The Splinter Report: August 1st

Welcome to The Splinter Report, where I gather the assorted interesting and amusing things I’ve seen in the woodworking world. This week we’re looking at a wooden lightsaber handle, a strange band saw, and an unblinking cherub.

Tool News Quick Bites

Lots of new stuff at Rockler: This week I received a press release with a whole bunch of new stuff at Rockler, including but not limited to the “Rockler Jig-It Shelf Pin Drilling Jig, Rockler All-Terrain Mobile Base, Rockler Steak Knife Hardware Kit, Rockler Low-Profile Straightedge System and several others designed specifically for woodworkers.” Rockler tends to have a lot of good stuff, so if any of that caught your attention, be sure and check it out.

Poll Results: Pie Safe vs Deck Chair

In a result that wasn’t too surprising (to me at least), the Titanic deck chair was the clear project preference in last week’s poll. I’ll have to do something like that again soon.

Local Oddity: Why is it looking at me? Edition

I’m generally not much of an ornamentation guy when it comes to my woodworking. My tastes run decidedly mid-century modern. Over the years though, I’ve really grown to appreciate the skill involved with carved details and corbels. Carved cherubs on a table however… well, you’ve lost me. I prefer furniture that doesn’t make eye contact with me when I look at it.

Frankly, this baroque-esque table has way too much going on, regardless of the level of craftsmanship. The last thing I want to do is crack my knee on a cherub’s face when I’m walking down the hall to the bathroom at night. Pass.

Random Reddit: Haven’t Seen That Before

I’ve seen a lot of different types of band saws over the years, but his one is new to me — a Sears/Craftsman model with a tilting head. Doing a bit of research, it sounds like this style of saw is more common in industrial settings, but almost no one has brought them to the consumer market. Definitely a cool find, and hopefully they’ll get good use out of it.

I impulsively bought this band saw for $100. Good buy or am I wasting my time?
byu/tgoodri inwoodworking

Video of the Week: The Force Is Strong With This One

Turns out that a lot of us across the various woodworking brands are huge nerds (I almost shared an 8′ Gandalf statue from Reddit instead of the band saw). This video here is a project right up our alley: a wooden lightsaber. Unlike the lightsaber walking stick we published a few years back, this project aims to recreate an accurate lightsaber hilt. It’s fun to see the process of figuring things out and troubleshooting along the way.

Anything interesting I missed this week, or that you want me to highlight in a future Splinter Report? Let us know on social media or drop me an email at cknoff@aimmedia.com.