David Condon Finds

If there’s one thing I love, it’s Star Wars and even more, Star Wars in LEGO form. Building these sets satisfies the wishes of my younger self while giving the grown-up me a fresh creative challenge. Over the years, my collection has grown steadily: multiple UCS (Ultimate Collector Series) models occupy pride of place on my shelves, and I wrote about them in detail in my UCS collection post . Every new UCS set I add feels like a milestone, and I’ve been eyeing my next big acquisition for a while. That brings me to the LEGO UCS Venator-Class Republic Attack Cruiser . It’s a set that checks so many of my boxes. Below, I want to walk through exactly why I think the Venator is going to be the one I commit to next. I got it! Blog Post Update: I’m delighted to say I finally picked up the Venator and built it over a few days during Christmas. If you’d like to see how the build actually went, I’ve documented the full experience in a separate post, Building the LEGO UCS Venator – A Slow, Hea...

Always on the Lookout for Great Products on Amazon in 2025! Discover 50+ Great Amazon Products for 2025 – Personally Tested & Recommended If you're always hunting for clever and useful Amazon finds, you're in the right place. I’ve put together a growing list of top-rated products on Amazon in 2025 that I’ve either personally used, plan to buy, or had “enthusiastically suggested” by family members (yes, really 😅). Unlike many generic roundups, this is a curated guide of standout items that have genuinely improved my day-to-day life—at home, in the workshop, and everywhere in between. From must-have tools and gadgets to fun gift ideas for her (and him), there’s something here for just about everyone. This List Got Too Big! This post originally featured all 50+ products in one long scroll — but it got too big and slow to manage, especially for mobile visitors. It was also living on my main website, which probably wasn’t helping the woodcraft focus I’m aiming for there — so I’...

There’s nothing worse than reading product recommendations from someone who clearly has no real interest in what they’re writing about, or worse, when it’s obvious they’re only doing it because it’s part of their job. It always feels a bit disingenuous to me. So, I wanted to keep it real. In this post, I’m sharing a handful of products I bought with low expectations — things I wasn’t sure about at the time but now genuinely find hard to do without. And if you’re not on Amazon or Prime yet and want to know whether it’s worth joining before you start browsing, have a look at my post Is Amazon Prime Worth It? where I break down the actual benefits. Who Am I to be Giving Recommendations I run a small business built around woodturning but that’s just the beginning. My work also includes teaching one-on-one tuition, running tourist experiences here in Tralee, retailing tools and products I use myself, supplying craft materials, and producing my own range of handmade woodcraft.  Latel...