We do it because we love it...

My friend Julie Rose reminded me of something a few days ago - she posted this on her FaceBook page. 

A lot of people think that they're going to save money by making something by hand, but the (sad) truth is - you're probably going to spend more. You'll need the proper tools, which you might not already own. And you'll need the materials plus various shop supplies, like screws, glues, finishes, sandpaper, wax, etc.

Bottom line? You're going to spend more if you build it yourself. (Long-time student Lupe can attest to this!)

But the benefits of making things for yourself are multifold. In fact, I was reading an article on this website the other day and the author, Ronnie Citron-Fink, brought up

 brought up 5 key topics. I love what she wrote:

5 Benefits of DIY

1. A deeper connection to the things that keep us alive and well. The human-made world is mostly beyond our comprehension…you make your world a little less confounding by sewing your own clothes, raising chickens, growing vegetables, teaching your children, and doing other activities that put you in touch with the processes of life. In addition, the things you make reflect your personality and have a special meaning.
2. An appreciation for the things you have and the systems that make it possible. The flip side to enjoying the things you make yourself is discovering how challenging and time-consuming it can be to make them…I’ve become an active participant in the human-made world, I’m more observant of it. I care more about how things are made, paying close attention to each object for lessons in craftsmanship I can apply to my own projects.
3. An opportunity to use your hands and your brain. Human beings evolved opposable thumbs for a reason. The sense of reward you get from making something with your hands can’t be earned any other way. It’s obvious that people learn faster from “hands-on” experience than they do watching someone else do something.
4. A connection to other people. When I started making cigar box guitars, I stumbled onto a group of DIYers…They are happy to share ideas and advice about building guitars, banjos, and ukuleles with newcomers. I’ve found this same spirit of generosity at other online hangouts devoted to building electric vehicles, autonomous aerial vehicles, and raising chickens.
5. A path to freedom. In this era of economic uncertainty, DIYers have learned not to rely as much on governments and corporations to take care of them…Even if you have no desire to become a full-time maker, DIY can provide a certain degree of freedom from depending on others for everything you need.

In my mind - all you have to do is look at the faces of these makers:

A little repair, and some very cool Japanese Joinery

This is a particularly cool video - I'm in awe of this skill. 

Speaking of skill, I was BSing with a friend the other day about making "the perfect piece", where there isn't a single mishap or mental mistake in a piece that you're building. I've only made a few of those in my lifetime, and to tell you the truth, I can't even remember what they are! 

So this past week, I was working on a piece for myself (which is rare!) and got distracted. That's never a good thing! I put a few Domino mortises in the wrong place. It's funny, because just as I was cutting the last one, I thought to myself - I probably should have checked to make sure I was cutting that on the right side of the wood!

The mortises on the side are in the right place, the top ones are errors! 

I could plug it with an actual Domino, but the wood is different (Beech) and the end grain would look awful.

 So I cut a few plugs out of the same wood, and shaped them a bit. 

A few taps with a hammer and they're snug.

Here they're sanded down and ready for oil - hopefully they'll blend in nicely. 

Or not. 

Deja Vu!

It's like deja vu all over again! 

Remember back in 2014 when I built this petrified wood slab table? 

It was so heavy, I not only had to enlist some friends to help me flip it over when I attached the top, but a few more to help load it into the customer's car.

 I'm delighted to say that I'm building two more - matching end tables, and these are much smaller and easier to manage. 

The worst part of this? When I was sorting through the lumber, I smashed my iPhone earbuds to bits. 

The first time I made that big frame, I was stumped. Here's a link to read about it. 

Luckily, this time around, making the outer frame, and scribing the top to fit around the slab was much easier.  

I used the Festool Domino to connect all the miters together, it works flawlessly for this!

 I think the trickiest part of making this is gluing up the top frame, since there are no 90° angles. 

Next step? Making the "legs" for these tables, which was quite difficult last time. If you think clamping the top frame was a challenge, imagine clamping four sets of odd shaped legs, like the one below.

Oy.

  I have one more week without classes, so hopefully - I'll be able to finish up these two tables and start the upcoming session with a clear head!

Stay tuned!

The simple art of spoon making...

Have you wondered where I've been? 

Things have been really hectic over here, I've just wrapped up a few commissions and am getting ready to start the busiest teaching schedule I've ever attempted. My garden is going nucking futs, and every day, I give away bags of veggies. 

In other words - the summer is speeding by, and it pains me to think that I haven't posted anything of substance in weeks. But - the fact is - time just isn't free right now. I'm not alone; I hear this from a lot of people!

OTOH, I was convinced by a few students to join Instagram (here's a link). With all of that on my plate, I've been Jonesing to carve spoons. (What is my problem?) 

I've been reading this book in my spare time. Honestly, there's no time to really explore this, but ... hey, a girl can dream!

It's the little things that will drive you crazy.... here's another Olympic Torch Cabinet

Sometimes things are moving along very nicely and then something pops up to derail the best laid plans. That's what happened in my world this week - I've been finishing up a few projects, like a cabinet that will eventually hold an Olympic Torch. Here's one I made a few years ago. 

You have to love the Internet - a fellow in the next state saw this old blog post about the Torch cabinet and contacted me to order one. It's tough to build a display cabinet when you don't have the item being displayed to use for sizing. Luckily - he sent me a ton of pictures, 

and hopefully - the "torch" I made will give me a rough idea of scale and sizing to make this piece.  It's not pretty, but it works. In a perfect world, I would have had the torch in my shop to use for a final fit. 

Starting out with some beefy stock, I managed to cut most of the parts in one afternoon. 

It's amazing how productive I can be when I let all my calls go to voicemail!

Did I mention that the dust collection hose inside the tablesaw was somehow disconnected?  When you're cutting boards and you get a face-full of sawdust, you know there's a problem that needs some investigation. I opened up the side door and found this mess. 

Twenty minutes of vacuuming and I was on to other tasks - like cutting these mortises to hold the corner posts in place.  

A little clean-up with a chisel and the top and bottom pieces were complete. 

It's starting to take shape. 

The door was the next component to tackle - 

it's easy with these Bessey clamps.

And finally... it's just down to the last few details. Or so I thought!

I love Lee Valley's no-mortise hinges, and luckily - I had the perfect pair with which to hang the door. I even located one of those cool magnetic latches, that opens and closes the door with a simple push on the corner. 

All that was left was staining and picking up the glass, but that's when things got tricky. The stain was easy enough to match, my client sent this picture of an existing cabinet and asked me to stain the piece something close to this color. 

Check √  !

But when I went to install the glass,  I discovered the weirdest thing! 

Two of the pieces of glass were a perfect one-eighth thickness, so they fit nicely into the slots that I cut to hold the glass. But the third?

Ugh, it was ever so slightly thicker - maybe 1/32nd too thick. There was no way to install the glass without widening that slot, and since the piece was already assembled, stained, waxed and ready to go - that meant I was about to tackle a job that no one wants.

I pulled out a super-sharp chisel and started working on the slot. The next hour was all about:  cut, scrape, test-fit. Repeat. 

Cut, scrape, test-fit. Repeat. 

cut, scrape, test-fit. Repeat. 

cut, scrape, test-fit. Repeat. 

cut, scrape, test-fit. Repeat. 

cut, scrape, test-fit. Repeat. 

cut, scrape, test-fit. Repeat. 

And finally - about 1.5 hours later, I managed to get the glass installed and this piece buttoned up. 

Sometimes the simplest things can create HUGE hurdles, but it's nice when everything comes together in the end.