Summer time is for flowers!

        Summer time is for flowers! For us at Yosemite Goat's Woodworking we love flowers too! As a result, one of our favorite items to make (and sell) are vases. When we first started out with a simple lathe, we made many, many simple dry flower vases. They were all fun to make and we were learning out to use the lathe. While at Humboldt State University, I purchased some large test tubes for a piece of driftwood I found. The result was a cool vase. Today we continue to dabbled with larger vases with glass tubes. For some reason our early designs were not up to par and they were not a hit. Plus they are hard to make while drilling a long straight hole. So we went back to making cool vases similar to the few I made at college.

      Today we continue to make free standing vases from local woods, primarily manzanita. The intricate colors and designs in the manzanita wood compliments both glass and flowers! After three years of making vases, these are truly the best we make. We are always making more, so check in or ask if you are interested in one!

This great manzanitia vase is featured on Etsy.

Adjusting Antique Style Pepper Mills

After having a few questions about how to adjust my Antique Style Pepper Mills I thought a good idea would be a quick explanation on how they work. We use ours often and typically keep the size on a finer setting for the dinner table. On occasion we will loosen the bottom bracket when adding straight into a pasta sauce or curry. 

 Classic Mills are adjusted on top, as are these. 

The difference, these have two dials, the bottom adjusts coarse to fine. 

The top keeps tension on the bottom dial so you do not have to adjust as often.  

    

 

 

Classic Mills often self adjust when they are turned unless there is an internal spring

that keep the tension on the grinding mechanism at the base of the mill.

 

Summer and Spring of 2013

          This Spring and Summer will be a busy time for me. I have decided to forgo another summer field season in Yosemite National Park. Over the past three summers I have worked as a Hydrologist in the Park. During my time in Yosemite I have met many wonderful people, traveled many amazing trails and made many memories. This summer season though, I plan to spend more time at home with my wonderful lady and concentrate on Yosemite Goat's Woodworking.



       This past winter I have concentrated my efforts on my position at Dodge Ridge running the Children's Ski School Program. It was a wonderful position with a specific role. During the winter I met many wonderful people at the resort and look forward to another successful season in the winter to come.

        Now that the ski season has come to a close, I am ready to come full swing into summer. This summer I plan to attend a good many of craft fairs and local farmers markets. To attend so many shows I will need a great number of products. I am excited to say that I have purchased a last key component to the wood shop which will aid in my product production,  a dust collector. We (Yosemite Goat's Woodworking Team) purchased a 2hp cyclone dust collector. This dust collector's main purpose is to suck the dust from the many tools we use. Mainly to keep the shop cleaner and prevent any types of respiratory issues.

   I have truly enjoyed making many of the unique items found at Yosemite Goat's Woodworking, as well as expanding into new ideas in which folks bring to me.  Currently we are building our stocks of product and preparing for a wonderful and successful summer. This summer my goal is to focus on the items we currently sell and maintain those as our main source of products.
   
    The first event we attended of the spring was the Sonora Celtic Faire. This was a fun event that brought many smiles to us. Many folks truly enjoy our items and love to hear the stories of where the woods come from and how I, or my father, make the many items. Yosemite Goat's Woodworking will be at many local events, a few local galleries, and if requested, perhaps a short to your community event would be a fun trip! My next post will be a basic post outlining my summer season. Keep in touch!

Wood items at Yosemite Craft Bazaar

        I look forward to attending the 2012 Yosemite Craft Bazaar. This is the only Christmas Craft show I will be attending based upon my commitment to Dodge Ridge Ski Resort. I have been hired as the Children's Program Manager and not knowing what the weather would be like, I did not schedule any other events for the Christmas Holidays. Dodge Ridge had me busy for many days during the hiring process and I did not have the time for constructing items pre-holiday season.
        I do have a fair number of items for a wonderful hobby that my father and I truly enjoy partaking. Wood working is still a good excuse to wander the woods looking for unique items in nature and bring them to a wonderful home. Not to mention we at Yosemite Goat's Woodworking are able to craft our quirky creativity into action!

       This year the bowls made from Yosemite Goat's woodworking has taken off in comparison to last holiday season. Last year I believe I had 3 or 4. This past year we have sold close to 75 bowls!! We have also expanded into the pepper mills and lamps. During the Yosemite Christmas Craft Bazaar I am happy to say I have a number of very cool items that will not last long, so be sure to stop by and pick up what you are looking for early. At this time I will have 6 lamps, 8 cribbage boards, a number of candle holders and about 20 bowls. My pepper mills are being ordered daily, I hope to have a few more soon! My ultimate goal is to see smiles on everyone's face that comes by to say hello. Perhaps even walk away with an item or two in their bag!







    If you happen to read this before arriving at the craft show, let me know what you think of my blog and my work. I am always looking for feedback and ideas to "make" thing even better!

Thanks for stopping by- Scotty