Another good resource

If your work requires use of leather, you're probably aware of its high cost. After suffering from sticker shock at prices from woodworking sites and local upholsterers, we turned to eBay. There we found a well-rated seller, Kyson's leather, and bought an entire cowhide, large enough for four desktops, for less than the cost of leather for a single desktop from other sources.

Our piece, unfortunately, had a slash in a bad location, but the seller took the whole hide back, and replaced it, without our having to pay any additional charges. They now sell from their own website, as well as on eBay, and are well worth looking into, if you use leather for any of the work you do.

A very special supply source

Many years ago, there was a store called Constantine's, located in the Bronx. I was fascinated by their catalogue, which contained all sorts of exotic woods and veneers, and well as beautiful pre-made marquetry that could be inserted into a project. I was not yet working with wood, but wanted to replace the caned seat of an antique rocker, and bought all the supplies--cane, spline, and good instructions--from them.

I was distressed to learn that they had relocated some years ago to Ft. Lauderdale, but was fortunate to be able to visit their store last summer. What a treat! I fell in love with a piece of light blue birds eye maple veneer, but resisted the temptation, and settled for some dyed red and black veneer instead. Since they sell their stock by the piece, you can buy just what you need, and they are very responsive to special requests.

Take a look at their offerings--you never know when you'll need something really unique.

Currently in a dry spell

My latest experiment fizzled--just wasn't worth the effort, and I'm trying to muster up the energy to get going on a new lamination. What with the deck needing a new railing, and other time-consuming stuff like that, I'm just not working at the same pace. And given my space limitations, I'm trying to move forward with each new piece and make it special, and sometimes "inspiration" is slow in coming.

On the positive side, the edits for the new book have finally begun, and I saw a copy of the proposed cover today. It looks really nice, and as soon as I'm cleared to "go public" I'll post it here first. It's interesting that the photography and cover precede the text, so they can get going on the promotion for the book.

Thanks for your patience--I will definitely get going again soon.

A new woodworking site

I was recently interviewed about the bowl book, for a new woodworking site, Ravinheart Renditions. The site's just been launched, but should develop into something really nice. Check it out if you get a chance.

Sanding sleeve solution--partly successful

When sanding anything with edges, the openings in the sanding sleeves for the round inflatable sander tend to catch and tear. I was able to fix this problem, using blue tape, with the coarsest sleeve, which is closed when new, but the fix did not work with the others. So, I limped along, trying to limit the damages to one set of sleeves. I like the bowl, but it certainly presented a challenge.