Splinters with Gary Rogowski
This podcast series is a look at furniture building from a veteran maker, designer, and author. The episodes are practical, philosophic, witty, and irreverent. Gary was a former contributing editor at Fine Woodworking Magazine, and founded The Northwest Woodworking Studio, A School for Woodworkers, in Portland, Oregon in 1997. He has no illusions about the value of this work in today’s culture of fast and furious and disposable. Making art, building furniture, is work that is useless and beautiful, and necessary for those who produce it. Creativity feeds the soul like nothing else can.
- Update frequency
- every 17 days
- Average duration
- 17 minutes
- Episodes
- 133
- Years Active
- 2018 - 2025
Hand Tools vs. Power Tools
What tools do you always carry to work? Is it all in one sector or another? There is a middle ground for woodworkers who both seek quiet at the bench and results at the end of the day.
Flow
The ease with which you produce work depends upon how smooth your flow is at the bench. The distractions you allow, the interruptions you permit or block, all contribute to your success. Achieving fl…
Purpose vs. Intenet in Design
An episode in which we discuss the idea of purpose vs. intent in a design. This difference is that between the absolute basic functional requirements of a piece and its plan to entice, soothe, or beg…
Glue Changes Everything
Glue changes everything in an assembly. An assembly that has gone together dry several times with no mishaps, no errant angles, no parts stuck in odd places, now, with the introduction of glue, can b…
Gift Giving Guide
Here are some gift ideas certain to please every woodworker. Or ones that will make a great list to place where your gift giver can see and seize the Aha! moment.
My Top Ten Tools to Take to a Desert Island
Which tools are the most necessary at the bench? There are so many choices and limiting it to just ten of them makes for hard decisions. Learn what makes the cut in this episode.
The Woodworker in Captivity
Come with us to observe the Woodworker in Captivity. They are a shy proud and circumspect beast. Approach with caution, perhaps with beer, but always with a healthy respect as we spy on their unusual…
What Is Sharp
Learn about the methods for sharpening. Sharp tools cut better and cleaner. And if you cut yourself with one you heal up faster too.
Accuracy Drives Me Nuts
Everyone has standards of accuracy. What are the ones that you can adopt that won’t drive you crazy trying to be perfect? Give a listen to this podcast on being accurate and how it can affect your ti…
The Top 5 Machines in the Shop Not Named the Table Saw
A furniture maker needs several machines to build their work. But a table saw isn’t one of them.
Splinters I Have Known
Splinters are a sad and pointed part of a woodworker’s life. Reminders of several truths to be found at the bench. There are the attractions of wood, its beauty, its luster, and its grain. And then t…
Which Wood, Why
Your choice of wood can make a difference to your happiness in the shop. Learn about the differences between hardwoods, ring porous vs. diffuse and semi-ring porous woods, and how grain will affect t…
Handmade
Our very first podcast opens with a chat about the new book by Gary Rogowski called Handmade: Creative Focus in the Age of Distraction. www.handmadecreativefocus.com. Gary is a furniture maker, autho…