The Workshop Pages - Traditional Woodworking & Vintage Tool Use

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Backpacking Photos

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Photo taken at Rae Lakes in the Ansel Adams Wilderness, California in September 2004

Welcome to The Workshop Pages

Hello, my name is Steve Longley -- I'm pleased that you found my small corner of the internet .

This site is dedicated to some of my more esoteric interests, such as woodworking utilizing hand-tools and traditional methods of work, as well as my off-again-on-again stained glass hobby.

If you're interested in more about me, here is a link to my bio on the OldTools list.

First a riddle: How is a website like a workshop? Neither is ever finished! So, I will always be adding, subtracting and tweaking, so check back from time-to- time.


Featured Pages
• The Craftsman's Lounge This is a page with links to interesting reading, such as the Home Training in Cabinet Work above, and a couple of Project Gutenberg titles. As I find more ebooks or links to articles, this is where they will be. Contained in the Lounge is a new-old series of articles on cabinetmaker training written by Gustav Stickley. The series comes from the 1905 volume of The Craftsman Magazine and are entitled Home Training in Cabinet Work. In them he offers a variety of projects from a simple dog house to a complex library table and garden bench. If you own an early 20th century bungalow, or just enjoy the Arts & Crafts style, any of these projects would be right at home in your home. NEW I just added two new PDFs from this series that appeared in The Craftsman Magazine in November and December 1906. These Twentieth and Twenty-First articles in the series feature several tables and a hall bench. • Fine Woodworking Magazine Index If you have several boxes of Fine Woodworking Magazines at home like I do, then you may find this link helpful. I have set up a page that cross references the issue number with the date of each issue along with a link to the Fine Woodworking Table of Contents for that issue. • Inspiration The purpose of this page is to inspire you in your next project. Currently it is a bit furniture-heavy, but then... I like furniture! If you have a favorite site that I've not found yet, please let me know. • The Woodworker - A 1940 Film This pre-war film (10:42 in length) is one of a series of "Your Life's Work" vocational films aimed at assisting young men in choosing a trade. This film uses a partially built house to demonstrate the differences between rough and finish carpentry. The film then moves on to other woodworking trades such as mill worker, cabinetmaker, pattern maker, and furniture carver. There are some nice scenes of hand tool use and assembly techniques. • NEW* Wood for War - A 1942 Film* This Kodachrome color, World War II film (6:24 in length) extols the virtues and importance of forests and wood during wartime. Contains great photographs of vintage woodworking equipment, products, autos, and railroads in use. This pre-Smoky the Bear film also drives home the importance of being careful with fire.
Other Stuff
So, what's with the odd selection of other stuff links over on the left? Well I've been a volunteer, off and on, at the railroad museum at Fair Park in Dallas for more that 30-years. In fact that is where I gained an appreciation for old tools, traditional methods, and the work of master craftsmen of all disciplines. The backpacking photos are just that, photos that I took while pursuing my long-time hobby of backpacking. Most photos are from one of the "Big Trips" (~6-days out) that I do with some friends each Fall. In September 2006 our trip was from Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley - breathtaking scenery! As for the cabin, that is a recently completed project. My wife and I built (read: had others build) a rental cabin in Southeastern Oklahoma in the foothills of the Kiamichi Mountains. And the answer is yes to the question: Did you put together an old tools tool box for the cabin? Now I have an excuse to acquire an axe, an adz, etc., etc. Note: In an effort to strike a balance between text, images, and speed, I've set up most images as thumbnails to reduce page loading time. So, as you browse through the site, please click-to-load larger images that are of interest you.

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