It’s about to get pretty intense in the shop here - I just put four new classes on the schedule, and they filled up like this:
So the next few weeks will be all about prepping materials and cleaning up the shop a bit. And maintenance. Getting the tools in order. And restocking. And... well, you get the idea.
The other day, a customer walked in with a broken headboard, not an uncommon repair. The leg had broken off.
It wasn't surprising, due to its age and poor joinery. There was a poorly designed mortise and tenon that connected them, and it simply failed.
Now I've done a few repairs like this before, and knew it was a relatively simple job - trim off the existing tenon (the "poor joinery" part of this equation), fill in the mortise with a piece of solid wood,
and re-attach the pieces using dominos.
No, not these...
...I meant Festool's dominos, like these.
This tool makes repairs like this amazingly simple. And strong.
I used painters tape on the two pieces, so I wouldn't mark them with pencil lines, and cut the slots.
The alignment was spot on,
and they fit perfectly.
A little glue and some pressure, and this old headboard was good as new.
This quick repair got me thinking - I don't know if there's another tool in the shop quite as valuable as the Domino. It's the best $1000 I spent in the last ten years. OK, maybe a little LOT more, since I bought the vacuum and the assortment of Dominos.
It seems like every year, tool manufacturers come out with the latest and greatest widget that everyone HAS to have.
It's easy to fall into that way of thinking - that your work will get better with any of the following:
(I literally know three people who purchased router lifts, only to abandon using them, BC they were too difficult to install in a router table.)
I could go on and on... and I'm amazed that people still buy these things.
But you know what? The best woodworkers I know don't need a ton of tools and new inventions. This isn't rocket science, and it's more about SKILLS than anything else.
Look at my buddy Dennis Patchett.
He's possibly the most skilled woodworker that I know in Las Vegas, and his shop has none of the "latest and greatest" gimmick tools. He just relies on simple tools and gets the job done with a high degree of proficiency.
That's it, folks... just develop some skills by practicing, and I promise you - your woodworking will get better.
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