Howdy ladies and gentlemen. It's time for our monthly series,13 Questions. Each person gets the opportunity to answer 13 random questions by me. Some of the questions are woodworking related, some are not, and some are off the wall.
Some of the questions will be the same for everyone and some will not, I have an ever-growing list of questions I will pick from.
I want to thank everyone that has already taken the time to reply to my private conversations about this and replied with their answers.
So let's get this shindig started!!
........................................................................................................................
13 Questions with @ScoutDog (June 2026)
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Q-1-Who is your favorite woodworker?
A- I have several, though for different (and self-evident), complementary reasons.
Sam Maloof comes to mind first as one who made his (long!) living beginning during the Depression. He had a need (furniture in the new home he shared with his wife), and he got to work with his own two hands. His organic craftsmanship was honed, recognized, and eventually in great demand all over the world for decades. Due to a lack of formal training, his elegant style was unencumbered by conventions of the day, and he made his own look, form, and functions.
Next, I'd say Paul Sellers because I admire his style that compels people who have never lifted a plane to start woodworking. He has impacted my appreciation of hand tools as well as my own style as an educator.
Finally, I'd say Bill Prickett as an English wood sculptor. I was simply enamored by the view of one of his works in a gallery in ~2016. I looked him up, and it showed me what is possible with the medium. Look him up!
Q-2- What’s your lucky number?
A- 18, and multiples thereof. It has significance among my family for many reasons.
42 is also a favorite due to its association with The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Know it? Great story!!
Q-3- What other hobbies besides woodworking do you have?
A- I collect old tools, books, and assorted cool older stuff. I admire craftsmanship that has been fading as manufacturing, mass production, and consumerism have taken prominence. I definitely think technology moves so quickly, and society along with it, that we stand to lose much of what distinguishes groups across the world and even humans from animals. The non-powered tools and methods are a welcomed respite from the fast-paced and noisy world all around us.
Q-4- With the rise of digital fabrication and new materials, where do you see woodworking heading in the next 10–20 years?
A- I see many old ways in decline. BUT, I have a strong sense that some dedicated few will keep alive certain aspects of previous approaches indefinitely. (Example: You can still get a full suit of armor made the old-fashioned way if you pay enough.) I'm certainly NOT opposed to time-saving power tools! I have several that I use regularly. The hand-hewn, one-of-a-kind craft items will simply continue to be novelties and exceptions rather than many people's ways of life or career choices.
Q-5- What are your favorite kinds of projects to do/make?
A- I like to start with naturally-occurring, tortured or gnarled pieces, or perhaps half-rotten and long-forgotten specimens, clean them up, and study them for their potential. Finding beauty in the odd pieces others may discard makes for a distinct end-result often met with ready success, largely due to the abstract nature and unexpected contours.
Q-6-What is your favorite movie of all time and why?
A- The Matrix. While there are so many great movies from diverse genres, none was more impactful then The Matrix. It came when I was at an impressionable age and seeking meaning after just burying a parent. The alternate "reality" presented in the movie helped me imagine that each person's reality is plastic and subject to change. In fact, we fashion our own every day.
Q-7-Do you like coffee? How do you take your coffee? Where do you usually get your coffee fix?
A- I do! With the Texas summers lasting 8.5 months per year, the hot stuff is redundant, if not deleterious. So, I like to mix lattes with soy, almond, or oat additions, but not too sweet. Iced London Fog is a favorite, partly because they're different at every place I've had one, and the inherent variety is illuminating.
Q-8- What’s the biggest lesson life has taught you?
A- Impermanence.
On this journey called LIFE: We are simply not promised tomorrow.
Change and loss are inevitable companions, even if irregular and unpredictable.
LOVE is simultaneously the vehicle, the fuel, and the one souvenir we can take with us at the end.
Therefore: Cherish love ALWAYS, engage with joy TODAY, and recall both frequently.
Q-9- What frustrates you about woodworking?
A- See Q-10 below. Perhaps frustration = pet peeves? In short, it's not the woodworking but the circumstances that limit my access to it or conditions that make it less fun or more dangerous.
Q-10-What are some of your woodworking pet peeves?
A- Sawdust. If not for that, I could perhaps keep my woodworking habit indoors (rather than in the garage). Plus, the weather is so warm for so long that garage work is sometimes too dangerous, not to mention uncomfortable. Hmmm: Maybe it's the heat I don't like?...
Q-11- Hamburger or Taco? and why?
A- Taco. Food (like life) is intensely personal and individual. While a burger may be customizable from patty to bun to toppings, there is one original form we all know, and it requires intentional departure in order to personalize. By contrast, a taco is open to interpretation at its core, and perfectly personal in any design one chooses to engage. Whereas a burger represents a fixed icon from a prior generation's excesses, a taco is more like a mirror of the preparer, or perhaps the environment from which they hale.
Q-12- What is one question you would like to ask me?
A- What is an ideal outcome of a woodworking project for you?
Q-13- How did you hear about Woodbarter, and what keeps you coming back?
A- When I was doing "market research" online, the most beautiful wood I could ever imagine came from images on WoodBarter. Perspectives here changed my appreciation, trajectory, and approach to woodworking, art, community, values, and old-fashioned problem-solving. I stayed and got more involved because of the people. The rules allow many to thrive in a civil forum with the capacity to squash those elements who try to change it to match their own toxic or ill-conceived attitudes. In its own way, it is a model of an idealized community, & Thank (all of) you for making WB what it is, and keeping it good and productive. :-)
Some of the questions will be the same for everyone and some will not, I have an ever-growing list of questions I will pick from.
I want to thank everyone that has already taken the time to reply to my private conversations about this and replied with their answers.
So let's get this shindig started!!
........................................................................................................................
13 Questions with @ScoutDog (June 2026)
........................................................................................................................
Q-1-Who is your favorite woodworker?
A- I have several, though for different (and self-evident), complementary reasons.
Sam Maloof comes to mind first as one who made his (long!) living beginning during the Depression. He had a need (furniture in the new home he shared with his wife), and he got to work with his own two hands. His organic craftsmanship was honed, recognized, and eventually in great demand all over the world for decades. Due to a lack of formal training, his elegant style was unencumbered by conventions of the day, and he made his own look, form, and functions.
Next, I'd say Paul Sellers because I admire his style that compels people who have never lifted a plane to start woodworking. He has impacted my appreciation of hand tools as well as my own style as an educator.
Finally, I'd say Bill Prickett as an English wood sculptor. I was simply enamored by the view of one of his works in a gallery in ~2016. I looked him up, and it showed me what is possible with the medium. Look him up!
Q-2- What’s your lucky number?
A- 18, and multiples thereof. It has significance among my family for many reasons.
42 is also a favorite due to its association with The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Know it? Great story!!
Q-3- What other hobbies besides woodworking do you have?
A- I collect old tools, books, and assorted cool older stuff. I admire craftsmanship that has been fading as manufacturing, mass production, and consumerism have taken prominence. I definitely think technology moves so quickly, and society along with it, that we stand to lose much of what distinguishes groups across the world and even humans from animals. The non-powered tools and methods are a welcomed respite from the fast-paced and noisy world all around us.
Q-4- With the rise of digital fabrication and new materials, where do you see woodworking heading in the next 10–20 years?
A- I see many old ways in decline. BUT, I have a strong sense that some dedicated few will keep alive certain aspects of previous approaches indefinitely. (Example: You can still get a full suit of armor made the old-fashioned way if you pay enough.) I'm certainly NOT opposed to time-saving power tools! I have several that I use regularly. The hand-hewn, one-of-a-kind craft items will simply continue to be novelties and exceptions rather than many people's ways of life or career choices.
Q-5- What are your favorite kinds of projects to do/make?
A- I like to start with naturally-occurring, tortured or gnarled pieces, or perhaps half-rotten and long-forgotten specimens, clean them up, and study them for their potential. Finding beauty in the odd pieces others may discard makes for a distinct end-result often met with ready success, largely due to the abstract nature and unexpected contours.
Q-6-What is your favorite movie of all time and why?
A- The Matrix. While there are so many great movies from diverse genres, none was more impactful then The Matrix. It came when I was at an impressionable age and seeking meaning after just burying a parent. The alternate "reality" presented in the movie helped me imagine that each person's reality is plastic and subject to change. In fact, we fashion our own every day.
Q-7-Do you like coffee? How do you take your coffee? Where do you usually get your coffee fix?
A- I do! With the Texas summers lasting 8.5 months per year, the hot stuff is redundant, if not deleterious. So, I like to mix lattes with soy, almond, or oat additions, but not too sweet. Iced London Fog is a favorite, partly because they're different at every place I've had one, and the inherent variety is illuminating.
Q-8- What’s the biggest lesson life has taught you?
A- Impermanence.
On this journey called LIFE: We are simply not promised tomorrow.
Change and loss are inevitable companions, even if irregular and unpredictable.
LOVE is simultaneously the vehicle, the fuel, and the one souvenir we can take with us at the end.
Therefore: Cherish love ALWAYS, engage with joy TODAY, and recall both frequently.
Q-9- What frustrates you about woodworking?
A- See Q-10 below. Perhaps frustration = pet peeves? In short, it's not the woodworking but the circumstances that limit my access to it or conditions that make it less fun or more dangerous.
Q-10-What are some of your woodworking pet peeves?
A- Sawdust. If not for that, I could perhaps keep my woodworking habit indoors (rather than in the garage). Plus, the weather is so warm for so long that garage work is sometimes too dangerous, not to mention uncomfortable. Hmmm: Maybe it's the heat I don't like?...
Q-11- Hamburger or Taco? and why?
A- Taco. Food (like life) is intensely personal and individual. While a burger may be customizable from patty to bun to toppings, there is one original form we all know, and it requires intentional departure in order to personalize. By contrast, a taco is open to interpretation at its core, and perfectly personal in any design one chooses to engage. Whereas a burger represents a fixed icon from a prior generation's excesses, a taco is more like a mirror of the preparer, or perhaps the environment from which they hale.
Q-12- What is one question you would like to ask me?
A- What is an ideal outcome of a woodworking project for you?
Q-13- How did you hear about Woodbarter, and what keeps you coming back?
A- When I was doing "market research" online, the most beautiful wood I could ever imagine came from images on WoodBarter. Perspectives here changed my appreciation, trajectory, and approach to woodworking, art, community, values, and old-fashioned problem-solving. I stayed and got more involved because of the people. The rules allow many to thrive in a civil forum with the capacity to squash those elements who try to change it to match their own toxic or ill-conceived attitudes. In its own way, it is a model of an idealized community, & Thank (all of) you for making WB what it is, and keeping it good and productive. :-)
