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One of our resident experts - Zach Dillinger - hasn't been around for awhile. The other day he started posting here again, so I went to his blog, which had not been posted too either for a long time. He writes his story of the past year here:
Zach's story
It seems he has a new daughter now, and has been doing other things than woodworking for the past year. He says he's back.
Zach - good to see you in here again! I am still enjoying your book! Sorry to hear it took so much out of you. I hope it is the success you intended it to be....... Surely you have a commission you need to be working on????
Skip
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(02-23-2018, 11:55 AM)Skip J. Wrote: One of our resident experts - Zach Dillinger - hasn't been around for awhile. The other day he started posting here again, so I went to his blog, which had not been posted too either for a long time. He writes his story of the past year here:
Zach's story
It seems he has a new daughter now, and has been doing other things than woodworking for the past year. He says he's back.
Zach - good to see you in here again! I am still enjoying your book! Sorry to hear it took so much out of you. I hope it is the success you intended it to be....... Surely you have a commission you need to be working on????
+1
I also see he is selling his books in S&S with autograph.
As of this time I am not teaching vets to turn. Also please do not send any items to me without prior notification. Thank You Everyone.
It is always the right time, to do the right thing.
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(02-23-2018, 11:55 AM)Skip J. Wrote: One of our resident experts - Zach Dillinger - hasn't been around for awhile. The other day he started posting here again, so I went to his blog, which had not been posted too either for a long time. He writes his story of the past year here:
Zach's story
It seems he has a new daughter now, and has been doing other things than woodworking for the past year. He says he's back.
Zach - good to see you in here again! I am still enjoying your book! Sorry to hear it took so much out of you. I hope it is the success you intended it to be....... Surely you have a commission you need to be working on????
Thanks Skip! It's been an interesting year or so. I'm definitely back in the saddle, though I have some things I need to take care of first... namely my filthy and horribly neglected woodshop. Got a good couple hours out there cleaning yesterday and made a real dent. It won't be long now. Pictures, if you can stand the mess, are here: http://eatoncountywoodworker.blogspot.co...-shop.html
After I get everything clean, I'll be making some new shop appliances before tackling anything bigger.
Zachary Dillinger
https://www.amazon.com/author/zdillinger
Author of "On Woodworking: Notes from a Lifetime at the Bench" and "With Saw, Plane and Chisel: Making Historic American Furniture With Hand Tools",
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(02-26-2018, 08:24 AM)ZachDillinger Wrote: Thanks Skip! It's been an interesting year or so. I'm definitely back in the saddle, though I have some things I need to take care of first... namely my filthy and horribly neglected woodshop. Got a good couple hours out there cleaning yesterday and made a real dent. It won't be long now. Pictures, if you can stand the mess, are here: http://eatoncountywoodworker.blogspot.co...-shop.html
After I get everything clean, I'll be making some new shop appliances before tackling anything bigger.
You're welcome Zach, good to have you back!
Yep - saw your post about your shop.... it kinda looks like my shop.... I need to do something....
So... once you're back to work, what's your 1st project?????
Do you mind (if not, that's ok) telling us what it was about writing the book that was so demanding????
I enjoyed the book a lot, I'll probably go back and reread it pretty soon....
If you feel comfortable with it (if not, that's ok) you can keep us up-to-date on your family too..... Steve has shown us his girls as they grew up and everyone here appreciated that....
Skip
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02-27-2018, 10:04 AM
(This post was last modified: 02-27-2018, 10:09 AM by ZachDillinger.)
(02-27-2018, 09:28 AM)Skip J. Wrote: You're welcome Zach, good to have you back!
Yep - saw your post about your shop.... it kinda looks like my shop.... I need to do something....
So... once you're back to work, what's your 1st project?????
Do you mind (if not, that's ok) telling us what it was about writing the book that was so demanding????
I enjoyed the book a lot, I'll probably go back and reread it pretty soon....
If you feel comfortable with it (if not, that's ok) you can keep us up-to-date on your family too..... Steve has shown us his girls as they grew up and everyone here appreciated that....
Skip, writing the book was demanding simply because I had to build six large scale, detailed pieces by hand in less than a year all while writing 176 pages of words, doing other work, and supporting a pregnant wife and then newborn. I usually do 2 or 3 pieces a year. Further, I had to extensively annotate, document, and plan out all the shots in advance (I took more than 5,000 pictures for six projects). I have almost a dozen notebooks full of notes, ideas, measurements, etc. When I build I usually just get into a flow and knock it out but you can't do that when building pieces for publication. It was simply the biggest, most draining, project of my life, and once I was done... the editing / reshoot process began. Worked with two outstanding editors, several friends who read the manuscript for me to make it the best it could be.
Writing a book is no mean feat. Basically, I took it for granted, assuming it would be like stringing together a dozen or so magazine articles. It was not.
I'm eager to write another woodworking book once I'm finished with my current book commitments (a novel under a pen name and a book about cars under my own name). I have some ideas of what to do.
My first real project, after cleaning, will be replacing some shop appliances that are worn out but that I lived with because I didn't want to stop to fix them. Then, probably, a new door for my basement just to test my stock prep and joinery skills. After that, depending on writing obligations, I may turn my attention to a reproduction of an extremely elaborate 17th century Dutch display cabinet. Originally in ebony but I'll likely do ebonized walnut.
Zachary Dillinger
https://www.amazon.com/author/zdillinger
Author of "On Woodworking: Notes from a Lifetime at the Bench" and "With Saw, Plane and Chisel: Making Historic American Furniture With Hand Tools",
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(02-24-2018, 05:11 PM)Arlin Eastman Wrote: +1
I also see he is selling his books in S&S with autograph.
Hello Arlin.... yes, I got mine before the autographs......... oh well....
I'll just say this about that, if you ever wondered about anything or everything that is in the process to build authentic with handtools, it's in there, nothing is left to the imagination...
Skip
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Ah well Zach, I wondered about that.. thanks for passing that on, it explains a lot. Partly it shows that you are as much of a professional writer as a builder. Maybe the tremendous time investment will result in new exposure that will generate some new furniture commissions for you. One activity benefits the other...
In the meantime, show us your new bench hooks and other new bench appliances; many of us here need to do the same thing... and new shop threads are always welcome....
Skip
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