My name is John Barlow. But you can call me John2Handy. I am retired, but still work part time as a handyman, jack of all trades (that don’t require a license) and even some of those off the record occasionally. Maybe more of a Do It Yourselfer. Oh and a consultant. I’m often ask how to do, or what to do with a special little problem. So Please, feel free to ask me what I think. If I don’t already know a little about it ” I know a guy” who probably does.
I had a General Contractors License in Utah and Arizona for a few years. (over 15 years ago). I have been around construction generally most of my life. I worked in a hardware store as the Assistant manager for 12 years, so I learned a few things along the way about tools and hardware and building products. It is a fast paced industry, however, and materials, tools of the trade, and methods (and building codes) are always changing.
I have always been fascinated by things made from wood. People make some awesome things.
Even as a boy I would make wooden cars and trucks and airplanes. My brothers and I even made an entire logging town that covered half an acre for hauling corncob logs on trucks made from a 2×4, We made a paddle wheel power plant in the back yard ditch, power lines of willows and string, bridges, roads, and sand castle houses, pushed up by little wooden bulldozers. We even had an airport and wooden airplanes. “Those were the days, my friend.”
We made a lid guns, whistles, flippers, swords and knives, bows and arrows for Cowboys and Indian wars. Our imagination was limited only by the “natural resources” of willows, cedar trees, and weed stalks, corncobs and the woodpile of sawmill scraps.
My mom would get tears in her eyes telling of how when I was 7 years old I made a little box cart, hand card with wagon wheels and took it across town over two miles to the late season already picked over community garden and glean squash and cucumbers and other vegetables and drag my little harvest all the way back home to the family. Poor days for us back then but yes, good times.
When I got a little older and graduated to power tools I made wall shelves, a medicine cabinet, serving tray, a well lamp and jewelry boxes for the girls. I was always fixing things that could ( and probably should have) been junk.
But even now I save every little scrap of wood. You never know, you know? It might be just the right thing for something.
Besides being creative. enjoying the challenge, I have always gotten more motivation from doing things that I know people will really appreciate. Even when it was paying work, it was always more than just the money for me.
So that is my goal here. I want to share some ideas, hacks, methods, motivations with like minded people. Woodworkers Like You.
They won’t all be my own ideas. This will be a collection of things I find, like, use, discover, research, review, recommend or find interesting.
I see things occasionally on Pintrest or YouTube and think Wow! that was a cool idea. And then something else; Hey dude, that was MY idea already.
So do me a big favor and click the links and by all means tell me what you think about what I think.