I swear I wasn't waiting until the warm weather was just around the corner before I posted this content, but that's exactly what it looks like!

So many of our fellow woodworkers give up woodworking in the cold months of winter because their shops are located in unheated or under heated locations. Be it a garage, a shed or a large out building like a pole-barn when it's cold out even the most passionate woodworker is thinking more about burning their stock to stay warm versus building with it.



But the biggest concern isn't so much about how to heat the shop as it is on what the long cold winter months do to our lumber and our tools.

Let me start by saying I'm no expert by any means on this topic. My shops have always been in climate controlled locations of my house. But that doesn't mean I'm immune from the cold. And considering there's the occasional project or two that requires me to temporarily move into my under heated garage to complete them, it only makes sense I learn a little something about the environment I work in.

So in today's episode I cover some very basic tips on winter woodworking. Starting with some common sense tips on lumber storage, moving on to ideas to help minimize rust building up on your metal surfaces and even a suggestion or two about cold-weather glue-ups and finishing. Today's episode is as a cold as ice (not really, but it sounded cool in my head).

Tools and resources mentioned in today's episode:

• Book I vaguely referenced Sandor Nagyszalanczy's "Setting Up Shop: The Practical Guide to Designing and Building Your Dream Shop"
  
• HTC Large Machine Cover
  
• Magnetic Tool Cover
  
• Link to USDA "Storage of Lumber" Handbook

[haiku url="http://blip.tv/file/get/Mattvan-503WinterWoodworking328.mp3" title="MBW503"]

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