Troy @troykitch.com · 26/09/2026This is very generous. A beautiful, thoughtful, and free cross-platform (open source) writing app from Hugh Howey, the author of the Silo series: hughhowey.com/neo 000
Troy @troykitch.com · 20/09/2026Quick morning project: a trivet for the table made from a scrap of sapele. I drew the bird design then carved it out (just a shallow carve). It’s not my design. I found the pattern with a web search and then referred to that ima... troykitch.com/2026/09/20/quick-morn… 000
Troy @troykitch.com · 07/07/2026Today, I contemplated how common plantain looks quite amazing when it gets to grow. We’ve actually transplanted some into our yard. It’s a useful plant but it’s typically mowed down, pulled out, or worse. 000
Troy @troykitch.com · 25/06/2026Until today, It never occurred to me that I could cord wrap a handle with multiple colors to make simple designs. Here’s my first attempt. I like it. 000
Troy @troykitch.com · 04/06/2026It’s that time of year again when the mountain laurels bloom and I once again can’t resist taking a bunch of photos. 000
Troy @troykitch.com · 28/05/2026Look at this lovely grain. I joined a guild with a community shop 45 minutes away. Today, I resawed these small Koa boards there with a bandsaw. I’m a hand tool shop, but there are times when I want to use a bandsaw. I love the idea of community-shared equipment, and not just for woodworking. 000
Troy @troykitch.com · 26/05/2026I had an old regular shooting board I wasn’t using so I made a donkey’s ear attachment to shoot long 45 degree miters. I wanted something fast to build and precise, so I mounted the board on two cheap plastic rafter squares. It’s not pretty, but works great and completed it in about an hour. 000
Troy @troykitch.com · 25/05/2026Experimenting with a new box design and getting better a matching grain around the sides. This has a floating base and raised top. All completed with hand tools, except for one cheat: I cut the hole in the lid with a forstner bit. 000
Troy @troykitch.com · 09/05/2026Beautiful spot where Beaver Creek meets Antietam Creek in Washington County, Maryland. Fishing wasn’t good, but the scenery was great. Normally at this time of year, the water levels are a couple of feet higher. Like much of the country, we are in drought conditions in the spring. Not great. 000
Troy @troykitch.com · 28/04/2026Recently returned from a trip to Western Maryland, where we stayed in one of the few mid-Atlantic spots with no cell service (look, a phone booth!). The fishing was excellent, but the water levels are way too low for April. 000
Troy @troykitch.com · 04/04/2026Just finished installing a three-barrel rain catchment system for our backyard with a kit from BlueBarrel. It was a fun project. BlueBarrel is worth checking out if you’re looking for rain barrel options. 000
Troy @troykitch.com · 04/03/2026I’ve been away from posting online (and woodworking) for a couple of months, so I started back up with a simple project. This is a barebones bed frame to hold a tatami, creating useful storage space underneath. Total lumber cost was... troykitch.com/2026/03/04/ive-been-a… 000
Troy @troykitch.com · 14/12/2025I finally got around to gutting and cleaning up this old, broken German radio. Now it has a HomePod inside. I use the iMac next to it to hold an iPad, so now I have a fun setup in the shop for streaming music. The tube radio parts I removed are fascinating. 000
Troy @troykitch.com · 12/12/2025My wife shot this image of a golden eagle this morning using her iPhone while we were out near Gathland State Park in Maryland. I think it’s an impressive image given the equipment. The most impressive part was the proximity of the eagle, who couldn’t care less that we were so close. 000
Troy @troykitch.com · 30/11/2025North Point State Park, near Baltimore, yesterday morning. If you look closely, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge is in the far distance. Interesting place with remains of an amusement park from the early 1900s. 000
Troy @troykitch.com · 20/11/2025We noticed this bee on some woodland sage in our yard. It hadn’t moved in over a day, so we poked at it. Nothing. So we assumed it died and brought it inside for a flower display of sorts. The next day, we discovered … not dead. It bega... troykitch.com/2025/11/20/we-noticed… 000
Troy @troykitch.com · 15/11/2025Final wood box with removable bottom drawer. Mistakes were made, but made it work. I planned to dovetail the sides, but grain directions were wrong. So I went with mortise/tenons, but they were shallow I worried about strength. S... troykitch.com/2025/11/15/final-wood… 000
Troy @troykitch.com · 10/10/2025Cutting the mortises for the hinges to hang the closest door I’m making. I always find this process a bit frightening. 000
Troy @troykitch.com · 08/10/2025Working on a long, narrow door to cover a narrow closet in our house where we keep sheets for bedding. The closet has a curved top. I’m using parts of a chair I got a thrift store that perfectly matches this curve and plan to veneer i... troykitch.com/2025/10/08/working-on… 000
Troy @troykitch.com · 08/10/2025Breaking down a sheet of cherry plywood with hand tools isn’t easy, but it’s mostly figuring out how to hold the work in place. 000
Troy @troykitch.com · 04/10/2025This was a fun, quick project: I used offcuts from the midcentury cabinet I just completed to make a small first aid station in the bathroom. This replaces an old, broken wall heater in the bathroom that came with the house. I made it rem... troykitch.com/2025/10/04/this-was-a… 000
Troy @troykitch.com · 29/09/2025I completed my midcentury cherry cabinet, made with zero power tools. Here it is in place. The top sides are half blind dovetails, the base full dovetails. The door panels are 3/8 inch thick and slide along grooves. I’m pleased with how it turned out. 000
Troy @troykitch.com · 17/09/2025One of the sliding doors are fit in the mid-century cabinet project, one more to go and then on to the feet. 000
Troy @troykitch.com · 15/09/2025Years ago, a friend gave me an old wooden filing cabinet that was missing one of its side panels. Yesterday, I finally got around to converting it into a mobile tool caddy I can easily move around the shop. 000
Troy @troykitch.com · 10/09/2025I finished resawing the boards for one of the doors for the cabinet - I’m guessing this would take less than an hour or so with a bandsaw? It took me most of the day. I used a ryoba saw and had excellent results. My arm is spent. 000
Troy @troykitch.com · 08/09/2025Finished all the dovetail work for the mid-century cabinet and leaving it dry fit until I take apart to cut the grooves for the front sliding doors. 000
Troy @troykitch.com · 01/09/2025Finally back to work in the shop. I decided to start with a warm-up project: a cherry tea tray with walnut dowels and wax cord wraps for the handles. 000
Troy @troykitch.com · 03/07/2025Three corners completed, one to go, then on to the cabinet doors. I’ve never cut so many dovetails at once in my life. 000
Troy @troykitch.com · 28/06/2025Sharpening some bits and want to share an interesting tool I picked up many years ago: a Millers-Falls “Buck Rogers” brace. A range of Buck Rogers tools were an interesting historical blip. thevalleywoodworker.blogspot.com/2015/04/b… 000
Troy @troykitch.com · 28/06/2025Two corners done for my cabinet build, two to go. I did through dovetails for the base, the top will be half blind dovetails. Sketching out plans for feet and sliding doors now. 010
Troy @troykitch.com · 25/06/2025My solution for transferring pins to tails on a 50x25 inch panel. It’s not pretty, but it’ll do the job. 010
Troy @troykitch.com · 24/06/2025Frederick, Maryland, this morning before it gets too hot to be outside. 010
Troy @troykitch.com · 23/06/2025Making some wooden nails with scraps (with a dowel plate) while I wait for glue to dry on panels, which are just tiny dowels shaped to a point with a chisel. They work great for small box projects and are a good use of small hardwood scrap. 000
Troy @troykitch.com · 20/06/2025Gluing up the bottom of my cabinet project with my random assortment of clamps. Project is going well so far. Going to attempt half blind dovetails across 25 inches. 000
Troy @troykitch.com · 15/06/2025The hardest part of a workshop with no power tools: resawing. I’m not very good at holding my line, but getting better with time. Also, good exercise. 000
Troy @troykitch.com · 14/06/2025Starting a new project: a cabinet with sliding doors in (more or less) mid-century style. Spent several hours with a bunch of cherry deciding what would be used where. 000
Troy @troykitch.com · 24/05/2025The forest is at peak fern this time of year. There are hay-scented ferns as far as you can see (which, admittedly, isn’t very far in the forest). 110
Troy @troykitch.com · 24/05/2025This is a native species double feature from today’s hike: a tulip poplar flower that landed in hay-scented ferns along the trail. The late morning light was just perfect. 000
Troy @troykitch.com · 18/05/2025A new red maple poking out, one of so many I saw on my hike. I’m going to keep tabs on this particular one to see how it fares. Another native species. 000
Troy @troykitch.com · 16/05/2025Here is some yellow star grass I came across in the mountains of Maryland. Along with the mountain laurel I shared yesterday, this is another species native to the United States. I think I’m finding a new hiking hobby: document at least one native species each hike. 000
Troy @troykitch.com · 15/05/2025Cleaning out the attic. Why do I still have this? Behold the Toshiba T3400CT from 1994: i486SX-33 microprocessor, 120 MB storage, 4 MB RAM, a Megahertz 14,400 bps Fax Modem in the PCMCIA slot, and 640x480 color LCD (which was a big deal at the time). Ah, the memories. 000
Troy @troykitch.com · 15/05/2025The mountain laurels are blooming early this year in the Maryland mountains. 010
Troy @troykitch.com · 09/05/2025Beautiful evening in the mountains near Frederick, Maryland. I intended to hike, but decided to break out the 4-foot Tenkara rod I always pack along just in case. Tonight, only caught a few trees and bushes, but it was lovely. Great water levels and cool temperatures, such a nice time of year. 040
Troy @troykitch.com · 08/05/2025Hiking in the Catoctin mountains after heavy rains really drives home why this area is called the Frederick City Watershed. Temporary waterfalls are everywhere. 000
Troy @troykitch.com · 08/04/2025Spring is the best time to hike in the mountains. Here’s a Shagbark hickory coming to life on a rainy, cold day. 000
Troy @troykitch.com · 21/03/2025Did some hiking this evening and a few casts in a small, spring-fed creek that’s home to some small, spring-fed brook trout. Glad we still have brookies in Frederick County, Maryland — and just look at how clear that water is. 030
Troy @troykitch.com · 02/03/2025Made a new shooting board to go with a new shooting plane I picked up as a factory second a while back from Lee Valley. First time I’ve ever used a dedicated shooting plane with a track. What a pleasure to use. 000
Troy @troykitch.com · 14/01/2025Burnside Bridge, Antietam National Battlefield, earlier today. Beautiful spot, I’m only a little sad I can’t do some fly fishing here. 050
