A forum for discussing woodworking, specifically furniture making. Feel free to post comments and questions about your current projects, tools, studio set-up, or whatever is on your mind.
This blog is moderated by Jamie Yocono, owner of Wood It Is! Custom Cabinetry in Las Vegas, NV. Her website is wooditis.com. If you need to speak to an actual human... call 702-672-8981!
Now...let's talk wood!
One of the things I like about teaching is that I learn as much from the students as they learn from me.
They come from all walks of life - professionals working in various fields, college or high school students, retired - or even newly fired - workers. They all bring something interesting to the table (or workbench, in this case) and the networking that occurs is terrific.
So the other evening, somehow the topic of loose change came up while we were working. And I mentioned that I have a ton of it laying around - in bowls
more bowls
funky vases - you name it, it probably has a coin in it.
At the end of the day, when I empty my pockets, it always seems like I find a pocketful of spare change.
It adds up, and counting it is a pain.
A while back, I remember seeing the CEO of Coinstar being interviewed on CNBC, and he was discussing the Coinstar kiosks that you've probably seen in your local grocery store, right by the front door.
I was shocked to hear that if you dump your change in one of those machines, they count it, and take nearly 10% of your change as a processing fee. OUCH. I remember thinking - what moron is going to do that? You have to be pretty lazy to give up 10% of your spare change just because you're too lazy to count and wrap it.
So imagine my delight when one of my students told me that in some instances, Coinstar doesn't charge you anything for processing your change. They've partnered with some well known companies - like Amazon, Lowes, Old Navy, Starbucks, CVS, Gap and more. (C'mon, Fresh and Easy, I hope you join up with them! REI, too!) Your spare coins can be exchanged for gift certificates to these retailers - how sweet is that?!
Wow... what a great concept. Since I'm a regular shopper at many of these places, it makes a lot of sense to simply dump my coins and get a gift certificate to say... Lowes, where I shop (probably) twice a week.
I went to Coinstar's website just to double-check this, and it's true. And no - I don't own stock in Coinstar, so that's not why I'm blogging about it. I need a new oscillating spindle sander, and I suspect I have enough spare change laying around my house to buy a new one.
It'll be pretty easy to dump my coins, get a Amazon gift certificate, and buy the new sander.
Didja wonder where I've been?There's a crisis brewing over here, specifically in my garden, where I've become overrun by mutant zucchini, sprouting up everywhere.
Why on earth didn't anyone caution me about planting so many plants?
All it really takes is this
and this.
Now they're growing like weeds.
If I let a day pass without picking some, they grow three or four inches overnight.
Honestly, I need to pull out a tape measure and see how much they grow in a 24 hour period.
It. Is. Unbelievable.
These pictures were all taken on different plants, all over the yard. It's just a guess, but there may be 15 pounds of zucchini that need to be picked. Today.
So I need some help here. Anyone have any great recipes? Not just so-so recipes, I'm talking about your all-time favorite zucchini recipe. Your "go-to" dish, that's easy, doesn't need 300 ingredients, and freezes well. The freezer is already stocked with way more quiche than one person can handle, and I'm not a huge lover of zucchini bread, so anything other than those two recipes would be greatly appreciated!
Next garden crisis - nectarines are going to be out of control soon.
What's not to love about the Wood Identification Service that the USDA Forest Service offers? You sent them a sample of wood, with a self-addressed, stamped envelope, and a few weeks later, they tell you what type of wood you sent in.
I've done it twice already - it's a fabulous and enlightening service!The first wood I couldn't identify was Alicastrum Brosicum, better know as a wood from a Breadnut tree. If you read Mutiny On the Bounty, then you'll be familiar with that wood. You can read about what I built with it here.
The second wood sample I sent in turned out to be Eucalyptus diversicolor, you can read about how I came to own those boards here and here.
I haven't built anything with these beautiful boards, but I have a few things in mind for them.
Yesterday, when I went to the mailbox, I found the answer to my third wood mystery. Remember back in December when I blogged about this sushi platter?
I'd found one board in my shop, bought at an auction, and the color was amazing. When I cut and planed it, it had an aroma that I'd never experienced. And when I inlaid this tile and oiled the wood, the colors just POPPED. Amazing color, like none I've ever seen before. And for the life of me, I couldn't figure out what it was.
A friend of mine walked in and watched me working on this, and fell in love with the piece. He bought it on the spot.
Since I'd used every single sliver of the board to make this platter, I had nothing left to send in for identification. My buddy requested one thing - if I ever found another board of it, that I would make a similar sushi board, so that he could have a set of two.
So...a few months ago, I was digging in the lumber rack and found another board tucked away. It wasn't very big, maybe five feet long and about eight inches wide, looking very dusty. It didn't look that special.
But once I cut and planed it, I recognized that same brilliant color and grain appearance. And that smell. I sliced it up, so that I could re-assemble it with it's vertical grain showing,
which was more attractive, in my opinion. It left a funky orange dust all over my equipment, and it's distinctive (and probably toxic) odor in the air.
You know I saved a piece to send in for identification this time, right?
Here are boards ready for gluing back together. Yesterday, I received the long-awaited answer - the wood is Santos Mahogany.
Notice what it says about the wood having a "spicy scent" - that's an understatement! In fact, every time I've worked with this, it's given me a sore throat the next day. Scary.
Now if I can just find the perfect tile for this piece...
It's funny how life evolves. Oh, this isn't a big revelation. If all of us looked in our rear view mirrors, at our lives just two years back, we'd all probably see a much different life than we see right now. Stuff happens.
It was just two short years ago that I was fretting about starting the woodworking school here in town. Should I do it? Would it fly? What tools to buy? How to lay out the woodshop?
With the help and advice from many friends and family, luckily - I figured it all out. It's been a ton of work, but you know me - I like work. It grounds me. It gives me structure and keeps me sane.
With the addition of UNLV classes at my shop, things have ratcheted up a notch. There are more people working, building some amazing pieces.
The vibe of creativity is... well, all I ever wanted.
Open Shop on Saturdays is the best - an opportunity for people to work on whatever they feel like making. Some people just come in to hang out and catch the vibe; that's fine too.
When I had a chance to buy another SawStop, I jumped at the opportunity. See, with the shop holding more classes, there are more students than ever. Which means sometimes, someone has to wait to use the tablesaw. There's nothing that interrupts your flow of creativity than the distraction of waiting to use a tool, so I knew I needed to make the purchase.
Roughly assembled and set into a mobile base.
The fence parts still need to be bolted onto the front, and this saw needs a thorough tuneup.
A polished top - so the wood will glide across it.
Here I'm checking the blade, to ensure it's at 90˚ to the tabletop. The digital cube is zeroed out here
and then the blade adjusted so that it's perfectly plumb.
(Have I mentioned how much I love the cube?)
Next - the miter gauge needs some TLC. The protractor is aligned with the blade, and zeroed out.
Then one arm is rotated over to the miter gauge, which is adjusted until it reads 90.
It's really quite easy, and just adding these two quick adjustments will make your work much more accurate.
This contractor's style SawStop runs on a household (110) circuit, and is probably the type of saw most hobbyist woodworkers would want to purchase. How does it stack up against the larger Industrial Cabinet Saw that they make?
The biggest difference I've noticed is the weight and quality of the saw. Obviously, the larger cabinet saw has much more beef behind it, and the saw just feels more stable and hefty. The contractors saw feels a little more flimsy - from the fence to the sound of the motor starting up, everything is just feels like it has a little less power. Oh, I'm not talking about the quality of the cuts - this saw performs very well in that area. I'm talking more about the heft and feel of the machine.... like the difference between riding in a Humvee versus a Hyundai.
It's sort of like when the Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart made the comment about his threshold test for pornography - he couldn't put his finger on it, but he famously commented "I know it when I see it."
If you've operated both SawStop saws, you'll know the difference. Still, the contractors saw would be a very nice addition to anyone's home workshop.
Finally, since buying a second saw feels like a nice accomplishment, I'd like to share this video. Speaking of accomplishments, this young boy has an inspirational speech for any other kids just learning to ride a bike by themselves for the first time. How cool.
Do you have a weak stomach? Can't take seeing gore? Then stop reading right now.
Tablesaw injuries scare the hell out of me. Luckily, I've never had a serious one. Although owning a SawStop gives me a level of comfort, I still don't completely rely upon it. I love everything about working with wood, and accept the danger that comes along with it. But I keep my guard up, both literally and figuratively.
A long time ago, I remember reading that the shaper is considered to be the most dangerous tool in a woodshop. I'm sure that's true, based on the numbers, but more people own a tablesaw than they do a shaper. So - to me, a tablesaw is the tool to be respected.
This story might be the most stomach-turning thing I've ever read. Ever. Seriously. If you can't take seeing blood and tissue, DO NOT look at the images. I couldn't get the images out of my head after looking at them. In fact, I only could look at the first four pictures, then had to look away.
OK, admittedly, I don't have a high tolerance for looking at blood-and-guts. I can't even watch those TV shows where they show actual operations. I'm not nuts about any of the CSI shows, and I certainly don't want to hear about the details of your last hernia operation or liposuction. My brain just doesn't need those images inside of it.
I bought another SawStop today. My classes have been growing in size, and with more students, there is often a line to use the saw. So it made sense to buy another one, even though I have a perfectly nice Delta Unisaw at my shop at home, that I could have moved over to the school.
It's the best investment I can make to keep my woodworking classes safe. Sure, it's only as safe as the person using it, but I do feel better about people using the saw without me supervising them.
A few months back, I realized I had a ton of frequent flier miles piling up, and decided to spend some of them on this Dremel kit.
I've never had much of a need for a tool like this; I work on much bigger pieces, so this tools almost seems like a toy to me.
But recently, a client stopped in my shop to ask if I could make a small sculpture for his wife. The original sculpture he'd seen looked like this,
but since his marriage is an inter-racial one, he wanted a sculpture to reflect that.
Let's face it, I'm not a great carver, nor will I ever be. But I'm a decent one. I get by with a few chisels, a sharp knife, and now - this Dremel set. It came with some amazing bits,
like this grinder,
or these sanding drums,
these wire brushes,
even this polishing compound
and some buffing pads. This tool made short work of that carving, especially in some of the very tight curved areas.
I sent these pictures to my client, and he was so excited. That's truly one of the best parts about my job - giving people something that they can't find elsewhere. Sweet.
Meanwhile, some projects are starting to pile up around the shop - here are a few nearing completion. In another week or two, they'll be sitting in someone's home, so I thought I'd get a few pictures while I still could.
Here's a very nicely made foyer table/desk. All it needs are the drawer faces and the top installed, and it will be ready to stain.
This dresser is nearly done - again, drawer faces are all it needs.
This small nightstand is the first piece of furniture ever built by this student - and she's doing a lovely job.
I'm teaching an Intermediate Woodworking class right now, and we're working on compound miters. I cut this piece during my demo, and like it so much, I am going to turn it into a small lamp for my bedroom.
Finally, here is a lovely Hickory and Walnut table, with some pretty amazing details like through mortise-and-tenon joints, and a top with breadboard ends. It's gorgeous and sturdy, and I can just picture this in a cabin somewhere, aging gracefully. Nice job, Dan!
