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.
Old Machines, New Machines, and the Quiet Math of a Working Life
Every machine in a working shop carries its own math — the cost, the risk, the payoff, and the lessons learned. This Ramble looks at the old cast‑iron tools I rebuilt, the new machines that expanded what’s possible, and the decisions that shaped the way I work. From a tuned General 490 to a SuperMax drum sander to the Laguna Revo 24|36 that opened the door to bigger, more creative projects, it’s a story about choosing the right tools, understanding their limits, and letting them push the craft forward.
Shop Life
Shop life is a mix of smooth mornings and sudden chaos — lost tools, kickbacks, forgotten plans, and the small moments that shift a day from normal to “oh, fuck.” This Ramble looks at the humour, frustration, and timing that shape a working day, and the quiet skill of knowing when the day is done.
Mini Kitchen
A forgotten Coleman stove, a tailgate kitchen build, and a season of hard news shaped this Ramble. It’s a story about repair, distraction, memory, and the quiet work of staying steady when life shifts — how a small project became a lifeline, and how building kept me moving when the world felt still.
Old Cedar
The cedar we tore off the old decks looked finished — soft, rotten, and ready for the dump. But once the boards dried and the first passes through the planer cut through the weathered surface, the wood showed tight grain, rich colour, and old‑growth strength. This Ramble follows the reclaimed cedar from demolition pile to Muskoka chairs, tracing the milling, the grain, the lessons with Leo, and how fifty‑year‑old lumber found a second life.
The World Runs on Pencils
Pencils disappear in every shop — buried in dust, stuck behind ears, dropped in tool piles, or sharpened down to nothing. Yet nothing starts without one. This Ramble follows the hunt for the perfect point, the belt‑sander sharpening ritual, the borrowed pencils that never return, and why the smallest tool in the shop quietly holds everything together.
How to Arrive at Perfect
A Quiet Story about tear‑out, stubborn boards, and the moment every woodworker learns that perfection isn’t found in flawless cuts — it’s found in embracing the imperfect work that real wood demands.
The Power of Lazy
A Quiet Story about the autobody lesson that shaped a lifetime of woodworking — why “lazy” workers often produce the smartest, cleanest, and most reliable work, and how slowing down became one of the most valuable skills in the shop.
Knotty Dave’s Fine Woodworking
“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
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
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
Cabinetry is the part of the craft most people never think about — the structure behind the stories, the bones that make every room behave. This collection isn’t a sales pitch; it’s a look inside the work. The boxes, the reveals, the hinge lines, the geometry, the discipline. Kitchens, cottages, commercial counters, architectural rooms — all photographed honestly, exactly as they live in the world. Sixteen builds that show the quiet side of woodworking: the engineering, the problem‑solving, the precision, and the moments of craft that only appear when you’re standing at the bench. If you want to understand how the work actually happens, this story is the foundation.
HEIRLOOM FURNITURE BUILDS
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.