A bird, a daughter & a garbage can
Welcome back to the ongoing saga of how I became a woodcarver.
Don Wilkinson
Don is a proud Yukoner and avid woodworker with a keen sense of humour.
Articles by Don Wilkinson
Goosing My Career
This is my third and final article relating to my career in carving.
Carving a Career
The year 1967 was one filled with many important events. The Six Day War began and ended appropriately enough― in six days. The Beatles released Eleanor Rigby and the Toronto Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup for the last time. Ever!
Blitzkrieg To-The-Sea
For most people, carving is a solitary pursuit. Time spent alone down in the basement or out in the shop - and at least once - sitting on the couch in the living room watching the woodchips, sawdust and shavings fall to the floor while listening to the soft swish as a razor sharp gouge slices cleanly through a block of butternut or basswood.
Valentine’s
By the time you receive this long anticipated issue of Canadian Woodworking, it will be February, the month of love when every woodworker’s thoughts turn to one thing: “What an incredibly stupid holiday!”
A Woodworkers Christmas
The Christmas season is often the busiest time of year for any company and a woodworking shop is no exception.
Collectors Are A Strange Breed
Walk into any woodworking shop in any basement or garage, and you’ll notice one inescapable fact – woodworkers are inveterate collectors.
Oh, to build a canoe
For many years I wanted to build a cedar strip canoe; primarily because they were inexpensive to build, and (for several months) my shop was too cold for customers to use. Plus, I needed a project that would keep me moving around enough that I wouldn’t freeze to death.
The great Canadian invention
Over the course of man’s reign on earth he has managed to create several fairly decent items to make his living a little easier or more enjoyable. Most of these creations have been made from at least one of four major material groups: stone, metal, plastic or glass.
Jerry Has An Idea
Jerry had an obsessive-compulsive personality. In behavioural psychology circles he would be termed “loony as a fruit bat.”
Smokin’ In the Woodshop
Every once in a while you come across someone who takes their enthusiasm to the extreme, no matter how incompetent they may be.
Tools We Love
For those of us who work with wood, there is at least one particular tool that is a favourite, a tool that we reach for more than any other.
Tools of the Trade
There is a maxim to do with woodworking that we all know, and must heed, and prepare for. Okay, it’s not really a maxim but it should be. I call it, ‘Wilk’s Maxim of Woodworking’.
Installation from HELL
I’m sure we have all had projects in which nothing has gone right. Often, those projects end up in the scrap heap or in the woodstove.
Projects from Hell
In most businesses and endeavors, there always comes a time you will refer to as, "the _____ from hell."
Some Days
Some days it doesn’t pay to get out of bed.
