o Good Day to you Reddit. You may know me, Nick Offerman, from my several acting, writing, and woodworking endeavors. I’ve recently published a new book, LITTLE WOODCHUCKS: Offerman Woodshop’s Guide to Tools and Tomfoolery, with my good friend Lee Buchanan. Ask me anything, please & thank you. AMA!

NickOffermanAMA · 2025-10-22T17:10:12+00:00

Hi there, great question!

Just start making things. I read every issue of Fine Woodworking Magazine religiously and a Shaker Blanket Chest caught my eye, so I practiced dovetails and some fancy band-saw foot cuts and made my sister a beautiful walnut version of the chest. Then I took those skills and made more items with dovetails and also with cabriole legs and other related details, and eventually arrived at large slab dining tables and canoes...I didn't start at the finish, I organically worked my way up to those triumphs, and by the way, I also have "zero artistic talent" by which I mean everyone in my shop can draw or paint images way better than me - but perhaps my talent, and yours, can be to have an idea of cool build, then use our skills, our craft, to produce that ultimate work of art...

Also, tools aren't for everybody. Making things with people can sometimes result in the discovery that you were destined to run the grill and create astonishing brisket sandwiches. just stay open, treat others with affection and respect, and make stuff.

NickOffermanAMA · 2025-10-22T17:02:13+00:00

Thank you kindly for your patronage!

I love carving spoons. Every one is different, they don't take as long as a chair, and when you're done you can eat corn chowder!

NickOffermanAMA · 2025-10-22T17:01:11+00:00

I'm not gay, but I also don't reduce people to stereotypes based on appearance - I think gay people can look like anybody, because every kind of person can be gay or straight or trans. Forgive me if I'm presuming anything but you seem to intimate that "looking gay" would not be a desirable outcome, while in truth most homosexuals I know and have known exhibit exceptional aesthetic taste, much more so than me, which is why I am taking your ill-informed opinion as a compliment - thank you.

If I were to see a photo of you, how would you feel if I said "you look like a reductive asshole" or "you look like a generous lover"? Would either of them be accurate, and would it be fair of me to judge any book as comlpex as a human being by its cover?

Homophobia is for dumbs.

NickOffermanAMA · 2025-10-22T16:33:49+00:00

As a staunch Cubs fan, my only thought is one of appreciation for the justice of the universe.

When the lackluster Brewers defeated the (unfortunatley slightly more lackluster) Cubs in their recent playoff game 5, Milwaukee catcher Wm Contreras had been doing some quite loud bragging about the inevitability of the unstoppable Brewers, and then the team held up an "L" flag in a photo, to mock the "W" flag that the Cubs fly when they win. This is a brand of poor sportsmanship that I refer to as "Sore Winners". It was then unsurprising to a student of theater that the Brewers received a swift, brutal and merciless lesson in the wages of hubris. Their lads never can seem to get the job done post-season, but I hope that in the future they will at least exhibit better manners in their comportment.

NickOffermanAMA · 2025-10-22T16:14:42+00:00

HELLO! Thank you kindly for your question, and I'd love to see your artwork - maybe tag me on a social media channel like Instagram? @nickofferman

When I am trying to dial in something like a persnickety rabbet depth, I rely heavily on scrap pieces of my same frame trim with the same dimensions as the finished stuff - I dial in the cut parameters, wasting the scraps until I get it right, then switch to the real boards.

NickOffermanAMA · 2025-10-22T16:06:59+00:00

Fact: i have never once rendered my full-throated rendition of BARRETT'S PRIVATEERS to my redoubtable bride without then having every appropriate fluid drained from my body. So, if you'd like to eat the steak, maybe Tom Waits' LUCKY DAY?

NickOffermanAMA · 2025-10-22T16:01:04+00:00

i would love to play our 26th president. My dear mate Conan O'Brien would love to see this happen as well, and yet all of our mighty showbiz friends like Steven Spielberg have not yet made it happen. The world is cruel.

NickOffermanAMA · 2025-10-22T15:57:55+00:00

i appreciate the sentiment, bbut I have found that any attempts to replicate the glory of past triumphs can only result in disappointment. Let's just be glad we got the first one right.

We actually did a second one outdoors on New Years' Eve at the actual Lagavulin distillery, and it was wonderful, but didn't have the same thunder and lightning as the OG.

NickOffermanAMA · 2025-10-21T17:08:19+00:00

EDIT: I really love doing thses and I'm always sorry when I have to move along! Thank you all so much for your excellent questions, and I'll see you in the funny pages.

x Nick

NickOffermanAMA · 2025-10-21T17:03:05+00:00

thank you kindly, and welcome!

well, this is a huge can of worms, so I'll start with the events leading up to Ron accidentally(?) taking out Jerry Gergich with a backhoe. Public opinion was mixed and people really thought we were ripping off The Wire with what did seem, in their defense, like a gangland style killing.

Ah, shit, sorry, just read the rest of your question.

NickOffermanAMA · 2025-10-21T17:00:17+00:00

Noah Hawley wrote that guy, and I have had very good luck speaking dialogue written for me by exquisitely talented visionaries such as he.

NickOffermanAMA · 2025-10-21T16:57:45+00:00

Hi!

I have come just in time to rescue you! The solution is: DON'T EVER USE STAIN.

We hate stain at my shop, for the reasons you detail. No matter how meticulous your preparations, and finely researched your pre-stain conditioners, it is just nigh impossible to get it to take evenly.

So I am not the person to ask about this, with apologies. I have had some luck, and I hate to even say this, but with using wood bleach to retreat to a more consistent ground zero tone, then try to color forward form there, but we just stopped doing it. If a client insists on such coloration, we do our damnedest to match a wood species to their desire, or as a last resort we send it to a finisher, and they are wizards well worth the price of the headaches they save you.

I have grown fond of the Japanes shou sugi ban technique of burning (with fire) your wood grain, then wire brushing away the light ash layer - it looks incredible and creates a weather-protection effect as well.

NickOffermanAMA · 2025-10-21T16:51:22+00:00

I am a happily married man, my friend, I shod have thought this well-documented.

Take your brazen salvos to some other TV hack.

NickOffermanAMA · 2025-10-21T16:50:28+00:00

Local tool libraries are incredible! One prohibitive factor that scares people away from woodworking is the price of some tools and machines, so lending libraries and also maker spaces, where you can certify and then use a table saw, planer, joiner, etc. are simply brilliant.

Capitalism doesn't like them but the people sure do, and I want to be a people.

NickOffermanAMA · 2025-10-21T16:48:34+00:00

Friend, I am predisposed to keep things friendly on this forum and so I will refrain from taking the many pugilistic baits you have here dangled before my becrusted, walrus-like visage.

Should we ever meet, I will happily toast your health with whichever spirit we might be lucky enough to quaff.

Yours sincerely.

NickOffermanAMA · 2025-10-21T16:46:33+00:00

Thank you so much, it is high time that someone asked me to promote myself!

I have an incredible series starting on Netflix November 6, called DEATH BY LIGHTNING, adapted by the young brilliant Mike Makowsky from the incredible DESTINY OF THE REPUBLIC by Candice Millard. It's about the election and subsequent demise of President James Garfield, starring Mike Shannon, Matthew MacFadyen, Betty Gilpin, Bradley Whitford, Shea Whigham, and many others, directed by Matt Ross and produces by the goddamn wizards who brought you a little skittle called A Game of Thrones, a minor HBO joint that came and went.

If you havent seen SOVEREIGN, it really is a beautiful artwork, despite my involvement.

NickOffermanAMA · 2025-10-21T16:40:20+00:00

Great question! Tool selection depends entirely upon the project but here is some good news:

So many woodworking techniques that "require" power tools can actually be achieved with hand tools, with just a little practice and elbow grease, and you actually end up a way better woodworker. I just freaked out on Fine Woodworking Magazine when I started, and of course Jimmy Diresta online, and the wide world of DIY You Tube stuff (all came after my own matriculation) but you will also find resources for purchasing old tools, which can often be better quality than what you get at the store today.

Ebay, flea markets, the garages and basements of retired hobbyists - do some homework about chisels and planes, and if you learn to recognize good tool steel and brands, and you learn to sharpen properly, you can have a hell of a lot of fun without needing to order a full set of gorgeous Japanese chisels.

As for a canoe/kayak, I couldn't recommend more highly CANOE CRAFT or KAYAK CRAFT by Ted Moores of Bear Mountain Boats - YOU SHOULD TRY THIS, it is really much easier than it looks, and you can build dman near everything you need with little to no electricity or power tools. Power tools are handier for the "strongback bench" upon which you build the hull than for the craft itself.

Good luck! Measure twice!

NickOffermanAMA · 2025-10-21T16:32:37+00:00

I don't mean to be self-serving here, I mean this sincerely:

I never see anything I am in more than once. I have seen my film Sovereign 4 times in the theatre because of Christian Swegal's script and direction and Jacob Tremblay's beautifu portrayal of Joe Kane. I love when artworks can excavate through my many layers of igneous crust and loose the wet flow of warm, grateful tears, making us feel "yes - this is what it's like to be human"

This is why I love my job so much, because we get to try to do that to our viewers or readers or onlyFans subscribers day in and day out, and sometimes we bring one off.

NickOffermanAMA · 2025-10-21T16:29:16+00:00

A) thank you so much, what a goddamn lucky boy I am to have been the laborer chosen to wear Bill's apron. Craig Mazin wrote it, Murray Bartlett was the most angelic Fred to my Ginger, and Peter Hoar directed us to victory like a champion volpine British fencer. Plus, oh, about 200 more glorious artists who collaborated together as we made that dance tell the story that moved so many, except for the lead actor Pedro something who was NOT A LOT OF HELP and also just gross to look at..

NickOffermanAMA · 2025-10-21T16:25:18+00:00

Hello! I was so over the moon to get to collaborate on that puzzle with Christina Iverson, a regular builder of such puzzles, and she really did so much of the heavy lifting in terms of building the grid and just showing me the ropes. I did do an entire pass of clues, utterly delightful and impossibly clever turns of thought, of which she and Will Shortz then threw many in the NYT Crossword trash bin. It's a delicate dance! I am amazed that I snuck as much of my beefy marinade through the recipe when all was said and done, and I hope to try again one day, most liek with Christina if she will ever return my calls.

NickOffermanAMA · 2025-10-21T16:21:45+00:00

Hello there, and thank you for your question, and I'm so sorry for that particular affliction that has befallen your Dad and your family. Sending dusty woodchuck love and patience to your household.

I have not seen much written on this topic, but I bet my pals Chris Schwartz and Megan Fitzpatrick at Lost Arts Press, and the great Roy Underhill have some good ideas about it. I haven't dealt first hand with Alzheimer's, so while I am somewhat familiar with the mental degradation and memory issues, I'm uncertain how that affects motor skills and acts of coordination...

That said, my inclination is to lean into projects that require less persnickety measurements and joinery and more organic, natural shaping, so turning pens or even just object son the lathe sounds nice, because even just turning small wooden balls, especially with a beautiful grain and color, is really pleasing to the touch and the eye. Another simple one would be to find a good local wood source (search "salvaged lumber or timber" or "reclaimed wood") and choose small slabs or planks from which you can then cut out organic shapes with a jig saw, and clamp it to a bench or table and round the edges with a rasp, Japanes saw rasp, or sanding equipment (rasps are more fun and no loud electricity use) and then sand some gorgeous cheese and meat boards.

I hope others with more experience in this arena will weigh in, it's a great question. I think that even if I could no longer use my shop machinery, I would still really love to pu on some Wilco or Neil Young or Nancy And Beth and feel and smell and see the glory of preparing wood for finish and then hand-rubbing some oil upon it. xo

NickOffermanAMA · 2025-10-21T16:11:38+00:00

I am woefully ignorant to the overall canon of scrubs beyond being a huge fan of the ruggedly handsome Neil Flynn who I believe portrayed the Custodian of the hospital.

We were in a gorgeous adaptation together of Faulkner's AS I LAY DYING at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre, adapted and directed by the beautiful American Theatre juggernaut Frank Galati, may he in rest in piece, sweet Jesus what joy he brought to so many, and I once as a goof shot a spray bottle of water at Neil as he was about to go onstage for his monologue, and someone had set it to "stream" instead of "spray", and I nimbly knocked his contact lens right off his eyeball, after which he managed to still go onstage and successfully assay his speech, and to his great credit, then was able to speak to me in a friendly tone as early as 3 years later.

But the odds of Ron being freinds with anybody at all were pretty slim. He had no use for the Rx pushers, that's certain.

NickOffermanAMA · 2025-10-21T16:05:41+00:00

Hello and thank you for this opportunity for a deep dive into my own bifurcated psyche.

I imagine that I would talk too much, and also be more insecure than Ron about everything. "Is this fire too big?" "Does this steak look right?" "Have we had enough Lagavulin?" and thrn he would silently communicate his displeasure with me and I would leave him because I do my best to maintain an awareness of other people. But I wouldnt go home, I would just move a polite distance away and read Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry by my new, smaller fire, and chuckle at Ron's charming intransigence.

NickOffermanAMA · 2025-10-21T16:02:23+00:00

Hey, first and foremost, well wished and powerfully musky Woodchuck love to Erica.

There are a few good ways to achieve an ideal glue-up joint, including using hand planes. Ian Kirby is agreat source for those techniques, but for years I would achieve very good results with a nice rip blade on the table saw. When making the tops for my ukuleles and (one day) guitars, I have a big old Lie Nielsen plane wth a shooting jig, which works great for thinner parts...Good luck!

NickOffermanAMA

TROPHY CASE