Practical Woodworking & Gift Certificates!

A short entry for your Saturday evening:

A huge congratulations to Nancy, the Steves, the Matts, Brian, John, Jim, Mehmet (who came to us all the way from Istanbul), and Gary for being the newest Practical Woodworking graduates! After a week of seemingly overwhelming amounts of information and even more hard work, we have ten students (each still with 10 fingers) who should be nothing short of extremely proud of, and confident in, their woodworking skills. They started the week having their brains filled with wood theory and characteristics and, just a few days later, they have filled the shop with 10 beautiful red oak tables that will stand the test of time. We are lucky to have had the chance to spend the week with these wonderful people and we are hopeful they go on to create (and share) all the wooden masterpieces they can dream up!

In other news, we are happy to introduce JD Lohr School of Woodworking gift certificates in time for the holiday season! Are you a woodworker who has been taught by youtube videos and trial and error? Are you the spouse, parent, sibling, or friend of a woodworker that you are fairly certain runs the risk of losing fingers or limbs every time they head out to the shop? Practical Woodworking is a course built for these folks! What better gift that to give them the gift of a week on a farm learning practical, safe, and repeatable woodworking techniques and practices from a master?

Zero-experience through advanced woodworkers are welcome and encouraged to enroll. Students of all skill levels will walk away from the course with a guaranteed wealth of new information.

Please feel free to learn more about the gift certificates in our online school store!


Until next week, ladies and gentlemen. Check back for an update in the near future about the happenings of the Bigleaf Maple live edge coffee table as we start finishing the top and begin design/construction of it's base! Exciting!

What? Another Shreiner Log Delivery? YES!

Mr. Steve Shreiner has done it again! The alumni of the Lohr School of Woodworking are truly the cream of the crop. On Friday, we were lucky enough to see a Shreiner Tree Care log truck making it's way up the driveway. Rich, the greatest log truck driver in the land, arrived with a filled-to-the-brim load of beautiful logs. Cherry, Walnut, and Oak galore! We couldn't be more excited to receive such a wonderful delivery. We are grateful beyond words. Thank you Steve, Rich, and all those at Shreiner Tree Care!

Rich piloted the huge log-grabbing claw from atop the truck as we watched in awe from below. It was awesome to see huge logs lifted, moved, and twisted with such ease. Rich was up there sorting massive tree trunks; placing the smaller ones aside while he put the bigger ones where they'd be easier for us to move for saw milling. Jeff merely had to point to a space in the yard and, within seconds, Rich dropped the log in it's place. Our usual log-moving routine involves tractors, digging bars, gantries, and some serious muscle, so watching the Shreiner truck in action was a treat. I'm a lady, so I can say it was much like a ballet of log stacking.

It is often said around Lohr Woodworking that one of the best parts of working the wood from the source (log form) is that we are the first to lay our eyes on what is inside of a log when it's cut open. A tree spends it's entire life growing and forming it's rings and grain patterns and we are lucky to, not only reveal the natural patterns to the world but, create furniture that will present them to the human eye throughout the test of time. We now have a yard full of logs just waiting to reveal their inner grain patterns! I can't wait to see what our newest Shreiner logs has waiting for us.

As a new week begins, I can only assume that much if it will be spent at the saw mill breaking into our new goodies. We are excited to know that our saw mill, drying yard, and kiln will be operating at maximum capacity for the coming months. I want to send our greatest of thanks to Steve and Rich for all of their generosity, time, and stunning material! We are grateful to have the pleasure know these kind gentlemen. If you have any tree or landscaping needs, we can assure that you'll receive the utmost care, kindness, and dedication with Steve and the lovely people at Shreiner Tree Care.