter to your zero clearance inserts. Pretty slick setup I'd recommend. Thanks for sharing your shop with us, nice setup in the space you've got.
I think as a maker and I'm new to woodworking I researched my hardwoods and I feel there's certainly ethical reasons not to use certain species that can't be sustainable like many softwood species are . I like your channel, keep up the videos . Also I like your grandpa's radial arm saw , it's really something it's still going strong. Nice tribute to him .
It's my understanding that the percentage of forest land in the USA has remained at about 34% since approximately 1900. That figure does not include trees used in agriculture. Humans are learning to breed faster growing trees - compare the growth rings on timbers from the 1950's or so with today's timbers. I'm not saying that wood is in no danger of being unsustainable. Built anything from American chestnut lately? Only that collectively, wood remains and will remain a sustainable resource for a very long time. I personally believe that many products currently built of hard- or softwoods will be manufactured with bamboo, which can grow 3' A DAY. Yes, there will likely always be a demand for custom wooden furniture, but the mass-produced, "IKEA-ish" stuff will be produced from the cheapest source materials possible - which will include bamboo. Interesting discussion, although I don't think it will grow your channel.
I don’t have current figures on those numbers, sadly. I would hope that they’re staying constant. Well, the chestnut blight a century ago really ruined that. But it goes to show how long it really does take for trees to bounce back and mature before they’re ready for harvest. As much as I dislike bamboo - especially because it’s a grass! - I do hope it can start filling that larger, commercial sector
Nice shop and nice video. I too have a couple of my grandfather's tools - a Stanley #5 plane and a "Warranted Superior" 11 pt crosscut saw. I'm in my 70's, so you can estimate how old these tools are! LOL. I think a workshop evolves continuously, so don't apologize for the condition of your shop. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you so much! Haha given their age, I bet they’re some well-made tools though!! I do hope my shop continues to grow and evolve. I’m really glad you enjoyed it :)
Nice video. Mine was not this good, but I am working on it. I have quite a few of my grandfathers tools in my shop. I have his scroll saw that he made a ton of stuff on, one of these days I need to use it more. I had a radial arm saw from my late uncle, but that thing was the scariest tool in the shop so I ended up selling it.
I love hearing how many folks have tools passed down from relatives. I like seeing the tradition live on, and knowing people share that enjoyment the way I do in family tools. Haha my radial saw is definitely the scariest tool in my shop - that’s why I don’t use all its other features 😂
I think your over estimating how much wood is cut down today. Normally saw mills plant new trees as they cut for latter generations. Heat was the main reasons for logging so much back then. Now it's pine and white wood that we use the most. I'm just speaking for the US, and urban lumber is super common on the market today when in the past people only wanted old growth.
I might be. I hope I am, truth be told. I know many mills plant trees as they cut; my concern has always been the rate of tree growth compared to the rate of logging over that same period. I am trying to optimistic for future generations of woodworkers
Thank you! I’m really glad you enjoyed it, and excited to bring much more content! I didn’t add the link to the description because unlike the larger channels, I’m not getting paid for it haha. But here is where I grabbed them: 2SAND Mirka Abralon 5 Inch Hook & Loop Polishing Discs - Grit Sizes 360, 500, 1000, and 2000 - Pack of 12 Assortment (3 of Each Grit) a.co/d/2fE1YgV
Thanks for the tour. Really good first video. love the wood wall... I'm jealous of the variety for sure. looking forward to more videos. I'll head over to IG to follow as well.
Thank you so much! I really appreciate that! I know how I feel when I’m watching a video with poor audio, so that was a high priority for me; I’m glad it was good enough to warrant you commenting about it :)
Where is the verification that a company is sustainable? As soon as you go for non-domestic, you have not guarantee. I've heard a story how New England was essentially stripped of all lumber for the sailing industry. Whether this is true or not, I don't know. I know that New England is vibrant with trees all over. You talk about white oak trees growing incredibly slow. The length of time for a tree to grow to maturity shouldn't matter. If we are not planting new trees each and every year, then yes there will be a point where trees no longer exist. Though people will never see that point. I believe that there is a point of no return with trees. Once you hit a certain level, human's will not be able to live here.
Well that’s just it - that’s what FSC was created to do - create standards of sustainability and then award certifications based on those criteria. I’m sure that part of that must be replanting trees, and harvesting at a lower rate than you’re planting. But as I say in the video, I don’t know enough about their certification requirements to comment in great detail on that system. And African woods are certainly a bit more of a gamble.
Thank you!! I just posted another today discussing the sustainability of woodworking as an industry, if that interests you! I’m really looking forward to bringing my process to more people who appreciate it :)
