Why I make stuff (or my about page)
Because I cannot stop.
I can’t stop going into the shop. I get jittery and weird if I go a couple days without crafting something. I can’t stop trying to fold my napkin into an origami crane. I love the sound of a hand plane making a perfect hair thin slice off the edge of a piece of pine.
That’s about it. Oh yeah, and I like talking to people about making stuff too.
Let me know what you are building. I really would love to hear about it.
You can email me at jim@makestuffwithyourhands.com.
Make Stuff With Your Hands 
June 29, 2010 at 2:11 pm
do you do custom work? I have seen a wooden crow that I need reproduced. very similar to the stuff you are making right now. Don’t care about the wood you use but it needs to be black…
see pics and please let me know…
http://bit.ly/cIze6o
http://bit.ly/cJ9L96
regards,
joel
June 29, 2010 at 4:37 pm
Yes, I do custom work. I sent you an email.
Thanks for visiting the blog,
Jim
March 22, 2011 at 5:56 pm
Jim: I hope you don’t mind that I linked back to you in my blog. Finding someone else who “gets this” is really wonderful!
-Jim
March 22, 2011 at 8:20 pm
No problem, nice to hear from you.
December 17, 2012 at 3:17 am
Jim, your a thug.
Thanks for the inspiration. I DO MAKE STUFF with my hands…… but sometimes find myself obsessivly looking at what OTHERS make with THEIR hands. How DO you find the motovation?
December 17, 2012 at 4:21 pm
Motivation is easy for me. I go to the store, see something I want, and am not willing to pay for it. I just make it instead. Of course, I spend more on the tools and materials than it would ever take to purchase one but it FEELS BETTER to make it.
And how great does it feel to give someone something you put your energy into making than a gift imported from China?
June 6, 2013 at 2:48 pm
Ah, wow! Someone to whom “paying more for the tools to make it yourself” does not sound insane! I am also a compulsive maker. I draft sewing patterns, crochet, recently started doing leatherwork, and have always wanted to get into woodwork. My boyfriend would also love to have the space to make his own knives, so I sent him your inspirational work. Fantastic site!
June 6, 2013 at 7:43 pm
Hey Sarah – thanks for the kind words!
-Jim
June 25, 2014 at 12:13 am
Love the title! Couldn’t have said it better.
June 25, 2014 at 2:30 am
Thanks Marilyn, I appreciate that.
I also really like your blog – some really good work there.
-Jim
June 25, 2014 at 3:34 am
Thanks! Hopefully its obvious that I like your’s as well as your work as well. 🙂
July 3, 2021 at 8:11 pm
I just met your dad at the river he told us about you