Monday, August 9, 2010

OMG

Planning a move to a house with... a.... THREE.... car... detached... garage.  Power, heat, lights, water, loft.

Woodworking '10-'11 season may be the best ever.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Goodbye, desk. Goodbye, house. Goodbye, woodworking


Here's one of the first "in our house" projects to come out of the shop: a "built-in" desk set-up that Wife commissioned for our home office. She took over the office and the desk was banished to the formal living room.
Here it is loaded on the back of a truck, going to a new owner in New Jersey.

All of last WWing season was lost moving our business, now our house is on the market. The desk was the first of several big chunks of furniture we're trying to get rid of to go.

Not clear whether I'll have a shop for much longer, and if I don't, if I'll store tools or sell everything off.

: (

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Time is the enemy

I've vowed to never post worthless musings. I break that vow today for a few notes for my own memory.
1. Attended the Reading, PA woodshow with Kent last Sunday. It was more about the ride than the woodworking, but I hoped to meet a few woodnet guys there. I wound up spending most of my time there with Chuck Bender. Chuck, it turns out, knows his stuff. He builds, he designs, he teaches, and is about as approachable a woodworking guru as I've ever had the pleasure of meeting.

2. Chuck was doing a hand-cut dovetail demo and offering to let some spectators in on the action. Despite my "scribing like a girl" (Chuck's exact words), excavating a cave between my tails, and being the world's worst hand-sawyer (which Chuck fixed in two or three sentences), I was able to produce... let's call them "passable"... thruDT's in pine.

Note the saw marks on the inside surfaces of the pins and tails - they fit together right off the saw - no trimming/fitting:3. I was stoked to see a series of articles about design on Chuck's blog, and also that he teaches carving - a class I'd love to take. His shop is in or near Pottstown - certainly do-able.

4. Armed with new desire to own an actual, for real, DT saw, I slathered over the Veritas DT in 20 tooth rip, and made a few ridiculously perfect, effortless cuts with it at the Veritas booth. If you're reading this, and you have $65, you should buy this saw and send it to me.

5. Give the job to a busy person: today is my second day off since about November 2009. By "off," I mean I left work at 11AM. Since then I scrubbed the kitchen, entry way, and powder room floors; folded a bunch of laundry and did a load; had lunch and did a load of dishes; installed the 18T front sprocket on the Vee; and still had time to single-handedly get this monster down the basement stairs and largely assembled (it runs):
It looks considerably more ridiculous in the context of a tiny shop which already has a table saw stuffed in it:

It's smoooooth. I can hardly wait, altho there's much to do, and no time to do it in, before it will make any dust.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Like a rock



Granite top table saw.... 447lbs... shipped in a welded steel cage. The 10' from the trailer to the garage never seemed so far.