Passion Nook

Every workshop needs a few good hand tools. One trip to the home improvement or hardware store and you'll see that there are plenty from which to choose. So, how do you wade through all the options and end up with what you need? We need to start with the basics.

Woodworking involves the regular and intensive use of tools; tools that could cut, drill or scrape something else instead of the wood. To be sure that that something else does not happen to one of your digits or maybe even your entire hand or arm, it is prudent for you to proactively practice some common sense safety precautions so that your woodworking task becomes an enjoyable experience.

No woodworking project can be a success without doing some measuring and some laying out of parts. There are an amazing variety of tools from elegant and high tech to ugly and low tech to get the job done. The most important thing is accuracy.

Just as there are a lot of power saws, there are a lot of hand saws. Most of us are familiar with the big hand saws our parents kept around the house and hardly ever used. A really skilled woodworker can make perfectly straight cuts with a big hand, the rest of us save hand saws for some specialized tasks.

Despite the introduction of many recreational mental games, the ubiquitous jigsaw puzzle remains a lasting favourite with many people. These have been around for a long time and generally are introduced to small children so as to improve their sense of colour, orientation and general logic.

When I first saw an enamel on metal piece by Keith Haring & LA II at a Christies auction, my first question was, "Who the heck was LA II". The estimated auction price range was $40,000- $60,0000, and the detailed mass of squiggly lines and disorganization in the piece did not seem to reflect the normal range of Keith Haring.