We may receive a commission when you use our affiliate links. However, this does not impact our recommendations.
The December issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine (#229) just mailed to print subscribers, will be emailed to digital subscribers late today or tomorrow, and is now live in our online store. There are a lot of great features in this issue, including plans for the first-ever accurate reproduction of the little candle stand at Hancock Shaker Village, and a look at why nail haters should really give the fastening method another chance. There’s even a primer on getting started with CNC – hey, don’t point that perfectly sharpened chisel at your screen, you really can keep computers and hand tools in the same shop (if you want to).
This issue also features a profile of woodworker JoJo Wood, and it’s really worth checking out. Much about the young Brit flies in the face of conventional assumptions about woodworkers: As a 20-something, she’s younger than your average dovetailer, she sports ginger dreadlocks instead of a graying coif and she’s…well, she’s a she. (Some of my favorite woodworkers are women, but that Norm Abram stereotype sometimes seems hardwired.) The issue features a striking look at her hand-carved spoons, as well as the chip-carved clogs that earned her Instagram love and media attention, including a write-up in Country Living Magazine and this lovely little film on Vimeo.
Wood’s an enduring testament to the craft’s universal appeal and a reminder that there’s room at the workbench for everyone – and that we need to leave the shop door wide open for young folks to wander in. In the article, writer Peter Follansbee dismisses folks tolling woodworking’s death knell and ignoring artisan-minded millennials hungry for authentic experiences. Offerman Woodshop’s RH Lee seconds this idea in December’s End Grain – she teaches woodworking at California State University, Long Beach, and discusses her experience sharing time with young, eager minds.
Whether you’re a seasoned craftsman with decades of shop experience, or a youthful green thumb looking to make something with your hands, the December issue has plenty to engage your mind and your hands.
Check out JoJo Wood, RH Lee and more in the December issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine.
Here are some supplies and tools we find essential in our everyday work around the shop. We may receive a commission from sales referred by our links; however, we have carefully selected these products for their usefulness and quality.
