I wanted to build something with just hand tools to improve my skills and demonstrate that I could do it. Many folks don’t understand that, if you are building 10, 20, 100 of an item, then machinery and power tools certainly help. Once they are set up, you can run the same part over and …
As I have noted before, I try to take the first weekend of each month and use that do to shop improvements and shop maintenance. I do maintenance on the machines, build storage and jigs for the shop, and generally try to make ways to have the shop work more efficiently. It gives me a …
I have been accumulating and using tools for green woodworking, which is a traditional way of working wood that has not been kiln dried, but is green from the tree and then air dried over an extended period of time (years in some cases). The wood is used for bowls, furniture, chests, and other items. …
I was approached at my last Farmer’s market by a lady who had a lap cross stich holder that needed to be repaired. It had three “posts” which held the holder up above a rounded plywood base, which sat in your lap. The posts were glued into the hoop, and had broken off. To fix …
Sometimes you have to build some simple shop storage, nothing fancy, but it needs to get items organized and “out of the way.” I recently acquired a selection of practically new battery powered DeWalt tools, and they were cluttering up the workbench and work surfaces in the shop. I did not want to just shove …
I had a customer in New York who had some odd shaped/sized kitchen cabinet doors, and they could not purchase something “off the shelf” to redo their cabinet doors. Since the doors covered the cabinet fronts entirely (i.e. European style cabinets) they wanted something that was the same measurements as their existing cabinet doors, but …
My niece Christina wanted a live edge floating shelf, so for Christmas, I decided to make her one. I had to bandsaw one end to clean it up and then ran it across the jointer to make sure the one end was flat and square. From there, I had to lay out and drill the …
So with Christmas presents done, I took the opportunity to clean up the shop a bit before starting on the next projects. Now its getting ready for the next projects! Kevin
I have to make 13 sets of an item every Christmas for family & friends. This year its been a trial, as each one has two parts, so I’ve had to make 26 each of an item, glue it up, and then finish it. Unfortunately, for each step in the process, I could only do …
One of the things I wanted for the Farmer’s Markets is some project which “popped” and had folks come in to take a look. I earlier had a craftsman chest which many folks used for a jewelry check (that is what my wife uses hers for). However, I sold my last one, and wanted something …
