November 16, 2015

My New YouTube Channel Has Officially Launched!

November 16, 2015/ Todd Clippinger

The new American Craftsman Workshop channel has officially launched and it is off to a running start!

I posted the following video at my old YouTube channel this afternoon informing everyone to head over to the new channel and the response has been great!

In 7 hours I got 300 subscribers. That was just from the exposure on Google +, I had not posted anywhere else like the woodworking communities or here, at my own site at that point.

The real goal is to strengthen the American Craftsman Workshop brand. Remembering my name, or spelling my last name to find my content is more difficult than "The American Craftsman Workshop."

This name came to be since I run my local business as Todd A. Clippinger - American Craftsman. The American Craftsman Workshop was a natural extension from that.

I tried to change the name on my YouTube account, but that just was not working. It seemed that the issue was because I was going from a personal name to a business name and they would not allow it. So I just decided it was easier to start over.

I had just over 6,000 subscribers and about 785,000+ views at my old channel when I launched the ACW channel, but I did not care. In the long run this will be better for my brand. 6,000 subscribers is pretty much chicken scratch and I did not deserve that for the sporadic posts that I made.

People will watch, some will subscribe, some will like it, and some will not. But none of that matters, I just need to share, I just need to get it out of me. I have 18 years of experience bottled up inside of me and sharing is what makes me feel better.

When I started as a carpenter, and even as I moved toward fine woodworking, I was self-motivated and self-taught. But there were people along the way that shared freely with me. I was impressed with the generosity of those craftsmen, and now it is my turn to pass it on.

That is why my motto is Share the Love - Share the Knowledge. You can go back through my earliest entries here at my site, or even way before that, check out my entries at LumberJocks. My motto is at the closing of each blog.

I would love it if you check out the new ACW Channel and show your support by subscribing. The comments and show of support is really energizing and gives strong motivation to get out more video.

That's all for now. I still have some sanding to do on a project so I gotta head out.

Your friend in the shop-

Todd A. Clippinger

Share the Love-Share the Knowledge

March 07, 2013

New Site Is Up And Running!

March 07, 2013/ ACW Journal Post/ Todd Clippinger

Welcome To The New ACW Site

I am officially set up now on the new Squarespace 6 website platform. I have been playing around with the various templates over the last couple of days, and I am starting to get the hang of it. You will continue to see changes as I try the different templates and add galleries.

Squarespace 6 has a lot of new features and better functionality over version 5. I can see these helping me to connect with my woodworking audience, and to better share my experience and knowledge.

The Bad News Is...

Sadly, my workshop gallery is down for the moment. The new template was incompatible with previous gallery, so I will have to completely repost the shop tour. I know by the website stats, the workshop tour is the most popular feature and the pictures are downloaded constantly. And that is OK, that is exactly what it is intended for, to share and inspire, that is what the ACW philosophy of "Share the Love-Share the Knowledge" is all about.

Due to the time consuming work of loading galleries, I will hold off until I determine which template I am going to settle on. Some features are specific to templates and that mostly applies to the way galleries are laid out and function. So I will need to make my final decision between the last 2 template finalists.

**Woodworking in the ACW and streaming live video action!**

Stay Tuned-

Stay tuned as you will see the changes taking place and more content being added.

I will continue tweaking the site, add the ACW Shop Tour back in, and get my portfolio gallery set up. I did not add my portfolio on the last site, but I will on this one. (It is partly due to just being plain time consuming and it is one area that I actually slacked on.)

So give the site a test drive on all your devices and let me know of any issues. I did let the developers know of a couple and I appreciate your feedback.

Well, I better get back out to the shop. So be sure to stop by the Shopcam page and see what I have going in my small pro shop.

Your friend in the shop,

Todd A. Clippinger

Share the Love-Share the Knowledge

April 15, 2010

A $50 Savings & A Peek At My Mobile Shop

April 15, 2010/ Todd Clippinger

It's Coming...

A chat with Scott Morrison.I didn't mean to release a teaser clip of the chat with Scott Morrison and leave you hanging, but I had something settle hard in my lungs and so I haven't been able to accomplish as much as I would like. I have been pretty run down and need a lot of sleep, sitting at the computer is hard to do when all I want to do is shut my eyes.

My work days have been pretty short and I have to focus on projects where people have paid me (dang the real world.)

Not to further taunt you guys, but Scott does share some really good information for people thinking about woodworking professionally. So I will be sure to get things going and get the video together. I am also trying to get some still images to add to the video.

The Return Of "Captain Clippinger" Savings

When I was visiting with Scott, we were talking about sharing our knowledge with woodworkers. One thing that I mentioned was how well he demystified the process of constructing the Sam Maloof inspired rocker. It is admired by most all woodworkers and intimidating to most of those same people.Scott Morrison in his shop.

He shared with me how gratifying it was to see other woodworkers make one of these chairs for themselves. He has quite a collection of emails and pictures from woodworkers gushing with pride at their accomplishment. As a craftsman, it was easy for me to recognize that look.

As our conversation continued he commented that he might have to run another "Captain Clippinger" special. So, the other day he contacted me to find out how my video edit was going (yeh, I know...) and that he had another deal.

Elegant Rocking Chair DVD SetBecause of our conversation, Scott is running a new special and he is calling it his "After Tax Day Discount." If anyone places an order between April 15 and April 30th 2010 for the Elegant Rocking Chair Bundle, and asks for the "Captain Clippinger Discount" he will refund $50 to their account.

The Elegant Rocking Chair bundle includes the DVD and Template for what is often known as the classic Maloof Rocker. Normally the DVD's and template are $185 so by asking for the "Captain Clippinger Discount" you can save $50.4 DVD's with 6 hours of instruction.

There is 6 hours of instruction over 4 DVD's so he is generous with the information whether it is spoken or demonstrated.

The real value in the DVD's is the amount of demonstrated information. He could have made the video shorter, but it would have been missing much of the information that is not so much spoken as it is shared through the demonstration. That is one of the reasons you feel like he is giving you a personal lesson.

With the experience of designing projects myself, I can say getting the templates is worth the money. You will spend a lot of time trying to figure out size and shape on any given piece in project. With something sculptoral like the Maloof style rockers, the templates are worth their weight in gold.

I know that it is a dream for a lot of guys to build one of these chairs, so be sure to get the Captain Clippinger Discount at Finewoodworker.com to save $50 on the Elegant Rocking Chair bundle. This only lasts until April 30th.

Mobile Shop

Mobile shop setup.Not only do I have a nice indoor shop to work with, but I also have a mobile set of tools to use when I am working on site. Every jobsite setup may be different because of particular needs and space, but these photos give you an idea of what a general setup will look like.

My work revolves around using the table saw, miter saw, compressor with nailers, and often the jig saw and belt sander. These are the most commonly used tools when working on site. Other tools may include routers and surface planer when doing built-ins.

Overall, my collection of tools seems pretty endless at times, especially when it comes to loading and unloading the truck or to maintenance. But I offer a large range of services so I need the tools to perform those services. An interesting observation, since I just visited Scott Morrison's shop, was how few tools he had in comparison to my collection. But we offer different products, and each has tools according to their needs.

Miter saw station with outfeed support stand.One of the best things I ever did was build an outfeed support table for my miter saw. It has immediate support to the left an right of the saw and open cubbies to keep pencils, squares, and other miscellaneous tools in close reach and accounted for. The white laminate top allows me to scribble notes on with a pencil and the marks are easily erased with solvent or hand cleaner wipes.