A dovetail gauge is used when marking out dovetails, of course. It certainly isn’t required – a sliding T-bevel, or some other angled or adjustable square can be used. The advantages of a gauge like this, however, are it’s lack of adjustability, and it’s light weight. It isn’t larger than the job requires, and that makes it easier to hold in place when marking out the work.

Like most squares, this tool has a stock (made of a dark hardwood here, “wenge” I believe) that butts up against the workpiece, and a blade that serves as a guide for a pencil or scribing tool. One blade is angled, for marking out the tails (in this photo, the tails are marked out – the shaded areas will be removed, leaving the tails between) and the other blade is square to the stock. Drawing square lines along the endgrain of the workpiece is another common task when laying out dovetails, so it is convenient to have the two blades on one tool.

The time I spent making this wasn’t trivial, but it was pleasant work. The brass stock was already a uniform width. Using a sliding T-bevel and a steel scribe, I marked the lines, then cut close to the mark with a hacksaw. I finished each edge by filing to the line, then dressing them with emery paper. I don’t recall the exact steps I used to mount the blade, but most likely I clamped them together and drilled pilot holes through the brass and into the wood. Enlarging the holes in the brass a bit, to create clearance for the threads of the screws would make sense.

Luckily the time indoors was spent listening to engaged and engaging people talk about interesting things. How to build support for right-to-left languages when coding themes for WordPress, or how an exploratory learning model can be a better approach to software design.

WordPress 3 is going to be the bomb, no doubt.

The Cook’s Illustrated team came up with a very effective bagel recipe for the home kitchen. When I use it, I deviate from the instructions in two ways. I knead the dough by hand since I don’t have a KitchenAid mixer, and I don’t use high gluten flour, instead concocting my own by adding some Bob’s Red Mill vital wheat gluten to King Arthur’s bread flour.

Eight bagels doesn’t seem like a huge reward for the effort involved, but once you have been through the process two or three times, it is fairly simple. A mixer would help, since the dough is very stiff.

Since the formed bagels are refrigerated for eight hours before the boiling and baking, the work is divided into two short sessions. That means you can have freshly baked bagels for breakfast in about thirty minutes.

arcosanti, originally uploaded by normnode.

Arcosanti – a cool, futuristic bee hive city in progress. Not very far from Phoenix, AZ. http://www.arcosanti.org/ for more information.

The processing of Kodachrome is more complicated, but hopefully someone is on that project, somewhere….

So, I plan to figure out how to make a simple astrolabe, and try it out sometime in the next few days.

The problem it solves? Letting the followers of your muffins know when fresh ones are ready. All without needing to dust off your hands to approach a computer. Turn a nob, press a button.

This video is a fine example of “explaining by showing.” No words needed. Just a pleasant jazz guitar. Nice.

BakerTweet from POKE on Vimeo.

Iphone Paper Dock / Stand from Dessine moi un objet on Vimeo.

If you like, feel free to download and use them – consistent with the Creative Commons licensing of course.

A really nice cover design for a book I have never heard of.