Welcome to the home of woodbutchery and shop talk. It'll take you a while to wander through all of the pages, but you shouldn't get lost. This site is arranged so you rarely have to go more than three levels deep to follow all of my ramblings (well, maybe in my tool list area or the Norm's Tools area, but if you get to either place, you're a tool junkie and don't care if you ever get back).

After you've awakened from the nap my essays put you in, check out the Links Page. I don't have a lot of links; just a few that you may find interesting or useful.

You can usually get back to this page by clicking on the Back to Main Page link at the bottom of each page (except in Norm's area), but since you usually can't go more than three levels down, the back button on your browser should easily manage site maneuvering.

I actually have a
• testimonial
for your edification if you're wondering whether continuing to read this page is worth your while.

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Ffwwwweeeeeeppp!!! (whistling sound)

Hey!
site map here.

If you are not used to linear webpage design, you might want to check out the site map to help you navigate. This main page is long and there are a lot of articles. Sometimes, particularly on those rare repeat visits, it's just easier to use the site map. But I hate for you to miss the homey introductions to all of the articles.

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Graphics

Everyone who hates slow-loading, graphics intensive pages raise your hands.

Oops. That should have been “mines up too,” but with my right hand up, that's all I could type. Anyway, early on I installed thumbnails on all of the pages that have graphics (except for the tool pictures in Norm's Tools, however, there are usually no more than two pics per page in that area, and it's a page you're requesting so the philosophy is different). So pages should load quickly, and all you have to do is click on any thumbnail to get a larger sized image.

Also, I have included text with the thumbnail command that displays a label on your monitor if you rest the mouse cursor over the thumbnail. Sometimes it may be just the name of the picture, but sometimes there's other potentially useful information. I think this is called touch-help, but I'm not sure.

I hope this makes life easier for you. If I missed one, please let me know. In fact, please let me know about any broken link.

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Now, before anyone else using the nom de web of Woodbutcher has apoplexy over its appearance here, let me assure you that:

• it's been used in conjunction with woodworking for a lot longer than most potential complainants have been around
  
  
• I've been using it on the web and in the newsgroups for more than 5 years, and I don't feel I can make exclusive claims to it, and neither should you
  
  
• therefore, it's quite clear it's in the public domain, and I'll be pleased to explain that to your lawyer for a small fee of $500 $1000 (inflation).

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Say, what is
• woodbutchery
anyway?




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Before using any power tools, let's talk about shop safety…

Does that have a familiar ring? It's Norm Abram's introduction to a safety reminder that is included in every New Yankee Workshop. I never get tired of hearing it. Especially if I think it will keep one finger in place, or one cornea un-scratched, or one…well, you get the idea. Here is a
• safety
article I stole from an excellent website that has its own safety mission. Check the links page below to go to it (after you finish looking at all my stuff).

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Note: The
• Norm's Tool Inventory
formerly located here has a new home. The link will redirect you automatically, or you can just click directly on
• NormsTools.com.

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By the way, the #1 most asked question from newcomers on the internet is, “what does SWMBO mean?” The term is used so much, it usually shows up a lot in searches, so if you do a search you may get so many responses you might not be able to get at the root of it. You may be assured that everyone who encounters it asks, at least to themselves, “what does it mean,” but most wait until someone else asks it. Still want to know? Click
• SWMBO
for the answer.

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If you'd like to know a little bit about me, I have several brief biographies that I've written:

•   one slanted toward
• amateur radio


•   another written for my
• woodworking
friends


•   and another based on the
• aviation
side of my life.


•   I've recently added details on my
• air traffic control history
which will almost certainly be of interest only to hard core ATC grunts.


•   Years ago (mid '90s) I had a tape made of the last part of a rush I had just worked. I recently converted it to an MP3 file and have put it on my new webpage
• TheBigSkyTheory.com
. I've also done a transcript for easy read along, as well as a couple of maps to help picture where things were going on. It's not animated—I'm not good enough for that—but it'll help give you an idea what ATC was like by a grizzled veteran at the peak of his game. And, I have over 70 short tales relating to people I know and things we did, as well as twelve (so far) chapters of my Life in ATC.

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Although this may sound heretical, man does not live by woodworking alone. Here is a page that describes some of my other
• hobbies and trophies.

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Okay, enough about me. What makes my life worth living? Here's a
• sample.

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Well, there's something else, now, too. We bought a house in April, 2003, and started in on some serious remodeling. Finally, the tool collection starts to pay off. Take a look at

• This Old New House.

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Speaking of this old new house, I've cobbled together a project regarding the original. Take a look at
• This Old House.

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I've been retired since 1997 and every once in a while the thought crosses my mind to take up some employment for a little extra tool cash. Read this
• story
wherein I get a dose of reality.

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Have a skeleton in your family closet? I have an interest in genealogy, and look what I
• found.

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While you're waiting for some spectacular web page authoring, here's a simple way to cut a hole for your new
• router insert.

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That was one of the first articles I had for my webpage, and now it looks out of date with the addition of this article on
• router tables
, philosophy of design (instructions for upgrading the Hitachi M12V added). Also now has general opinions on choosing a router.

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Going through one's archives can be illuminating. I penned this
• Ryder Cup analysis
after the 2002 Cup at The Belfry in the UK. The lesson on ugly Americanism is more apt now than ever.

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You've heard the phrase “You can't make this stuff up.” Check out this
• small world story.

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Let's go slightly off woodworking for a moment. Want to know how to beat those

• annoying telemarketers?

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As long as we're off topic, let me offer up a piece that isn't mine, but makes a good read anyway. It's the original essay by Peter Egan of Road & Track about
• using the right tool.
If you've been on the internet more than about five minutes you'll probably recognize it having no doubt received a hacked up version from one of the forwarders you most likely know.

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Time for a rant, and an off-topic one at that. I am a
• minority
and I'm being discriminated against. Want to know how?

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Let's change the mood a bit. Ask any guy,
• “Ginger or Mary-Ann?”
You'll always get an answer. Here's why.

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Still slightly off woodworking, I have
• flying stories
to tell.

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If you have a
• Craftsman table saw
you might like to make it work a little better, right?

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Help! My new
• Delta tenoning jig
doesn't fit my Craftsman saw. Read why and what to do about it here.

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Regardless of what brand or model of table saw you have, a
• sliding cutoff table
will make your saw more accurate and more useful. Read how to make one here.

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Doing woodworking often entails doing some basic construction and electrical work to get the shop the way you want it. Here are some
• shocking
revelations about that.

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People sometimes use confusing terms to describe wiring components in an electrical project. Here is a
• colorful
explanation.

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Continuing the electricity theme, people sometimes wonder if there is an advantage to running their tools on 240V. This answer may give you a
• jolt.

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Winding up the electrical theme (ha, ha), here is an article with some things to consider when you're
• wiring
your new shop or rewiring your old one.

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There was a thread on a woodworking forum about metric measurements in the shop, and I was compelled to make some
• metric comments.

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I wrote an essay about the
• mental aspects
of woodworking. It appeared on one of the woodworking forums some time ago and received many nice comments.

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As if that wasn't enough of my mental essays, I wrote a
• follow-up.

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Heh, heh—mental. Just the right word to describe
• Lawn Mower Conversations.

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Need someplace to store all of your clamps? Try this blatantly stolen
• idea.

NB: I have since replaced this stand with
• a copy of Norm Abram's stand
which he built in/on The New Yankee Workshop.

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Not satisfied with having stolen one idea, here is a
• gift
that is fabulous; and stolen. If you don't look at any other articles on this page, take a look at this one.

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My perfidy knowing no bounds, apparently, I present a copy of The Scary Sharp(TM) story. In other words, stolen. If you don't know about
• Scary Sharp(TM)
you should check this out.

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I think everyone has family stories. You know, occurrences in the family that may not have been particularly funny at the time, but later take on legendary proportions. This is our
• Family Stories
page.
New Family Story added.

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Years ago I
• quit smoking.
I learned a lot from the experience that may be helpful to others, so I wrote an essay about it.

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One of my favorite activities (or annoying habits, depending on who is telling the story) is quoting lines from movies. Here are some of my
• favorite quotes.

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Okay, back to the woodworking essay mode. Here's one I wrote about tool
• reviews
in general, and one about a
• bench chisel review
• in particular.

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Those essays were followed by a metaphysical
• discussion
on why those reviews got my goat.

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Did you ever see a tool advertised with fancy gadgets and gee-gaws and wonder if they're any good? Take a look at an essay I wrote on the subject of
• gismo-ism.

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There was a recent thread about cleaning paint
• brushes
that led to this informative post.

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Being mostly a tinkerer and builder of shop accessories, I don't have much of a curriculum vitae of wookdworking accomplishments, but I do have one—my piece de resistance. I spent two years (off and on) building a
• sewing cabinet
for SWMBO.
"Plans" and construction details now included.

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Here is the
• shop tour
that I promised some of my woodworking friends...and myself.

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One of my friends on the internet had this to contribute about
• retirement.

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We probably all have an acquaintance that is new to the internet and have suffered through their internet-itis, that is an incessant stream of, well, read this
• guide sheet.
Feel free to cut-and-paste to send to all of your friends; it's in the public domain.

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I guess no webpage can be worthy of the name if it doesn't have a
• Links Page,
so here's mine.

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If you think of the Internet as a nearly endless series of pages, you will be interested in this link to the
• last page
on the internet.

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The Master Woodbutcher has a dark side. I've tried to keep everything upbeat on my site. I am basically a positive person and I have a good outlook on life. However, sometimes things rub me the wrong way. If you want to know what some of them are, check my
• pet peeves
list. Please don't leave after you've gone through these; go read a family story or something else on my site so you don't go away with a bad impression of me.

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So, there you are. Minimalist webpage authoring. No fancy code, no frames, no guest book. Just some of my rambling thoughts and a little of what I am about. Thanks for getting this far. Send me a note if you got something out of it. Also to tell me where the flaws and broken links are. Or to send me a check.

By the way, my webpage has been up for nearly ten years now and although I have gotten some nice notes from visitors and several folks have gently pointed out the odd error that may have crept in, I have yet to receive a check! What's up with that?

by Rod Peterson ©2000 All Rights Reserved