Shop Notes & Rambles
Welcome to the quieter corner of the shop — the place where sawdust settles, thoughts wander, and stories take shape. These rambles capture the rhythm of the work, the lessons learned, and the craft that holds it all together.
Shop Ramble Mailing List
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Shop Ramble Mailing List 〰️
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PHOTOGRAPHY
A Ramble about how photography shaped the way I see my woodworking — from a Grade 11 darkroom to the shop I work in today. This story explores the craft of noticing: the textures, the tools, the moments worth saving, and the way a camera turns everyday work into something lasting. Photography isn’t a side hobby. It’s how I document the builds, honour the craft, and capture the stories behind every cut.
THE SHOP
A look inside my one‑person heritage woodworking shop in Winnipeg — built wall by wall, bench by bench, and now shared with my son as he learns the craft. This Ramble explores the upgrades that shaped the space: the Walnut Wagon, the precision MFT bench, and the second‑generation lumber rack that finally worked. It’s a story about evolution, problem‑solving, and the small shop where chaos becomes clarity and every project finds its place.
THE PAVILION PROJECT
A backyard pavilion isn’t a project — it’s a place where heritage, craft, and a century‑old Canadian cookstove come together to build a space with real soul.
SHOP PROJECTS
A look inside the side of woodworking most people never see — the jigs built for one impossible cut, the forgotten tools rediscovered years later, and the small fixes that keep a shop alive. Shop Projects is about the quiet work: the problem‑solving, the repairs, the one‑hit‑wonder jigs, and the private satisfaction that happens when no one’s looking. These are the hidden chapters that hold the craft together.
CABINETRY
From architectural built‑ins and hidden doors to commercial jewellery counters, granite‑top transaction desks, cottage islands, modern kitchens, and gloss‑white reception cabinetry, this collection shows the full range of professional woodworking and custom cabinetry built in Manitoba. Sixteen projects — residential, commercial, retail, and medical — each designed for durability, precision, and long‑term performance. If you’re looking for high‑skill custom cabinetry, architectural millwork, or commercial‑grade woodworking that blends design with craftsmanship, this story delivers it.
HEIRLOOM FURNITURE BUILDS
This story is told in images as much as words. Every photo in this collection is a chapter — solid walnut pedestals built from staves, a twelve‑foot red oak dining table stained dark, a maple mantel that proves simplicity can still be heirloom, elm pedestals turned clean for a starburst games table, walnut stair rails waiting for glass, and a twelve‑foot oval walnut top finished in the shop hours before delivery. Nothing here is staged. These are real builds photographed in real light, exactly as they lived in the shop and in the homes they were made for. If you want to understand the work, scroll the images. They carry the story as clearly as the grain itself.
The Knotty Year‑End Scrapstravaganza
A year of jobs leaves a year of scraps — walnut, maple, oak, elm, all piled up in the shop once the work is gone and the projects are living their new lives elsewhere. Every November, those leftovers get a second chance. Scrapstravaganza is the annual tradition of turning off‑cuts into a tight batch of end‑grain cutting boards: sorted, glued, planed, sanded, and finished into lifetime pieces that were almost firewood.