Some thoughts on tool handles...

And chronic pain...

I think everyone who is here already knows a bit about my struggles with chronic pain, but I guess I will give a summary before we get on with the business at hand. I was born with hemophilia, which means my blood doesn’t clot correctly, plaguing my joints with internal bleeding. Over the years, the medicine has gotten better, but when I was little the medicine wasn’t as good (or could contain viruses like HIV or hepatitis) so my joints are pretty bad. Combine this with 20 years of working with my hands and repetitive use, tendonitis and arthritis are added to the mix. I have spent the last few years re-imagining my woodworking so it causes fewer problems for my hands. Part of this process has been exploring the ergonomics of my tool handles. I made a YouTube video last week about altering or making knife handles and it caught the attention of Fine Woodworking Magazine. I will be writing a series of blog posts this summer for them on the subject, which I am really excited about. They will also be available for me to post here so you will get to read them. I also plan on posting here some of the behind the scenes, historical research or extra content that doesn’t make it in the blog.

We are off to Menucha Ukulele Camp, so this needs to be shorter than normal. Below is the YouTube video, enjoy!

Thanks for keeping the lights on…

A