Shop Notes & Rambles
The Rambles are the stories lived and learned over decades — the moments, the lessons, and the shop life that shaped the craft. They accumulate here, sorted by publish date. If you want the curated version, explore the Workshop Library.
Handcrafted Woodworking Gallery — The Work Behind the Story
“A woodworking story about design, intention, and the long arc of craft — paired with a gallery that shows the real work behind every table. Rough turning, solid‑wood glue‑ups, bent laminations, veneer layouts, and the finished pieces they become. From sawdust to polish, this page brings together the process, the discipline, and the tables that define Knotty Dave’s Fine Woodworking.”
Knotty Dave — The Story Behind the Name
I come from a line of makers — a cabinetmaker who survived his own storms, and a watchmaker who carved out a life with grit and charm. My father showed me what independence really looks like. Knotty Dave wasn’t born in a boardroom; it came from real work, real people, and a football field where a parent named me before I named myself. This is the story of the craft I inherited, the brand I built, and the world I’m shaping one honest cut at a time.
New Beginnings at Knotty Dave’s
At the end of 2025, the old way of working finally gave way to a new direction — a shift in the shop, the business model, and the future of Knotty Dave’s. This Ramble steps back into the moment everything quietly changed and the next chapter began.
🔥 THE HEARTH ROOM
Manitoba winter has a way of taking more than it gives — the kind of cold that settles into your bones and follows you home. This Ramble looks at the hearth room as an idea born from days like that: a warm refuge imagined against the wind, the snow, and the long fight ahead. A place to keep the cold outside.
🧱 THE CRAWL SPACE THAT’S GOING TO BREAK ME
A century‑old crawl space can humble anyone — and this one might break me before I fix it. A raw look at the ugly, necessary work beneath a prairie home on the edge of becoming something better.
HERITAGE RESTORATION
A prairie house with a past — likely built in the 1880s and moved across Manitoba — still stands with the stubborn bones time couldn’t break. A story about restoring what history left behind.
The Shift — Life Doesn’t Wait
A cancer diagnosis changes everything — including how you see time, work, and the craft that keeps you standing. This is a story about urgency, resilience, and building what matters now.
PHOTOGRAPHY — How a Camera Teaches You to See Craft
Photography teaches woodworkers to see craft differently — light, texture, proportion, and story. This Ramble traces how a Grade 11 darkroom shaped the way I see my shop today, and why a camera has become one of the most important tools in my workflow.
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 unseen side of woodworking — the jigs built for one impossible cut, the quiet fixes that keep a shop alive, and the forgotten tools rediscovered years later. Shop Projects is the problem‑solving, behind‑the‑scenes work that holds a real woodworking shop together.
Custom Cabinetry & Architectural Millwork — Structure, Craft, and the Work Behind Every Room
Custom cabinetry built across the world — kitchens, commercial counters, hidden doors, retail displays, and architectural rooms. A craft story about structure, precision, and the quiet engineering behind every finished space.
HEIRLOOM FURNITURE BUILDS — Solid Wood, Real Craft, and the Work That Lasts
Heirloom furniture is where the craft gets personal. These pieces aren’t products — they’re stories told in hardwood. Walnut, maple, elm, red oak, white oak… each chosen with intention, each photographed in real light, each built the way furniture should be built. This collection follows the long‑form side of the shop: the milling, the joinery, the grain decisions, the turning, the finishing, the delivery. Every photo is a chapter. Every detail is a promise. If Cabinetry shows the bones, this story shows the heart — the solid‑wood and high‑grade veneers, builds that define rooms, carry memories, and remind you why the craft matters.
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.